Pop Goes My Resource

I love pop music. I love to get lost in a lyrical world. I love a good earworm that sticks with me for days or weeks or months or more. I want to be taken by music, let life become more digestible through song. A popular joke was that there was no song of the summer for 2025, another reminder of culture not quite tipping into a movement like we had with Brat Summer 2024 (I miss those days.) Summer 2025 came with its own musical vibe, including my favorite sad girl summer bop with Addison Rae’s “Headphones On” which took me by surprise in an incredibly enjoyable way.

And I can’t help but think about how this song relates to the nervous system. It is essentially about the power of music to heal, a genius plot for a song which is itself the healing.

Some lyrics:

You can’t fix what has already been broken
You just have to surrender to the moment
I guess I gotta accept the pain…

So I
So I put my headphones on (I put my headphones on)
Listen to my favorite song (Listen to my favorite song)
Soaking up the rain
Letting my hair down
So I put my headphones on
Come and put your headphones on
Listen to my favorite song

When I listen, I hear the essence of “guess I gotta accept the pain…so I put my headphones on, listen to my favorite song.” How do we actually process pain? By meeting the energy of the pain, experiencing pieces of the pain, letting our feelings flow. And how do we do this? Music can be an incredible aid in helping to feel our feelings. Especially in the privacy of our own headphones, maybe we can let the music enter our body, vibrationally meeting the pain as a soothing salve or a catalyst for movement or a syncopated match to feel less alone. Music is vibrational medicine. It has the power to align us to a vibration of life through the frequencies of a song—through its tones, beat, vocals, and lyrics.

…so I put my headphones on, listen to my favorite song…

It’s also about how we create enough space in our nervous system so that we can be with overwhelming circumstances, which is the entire dance of working with the nervous system—working somatically. How do we create enough space in an overly crowded field so that we can actually feel our feelings in the right doses. This song seems to be arguing: Yes I got to accept the pain—so I listen to my favorite song to help me cope. You can, too.

And although it’s a pop song, this song describes things that feel like a gut punch of real pain: wish my parents could’ve been in love. Ahem, that sounds like the core desire for so many people, stated so plainly. I love the mix of lyrical vulnerability and high bpm count that pop music does so well. (Talk to me about Tears by Charli xcx anyyyytime.)

The self reflexive refrain is cheeky, as well--the song telling me to listen to my favorite song…as I listen to this song. I’m already on the good medicine. This is it. You just have to surrender to the moment.

She says:
I know the lows are what makes the highs higherSo I tell myself this is a reminderLife’s no fun through clear waters

What songs help your feelings come through? What earworm stuck with you and helped you process some emotions, maybe even past emotions from events long ago? What song immediately brings you back to a time and landscape of certain feelings?

Perhaps your attraction to certain songs or artists reflects your intelligent nervous system. My system tends to want to run fast—so no surprise to me that pop music is a default that can feel right in most any situation. What does your intelligent nervous system reflect to you about the vibrations you offer it?

As always, should you want guidance in exploring your intelligent nervous system, including your personal tools for coping with life, I’m here for you.

Thanks for reading Your Intelligent Nervous System! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Visit my website for more info