How many times have you heard a song that truly resonates with you on a philosophical level and positively influences your wellbeing? For me, certain songs have an incredible ability to challenge my thoughts and expand my perception.  Here are four of my favorite philosophical songs where the lyrics and music have a distinctly positive effect on my wellbeing:

Into the Dark – Ben Lee

To me this is a great song that speaks about the increased discovery of mindfulness and shifting your thinking paradigm to align to a more natural harmony.

Some of my favorite lines:

I’m feelin’ better

Since I surrendered

You can’t climb

‘Till your ready to fall

I learnt my lesson

First impressions

More often right than wrong

I was one of those

Breathing tornadoes

But now I live in the eye of the store

On the Radio – Regina Spektor

The lyrics are generally a little abstract, but there are a number of  lines which I think are full of meaning.  To me this song strips back the unnecessary complications of life and gets back to the simple things. I also love Regina Spektor’s music!  These are my favorite lines:

This is how it works

You’re young until you’re not

You love until you don’t

You try until you can’t

You laugh until you cry

You cry until you laugh

And everyone must breath

Until their dying breath

No, this is how it works

You peer inside your self

You take the things you love

And try to love the things you took

And then you take that love you made

And stick it into some

Someone else’s heart

Pumping someone else’s blood

And walking arm in arm

You hope it don’t get harmed

But even if it does

You just do it all again

I don’t really like the film clip, but I love the song.

Goodbye Alice in Wonderland – Jewel

I used to love Jewel, in particular her earlier albums such as ‘Pieces of You’ and ‘Spirit’.  I saw her live in Australia in 1999 and thought she was great.  Then after releasing a couple of albums where I thought she moved away from what made her great and after seeing her live in around 2005 where she was terrible I lost all appreciation of her.  I recently discovered this song of hers and for me it revived all the things I used to love about her.  On a live version of this song below, she describes this as her “most autobiographical song” which I find is full of significant commentary and lessons on life.  Here are some of my favorite lines:

There is a difference between dreaming and pretending

I did not find paradise

It was only a reflection of my lonely mind wanting

What’s been missing in my life

Growing up is not an absence of dreaming

Its being able to understand the difference between the ones you hold

And the ones you been sold

And dreaming is a good thing cause it brings new things to life

But pretending is an ending that perpetuates a lie

Forgetting what you are

Seeing what you’ve been told

Cash Money – The Beautiful Girls

An amazing song which explores the negatives of your typical western lifestyle and the choice you have to create your own fulfilling life design.  My favorite lyrics from this song:

Man this city’s taken too much from me

Gonna head out to the country

Find a place that I can breathe

Gonna take another road

Gonna find myself some soul

Gonna do my best in every way

To pay attention as I go

The fundamental laws

Of suffering and of its cause

Man they lay in being human

Everybody has their flaws

What if we could overcome

Insecurity for love

Fear for empathy

Education in place of push and shove

Check out this brilliant film clip for Cash Money.  I often look at this when I need to reset my perspective and gain a better frame of mind.

Tapping in to the Meaning

Get a hold of these songs, put on a good pair of headphones, lose yourself in the music and reflect on the meaning within the lyrics.  I know this certainly does wonders for my own sense of wellbeing!

Tagged as: mind, music, Self Development, soul, Wellbeing