The shower is an amazing place. Safely hidden from the rest of the world by a translucent curtain with bright flowers, the shower is an ideal stage with stunning acoustics, where it is almost impossible to resist singing. Why does this happen? Let’s figure it out.
Involuntary expression of emotions.
You must be familiar with the state when, during a telephone conversation or a meeting in the office, you involuntarily draw some figures and squiggles in a notebook. Psychologists express various theories about the meaning of spontaneous drawings, but almost all agree that in this way our consciousness broadcasts pure emotions, helping to focus on a task or express oneself.
Griffonages (the correct name for involuntary drawings) or doodles have been known since ancient times. Alexander Pushkin, Vladimir Nabokov, Franz Kafka, and many other famous writers and poets loved to draw in the margins. Some researchers carefully study these drawings, trying to find clues to the genius and train of thought of great authors in the scribbles. Others have made spontaneous creativity the basis of art therapy, successfully used to treat mental trauma and disorders.
You probably want to ask, what do drawings in a notebook have to do with singing in the shower? A direct one. Our brain likes to periodically turn off logical thinking and do seemingly strange things that are, nevertheless, important for our well-being and mood. For example, imagining yourself a rock and roll star while lathering your head with shampoo in the bathroom.
Why exactly the shower?
After all, there is a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. In fact, we sing not only in the shower. We hum while working, cleaning, driving, and from an excess of emotions. We just don’t always realize it, and therefore don’t remember it. At the same time, singing in the shower is associated with a number of stereotypes promoted in mass culture that have become part of the social and cultural code, and therefore are perfectly read by our brain.
For example, the storyline in Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love,” where a concert impresario finds a brilliant tenor who is shy about singing on stage. Then a shower cabin is set up for him on stage, and the singer, rubbing himself with a brush, delivers a beautiful operatic aria.
But there are other reasons for our love of singing under the streams of water. According to a study by Music Mic, your voice in the shower bounces off the tiles, sounding louder and more powerful, and the shape of the bathroom causes sound waves to travel longer, resonating in the air. Because the sound lasts longer, the voice sounds much more contrasting and deeper than we are usually used to hearing.
And we like it very much. While singing, dopamine is produced in our brain – a happiness hormone that improves our mood. Combined with a refreshing morning shower and a feeling of freedom caused by the lack of shyness in front of an audience, we get a huge dose of joy when we sing in the shower. The better we sing, the better our voice sounds, the more areas of the brain are involved, and the more pleasure we get.
Singing is one of the oldest skills mastered by humans, as natural to us as walking or eating. Long before we learned to express our emotions in words, humanity used vocals to communicate with each other.
The intimacy of the bathroom is also important. The shower is a space where we are naked and alone. We are calm, relaxed, nothing bothers us or throws us off balance. In a sense, in the shower we become ourselves, real and sincere. It is as if we establish contact with our inner self, and singing is our way of communication, a dialogue that restores harmony with oneself.
Singing makes us happy.
The influence of music on us is incredibly strong. It has been proven that people perform boring, automatic work better to music. For example, assembly line workers show better results and make fewer mistakes if the radio is playing in the shop. Other studies have proven that we recognize symbols, numbers, and letters better to music. That is, in addition to mood, music directly affects our efficiency and productivity.
Can we say that singing in the shower charges us with energy, relieves stress, and increases life satisfaction? Of course. Most recently, during the pandemic, we personally observed people all over the world going out on balconies and singing, comforting close friends and random spectators, helping them cope with feelings of anxiety and fear.
It is believed that singing originated before spoken language, and therefore it is easier for us to assimilate and remember words with musical accompaniment. Perhaps this is also the key to why some melodies give us goosebumps, while others encourage us to change our lifestyle and make the world a better place.
Legend has it that Confucius once heard a song written by Li Po and was so shocked that he refused food, drink, and sleep for seven days. After that, he formulated his famous teaching, which he spread by humming the precepts to the tune of Li Po’s melody.
So why do we sing in the shower? Because we want to be happy, of course. And because we love to sing.
