Another Thought...

Does music create mood, or does the mood you're in choose the music?

I was going to say I instantly know the answer to this...then I started writing and realised it's not that easy.
Lately I've been a bit...down, shall we say. Lot's of things have happened, a good friend died before Xmas, another good friend took his own life in January. Sales have reduced drastically at my full time job, necessitating a temporary wage cut...just at the time when I'm investing a lot of money in my first exhibition. With that wage cut came a cut in hours - but still the same amount of quotes etc to be prepared...so I've been doing almost as many hours...just for less money! Add the stress of preparing for my first exhibition...and the worry no-one will turn up and you can see why I've been struggling.
The musical background to this has been a lot of atmospheric/melancholic prog/rock - Pink Floyd, Riverside, Opeth, Anathema...you know the kind of music.
Now, instantly you can say, well, he's chosen that music to suit his mood - question answered...until I actually thought about it I would have agreed with you.

But...
Listening to those bands relaxes me, enables me to clear my head space, to focus on something other than daily trials and tribulations - so it's not quite that simple...
Then factor in the other thought - that when I'm angry (actually, make that fuming) I'll often put something very aggressive on - usually a compilation of Slipknot, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit (Break Stuff being the best soundtrack to anger - bar none!) etc.....and after about 3 or 4 tracks it will often help the anger dissipate, as though singing along releases the rage....

So

Which is it??

You tell me........