（本文发表于2021年11月17日，作者为都柏林三一学院临床心理学和神经心理学副教授西蒙·麦卡锡-琼斯）

Adele’s new album, 30, is finally available. Last month, hundreds of millions of us streamed its first single, Easy On Me. This song evokes feelings not easily put into words. But we can probably agree it is a sad song.

终于能买到阿黛尔的新专辑《30》了。上个月，数亿人在线收听/收看了其中的第一首单曲《Easy On Me》。这首歌唤起了各种难以言喻的情感。但也许我们都会同意，这是一曲悲歌。

It isn’t obvious that we should like sad music. Sadness is usually a feeling we try to avoid. An alien might expect us to find such music depressing and dislikable.

我们竟然会喜欢悲伤的音乐，这一点并不显见。悲伤通常是我们会设法去回避的一种情感。可能在外星人的料想中，我们人类会觉得这种音乐很压抑且让人生厌。
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Yet, sad music pulls us in and lifts us up. So, why does hearing sad music feel so good?

然而，悲伤的音乐却把我们吸了进去，而且还能慰勉我们。那么，听悲伤的音乐为什么会带给人这么好的感觉呢？

The biology of sad music

悲情音乐背后的生物学原理

Let’s start with biological theories. When we experience real-life loss, or empathise with another’s pain, hormones such as prolactin and oxytocin are released within us. These help us cope with loss and pain. They do so by making us feel calmed, consoled, and supported.

让我们从生物学理论开始。当我们在现实生活中经历失落，或是对他者的痛苦感同身受时，人体内就会分泌催乳素和催产素之类的荷尔蒙。这类荷尔蒙有助于我们应付失落和痛苦。而它们能做到这一点，是因为它们让我们感觉到了平静、慰藉和被撑持。

Feeling Adele’s pain, or recalling our own, may cause such chemical changes within us. Clicking on Adele’s song may be like clicking on our own metaphorical morphine drip.

去感受阿黛尔的痛苦，或是回想我们自己的痛苦，就可能在我们体内引发这类化学变化。作个比喻就是，点击阿黛尔的歌，可能就像是点击我们自己的吗啡滴注。

The jury is still out on this theory. One study found no evidence that sad music increases prolactin levels. Yet, other studies have hinted at a role for prolactin and oxytocin in making sad music feel good.

这个理论目前还没有定论。有一项研究发现，没有证据表明悲伤的音乐会增加催乳素的分泌水平。然而，其他一些研究已经暗示了催乳素和催产素在让悲情音乐产生良好观感方面发挥的作用。

The psychology of sad music

悲情音乐背后的心理学原理

A key reason we enjoy sad songs is because they profoundly “move” us. This experience is sometimes called kama muta, a Sanskrit term meaning “moved by love”. Feeling moved can involve chills, goosebumps, a flood of emotions (including romantic ones), a warmth in our chest, and elation.

我们喜欢悲情歌曲的一个关键原因就是：它们深深地“触动”了我们。这种体验有时候会被称为Kama Muta，这是梵文中的一个说法，意思是“被爱感动”。感动的感觉可能表现为打寒战，起鸡皮疙瘩，汹涌而至的各种情感（包括情爱中的那些），胸口一阵暖流，以及兴高采烈。

But why do we feel moved? The American writer James Baldwin got at this when he reflected: “The things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.” Similarly, feeling moved can come from us suddenly feeling closer to other people.

但为什么我们会感动呢？美国作家詹姆斯·鲍德温在沉思中是这样论及这个问题的：“最折磨我的，就是能将我和所有故去的人，也就是曾经活过的人连通的那些东西”。同样地，感动的感觉可能来自于我们突然间感觉到和他人更亲近了。
（译注：詹姆斯·鲍德温（James Baldwin，1924-1987），美国黑人作家、散文家、戏剧家和社会评论家，在二战后美国黑人文学发展过程中起到了承上启下的作用）

This may explain why the people most likely to feel moved by sad music are those high in empathy. Indeed, when we have listened to 30 we may turn to reaction videos to see how others feel. This lets us share an emotional experience with others. A sense of communal sharing boosts our feeling of being moved and triggers feelings of comfort and belonging.

这也许就能解释为什么最容易被悲伤的音乐感动的人是那些同理心很强的人。说真的，当我们听完专辑《30》，我们可能会去找反应视频来看，就是为了看看其他人作何感受。这样一来我们就能和他者共享某一种情感体验了。这种群体共享感强化了我们被感动的感觉，并且触发了慰藉感和归属感。
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A related suggestion is that Adele’s sad music can be a friend to us. It can act as a social surrogate. Sad music can be experienced as an imaginary friend who provides support and empathy after loss.

一个与此相关的建议是，阿黛尔的悲情音乐可以成为我们的朋友。它可以起到社会替代物的作用。悲情音乐带给人的体验，就如同一个并不存在的朋友，在你陷入失落后为你提供后援并施以同情。
（译注：社会替代假说（Social Surrogacy Hypothesis））


Sad songs like Easy on Me can make us feel moved through a shared emotional experience. Adele/Youtube

（图解：《Easy on Me》之类的悲情歌曲可以通过为人们共享的一种情感体验，让我们产生感动的感觉）

Feeling moved can also result from memories being triggered of important moments of our lives. Adele’s songs are powerfully nostalgic. It may be nostalgia, rather than sadness, that we enjoy.

感动也可能是我们人生中重要时刻的记忆被触发带来的结果。阿黛尔的歌曲自带浓重的怀旧色彩。而让我们感到享受的很可能是怀旧之情，而不是悲情。

Indeed, when people listen to sad music, only around 25% say they actually feel sad. The remainder experience other, often related emotions, most commonly nostalgia. This feeling of nostalgia can help increase our sense of social connectedness, mitigate feelings of meaningless, and reduce anxiety.

人们在听悲伤的音乐时，只有大约25%的人说他们确实感觉到了悲伤。其余的人体验到的通常是与此相关的其他情感，最常见的就是怀旧。这种怀旧感有助于增强我们的社会联结感，缓解无意义感，还能减少焦虑。
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A completely different type of psychological theory is that Adele’s songs are emotional gyms. They give us a safe, controlled space in which we can explore simulated sadness. They are the emotional equivalent of Neo sparring with Morpheus in the Matrix movie.

还有一种完全不同的心理学理论，认为阿黛尔的歌曲是情感的健身房。它们给了我们一个安全、可控的空间，我们可以在其中探索模拟出来的悲伤。在情感意义上，它们就相当于电影《黑客帝国》中尼奥与墨菲斯的对练。

Simulated sadness lets us experiment with and learn from this emotion. We can enhance our empathy, learn to better see things from other people’s perspectives, and try out various responses to sadness. This may make us better prepared for when real loss strikes. Such learning experiences may have evolved to be pleasurable to encourage their use.

模拟出来的悲伤我们可以拿来做实验，并从这种情绪中学习。我们可以增强我们的同理心，学会更好地以他者的视角看待问题，同时试着对悲伤作出各种不同的反应。这也许能让我们在真正的失落来袭时，作好更充分的准备。这种学习体验可能已经演变成了令人愉悦的事，这样就能激发人们去投身。

Making sense of sadness

厘清悲伤

Alternatively, it could be that Adele’s songs aren’t pleasurable because they are sad or nostalgic. They may be pleasurable simply because they are beautiful. Sadness might just happen to coincide with beauty. Indeed, seeing acts of moral virtue or beauty have been suggested to provoke feelings of elevation and can touch, move and inspire us.

另一种可能是，可能阿黛尔的歌曲并不是因其悲伤或怀旧而令人愉悦的。可能仅仅因其美好就能令人愉悦。而悲伤可能恰好是合乎美的。确实，看到因美德而生的行为或美的行为，就已经能催动人们激起升华的感觉了，而且能触动、感动并且激励我们。

We can also think at the cultural level. Here we can view the pleasure Adele’s songs gives us in terms of the meaning she helps us make. Adele takes hard life experiences and helps makes sense of them.

我们还可以从文化角度去思考。在这个角度中，我们可以根据她帮助我们创造的意义，去检视阿黛尔的歌曲带给我们的愉悦。阿黛尔抽取了痛苦的生活经历，并帮着理顺了它们。
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This is what much tragic art does. It takes the pain and the suffering and the sadness of the world and gives it meaning. As the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once put it, someone who has a why to live can bear almost any how.

这也是很多悲剧性艺术所做的工作。抽取这个世界中的痛楚、苦难和悲伤，并赋予其意义。正如德国哲学家尼采的说法，一个清楚为什么而活的人，几乎可以承受一切蜿蜒曲折。

Ultimately, Adele’s songs will mean something different to each of us. We listen to sad music when we want to reflect, belong, or relax. We listen to experience beauty, receive comfort or reminisce.

阿黛尔的歌曲对我们每个人的意义终究是不同的。当我们想反思，想寻求归属或是想放松时，我们就会去听悲伤的音乐。我们听歌是为了体验美，获得慰藉或是追忆往事。

But to all of us Adele’s songs say: you are not alone in your pain. They let us feel her pain, share our suffering, and connect with others past and present. And in the sharedness of our humanity is beauty.

但在我们所有人眼中，阿黛尔的歌曲是在说：陷于痛苦的你并不孤单。它们能让我们感受到她的痛楚，共担我们的苦难，并且联通他者的过去和现在。而在我们人类的分享本能中，能照见大美。