Music has always been my way through anxiety. It’s the one thing in this world that has never left me, never let me down. My earliest memory – literally, my first – is of a clock radio next to my crib playing Steely Dan. That’s how far back this goes. When I’m anxious, when my chest is tight, when the world feels too loud or too quiet, music has always been the thing that grounds me.
As a kid, I got bullied a lot. I spent a lot of time in my own head, and that’s where I first started reaching for music as a shield and a companion. The ‘80s were formative – that was when I stumbled into New Wave, into sounds that felt like someone had built a secret escape hatch just for me. I remember the first time I heard Rush’s The Spirit of Radio. It didn’t just sound good – it sounded like liberation. It sounded like freedom. That’s what music does for me: it takes me out of whatever cage I feel stuck in and reminds me that there’s a bigger, wilder world out there.
I don’t think it’s just an emotional thing. I honestly believe there’s something spiritual about music. I’m not especially religious, but I am spiritual, and I see music as a kind of communication with whatever higher power is out there. Sometimes a song comes up on shuffle, and the timing is so on‑the‑nose for what I’m going through that I can’t help but feel like the universe is nudging me, saying, “Hey, you’re gonna be okay.”
And that’s what music is for me when I’m anxious: a hug beyond a hug. It’s the sound of someone – or something – wrapping me up and telling me that it’ll pass, that I’ll get through it. Whether it’s Steely Dan, Rush, or some obscure track I haven’t heard in years, music talks to that deep, primitive part of my brain that just needs to feel safe. And in that moment, even if it’s fleeting, I do.
Image: Photo by AI
This article is part of The Human Collective. Each week we take a prompt and create a playlist and accompanying articles. This week we were looking at Anxiety. Check out the playlist: Songs That Help With Anxiety. Learn more about The Human Collective here.
About the Curators
Otis Galloway
My name is Otis Galloway, and I am a beautiful mess.
- I believe in music as a powerful agent of healing.
- I believe a cassette mixtape can carry powerful emotional gravity that tells stories that span generations, worlds and universes.
- I believe in travel, love, cooking, street food, cold beer and gelato.
- I believe in conversations that go until the sun comes up.
- I believe love comes in a multitude of forms.
- I believe in large kitchens and cooking huge dinners for friends.
- I believe we have so much to learn from one another.
- I believe in growing more hemp, cannabis and bamboo.
- I believe we should say, ‘I Love You’ more often.
- I believe we need more justice for the people.
- I believe we can do better, and should do better.
- I believe in a diverse, colourful world full of happy, realized, loving people.
- I believe gyoza is love.
- I believe in musicto.
Find me here: