Sad Songs

I was reading in The Utne Reader that sad music can bring happy thoughts.*  Liila Taruffi and Stephan Koelsch from the Free University of Berlin found that listening to sad music even when you are sad can make people feel positive emotions, including nostalgia, peacefulness, tenderness, transcendence, and wonder.  

I would say that rings true for me.  "O Mio Bambino Caro" isn't in English, and while it is sad, it brings a sense of peace and calm.  "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi is lots of fun, as is Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You."  Those are regular rock anthems, designed to make you pump your fist in righteous indignation.  There is Adele, giving everyone a cathartic cry.  

I wonder about happy songs: can they make you miserable?  I think of John Legend's popular "All of Me" song this summer.  "All of Me" is a wedding song, how all of him loves all of her.   Every time I heard that song, I bawled my eyes out.  I've gotten better about it now.

Does the same hold true for sad writing?  If you are already sad, does reading something sad make you feel better, or worse?  Or is laughter the best medicine?  What about film?  Does the medium matter when it comes to changing our emotions?  Hospitals used to have "Chuckle Channels" with comedic programming to make people feel better.  I don't recommend they show Terms of Endearment on the cancer ward, but Bambi?

* I can't find the link to this article.  I found the article the old fashioned way -- in print.  (Reported by Soli Salgado, Winter 2014, page 89.)