I will keep this first posting short, perhaps with the intent of returning for another in the coming days, and pause only to preview that line from Shelley's "To a Skylark" that proposes that "our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought" (l. 90). In the spirit of Nick Hornby's "Top 5" lists (have you read or seen High Fidelity?) perhaps we can compile some of the most melancholy songs/pieces of all time -- invoking Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins, we can call these the "Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness Awards." I will probably think of better ones immediately after posting this, but at this moment I would toss out the following examples: Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year"; The Beatles' "Yesterday" and "A Day in the Life"; Joni Mitchell's "River"; Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"; Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees"; Neil Diamond's "Coldwater Morning" (why, yes, of course! his "Tap Root Manuscript" was an amazing record); and maybe I'll throw in the third movement (poco allegretto) of Brahms's Third Symphony, which always moves me deeply. Whaddya think? Any others to offer? (does one go, predictably, right to Simon and Garfunkel and "Bridge Over Troubled Water"?!)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Test for Echo
Well, at last, a chance to get this weblog up and running (Kepler and Boethius could never have anticipated that one day their notions about cosmic harmonies and interstellar music would get refigured as the Music of the Blogosphere); and, indeed, this seems to be the perfect class for such a venture. Not only can we continue some of our unfinished discussions here (every class inevitably feels unfinished, I find), but we'll also have an outlet for some of our more campy impulses. And maybe this venue will even provide a useful staging grounds for your multigenre essays. In any event, feel free to respond to postings/threads of your colleagues, or to create new threads.
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First song that comes to mind: "Up to the Mountain" by Patty Griffin. Two others that ring true to the melancholy award go to "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt, and "Colder Weather" by the Zac Brown Band.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, I love, love, love Patty Griffin! Such a great songwriter (lyrically and musically): some of her songs (I think of "Burgundy Shoes," "Making Pies" and many others) cover as much territory as a good short story. "Up to the Mountain" is a great one, as you note -- melancholy, yes, but also with some good gospel uplift, too ... And looking down at the other offerings below, yes, that Johnny Cash cover of "Hurt' is powerful, and certainly the Buckley cover of "Hallelujah" is nearly heart-stopping at times! Miles's "Kind of Blue": one of those records you can't imagine life without. I'm not familiar with Redgum and Carbon Leaf -- will have to check them out ...
Delete'I was only 19' by Redgum and 'The War was in Color' by Carbon Leaf are two songs that always make me cry.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urtiyp-G6jY
ReplyDelete"Hurt" by Johnny Cash is one of the most melancholy songs I've heard, besides the mentioned Smashing Pumpkins hit
ReplyDeleteMiles Davis - Blue in Green. When listening to this album, Kind of Blue, one receives feelings of joy, sadness, laughter etc. which is strikingly similar to Virginia Woolf's exploration of music in "The String Quartet". However, while the song Blue in Green is wonderfully melancholy on its own I feel that it is out of place removed from the 4 other tracks it was designed to accompany.
ReplyDeleteThe Lyoness was right with Cash's "Hurt," that song is pure beauty. I'd put forth Pearl Jam's "Last Kiss," gets me every time, even the covers of it. "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley always has me hitting repeat.
ReplyDeleteWith Jenna invoking "Hurt" I'm reminded that Cash also covered "Wayfaring Stranger," which is another one of those songs (whether Cash's version, or Neko Case's, or a more traditional version) that would fit in this category, timeless and haunting and plaintive as that melody is. Suddenly I'm feeling like a number of Gillian Welch's songs would fit here, too: "Revelator," for instance, or the more recent "Tennessee" (which has such a killer chorus). And I also have always felt the melancholy in one of my favorite Indigo Girls songs, "Kid Fears" ... Anyway, a good weekend to you all!
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy Anna mentioned "Hallelujah" because I instantly think of that when I think of melancholy songs. Also, Rascal Flatts' song "Here Comes Goodbye" also makes me sad when I hear it.
ReplyDeleteAnnah, you were spot on with "Hallelujah". That song moves me every time I listen to it. Another quite melancholy song I immediately thought of is "Poison and Wine" by The Civil Wars.
ReplyDeleteAgreed- Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" is amazing. I also think Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence" is fantastic, especially as the main theme of the movie The Graduate. I think S&G fit perfectly within the emotional context of Dustin Hoffman's character and his feelings of uncertainty and melancholy.
ReplyDelete