Quite some time ago, Glen Goetze asked me about sad songs, for which publication I cannot remember,
1. What are your earliest memories of music?
The Beatles's "Yellow Submarine". The Hollies "The Air That I Breathe". Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. Musicals like High Society and West Side Story. T.Rex, Gary Glitter, Sparks, The Sweet.
2. When was the last time music made you cry?
I can't remember. There are certain songs that infallibly make my eyes brim over, like The Smiths's "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". Often though it's not the emotional content of a song so much as the sheer grandeur of it. I have teared up at certain Kraftwerk songs for that reason, just awe at the majesty,the glory of it. Not just the splendor of sound but the vision and spirit behind "Autobahn" and "Trans-Europe Express" in particular. "Neon Lights" and "Computer Love" are more poignant songs, melodically and emotionally, but I don't think they've have the tear-jerking effect.
3. What connotates sadness in music to you? Is it particular instruments, particular chords, something about the circumstances around the music?
Hard to say. Minor keys, a certain kind of tremulousness of texture. Not so much dolorousness of vocal tone, and not theatricalised grief, on the whole. I'd be more affected, by and large, by the non-demonstrative voice. "Pink Frost" by The Chills is a good example. Rather than the blatantly sad or sorrowful, the most moving songs are often more ambivalent or shaded. Is "Whispering Pines" by The Band a sad song, or just yearning? Is "Solid Air" by John Martyn a sad song, or more pained empathy for a lost and suffering friend?
4. If you really want to wallow in your own misfortune what records do you reach for?
I can't remember the last time I did this, which either indicates that I'm pretty happy, or that I've learned that it doesn't work (like trying to drown your sorrows with alcohol)..
I think if you are really emotionally devastated, you'd probably have a gut self-preservation instinct not to try to make it any worse by listening to depressing music. The truly bad times in my life don't have any soundtrack, at least as I recall those times. Music was irrelevant.
5. Is there any music you can think of that isn’t particularly sad but provokes sad feelings or memories for you? Why?
New Order's "Thieves Like Us" makes me wistful about a relationship that didn't work out, because it soundtracked the short period of intense happiness we had together.
There's probably other examples. Very joyous music like Nineties rave tunes, or certain early things by The Aphex Twin, make me feel wistful precisely because those were such exciting, euphoric times. Any good memory is going to have that poignant twinge as it recedes further into the past, so music that is entwined with good memories will cause you to ache a little bit. Eventually that will mean that most music you love will have a tinge of sadness about it, I suppose.
6. Why is sad music so good?
It's that "parting is such sweet sorrow" thing, isn't it? The rapture that's the same as grief. Feeling something intense, even if painful, is better than feeling numb or neutral.
7. Have you ever considered what kind of music you would want played at your funeral?
No.
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7. updated
I guess back whenever this was, mortality wasn't such a pressing presence in my consciousness, but subsequently I have indeed considered what kind of music I'd like played at my funeral (not that it is imminent - as far as I know, anyway).
Candidates would include John Barry's main theme from "Walkabout", particular tunes (you know them, the obviously best ones) from Budd / Eno's The Plateaux of Mirror, Seefeel "Time To Find Me (AFX slow mix)", Saint Etienne "London Belongs To Me", Henri Sauguet's "Aspect Sentimental", the pretty ones from Aphex Selected Ambient 2, Cocteau Twins "Those Eyes, That Mouth", Tintern Abbey "Beeside", and a whole bunch other similarly dreamy-poignant-ethereal tunes. Other kinds of fave tunes (i.e. jungle, punk and postpunk, Krautrock, Miles) would be too lively, I think.
A record nerd to the last.... beyond the last, even.
4 comments:
The more doleful Sigur Ros tunes strike me as good funeral music. While any discussion of sad music also surely has to include Radiohead.
An interesting sub-genre is melancholic lyrics married to upbeat melodies - Springsteen is a famous candidate ("Glory Days" and even more infamously "Born in the USA"), see also Prince ("1999") The Mac ("Go Your Own Way"), Blondie ("Heart of Glass") etc
"London Belongs To Me" is an exquisite choice for a funeral track.
I don't know how to rate sad songs, really, because for me ostensibly "sad" pop songs are always kind of cathartic as long as they're good. Even the most melancholic contain some sense of uplift if they're beautifully crafted.
I suppose if I had to choose one it'd be the emotional sledgehammer of "I Know It's Over" (although I must add that in general the supposedly dour, depressing, mopey Smiths tracks are among my least favorite).
Of course, songs that are "sad" because they're associated with bits of our biography that other people don't know about are a separate category. I'm delighted to hear you loved "Thieves Like Us" at one point, despite its additional meaning for you. It contains some of my favorite New Order lyrics, guaranteed to bring a smile to my face no matter how many times I hear them: "I've lived my life in the valleys, I've lived my life on the hills/I've lived my life on alcohol, I've lived my life on pills." I've always been amazed that they released only one record in 1984, and just that lone 12" with two tracks was as satisfying as any full-length LP.
("Melancholic lyrics married to upbeat melodies" is pretty much all of New Order until the mid-90s, after which both "melancholic" and "upbeat" are beyond the reach of their increasingly banal lyrics.)
Anyway, my entry in this category is Paul Weller's "Time Passes" from "Stanley Road". Sigh, alas, whimper etc.
I guess I'm a bit surprised that you've gone for poignancy in your funeral selections. As someone who likes to think outside the box (geddit), I thought you indeed would have selected some post-punk, Miles or whatever. I'm a narcissist to the last, so I occasionally consider my options - I think I will settle on Stevie's Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
I'm being considerate. People attending my death rites will probably want to feel a combo of sadness and a sort of cushioning loveliness - the musical equivalent of a hug or someone wiping a tear from under your eye. Playing the Stooges or some tear-out jungle tune from 1994 would shatter the mood.
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