VEGANGELICA

I agree with The Unfan that this Depeche Mode song is very effective (especially since Depeche Mode is one of my favorite bands), but my hairs did not stand on end while listening to it. Even though very few of the songs in this thread have caused my body hairs to stand on end, I've enjoyed listening to the music because the biologist and musician in me wants to know what commonalities, if any, songs have that cause people's hair to rise up. I've long been interested in the physiological (emotional) phenomenon of hair-raising music.

So far my minimal research into hair-raising songs has informed me that infrasound (very low frequencies below our range of hearing) can cause people's hair to stand on end, but this effect is usually associated with chills and feelings of fear. Presumably this sensitivity to infrasound was a biological advantage to humans and other animals because storms and earthquakes cause infrasound, so those animals with the ability to perceive infrasound have advanced warning and perhaps greater ability to survive. Health & Medical News - The fear of 'haunted' houses explained - 08/09/2003

However, when a song causes *my* hair to stand up on end, my emotions are not fear and revulsion but instead a very good feeling of awe and meaningfulness...the song seems to have a sense of anguished beauty. Although infrasound may be involved, there certainly seems to be more going on that causes people's hair to stand on end (in a good way rather than a fearful way). Listening to all the songs that make *your* (MB members') hair stand on end hasn't helped me figure out, yet, what causes this hair-raising response to more contemporary music, although a combination of a musical crescendo and meaningful lyrics seem to be involved.

The first several times I listened to the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, played by Rostropovich, my hairs stood on end and I had a very exhilarated feeling at 1:45 in the music, which followed a buildup in the music's tension beginning around 1:24. I suspect a lot of classical music composers tried to elicit this response since I've heard many classical songs that use a similar pattern of notes and a buildup then release in the music. My hairs stood on end the first or second time I heard the song, but the effect died down as I got more familiar with the song...which is too bad, because I love the feelings/emotions associated with songs that make my hairs stand on end. Wait! New alert!! I just tested out the song on me once more, and my hairs stood up on end again! First I feel a slight excited prickly feeling, and then the hairs on my legs and arms start to stand up (and yes, I have hairs on my legs). The effect sort of washes over the skin of my body and lasts about 5 seconds. Only my limbs appear to be involved (my head hair does not seem to stand up). The youtube video doesn't allow embedding, but you can click on "watch on youtube" to view it, or simply click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_QR_FTt3E

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