A while back there was a group of girls in my grade 7 class who seemed to be having a bad day.
Nothing crisis-level; they were just having a typical adolescent I’m-not-feeling-it day. Not able to access the joy that was probably so easy for them to inhabit just a few years earlier, when childhood meant that everything was always awesome.
So while we were out for recess I told them scientists had discovered that skipping is a natural mood-booster. The evidence showed that it was physically impossible to frown while skipping.
Of course I was making this up, and have no idea whether scientists have ever studied skipping, although I sincerely hope they have because the mental image is fantastic. Regardless, they spent the rest of our time outside trying to skip while maintaining the most serious faces possible, and it was hilarious. Later, one of them told me they filmed each other frown-skipping in slow-motion and that it was even more hilarious.
So whether or not science has ever tackled the mood-boosting properties of skipping, my own anecdotal evidence points to a positive correlation.
With that in mind, I’d like you to listen to “It Runs Through Me” – a wonderful collaboration between Tom Misch and hip-hop legends De La Soul that feels to me like the musical equivalent of skipping: a mood-booster with considerable anti-frowning properties.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. Tom Misch (whom we met in week 454) is a talented yet restrained guitarist, and his bossa-inspired grooves here will move your shoulders up and down.
2. The bass might lead to some hip-wiggling.
3. The soft keys at 1.24 sound almost like a distant choir, and just might trigger some goosebumps.
Recommended listening activity:
Getting serious about joy.