WHEN it comes to getting a baby to stop crying, most will resort to singing or playing lullabies or calming classics in a bid to bring the noise down.
But is it true that there's a rock song that can do a better job at this than anything from Mother Goose's discography?
Verdict:
MAYBE
It was recently discovered that a theme song from a 1990s Japanese drama has the ability to calm a crying infant.
Ironically, titled "Poison", the song mysteriously gets children up to two years old to immediately stop crying as soon as it is played.
The theme song to the 1998 hit Japanese drama series, "Great Teacher Onizuka" (GTO) by Takashi Sorimachi has been tried, tested and vouched for by experts and proven to have this ability.
Not so poisonous after all huh?
Although the man well known for his role as Eikichi Onizuka admitted to being aware of the song's hidden power, he wasn't really sure why and to what extent.
In a video on Sorimachi's agency Ken-On's YouTube channel, he was shown clips of children from several countries including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and the United States - all of which would stop wailing as soon as "Poison" began to play.
According to the Japan Acoustic Research Institute, the song's melody is very stimulating to babies and the frequency shifts a lot and grabs their attention.
Tabling its analysis to Sorimachi, it said the other factor is in the chorus.
"The melody is in a high register, but Sorimachi's low-sounding voice is 'flat' and resonant, it calms the baby," it explained.
The 48-year-old Sorimachi said he wished he had known about the song's magic when his daughters - now in high school and junior high - were still little.
"This song is going to help mothers all over the world, isn't it?
"I was 25 years old when I sang the theme song. It's been more than 20 years since then. I'm happy to think that my work continues to help others," Sorimachi said.
References:
1. https://youtu.be/V1HCT9TqS2c
2. https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp.e.ck.hp.transer.com/plus/lifestyle/entry/2020/021535.html
