Throughout the centuries, from the mathematical postulates of Pythagoras to current neuronal studies, music has been analyzed as a phenomenon that goes beyond art: it is physical, mathematics, emotion and, above all, human experience. In the midst of this search to decipher what makes a song “perfect”, a group of scientists and experts decided to face the challenge with all available tools. The result: “Africa” by Toto was declared the best song of all time … according to science.
The study, disseminated by Gizmondhe summoned neuroscientists and specialists in musical theory to investigate What factors make a song resonate in the human brain. From harmony and melodic structure to the chemical and emotional response that causes in the listener, everything was put under the magnifying glass. And although it may sound curious or even controversial, “Africa” was winning. “Toto was a very respected group of study musicians. Those songs were carefully built”, Explains Dave Poeppel, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of New York.
According to him, professional musicians usually have a genuine admiration for the band headed by Steve Lukather, Joseph Williams y Greg Phillinganes. It is no accident: “Africa” is a structurally impeccable piece, with a meticulous production and harmonic progression that achieves an ideal balance between complexity and accessibility for all listeners. Its sound is universally attractive and its almost omnipresent presence in playlists and compiled since its launch in 1982, confirms it.
What makes a song “perfect”?
From a neuroscientific point of view, Songs like “Africa” activate brain regions related to pleasure, release dopamine and literally make the human body react physically and neurologically: move your feet, smile and even feel nostalgia. For the neuroscientist Daniel Glaser, even simple methods such as measuring smiles or feet pounding are as effective as brain scanners when determining the impact of a song.
However, Science also recognizes the limits of its own formula. Amy Belfi, researcher of the brain’s reaction to music, warns: “There are very large individual differences in musical taste. What causes chills in one person, may have no effect on another.”
In addition, studies such as the one carried out by the MIT and the Max Planck Institute with the Tsimane Amazon tribe reveal that Musical perception is not universal, but cultural. What for the western ear is dissonant or unnatural, for them it is music. Despite having the same auditory capacity as the rest of humans, their musical language ignores concepts such as eighth or tonal harmony, which demonstrates that what feels like “correct” is musically, to a large extent, learned.
The 5 most catchy rock songs according to science
From the Museum of Science and Industry of Manchester they launched an investigation to determine what are the most catchy rock songs. To do this, “two different games invented. One that involved putting a song for a while, followed by a silence during which the participants had to make the section that was missing, testing the retention and cognition of the songs. The second was simply putting a song and seeing how fast people recognized them, to test the reactionaries that could be to certain musical pieces.”
Dr. Concetta Tomino explains one of the brain events that occur with certain songs: “As the images in dreams are metaphors of something else, these songs that come to mind spontaneously, usually appear suddenly because there is an emotional or some kind for them. They do not arise from nothing.
In this sense, it is worth taking into account that three of the five songs that make up the list are present in Hollywood films that were very popular and, for most of the public, their memory connects them directly to these stories: “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison, “I Don’s Want to Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith Seen Nothing Yet ”by Bachman-Turner Overdrive and“ Devil in Disguise ”by Elvis Presley.
