Chapter One

RATIONALE

Music is a universal language. Or so musicians like to claim. “With music,” they’ll say,
“you can communicate across cultural and linguistic boundaries in ways that you can’t with
ordinary languages like English or French.”

There is a commonplace statement that “Music is the food of soul”. All over the world
and throughout the history people used music to express their inner feelings, be it sad or happy.
Besides variation in music, people differ with regard to the choices of music. People report great
impact of music on them, psychologically and physiologically. Disharmonic music causes a
number of negative behaviors have been reported as a result of disharmonic music. People seem
to be addictive of music who often listens to Rock music and if they no longer listen they report
that they feel depressed and tensed. Withdrawal from such music results in negative symptoms,
like depression, which might be due to the heightened state of arousal caused by the rhythm and
tempo of disharmonic music. Whereas shifting from disharmonic music to harmonic music
results in feeling better. It is only made possible by consciously listening critically to the music
and forcing it into the conscious mind.(Torres & Torres)

Given that mood states are closely related to our personality (in fact, personality is to
climate what mood is to weather), and given that people use music for emotional regulation, a
scientific understanding of musical preferences should provide the perfect window into a
person's soul.

Emotions and experience are the stimulus triggering the composition of songs.
Sometimes we assume that everyone writing a song must want a major artist to record it.  While
that is true for many writers, it’s not the real motivation for many others.

According to Megan Eisnor , “I write songs because they are a way of expressing how I
feel and the stories I see that I feel just need to be heard honestly.”

Basically, we can predict that personality can be viewed in musical composition.

 Earlier writers such as Watson (1942) and Schoen (1940) emphasized characteristics of
the stimulus object to account for individual reaction to music. Present day theorists tend to view
human response to music from a phenomenological point of view, based on the recognition that
personality factors provide a basis for differential attention and perception of events from one
person to another. Current psychological theories regarding human response to music have
evolved from the recognition that perception of stimuli and attribution of meaning of selected
stimuli differ systematically from one person to another, according to the nature of an
individual's personality (DeFleur, 1966). Attempts to identify structural components within the
music to account for people's reaction to music have been complicated by psychological
mediational processes which influence affective responses to music (Smith, 1989).

Henceforward, everything comes with a reason. Every song has a story behind it, may it
be due to a happy and sad experience or comes from the experience of other person.

The purpose of this research is to reveal the relation of the choice of song composition to
personality style and how their music choice can impact their personality.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The primary purpose of this research is to reveal the relation of the choice of song
composition to personality style and how their music choice can impact their personality.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the reasons of composing or writing music?

2. What is the meaning of the song “Rainy Days and Mondays”?
3. What are the theories that would support the meaning of the song?
4. Is there a significant relationship between the song lyrics and the
personality of the songwriter?
 Chapter Two
ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF THE SONG

This chapter presents the original lyrics of the song together with the brief
arrangement of the composer/songwriter and interpreter background.

Song Lyrics
Talkin' to myself and feelin' old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothin' ever seems to fit
Hangin' around
Nothin' to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

What I've got they used to call the blues

Nothin' is really wrong
Feelin' like I don't belong
Walkin' around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Funny, but it seems I always wind up here with you

Nice to know somebody loves me
Funny, but it seems that it's the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me (the one who loves me)

What I feel has come and gone before

No need to talk it out (talk it out)
We know what it's all about
Hangin' around (hangin' around)
Nothin' to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Funny, but it seems that it's the only thing to do (only thing to do)
Run and find the one who loves me

What I feel has come and gone before

No need to talk it out
We know what it's all about
Hangin' around (hangin' around)
Nothin' to do but frown 
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down
Hangin' around (hangin' around)
Nothin' to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get
Me down

Song Interpreter
Carpenters
The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of
siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (b. 1946).[a] They produced a distinct soft
musical style, combining Karen's contralto vocals with Richard's arranging and composition
skills. During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded ten albums, along with numerous
singles and several television specials (Wikipedia.com).

Composer/Songwriter

Paul Williams and Roger Nichols

Paul Williams wrote this with Roger Nichols. It was an early effort for the duo, who went
on to write hits for Three Dog Night and separately wrote popular TV themes: Williams for The
Love Boat and Nichols for Hart To Hart. Says Williams: "As I examine my psyche, when I was
an out-of-work actor, I had a movie called The Chase. I wasn't even writing songs yet. I was an
actor before I was a songwriter. I did a movie called The Loved One with Jonathan Winters, then
two years later I got another movie just like that, called The Chase. I worked three months on it, I
think. My mom was a little widow lady living in Denver. And I brought her out to live with me. I
said, 'Mom, you're never going to have to work again. This movie's going to really make me, it's
going to be the big break I've been waiting for. My career as an actor is gonna just fly.' The
movie came out and I'm not in it. I've got two lines, I think, the way it turned out. Big movie
starring Marlon Brando, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Robert Duvall, huge film. So I worked on
it, but I've got a little, really small part. So the career didn't take off, eventually the phone
stopped ringing, eventually they took the phone out, eventually Mom got a job. So I'd stay up all
night, I'd started to plunk out writing songs. My mother would get up in the morning, and she's
like, 'Don't worry, my son, God has a plan.' And she'd talk to herself, she'd mumble. And she'd
walk away, 'oh jesus, I hope so...' I'd go, 'Mom, what's the matter?' She'd say, 'You wouldn't
understand. I'm just feeling old. Just feeling old.' So she'd talk to herself. So I think that's
probably where, 'Talking to myself and feeling old' came from, because she would jabber to
herself, and whenever you'd ask her she'd say, 'I'm just feeling old today. I'm not sad, I'm just
feeling old.'"

Song Analysis

Mainly, the song “Rainy Days and Mondays” is written by Paul Williams taking his
mother as his inspiration. He was able to start writing the said song when he saw her mother
getting lonely and feeling inferior because she was old already.

Talkin' to myself and feelin' old What I've got they used to call the blues
Sometimes I'd like to quit Nothin' is really wrong
Nothin' ever seems to fit Feelin' like I don't belong
Hangin' around Walkin' around
Nothin' to do but frown Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

The first and second stanza of the song connotes inferiority resulting to the feeling of
isolating herself within the world. According to Alfred Adler, an inferiority complex refers to a
person’s feelings that they lack worth and don’t measure up to the standards of others or of
society.

Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory emphasized intimacy versus isolation

and generativity vs stagnation.

Intimacy versus isolation is the sixth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial

development. This stage takes place during young adulthood between the ages of approximately
19 and 40. During this period, the major conflict centers on forming intimate, loving
relationships with other people. Success at this stage leads to fulfilling relationships. Failure, on
the other hand, can result in feelings of loneliness and isolation (Cherry, 2018).

Generativity versus stagnation is the seventh of eight stages of Erik Erikson's theory of
psychosocial development. This stage takes place during during middle adulthood (ages 40 to 65
yrs). Through generativity we develop a sense of being a part of the bigger picture. Success leads
to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the
world.

By failing to find a way to contribute, we become stagnant and feel unproductive. These
individuals may feel disconnected or uninvolved with their community and with society as a
whole. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of care (Cherry, 2018).

Funny, but it seems I always wind up here with you

Nice to know somebody loves me
Funny, but it seems that it's the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me (the one who loves me)

What I feel has come and gone before

No need to talk it out (talk it out)
We know what it's all about
Hangin' around (hangin' around)
Nothin' to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

The third and fourth stanza of the song chiefly conveys the feeling of loneliness.

Loneliness, distressing experience that occurs when a person’s social relationships are
perceived by that person to be less in quantity, and especially in quality, than desired. The
experience of loneliness is highly subjective; an individual can be alone without feeling lonely
and can feel lonely even when with other people. Psychologists generally consider loneliness to
be a stable trait, meaning that individuals have different set-points for feeling loneliness, and
they fluctuate around these set-points depending on the circumstances in their lives. Individuals’
levels of loneliness typically remain more or less constant during adulthood until 75 to 80 years
of age, when they increase somewhat. Prolonged loneliness is associated with depression, poor
social support, neuroticism, and introversion. Studies have shown that loneliness puts people at
risk for physical disease and that it may contribute to a shortened life span.

Another theoretical perspective, the behavioral approach, holds that loneliness is

characterized by personality traits that are associated with, and possibly contribute to, harmful
patterns of interpersonal interaction. For instance, loneliness is correlated with social anxiety,
social inhibition (shyness), sadness, hostility, distrust, and low self-esteem, characteristics that
hamper one’s ability to interact in skillful and rewarding ways. Indeed, lonely individuals have
been shown to have difficulty forming and maintaining meaningful relationships (Hawkley,
2015).

Chapter Three
PRESENTATION OF OUTPUT AND POSSIBLE PROGRAM

This chapter introduces the output of research and the possible program addressing the
problem in the research.

Output/Data Gathered

Music is a universal language (Ludden, 2015). The reasons why composers write music
is because it is there medium to give a story and to convey their emotion.

In the song “Rainy Days and Mondays” by the Carpenters, the songwriter Paul Williams
together with Roger Nichols, able to start writing the song making his mother as the motivation
of the story lines. It reveals the emotion and feeling of inferiority, isolation, loneliness and
stagnation. These emotions and feelings greatly affect human personality.

According to Alfred Adler, inferiority complex happens when person feels that he lack
worth and don’t measure up to the standards of others or of society. Moreover, Erik Erikson’s
psychosocial development theory stressed the concept of intimacy vs isolation and generativity
vs stagnation. In the song, the state of isolation and stagnation are present.

Aside from these, there is also an obvious feeling of loneliness because it seems like the
subject of the song felt she is worthless having social anxiety, social inhibition (shyness),
sadness, hostility, distrust, and low self-esteem, characteristics that hamper one’s ability to
interact in skillful and rewarding ways.

Possible Program

Inferiority, isolation and stagnation may appear to be a persistent disorder but if you
knew the right way to deal with it then it won't take you long before you become
a confident person who knows that he is valuable and worthy with disregard to his social or
financial position. With these ideas, a person must experience three fundamental social tasks:
occupational tasks (careers), societal tasks (friendship), and love tasks (finding an intimate
partner for a long-term relationship).
 Chapter Four
FINDINGS, SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION

This chapter discusses the findings sought by the researcher, as well as the conclusions
and recommendations derived by her.

Findings

Based on the data gathered out from the research, the following findings are presented:

1. Songwriters write songs in order to tell a story and convey a feeling or emotion.
2. The song “Rainy Days and Mondays” mainly tells a story of a person who became
inferior and isolated herself from the world. Due to her age in which she felt old, she
thought that she was worthless and so, she became stagnant.
3. Inferiority complex by Alfred Adler, psychosocial development theory by Erik
Erikson and loneliness theory are the studies supporting the analysis of this research.
4. There is a significant relationship between the song lyrics and the personality
of the songwriter. The song writer wrote the songs based on his personal
experience with his mother, putting his emotion into the song.
Conclusion

Based on the findings, the researcher concluded that the songwriter may use his own
experience or other person’s experience in writing a song. Talking about the song, it has a clear
story of a person’s state of inferiority, isolation, loneliness and stagnation. Such states were
discussed by personality theorist Alfred Adler and Erik Erikson. The song lyrics displayed the
personality of the writer. Therefore, they are significantly related.

Recommendation

This research suggests to the reader, school and family to design occupational tasks
(careers), societal tasks (friendship), and develop love tasks (finding an intimate partner for a
long-term relationship).
 REFERENCES

Books/Journals:

 Adrian, N .(2008).”Preferred Music Style is tied to Personality”HerriotWatt University,

Edinburgh, UK.

 Chamorro,P.,Tomas.,Fagan,p.&Furnham, A.(2010).”Personality and uses of music as

predictors of preferences of music consensually classified a happy, sad, complex, and
social”. Psychology of Aesthetic, Creativity, and the Arts.

 Patel, A. D. (2008). Music, language, and the brain. Oxford, UK: Oxford University

Press.

Internet/Website:

 Dodson, Marty. (2016). “Why Do You Write Songs?”. https://songtown.com/why-do-

you-write-songs

 Kendra Cherry, Kendra. (2018). “intimacy vs, Isolation”. https://www.verywellmind.com

 Louise Hawkley, Louise. (2015). “Loneliness”.

https://www.britannica.com/science/loneliness

 McLeod, Saul. (2018). Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development”.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html

 Radwan, M. Farouk. (2006). “How to Overcome Inferiority Complex?”.

https://www.2knowmyself.com