Love At First Lyric
Love At First Lyric
Nowadays, online dating is extremely common, as more and more people meet through apps like Tinder. Yet those relationships are often superficial, based solely on proximity and physical appearance. We all know there’s more to love than that — and certain users of Sing!, a mobile karaoke app from Smule, are falling for each other through the power of song, even across great distances.
While the science of music’s effects is still something of a mystery, recent studies have showed that dopamine floods our brains when listening to songs we love.
So the question becomes: When such a powerful physiological response occurs during a duet, does it pack the same punch as a Cupid’s arrow.
We may never know for sure. But something similarly as potent struck Laura Gibson and Jared Delariman after she encountered him singing “I Will Survive” in a ridiculous falsetto on Sing! Confined to her family home in Andover, Massachusetts because of Lyme disease — the symptoms of which are fever, chills, fatigue and body aches — Laura, 27, began using the app to keep herself amused and creative, and joined in Jared’s kooky rendition of the Gloria Gaynor classic.
“We started singing together, because lying in bed sick, you want to do fun things and be silly,“ she recalled.
The pair quickly solidified their friendship through their sense of humor and zest for life, even though Jared, 45, was almost 1,000 miles away in Chicago and much older. They began chatting online and then on the phone before finally meeting. Now they live together in Boston, where they are planning a wedding and expecting a baby boy.
They’re not the only ones. Jennifer Gutierrez and Juan Gonzalez were members of the same Smule community when they started singing duets after Juan was involved in a car accident.
“I fell in love with her voice, and we’ve been singing together ever since,” Juan recalled. “Although I’m pretty sure if she was terrible, I’d still like her.”
The connection was so strong that Jennifer moved from Florida to Texas to be with Juan. They too have a baby on the way. The couple tied the knot in January.
However music affects our brains and emotions, it just might have the ability to make us fall in love. Without Smule, neither couple would be together.
“There’s something about music and singing with somebody you really connect with,“ Jared said. “It’s very easy to become friends with someone you sing with a lot faster than meeting someone on an app.”
“Singing karaoke like this is doing something you love with people across the world and getting to know their personalities,“ Laura said. “We weren’t putting on airs. It’s a totally organic and natural way to meet someone who’s not anywhere near you. I’m not a totally irrational person, but it was just right, and it was all because of the app.”
