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Music and Functions

TenebrousReflection

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
449
MBTI Type
INFp
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
When I listen to music, I occasionally try to figure out what cognitive function or type it might best be representing. Going through random samples from my collection, then seeing if there is a youtube match, heres a few and my impressions on them (these are just my impressions without any analysis on most of them :) )...

INFP - (FiNe)
Echoes of Eternity - Lost Beneath A Silent Sky
Epica - Solitary Ground
Hagalaz' Runedance - Where the lonely Souls go
Within Temptation - All I Need

INFJ - (NiFe)
The Cruxshadows - Eye of the Storm
This one has some lyrics that seem like strong Fi, but overall, I get more of a feel of Fe supporting Ni. Curious if INFJs feel this represents them or not.
Beseech - Innerlane
Not really sure if this is INFJ or something else, but its one of the stranger and more imaginative videos I think I've ever seen.

INTJ - (NiTe)
Iced Earth - Order of the Rose

ENFP - (NeFi)
Enya - Only if
Lunatica - Words Unleashed
Lunatica - Who you are

ENFJ - (FeNi)
Enya Only time
L'AME IMMORTELLE - Fallen Angel

ISFP - (FiSe)
Nightwish - Ever Dream
Midnattsol-Desolation

ESFP - (SeFi)
Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies
Omnia - Alive!
Rehab - Wht Do U Wnt Frm Me

ISFJ - (SiFe)
After Forever - Empty Memories
Delain - Frozen
Lyriel - The promised Land

xNxJ - Ni
Therion - The Dreams Of Swedenborg

xxFP- Fi
Elis - Show me the way
Imperia - Facing Reality
Krypteria - Somebody Save Me


xxFJ - Fe
Chamber - Insane
Epica - Never Enough
Xandria - Eversleeping
 

Sandy

New member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
552
MBTI Type
INFP
Minor music and dark lyrics = INFP (FiNi). Tell me if I am wrong! (Thankfully, I am not this dark anymore!!! :smile:)

I'm Only Happy When it Rains - Garbage

Lyrics:

I'm only happy when it rains
I'm only happy when it's complicated
And though I know you can't appreciate it
I'm only happy when it rains

You know I love it when the news is bad
And why it feels so good to feel so sad
I'm only happy when it rains

Pour your misery down, pour your misery down... on me

I'm only happy when it rains
I feel good when things are going wrong
I only listen to the sad, sad songs
I'm only happy when it rains

I only smile in the dark
My only comfort is the night gone black
I didn't accidentally tell you that
I'm only happy when it rains

You'll get the message by the time I'm through
When I complain about me and you
I'm only happy when it rains

Pour your misery down, pour your misery down... on me

You can keep me company
As long as you don't care

I'm only happy when it rains
You wanna hear about my new obsession?
I'm riding high upon a deep depression
I'm only happy when it rains
Pour some misery down on me
 

Gabe

New member
Joined
Nov 17, 2007
Messages
590
MBTI Type
ENTP
For me, classical music is Ni, because it's so abstract, and produces imagery in your mind. The tone of music affects your inner impressions and the mental images in your head because of it are nothing directly related to the objective world.

Same goes for any foreign language music, where you cannot understand the words. And since you can't understand them, your subjective interpretation will more likely be of things completely unrelated.

Certain tones of music make you think of flowers and gardens, other tones make you think of demons and monsters.

I like to search through folk music for intuition.

'to nashville town they strayed...the power and glory, did not come to meet them'
'behold the famous dissapearing man who comes in crimson robes, and leaves in yellow rags."
-Tracy grammar and dave carter
 

TenebrousReflection

New member
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
449
MBTI Type
INFp
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Minor music and dark lyrics = INFP (FiNi). Tell me if I am wrong! (Thankfully, I am not this dark anymore!!! )

...
I only smile in the dark
My only comfort is the night gone black
I didn't accidentally tell you that
I'm only happy when it rains

Hmmm, I certainly agree that they fit for INFP, but reading those lyrics above, that sounds more like sensing than intuiting. I guess the question would be whether a natural inclination toward sorrow and dark things is part of Fi in itself or a product of how the cognitive processes of Fi, Ne, Si and Te interact together in an INFP?

This one here seems more like the kind of darkness an INFP would come up with (and one I relate to much more than happy when it rains (but I do like rainy days :)))
Beseech - Lost


On the basis of comparing metal, I wont argue, but I don't really get an Ni or Ne feel from most Metallica songs. A lot of their lyrics have a feeling of relating to concepts like justice, free will and consequences, and those strike me as mostly Te (which would be shared by INTJ, but as a secondary process not dominant) but they seem flavored more by concrete descriptive lyrics than by ideas. I would say that most of Metallica's songs strike me as either ESTJ or ESFJ since they are either critiques of organized systems (justice, military etc) or drawing attention to problems with society and the way we treat people that do not conform (an argument could be made for Fi influence there, but the overall feel to me is Te or Fe dominant).

I chose the Iced Earth song as a representation of INTJ since a common stereotype for INTJ (whether or not its accurate) is the mastermind and the themes of manipulation and world domination in that song as well as the more image/future idea oriented lyrics in it.

Heres some other rock/metal songs I'm curious how others would type...

Bruce Dickinson - River Of No Return - Strong Ni (or am I confusing Ni and Ne again?) / INxJ?
Demons & Wizards - Spatial Architects - ?? / xNxx?
Hammerfall - Shadow Empire - Te? / ENTJ?
Iron Maiden - Montsegur - Si? / ISTJ?
Queensryche - Revolution Calling - Nx? / ENxP?

Other comments...
Ok, that Bjork video was quite strange, but saying thats Ne makes me wonder if I'm seeing Ne completely wrong. I associate Ne with seeing and articulating possibilities and ideas that are influenced by introverted judgement of some type and Ni being the more dreamlike or visionary version of intuition that is much harder to act on or put into words, so I'd be more inclined to call the Bjork video INxJ.

On a similar note, what would people consider these to be?
Herbie Hancock - Rockit
Peter Gabriel - Sledge Hammer
To me, these are how I see ENTP, but again, I could be very confused since I have a harder time distinguishing between Ne and Ni than any other function pair.
 

Kanamori

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Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
361
I just chose it because I usually score INTJ and like it a lot more... not a serious argument, I know... then again, I did recently take a MBTI out of curiosity and it said I was either an INFP or an ESTJ. My posts are usually spur of the moment BS btw.
 

Nadir

Enigma
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
544
MBTI Type
INxJ
Enneagram
4
I am getting a strong Fi, probably coupled with Se, vibe from this song:

YouTube - Alanis Morissette - Uninvited

Also, I especially agree with some of Tenebrous' picks: Epica - Solitary Ground being IFP, Queensryche - Revolution Calling being ENP and Therion - Dreams of Swedenborg sounding NJ. :)
 

quietgirl

New member
Joined
Sep 29, 2007
Messages
401
MBTI Type
INFJ
I am getting a strong Fi, probably coupled with Se, vibe from this song:

YouTube - Alanis Morissette - Uninvited

Speaking of Alanis, this song always struck me as Fe from both the view of the person caring about the other & the person it is describing (and the person it describes seems to have the Ni perfectionism - I totally related to it throughout high school)...

Mary Jane by Alanis Morissette

Whats the matter mary jane, you had a hard day
As you place the dont disturb sign on the door
You lost your place in line again, what a pity
You never seem to want to dance anymore

Itsa long way down
On this roller coaster
The last chance streetcar
Went off the track
And youre on it

I hear youre counting sheep again mary jane
Whats the point of trying to dream anymore
I hear youre losing weight again mary jane
Do you ever wonder who youre losing it for

Well its full speed baby
In the wrong direction
Theres a few more bruises
If thats the way
You insist on heading

Please be honest mary jane
Are you happy
Please dont censor your trears

Youre the sweet crusader
And youre on your way
Youre the last great innocent
And thats why I love you

So take this moment mary jane and be selfish
Worry not about the cars that go by
All that matters mary jane is your freedom
Keep warm my dear, keep dry

Tell me
Tell me
Whats the matter mary jane
 

mpn

New member
Joined
Oct 11, 2007
Messages
10
MBTI Type
INTP
VNV Nation = INTJ?

VNV Nation - Entropy
(Lyrics)

The way their music is layered... you can cleanly pull apart the vocals from the music under it. It's like he/they thought it out thoroughly before sitting down and actually composing it. The music has a Te quality -- like all the sounds have a certain meaning. This while the lyrics seem Ni...

In general, the electronic genre seems a good place to look for "NT" music.
 

am_i_evil666

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Apr 3, 2008
Messages
325
i believe all 50 cent videos are very Se.
also, i think metallica's Nothing else matters is INFP.
what about Unforgiven II?? i think it is INFJ, but i have my doubts.
 

Blackmail!

Gotta catch you all!
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Mar 31, 2008
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ENTP
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7w8

Blackmail!

Gotta catch you all!
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Mar 31, 2008
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7w8

moonlit_reveries

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Apr 30, 2008
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INFJ
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4w3
For me, classical music is Ni, because it's so abstract, and produces imagery in your mind. The tone of music affects your inner impressions and the mental images in your head because of it are nothing directly related to the objective world.

Same goes for any foreign language music, where you cannot understand the words. And since you can't understand them, your subjective interpretation will more likely be of things completely unrelated.

Certain tones of music make you think of flowers and gardens, other tones make you think of demons and monsters.


I completely agree and you pinpointed one of the reasons I love classical music so much. I like that it's so abstract and leaves your imagination to create the imagery and tell the story. I'm classically trained music major with a good background in theory and how it put together so usually when I'm listening, my mind can becoming very analytical and perhaps I'm using introverted thinking when I'm listening in this way. However, my favorite way to listen is in the Ni way you just described. With classical music, I also use Se sometimes and just lose myself in the moment, enjoying the tone colors, the intensity of the louds and just the pure sensory experience.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
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Apr 19, 2007
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50,192
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BELF
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I completely agree and you pinpointed one of the reasons I love classical music so much. I like that it's so abstract and leaves your imagination to create the imagery and tell the story.

Which is what makes me smile... because it seems very clear that the music itself is NOT *Ni*... Ni is what Uber is bringing to the table. It seems that beauty is in the ear of the belistener.

An Se person listening to classical music would be focused on the Se qualities primarily, an Si person might be experiencing past memories tied to specific music or moods related to it, and so on.

The music itself -- the physics of it -- is very much predictable and describable by scientific law. A particular string vibrates at a particular resonance. And music theory is all about how music seems to "naturally" fit together... although now we veer into various cultural approaches to music. (Western music has one approach, other cultures can use quarter tones and other "oddities" to us in a natural way that we don't perceive, etc. So perhaps even that is not concretely defined?)

In any case, it seems like the music is just sensation, a vibration that travels to our ears and into our bodies... and it's the particular wiring of the individual that determines the type of reaction we have to it. Some people will dance with the drums, others (some of them here have even talked about it) view it as an evil incarnate because of the havoc it wreaks on their sensibilities.

SO music is not really inherently anything function-wise except for the physical phenomena itself -- it's all about perception.

All that being said, I actually enjoyed watching Fantasia I & II (which is basically interpretations of classical music), and I enjoy listening to any sort of music and envisioning things along with it. I think classical music, or music in a foreign language if there are actual words in the music, is easier to form one's own mental pictures along with; as soon as intelligible words enter the picture, our thoughts are shaped by them and we lose some options within our own imagination. (Thus classical music is well-suited for someone to practice their Ni sensibilities... if they already have that inclination.)
 
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