Nurturing Spirit Acupuncture Healing ~ Growth ~ Vitality

5 Element Music Playlists

Welcome to my Five Element playlist project! In Chinese medicine, we observe that the energies of the Five Elements show up in nature, in our bodies and emotions, and in all aspects of our lives, including the music we create.

I decided to start compiling playlists of music that expresses the energy of each of the Five Elements as a fun way for people to explore and learn about each of the Elements. Listening to music that expresses the energy of a particular Element can put you in touch with that Element within yourself. It can get your emotions and your body moving in powerfully healing ways. I hope you enjoy experiencing Five Element Medicine in musical form!

I'll put links to each playlist here. You can scroll down the page to read more about the energetic nature of each element and how it shows up in music.

Wood playlist / Fire playlist / Earth playlist / Metal playlist / Water playlist

Wood / Spring

coming Spring 2026

Fire / Summer

Click Here for Fire Element Music!

Happy Summer Solstice! 🌞 In the Chinese calendar, this longest day of the year represents peak Summer, the season of the Fire Element. 🔥

The Fire Element is all about joy, warmth, and relationships. Fire draws us in and brings us closer to each other. It can show up as the intimate flicker of candlelight 🕯️, the warm glow of a family hearth, the welcoming campfire at the center of a circle of friends, or the festive blaze of a community bonfire 🔥. When we are outside the reach of its warmth, we may feel cold and isolated. All these qualities of Fire (and its absence) can show up in our lives, in our bodies and emotions, and in how we express ourselves.

In the spirit of the Summer Solstice, I had a flash of inspiration ⚡ and got all fired up to share the essence of the Fire Element with all of you in a fun, new way. 🎉 So here is the result, my Chinese medicine-inspired playlist of songs that give Fire Element energy. 🎼🎶💃🕺 Each of these songs illuminates some aspect of the Fire Element and how we humans experience it. Not every song will be to everyone's taste, but I wanted to shed light on how the Fire Element energy shows up in music across different eras and genres. You can listen straight through, or bounce around until you land on something that speaks to you. I hope you have fun tuning in and exploring your Fiery side!

Listening to Fire music can put you in touch with the Fire Element within yourself. You can use it as medicine to cheer yourself up and bring back your sparkle, to put yourself in a romantic mood, or to keep you company through times of heartache.

So what makes a song a Fire Element song? Here are some key features:

- Themes: The Fire Element has everything to do with relationships, especially romantic ones. Fire songs tell stories of friendship, infatuation, flirtation, love, intimacy, trust, betrayal, heartbreak, loneliness, and the search for true love ♥️. When we're in our Fire energy, we want to feel desirable, alluring, and beautiful, so these ideas are hot topics in Fire music. The ways in which we open ourselves up or close ourselves off to love also come up frequently. Summertime, sunshine ☀️, warmth, the color red, and fire itself are often mentioned. Our inner Fire is the source of the light that we shine into the world, so lyrics sometimes speak of sharing our light, or of feeling shy about allowing ourselves to shine and be seen. Expressions of joy and connection - smiles, laughter, dancing, and partying - are often part of the story.

- Emotional Flavor: A lot of Fire Element music is happy, upbeat music that expresses joy, light-heartedness, humor, fun, excitement, passion, and desire 💕. Often, you can hear the smile in the singer's voice 😃. These songs have a playful, jaunty quality and you'll frequently hear major chords used to convey brightness and warmth. The flip side is that Fire music can also express lovelorn feelings of loneliness and yearning for love 💙. With these songs, you can hear and feel the vulnerability and longing being expressed in the music 🥹. Sometimes there is a mix of both, with lyrics about trying to put on a happy face even in the midst of heartbreak 😂. If you listen to enough Fire music, you'll get the whole range of feelings that can come with falling in love from nervous excitement and elation to heartbreak and melodrama!💘 🎢

- Movement: Fire music moves in a flickering, bouncy way just like the flames of a fire do. A lot of it has a very light, "pop-y" feel to it. Often, you'll hear fluctuating highs and lows as the fire energy builds up, fades, and comes roaring back. Just as the heat from a fire rises, the musical phrasing in these songs feels like it is always seeking to go upward. People instinctively tend to dance to Fire music with bouncy movements and hands in the air, or else in a romantic slow-dance embrace.

- Body Connections: In Chinese medicine, the organs associated with Fire are the Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium (aka the Heart Protector), and Triple Heater (the Triple Heater manages our temperature regulation). All of these organs have meridians that run along the arms and hands, so they relate to how we reach out to draw others in 🤗 or push them away 🖐️. In Fire songs, you'll hear lots of mentions of hearts 💞, heartbeats 💓, arms, hands, pulses, "feeling the heat," fevers 🌡️, blushing 😊, and burning ❤️‍🔥. In Chinese medicine, we say that the light of the heart shines out through the eyes, so sparkling eyes ✨😍 get mentioned, too.

In the words of Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton, I wish you joy and happiness! I hope you have fun playing with Fire music and exploring the Fire Element in your life through this Fire Element playlist, or any other Fire music you feel drawn to. Also, feel free to share this with anyone else who might enjoy it.

How do you feel after all that Fire music? Does feeling joyful come naturally and easily, or is it a struggle? Does it feel like too much excitement? Is there a lingering heartache that needs some healing? If you feel like your Fire energy needs some warming up, cooling down, or balancing out, book yourself an acupuncture appointment and let me know - I've got points for that!

Earth / Late Summer

Click Here for Earth Element Music!

I hope you are all savoring the bounty of late Summer, the season of the Earth Element! 🌎 The Earth element is associated with the transitional times between seasons, presiding over the rhythmical cycle of transformation from one season into another. It is particularly associated with the transition that is happening now, as Summer begins to transform into Autumn.

The Earth is our home, sheltering and feeding us like a nurturing mother. In Chinese medicine, the Earth Element is all about providing a sense of home and hospitality, producing abundant nourishment, offering up a taste of sweetness, and ensuring that the needs of all are met equally. At this time of year, the Earth bestows bumper crops of tomatoes 🍅, peppers 🫑, zucchini, sweet corn 🌽, melons 🍈, and peaches 🍑 to fill the shelves at stores and markets. In the hot, humid weather, we may feel a bit heavier and move a bit more slowly. With full bellies and slower movements, we tend to feel peaceful and at ease. ☺️ With our own needs met, we are able to generously and thoughtfully tend to the needs of others, which leads to greater harmony in our community. ☮️

In the spirit of the Earth Element, I'm excited to share my Chinese-medicine inspired playlist of songs that express Earth Element energy. 🎼🎶 Each of these songs embodies some aspect of the Earth Element and how we humans experience it. Earth can show up in the environment in diverse ways - as mountains, valleys, plains, marshes, deserts, or meadows. Similarly, Earth energy can show up in music in a wide variety of ways. Not every song on the list will be to everyone's taste, but I wanted to share how Earth energy expresses itself in music across different eras, genres, and parts of the world. You can listen from start to finish, roll through until you land on something that speaks to you, or put it on shuffle and see what flavor of Earth music the universe serves up for you. I hope you have fun listening and digging into your Earthy-ness! 🌎

So what makes a song an Earth Element song? Here are some key features:

The tl/dr version:

Earth music is rhythmical, harmonious, and lilting, characterized by repetitive musical patterns. It gets you moving your hips and feet with grounded, circular movements and repeating steps. Vocals tend to be earnest and soulful and often the songs tell a story. Common themes are home, hospitality, food, caring for the land and our community, having sympathy for our fellow humans, bearing life's burdens, savoring the sweetness in life, living with integrity and humility, and transformational change that happens over time.

Earth music is medicine 💊 you can use to bring more of the Earth Element into your life. It's your go-to musical prescription when you want to feel more at home 🏠, reconnect with a sense of harmonious community and shared humanity 🤝🫂, dig into processing your deepest thoughts and emotions 🤔, gather the strength to carry on 💪🦵, move your hips on the dance floor💃🕺, or just to savor the moment and soothe your soul with peaceful, easy feelings 😌🕊️.

So give the Earth playlist a listen and notice what the music brings up for you. Do you find that you could use some support for your ability to digest well and feel fully energized? Do you have trouble slowing down enough to savor the fruits of your labors? Are worry and rumination wearing you down? Are you feeling overburdened by too many tasks, overloaded with too much information, or overwhelmed with emotions that feel too difficult to process? Do you need more grounding? Are you craving more sweetness, peace, and harmony? If any of that is true for you, there are wonderful acupuncture points that can be treated to help you regain the strength, ease, and peace of mind (and gut) that come from a healthy Earth Element. Book an appointment for your Earth tune-up here.

Now, if you want to nerd out and dig even deeper into the Earth Element and its music, read on...

Themes:
- The Earth is humanity's home, so the lyrics of many Earth songs deal with themes of feeling at home, whether in a particular place or within yourself. Earth music may also center around hospitality and creating a sense of home for others, whether by providing food and comfort, creating a cozy space, or gathering a harmonious community. ("Sweet Appalachia," "Our House," "Room on the Porch," "Peaceful Place," Jack Johnson's "Home," and "Be Our Guest" are good examples).

- The Earth's harvest is the source of nourishment that gives us the energy and strength to face each day and bear whatever burdens fall to us. When we are well fed and cared for by the Earth and our community, life feels easier. Themes of life and work feeling easy or hard, how we carry and share our burdens, and having the strength to keep going often show up in Earth music. (Listen to "Twenty Five MIles" if you need a boost to keep you going, or "Easy on Me" or "Try a Little Tenderness" if you need some soothing and ease).

- The Earth generously provides us with all that we need to live, so themes of recognizing and meeting the needs of all beings are common. Being useful and of service to others is an important Earth Element value. (Check out Jewel's "Hands," or "We are the World").

- One of the archetypes of the Earth Element is the Peacemaker, so themes of ending conflict and bringing people together in peace and harmony often show up in Earth music. ("I Believe in Music" and "Peace, Love, and Understanding" reflect this).

- The way that the Earth shelters us, nourishes us, and nurtures our growth over time relates to the Earth archetype of the Mother, so you'll often find images of Mother Earth, "Earth Mamas," and mothering in general in Earth music. Many lullabies and children's songs are Earth songs, sung to soothe them or to help them to learn and grow. (Beyonce's "Protector" is a fabulous example).

- The Earth Element governs the transitions from each season into the next, moving us smoothly through the cycles of seasons and throughout the years. For this reason, Earth music contains circular and repetitive patterns and often refer to cyclical time and the transformations we undergo as we travel through the cycles in our lives. ("Turn, Turn, Turn," - need I say more?)

- Earth energy doesn't shy away from weighty topics, so its themes often dig deep into heavy social issues or difficult emotions, seeking to get down to the honest truth of the matter, even if it's not pretty. In characteristic Earth music style, these heavy messages are often delivered in the form of lilting, melodious vocals and catchy rhythms, which makes the hard issues easier to swallow. ("A Change is Gonna Come" and "Streets of Philadelphia" are standouts here).

- Late summer, the season most associated with the Earth element, is a time to slow down and savor the delicious fruits and veggies that are ripe and abundant this time of year. Earth music often celebrates stopping to savor the good things in life - whether in the form of good food, the world's beauty, or pleasant experiences. (Willie Nelson's "A Beautiful Time" is a good example).

Emotional Flavor:
- The emotions associated with Earth in Chinese medicine are sympathy and pensiveness. When Earth emotions are in balance, we are thoughtful, considerate, and supportive of others and of ourselves. We are able to claim what we need, feel nourished and energized by it, and then give generously to others from our surplus. We are community-minded, prizing peace and harmony. All of these emotional qualities (or laments about their absence) frequently appear in Earth music. (Michael Franti's "Little Things" and "Work Hard and Be Nice to People" are all about this).

- Seeking to understand and to be understood are key Earth qualities, so the lyrics of Earth songs often deal with processing thoughts and feelings, digging down deep to get to their roots, and facing up to the good, the bad, and the ugly so that we can learn and grow. (Think Adele's "Hello," Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt," or Norah Jones' "What Am I to You?")

- When Earth emotions are out of balance, we can be selfish, unkind, and inconsiderate on one end of the spectrum, or self-martyring, ingratiating, and unable to ask for or receive what we need at the other end of the spectrum. Out of balance Earth emotions can also show up as overthinking, worry, rumination, and obsession. (These emotional themes come up in songs like "Worry, Worry, Worry," "I Can't Forget You," "Windmills of Your Mind," and "Obsesion.")

- When it comes to relationships, Earth energy tends to focus on community and humanity, so many Earth songs encourage brotherly and sisterly love. In the context of romantic relationships and love songs, Earth energy shows up as sweetness, steadiness, loyalty, understanding, and sharing each others' burdens through tough times. (For example, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" and "Everyday People" are all about community, while "Lollipop," "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You," Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover," and Cecily's "Steady" are all about how Earth shows up in intimate connections).

- Integrity is the virtue associated with the Earth element, so living with your beliefs, words, and actions in alignment is an important theme. Honesty, humility, and humanitarianism are other key Earth values that frequently make their way into Earth music. (Lionel Richie's "Easy" and The Eagles' "Lyin' Eyes" describe what it looks like when integrity does or doesn't show up in relationships, and Sharon Jones sings about humility and integrity in "Humble Me.")

Musicality:
- Earth music tends to have rhythmical, repetitive, and lilting qualities. Beats are often syncopated and complex, or they may have a "walking rhythm" that feels like the pace of travelling by foot over the earth. You'll also hear gentle rhythms, the kind that sound just right for rocking a baby.

- Just as the cycles of seasons repeat over and over as the earth orbits and spins, Earth music often has repetitive rhythmic and melodic patterns that give you the sense of moving in circles. Singing in rounds is a particularly Earthy musical style. (Scott Joplin's "Elite Syncopations" and Pachelbel's Canon both move in a circular way, and "Dona Nobis Pacem" is a beautiful round for peace).

- The melodies and vocals generally have a lilting, sing-song, or prosodic quality, with notes spiraling up and down the scales. One strong clue that you're listening to an Earth vocalist is if they routinely fit multiple musical notes into one vowel sound (I'm looking at you Sam Cooke, Billy Joel, Norah Jones, and Beyonce).

- The Earth energy is one of harmony, smoothing out the transitions between the seasons of all the other elements, so harmonizing - bringing multiple voices together in a pleasing way - is a popular vocal style in Earth music. Call and response patterns are another feature of Earth music that builds a sense of community between singers and audience members. (DC's own go-go music is a great example of rhythmically complex music that uses call and response, so check out Chuck Brown's "Funky Beat" to hear that in action)

- Because integrity and honesty are such key earth values, Earth vocalists will often have an intense sense of earnestness, even soulfulness, in their singing as they dig deep to make their feelings understood.

Movement:
- Overall, Earth music has a sense of roundness to it, and so people tend to dance to Earth music with curving, circular, spiraling movements.

- The grounded, centered nature of Earth energy in music gets people moving the centers of their bodies, so you'll see lots of hip movement, like in bellydancing or salsa dancing. (Listen to "Oye Como Va," "El Menu," or "Zeina" to get your hips in motion).

- The repetitive quality of Earth music lends itself to dances with repeated steps like salsa, meringue, waltzing, and many styles of folk dancing, which are often done with a community of people gathered in a circle. ("Frangosirani" is a classic Greek song for folk dancing done in a big community circle).

- Just like the ground beneath our feet, Earth energy is solid, steady, and slow to get moving. Once in motion, though, it can move with incredible force and momentum like a landslide or an earthquake. (Edwin Star's iconic and impassioned protest songs "War" and "Stop the War Now" are examples of this kind of forceful Earth movement expressed in music).

Body Connections:
- In Chinese medicine, the organs associated with the Earth Element are the Stomach and the Spleen/Pancreas. The Stomach is responsible for receiving and breaking down our food and the Spleen is responsible for transforming those nutrients into energy and into the blood and flesh of our physical bodies. These organ systems enable us to taste delicious food, feel the satisfaction of a full belly, and then use that nourishment to grow in size, strength, and energy. That's why Earth music will often have lyrics about food, hunger, growth, and feeling strong enough to carry on (or not).

- On a mental and emotional level, the Stomach and Spleen are responsible for taking in information and experiences, analyzing them, processing them, and transforming them into new knowledge and understanding that supports our intellectual and spiritual development. Being able to transform and integrate all that life brings us, the sweet and the bitter, the easy and the hard, is key to how we heal, grow, and evolve. (U2's "Grace" and Van Morrison's "Transformation" speak to this theme).

- The meridians associated with the Stomach and Spleen run through the legs, pelvis, and abdomen, strengthening the muscles in our bodies that allow us to stand firm and carry ourselves forward. Earth music lyrics often mention having the strength to stand firm and to carry on, or encourage you to get up and move your hips on the dance floor. (Check out "Lean on Me" for standing firm and "Hips Don't Lie" for getting that pelvis in motion).

- Finally, having a singing or sing-song quality to one's speaking voice is associated with Earth energy. So the very act of singing, and particularly singing together harmoniously in community, is, itself, an expression of the Earth Element.

Whew! Congratulations to anyone who read all of that! You've shown true Earthy-ness in your desire for knowledge and understanding! I hope this exploration serves you well as you continue growing and transforming into the very happiest, healthiest version of yourself!

Metal / Autumn

Click here for Metal Element Music!

Today is the Autumnal Equinox, when the number of hours of daylight and darkness are equal. Autumn, the season associated with the Metal element, carries us down from the peak of summer's hot, yang energy toward the depths of winter's chilly yin. Leaves are beginning to turn glorious colors🍂🍁 and fall to the ground as the trees prepare for the cold and quiet by letting go of all that isn't essential. This Metal time of year supports us in letting go of the things in our lives that we no longer need or that we cannot hold onto. This can feel melancholy as we grieve our losses, and also enormously liberating as we let go of "dead weight" in our lives and make space to receive fresh, new experiences.

Autumn, with its falling leaves and waning sunlight, reminds us that all things come to an end. This impermanence is precisely what gives value to the things we treasure. They are precious because we know they won't last forever. As we face this inevitability, it is natural to reflect on deaths and endings and what survives after them - our memories and mementos of people and things lost to us and our connection to the Divine (whatever we consider that to be). It is not surprising that Autumn is traditionally considered to be a season when there is closer communication with the supernatural 🔮 and the spirit realm 👻. This is why cultures across the world have chosen this time of year to celebrate holidays like Samhain 🦉🐈‍⬛, Halloween 🎃🧟, All Souls' Day 🪦🕯️, and Dia de Los Muertos 💀🌹.

As a season, the energy of Metal is expressed as Autumn. In the outer world, Metal shows up as minerals, crystals , gems 💎, precious stones, and, of course, metals like iron, gold, and silver. In our physical bodies, the Metal organs and functions include the Lungs 🫁 and Large Intestine 💩, the skin, the immune system, and the sense of smell. The emotion associated with Metal is grief. The major themes of the Metal Element are death and impermanence, grief and loss, holding on and letting go, value and wealth, preciousness vs worthlessness, sacredness vs profanity, purity vs impurity, and a feeling of connection to vs disconnection from the Divine.

In the spirit of the Metal Element, I'm excited to share my 🎶Metal music playlist🎶 Each of these songs epitomizes some aspect of the Metal Element and the wide variety of ways we humans experience it. Not every song on the list will be to everyone's taste, but I wanted to help you explore the Metal element by showing how Metal energy expresses itself in music across different eras, genres, and parts of the world. You can listen from start to finish, float through until you land on something that resonates, or hit shuffle and put your faith in the cosmic DJ. I hope you enjoy listening and connecting to your own Metal energy.

⚠️ Some songs in this playlist contain explicit lyrics. I've chosen "clean" versions whenever I could, but rebelliousness and transgression are part of the Metal experience, so some songs' lyrics are not safe for work or young listeners.

So what makes a song a Metal Element song? Here are some key features:

The tl/dr version:

Metal music is the realm of sinners and saints, mourners and spiritual seekers. It explores both our spiritual feelings and our animal impulses. It deals with what we value most highly and what we find worthless and disgraceful. On one end of the Metal spectrum is the reverent, respectable, rule-following, white-robed, hymn singing good boy / good girl 😇. This Metal type seeks spiritual connection with the Divine and embraces only what is pure and righteous. On the other end of the spectrum is the irreverent, disreputable, rebellious, leather-jacketed, rock'n'roll bad boy / bad girl 😎 🎸. This Metal type reacts to feeling cut off from the Divine and from society by breaking taboos and embracing things that are considered impure, tainted, or dirty. Both types sing about life on their respective ends of that spectrum, and also about the universal human experiences of spirituality, magic, wonder, awe, nostalgia, longing, grief, loss, impermanence, and death.

Metal music can be spiritually elevating, or it can be down and dirty. It's often characterized by the use of minor keys and musical phrasing that descends from high to low, creating a melancholy tone. It may have a funky, heavy bass line or a spacious, resonant quality. You'll hear instruments made out of metal, wind instruments, electric guitars, and all types of metallic, mechanical, and electronic sounds. Vocals tend to have a breathy and mournful quality. Vocalists may sound like they're on the verge of weeping, or like they're "tough as nails." Listeners instinctively respond to Metal music by dancing with downward movements or by taking a deep breath and settling into stillness.

Metal music as medicine 💊

You can use Metal music to connect with and explore Metal energy in your own life. Depending on which type of Metal music you choose, it can be the perfect musical prescription for connecting to your sense of spirituality, mysticism, and magic, or for expressing your edgy, rebellious side. It's music for break-ups, endings, and goodbyes. It can help you to feel your grief, have a good cry, honor what you've lost, and treasure what you still have. It can also help you to steel yourself to set boundaries and cut loose what no longer serves you. Ultimately, it's music for connecting to what you value most in yourself and in the world and letting go of the rest.

So give this Metal playlist a listen and notice what the music brings up for you. Does it remind you of old grief that still needs healing? Do you find yourself struggling to let go of things in your life that no longer serve you or that have become toxic? Conversely, do you find it challenging to recognize and hold onto the things that really matter to you? Do you struggle to feel connected with your own worth and treat yourself with respect? Do you have perfectionistic tendencies that hold you back? Could you use some divine inspiration? Do you have health issues that affect your breathing, your immunity, or your bowel movements? If any of that is true for you, your Metal Element might need some support. There are wonderful acupuncture points that can address all these issues so that you can breathe freely and feel divinely connected to the heavens, fight off pathogens and set boundaries more easily, and let go of what is toxic or no longer needed from your body and from your life. Book an appointment for your Metal tune-up here.

Now, if you want to sink even deeper into the magic of the Metal Element and its music, read on...

Themes:

- Autumn - Metal music often references Autumn and its falling leaves, gathering shadows, chilly air, and melancholy vibes.

- Symbols of value, wealth, and worth - Throughout history, crystals, gemstones 💎, and metals like silver and gold have been considered valuable. In addition to precious metals, luxury goods, jewelry 💍, crowns 👑, fancy cars 🏎️, expensive clothes 🎩, aristocratic titles, and other symbols of wealth and worth are all frequently mentioned in Metal music. Some artists celebrate these as true signs of value and others reject them, prizing humility, virtue, and spiritual values instead. The creation of many types of precious goods requires mining ⛏️👷 - hard and dirty work in the bowels of the earth followed by a process of refining away impurities. For this reason, Metal songs sometimes refer to mining and metal crafting or to the arduous process of perfecting and refining oneself in order to be seen as worthy or earn wealth.

- Sharp metal objects - Metal is unique in its capacity to be honed into sharp-edged blades🗡️, useful for cleanly cutting away anything we no longer need. Images of knives, swords, and blades often appear in Metal music.

- The heavens, heavenly bodies, and outer space - Our Lungs are our physical connection with the heavens, drawing in air from the sky to fill the space within. Heavenly bodies like the sun ☀️, moon 🌙, stars ⭐, and planets 🪐 have traditionally symbolized the Divine order. Metal song lyrics often refer to these themes and to the idea of flying through the sky 🪽 and exploring outer space 🚀.

- Connection to vs disconnection from the Divine - For our purposes here, we'll define "Divine" as whatever an individual believes to be the supreme, sacred force in the universe. Metal artists feel their connection to the Divine or alienation from it acutely and describe these feelings in their music.

- Religion, faith, deities, religious figures, spiritual leaders, sacred places, supernatural beings, mysticism, magic, and the occult - These are all aspects of how humans relate to the Divine, so Metal music is full of references to religion, God, angels, devils, saints, priests, priestesses, monks, nuns, mystics, witches, sorcerers, voodoo, magic, and enchantment.

- Death, the afterlife, ghosts, spirits, and things that haunt us - Metal music frequently grapples with the great spiritual mystery of death, what it means, and what parts of us live on after our bodies expire. Ghosts and spirits may show up in songs as actual spiritual entities 👻, or as memories or regrets from our past that linger on hauntingly.

- Endings, breakups, and goodbyes - Relationships or phases of life come to an end, sometimes by our choice and sometimes due to forces beyond our control. Metal musicians have recorded some of the best songs about breaking up, cutting ties, saying goodbye, and how we hold on or let go in the aftermath.

- Perfectionism vs. accepting our flaws - On one end of the Metal spectrum, artists sing about seeking connection with the Divine and a sense of worth by continually striving for ultimate perfection and berating themselves when they fall short. On the other end of the Metal spectrum, they may recognize that achieving perfection is impossible, reject its pursuit, and revel in their flaws and vices.

- Purity vs impurity - Our Metal organs, the Lungs and Large Intestine, deal with purity and impurity in our bodies. Thus, it stands to reason that Metal music often brings up themes of what society considers to be clean, wholesome, unspoiled, and appealing and what it considers to be dirty, rotten, tainted, and disgusting, both physically and morally.

- The importance of appearances - In the body, the Metal element governs the skin. In the outer world, gems and metals are used to create glittering surfaces that convey richness and luxury. Metal folks often seek to telegraph their worth by presenting a carefully curated exterior image with clothes, jewelry 📿, accessories 👜, and makeup 💄💅. This can be seen in how Metal artists present themselves, ranging from polished and glamorous on one end of the spectrum to rebelliously disheveled on the other end. Lyrics about beauty and personal image 🪞 are also common in Metal music.

- The color white - White is the color associated with Metal in Chinese medicine. In Metal music, we often hear the color white used as a symbol of purity and goodness. In contrast, darkness, blackness, and shadows evoke the ideas of impurity and sin.

- Freedom - Metal is literally, physically heavy. Death, impermanence, grief, religion, supernatural forces - these aspects of life that Metal folks feel so keenly - are heavy topics, Not surprisingly, people with predominant Metal energy feel that weight. It causes them to value lightness and the freedom to let go and move on without being held back by anyone else's rules or values.

- Cool vibes - The Metal character tends to be somewhat reserved and aloof, emotionally intense, quietly serious, intentional about their personal appearance, aware of their own worth, and dismissive of anything they feel is a waste of their time or energy. All together, these qualities tend to project an overall vibe of "coolness" that comes across in the music they make. 😎

Emotional Flavor:

- Grief and loss - In Chinese medicine, grief is the emotion associated with the Metal element. We experience grief when we lose something or someone that we value highly. When faced with loss, we must figure out how to let go of what we must and hold onto what we can. It's challenging to navigate, and it has inspired Metal musicians to compose requiems, laments, and songs honoring those they have loved and lost.

- Poignant appreciation of beauty - Because Metal folks are so aware that all things come to an end, they write music that celebrates ephemeral, transcendent moments of beauty and meaning. 🌠

- Loneliness - People with predominant Metal energy tend to be a bit reserved on the surface, while experiencing quite intense emotions within. Sometimes they find it difficult to let go and express their feelings in words. This can lead to a sense of loneliness and isolation that gets expressed in their music.

- Nostalgia - When things come to an end, we feel inclined to take a moment to look backwards. Nostalgia shows up in Metal songs as fond reminiscences of days past, melancholy longing for times past, regrets, or wistful wonderings about what might have been.

- A Metal kind of love - For Metal folks, the ideal relationship involves a connection that is both deeply spiritual and intensely physical, and Metal love songs celebrate both of these aspects of love 🤍🖤. Because of Metal's awareness that all things come to an end, themes of grief and loss are interwoven with love. If they're not actively mourning a love that's already lost, they're often anticipating the grief that they will feel when the relationship inevitably ends.

- Respect, dignity, pride, and self-worth - Treating others with respect is how we acknowledge their value. Behaving in a dignified, self-respecting way is how we acknowledge our own value. On one end of the Metal spectrum, some Metal artists make music about recognizing and standing firmly in their own self-worth. On the other end, they sing about feeling unworthy, experiencing self-loathing, and making destructive choices that show a lack of self-respect.

- Reverent & rule-following vs rebellious & naughty - Metal artists tend to fall into one of these two camps. Their music either respects and honors the prevailing social and moral values, or finds those values lacking and seeks to tear them down. This rebellion might look like breaking taboos, smashing icons, and using profanity, or it might look like aspiring to improve the world by replacing stale or "phony" moral rules with a truer spiritual connection.

- Throwing shade - Metal folks recognize quality and don't suffer fools gladly. They won't hesitate to throw shade when they disapprove of someone or something, perhaps with a withering glance, a cutting remark, or a dismissive gesture. Metal artists aren't shy about using their lyrics to cast aspersions or make digs at those who fail to meet their high standards.

Musicality:

- Space to breathe - The clear, empty space inside the Lungs is essential to their functioning. Metal artists often give their music a quality of spaciousness by using echoes and reverberation. They may also leave "negative space" in their music by allowing time for each note to resonate.

- Breath sounds - The Lungs are a Metal organ and they make themselves heard in Metal music through the breathy, almost hollow, quality of the singer's voice . Recordings may emphasize the sounds of the musicians' breath as they sing or play wind instruments. 🪈

- A weeping vocal quality - In Chinese medicine, the quality of voice associated with Metal is described as "weeping." Metal vocalists often sound as though they are on the verge of tears 😢. At times the sharp edge of Metal can also show up as a tougher, harsher tone.

- Minimalist and maximalist - Life is finite and precious. Some Metal musicians deal with this by slowing down the tempo and choosing a very spare recording style, stripping away everything that isn't essential. Others opt for a maximalist approach, speeding up and packing in as many notes and sounds as possible.

- Metal instruments - Metal music often features chimes, bells 🔔, or other instruments made of metal, electric guitars 🎸, or other metallic, mechanical, and electronic sound effects.

- Minor keys - Minor keys help to convey feelings or grief, loss, mournfulness, longing, or supernatural spookiness.

- Musical movement from high to low - Musical phrasing in Metal songs typically moves downward ⤵️, ending on a lower note. This reflects the descending energetic movement of Metal, just like the falling leaves of Autumn 🍂, and adds a sense of melancholy.

- Heavy bass - Funky, heavy bass lines often help to give Metal music a "down and dirty" feeling.

- References to religious music - Secular Metal music often makes reference to religious music, incorporating organs, bells 🔔, harps 🪉, choirs, or chants, or by using musical styles typically heard in religious music.

Movement:

- Gettin' down - The energetic movement of the Metal element is a slight lift, followed by a long descent, just like an Autumn leaf lifted on the wind as it falls from a branch. Listeners instinctively pick up on this in Metal music and respond by dancing with deep knee bends. Headbanging is another great example of this downward movement. Crowdsurfing mimics the movement of that Autumn leaf - letting go, free-falling out into space, and allowing oneself to be carried along. Dancers may also spread their arms to open their chests to the heavens or look up to the sky as if seeking divine connection.

- Reverence and stillness - The spiritual purity and exquisite, solemn beauty of some types of Metal music can cause the listener to settle into reverent stillness. It may even inspire another type of deep knee bend: prayerful genuflection.

- Elegance and grace - Metal performers tend to move with graceful, floating, gestures that briefly lift and then move downward. They carry themselves with a sense of seriousness and dignity. Even the rebellious ones have a sense of gravitas.

Body Connections:

- The Lungs & the Large Intestine - These are the organs associated with the Metal element in Chinese medicine. Our Lungs 🫁 inhale pure air from the Heavens, bring oxygen into our bodies to enrich our blood, and exhale the gasses we don't need 😤. Our Large Intestines absorb minerals and valuable nutrients and get rid of the waste and toxins 💩 that we don't need to hold onto.

- Breath - Breath and breathing show up in Metal music both in lyrics and as audible parts of the music itself.

- The sense of smell - In Chinese medicine, each element is associated with one of the five senses. Metal is associated with the sense of smell 👃, which makes sense both because it involves the nose and Lungs, and also because we use our sense of smell to discern what is clean and wholesome and what is dirty and rotten. Metal songs often include references to smells, whether pleasant or foul.

- The skin and immune system - These are governed by the Metal element as well. The skin and immune system establish a boundary between ourselves and the rest of the world, our first lines of defense in keeping out toxins and pathogens. Metal songs sometimes refer to beautiful skin as a symbol of purity and value. References to the immune system are more indirect, but some Metal songs do take on themes of poison, disease, and plague, either literally or as symbols of spiritual decay.

I hope this 🎶 musical exploration of the Metal Element 🎶 has enriched you in some way. I invite you to take from it whatever is valuable to you and to let go of the rest.

Water / Winter

coming winter 2025