Occasionally while listening to some music, reading a novel, watching a movie, or doing something else, you will become overwhelmed with emotion and experience some strange sensations for a few seconds to a few minutes. The title of this node might be a bit misleading, as it is not really a 'trip' in the conventional sense, but it is close to that.
This happens to me most often when listening to music. It is triggered by a particularly great chord progression, melody line, lyric, noise, or a lot of these at once. It is also often at a (or the) climax of a song. I get a numbness all over my body, lose orientation, and am completely consumed in the music. Sometimes it even leads to spontaneous crying. Maybe the experience varies for some people, and maybe some people have never felt this at all, and think I am just a raving nutter. But it is a great experience.
It only really happens in rock, classical, alternative styles of music, and a lot more others that are without a specific genre. Songs that do it for me consistently include: Radiohead Exit Music (for a film) during the climax near the end. Radiohead Lucky when it hits that high note on "Glooorius Day..." That song has brilliant lyrics. Massive Attack Angel when the distorted guitar bit starts. Ben Folds Five Regrets when it changes to that huge orchestral bit after the pause. Pink Floyd on The Wall right when Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 begins after the buildup in The Happiest Days of Our Lives. If I just listen to Another Brick by itself, I never get it. And also Jeff Buckley's songs Grace and Satisfied Mind, because they are just damn beautiful songs.
I tend not to get this feeling when listening to Dance, Punk, Ska, Hip-hop, Funk, etc. because they tend to be more of a steady feeling for the length of the song, with few changes and climaxes.
If you over-listen to a song, or are analysing it, you don't get as deep into it. I was playing a song to a friend once. It was the first time he heard it, and the whole time he was saying "Ohh, they used a chorus on that backing voice. And they've over-dubbed the guitar parts. Lots of 9 chords." This kind of analysis is good, and almost impossible to avoid at times if you are a musician, but sometimes you just gotta sit back, stop thinking, and let the music do with you as it will.
I don't know if there is a proper name for this phenomenon, or why it really happens. But I like it. Today I was out painting the front fence, with to my discman. I was listening to OK Computer which I haven't listened to for about half a year now, as I over-listened to it and got sick of it. When it got to the bridge in Exit Music, I fell into this trance, and was standing there until the end of the song with the paint dripping on the footpath, moving with the music. People who saw me must've thought I was on something. Such is the power of great music.