Tel Aviv, April 21 -- As Israel prepares to mark Memorial Day in the shadow of war, research released on Monday found that song lyrics serve as a powerful and specific tool for emotional coping, especially in times of collective trauma. The findings suggest that therapists can use song lyrics as tools in emotional regulation and grief processing.

The Hebrew University study, led by Professor Renana Peres and Adi Levy from the Business School, along with Professor Roni Granot from the Department of Musicology, examined over 2,800 songs that people identified as personally meaningful during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The research found a strong, consistent connection between the lyrical content of these songs and the emotional goals of l...