Most people are familiar with love. It has been a central part of human relationships since the beginning of time. Most often, when we speak of love, we think of romantic love that typically describes a committed romantic relationship. However, love is actually a collection of feelings and behaviors marked by emotional intimacy, passion, commitment, and closeness. It involves emotional care, emotional intimacy, attachment, trust, intimacy, commitment, joy, and happiness.
Love can range from being a simple romantic love to intense and powerful love. Love can even change over time and is related to a number of positive emotions, such as happiness, novelty, excitement, exhilaration, vitality, peace, and joy. Many of the positive emotions that are associated with love are also related to physical attractions, such as physical attraction, intimacy, dependence, attraction, acceptance, desire, and companionship. When two people engage in this form of relationship love often occurs on an energetic level rather than a cognitive one.
Another example of love is found in the realm of addiction. In cases where an individual’s drug use or other substance abuse alter their brain chemistry in order to facilitate their recovery, this is considered to be one form of romantic love. This is believed to occur when the individual experiences “love” for another person in spite of self-destructive behavior or negative self-image. The individual may feel an intense, yearning, or desire for the drug user or other substance addict as if they were really falling in love.
There are many other examples of love, that fall under the category of affective bonding. One common example is found in romantic movies, books, television shows, music, or video games. In these cases, one or both partners can be very intensely involved in the relationship, often using or fantasizing about the other person while not consciously aware of this mutual form of attraction. This type of attraction can be highly powerful and have a strong influence on physical and emotional well-being and moods.
One example of an affective bond occurs when two lovers exchange love letters or emails while listening to a favorite song on the radio, watching a favorite movie on DVD, or listening to a favorite music video on MTV. When they are finished reading or listening to the material, they often write these letters or email messages and then load them onto their computer. They then proceed to load them onto their personal CD player and play them at a later time. In many cases, these expressions of affective bonding are also incorporated into the music video, which is then played at a later time or placed as a bonus track on the album cover. These types of “dating love” stories can create an atmosphere of intimacy and romance for someone who is in a long-term relationship.
Although the above examples may be extreme, they are an excellent illustration of how songs can affect listeners both during the performance and after the performance. For instance, if a performer has a great number-one hit, the performer’s fans may listen to the song on the radio or in the car to drive around with the radio playing. The listener may then begin to feel a connection to the star, causing the fan to want to see him or her. Similarly, if a performer with a popular song enters the music scene during a period of significant commercial success, his or her fan base will likely listen to the song as well, becoming part of the songwriter’s fan club.
