Emo? Yeah, but not that long-sleeve-under-a-short-sleeve-nonsense
Every now and then I get a need to just submerge myself into a deep, blue pool of sad, sad song. Miserable, even. Almost never am I that depressed, myself. But for some reason it feels good to immerse myself in someone else’s dark blues, just for a listen or two, and empathize long enough for an errant tear or two to escape.
“I lost myself in sorrow,
I lost myself in pain.
I lost myself in gravity,
Memory leave,
Leave”
– R.E.M. – “Leave”
The idea of losing oneself in sorrow and pain that is strong as gravity, weighing you down – awesome and brilliant. Then urging Memory to leave – futile, desperate, weary, overwhelmed.
“…but this is the last day of our acquintance
I will meet you later in somebody’s office
I’ll talk but you won’t listen to me
I know your answer already”
– Sinead O’Connor – “The Last Day of Our Acquaintance”
What a fantastic and succinct way to describe the depressing inevitability of the end of a relationship for one who is still in love with their partner. They are powerless to say anything to change what is happening, and aware of it. That’s the blues, people.
Along those same lines, feeling powerless while you watch love leave…
“I can feel you slipping away
And I can’t think of anything to say
That will turn you around and make you stay
I can feel you slipping away, slipping away”
– Information Society – “Slipping Away”
OK, this one ain’t that profound, but it is still quietly sad.
“I’ve been down-hearted baby
Ever since the day we met”
– B.B. King – “How Blue Can You Get”
Wow. What a way to start a song. What a way to start a relationship.
Wow.
As I suggesteed, these situations aren’t mine, so I don’t sympathize. However, they are so powerfully written, I definitely feel I empathize. And that, my friend, is great art to be appreciated.
So , anyone have any really sad song lyrics to offer? No submissions of “WildFire”, however sad in its own 70s-country sort of way, will be accepted.
January 24th, 2006 at 11:52 am
When I was a little child, I once found a bird lying on the ground.
It would not ever fly again.
I held the bird up in my hands, I shed my tears over the lovely song that
not longer could be heard.
Never learn to fly.
With dirty hands I dug a hole and gently laid the bird to rest in soil:
a wound in the tear stained mud.
My tears wore rain as I revealed the secrets of a tree.
A cross of bark to speak through wooden grains:
“never learn to fly”
I sang a song which I remembered my grandma used to sing
for me, when I was sick and laid in bed.
Then I cursed that day for showing me my own mortality
for then I knew that all that lives turns cold. Cold and dead.
And now time has passed by beneath my wings.
[kristoffer gildenlow]
That was then I’m older now, but still I can’t forget that rainy day.
I raged against the ending times, though some day soon my son will maybe
find the tree I cleansed of skin.
No chain-sling will ever climb its rotten limbs.
And when the time has come for me to die, I want to lie beside that bird.
Never learn to fly.
When I was a little child, I once found myself dying on the ground
and now I’ll never …fly…
– “Never Learn to Fly”, Pain of Salvation
January 25th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Ooo! Good one!
January 26th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Ok, here’s my contributions… and there are three of them. Two from musicals and one slightly “moldy oldy”.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
“We starve-look
At one another
Short of breath
Walking proudly in our winter coats
Wearing smells from laboratories
Facing a dying nation
Of moving paper fantasy
Listening for the new told lies
With supreme visions of lonely tunes
Somewhere
Inside something there is a rush of
Greatness
Who knows what stands in front of
Our lives
I fashion my future on films in space
Silence
Tells me secretly
Everything
Everything
Manchester England England
Manchester England England
Eyes look your last
Across the Atlantic Sea
Arms take your last
embrace
And I’m a genius genius
And lips oh you the
doors of breath
I believe in God
Seal with a righteous kiss
And I believe that God believes in Claude
Seal with a righteous kiss
That’s me, that’s me, that’s me
The rest is silence
The rest is silence
The rest is silence
Our space songs on a spider web sitar
Life is around you and in you
Answer for Timothy Leary, dearie
Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in”
– “The Flesh Failures / Let The Sun Shine In”, Hair
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
“I’m not a river or a giant bird
That soars to the sea
And if I’m never tied to anything
I’ll never be free
I wanted magic shows and miracles
Mirages to touch
I wanted such a little thing from life
I wanted so much
I never came close, my love
We never came near
It never was there
I think it was here
They showed me crimson, gold and lavender
A shining parade
But there’s no color I can have on earth
That won’t finally fade
When I wanted worlds to paint
And costumes to wear
I think it was here
‘Cause it never was there
I wanted magic shows and miracles
Mirages to touch
I wanted such a little thing from life
I wanted so much”
– “Finale”, Pippin
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
“Baby we can talk all night
But that ain’t getting us nowhere
I told you everything I possibly can
There’s nothing left inside of here
And maybe you can cry all night
But that’ll never change the way that I feel
The snow is really piling up outside
I wish you wouldn’t make me leave here
I poured it on and I poured it out
I tried to show you just how much I care
I’m tired of words and I’m too hoarse to shout
But you’ve been cold to me so long
I’m crying icicles instead of tears
And all I can do is keep on telling you
I want you
I need you
But — there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you
Now don’t be sad
’cause two out of three ain’t bad
Now don’t be sad
’cause two out of three ain’t bad
You’ll never find your gold on a sandy beach
You’ll never drill for oil on a city street
I know you’re looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks
But there ain’t no coupe de ville hiding at the bottom of a cracker jack box
I can’t lie
I can’t tell you that I’m something I’m not
No matter how I try
I’ll never be able
To give you something
Something that I just haven’t got
There’s only one girl that I will ever love
And that was so many years ago
And though I know I’ll never get her out of my heart
She never loved me back
Ooh I know
I remember how she left me on a stormy night
She kissed me and got out of our bed
And though I pleaded and I begged her not to walk out that door
She packed her bags and turned right away
And she kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
I want you
I need you
But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you
Now don’t be sad
’cause two out of three ain’t bad
I want you
I need you
But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you
Now don’t be sad
’cause two out of three ain’t bad
Don’t be sad
’cause two out of three ain’t bad
Baby we can talk all night
But that ain’t getting us nowhere”
– “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad”, Meat Loaf
January 27th, 2006 at 9:09 am
I’ll go with the Pippin and the Meatloaf. Those have some good Blue in them. The Hair track, though… hmmm… definitely moving, but I don’t know if I get SAD out of it, by itself. Now, knowing the context that he is marching off to his death in the place of his new friend is really a bummer, but without that, the lyrics just don’t get me weepy.
Feh. It’s a good song, anyway. Very catchy, infectious groove. Sounds like marching fast.