Melancholy

Today I have been listening to my playlist of sad songs (called “oh poo”), which is leaving me a melancholy emotional wreck. They are so sad.

Here are songs you must listen to NOW if at all possible:

The Professor and La Fille Danse, Damien Rice: We saw Damien Rice (with Fiona Apple) about a month ago, and his performance of this song was amazing. It’s on his B-sides album. It is wonderful.

Walnut Tree, Keane: In general, I was not a fan of their first album, and when we went to their concert, Tania and I were horrified by the crowd of VH1-watching couples who were way too into it and really earnest in a way that disturbed us, probably due to our own self-esteem issues. We spent the majority of the concert laughing at people. Ironically, one person who was really, really into it was totally a guy who I spotted that night at the concert for the first time in about a year. The next time I was at his place, he played "Somewhere only we know" way, way too loud at 6 am about 5 times and sang along and despite this, was still so sexy. This song, which is much more melancholy than "somewhere only we know" (and is not on any Keane albums – on an OC mix album) reminds me of him.

Retour A Vega, The Stills (probably my favorite song for about the past 6 months): It’s all in French, so I had to translate the lyrics and I can confirm that they are as brooding as the music itself. It’s gorgeous. Again, not on either of their albums (and so far I really don’t like their second one) – on the Wicker Park soundtrack. Lame movie, excellent soundtrack. “We Have a Map of the Piano” by the Mums is also an amazing song.

I Want You to Stay, Maximo Park: “Missing” is good as well, but this song is pretty much stripped of the bravado that characterizes the rest of the album, and sounds kind of desperate, and it thus makes me extra sad (which I enjoy). However, this dude’s accent makes me happy.

Cheers Darlin’, Damien Rice again: So, so excellently bitter, just like me (j/k!!). If someone just walked out on you or loved you and left you or whatever, Damien will commiserate via this song, which sounds like the band showed up at a bar as they were closing up and proceeded to drunkenly record while knocking over empty pint glasses. He didn’t play this at the concert and I was very sad.

A Case of You, Joni Mitchell: Well most people probably already know this song. When I heard the title, before I'd heard the song itself, I thought it was going to be a “case” like a case of the measles. Drinking a case of someone is so much cooler, and sadly sweeter. Oh, bittersweet Canadian love. Oh, Canada.

Arrow, Cheryl Wheeler: Such a pretty song. It kind of makes me feel like I want to buy a farm and tend it alone and live in the middle of nowhere, leading a melancholy life wherein I occasionally long for a man. Then the song ends and I feel like a fool.

Leif Erikson, Interpol: This song literally brought a tear to my eye in the car the other day. No other song can make me so sad, with such a sense of foreboding. Right about now, I’m wondering if I’m premenstrual constantly.

Putting the Damage On, Tori Amos: One of the best songs about a relationship gone wrong.

Storms, Fleetwood Mac: #2 best song about love gone wrong. We used to listen to this almost every night my freshman year of college while smoking cigarettes. Nothing beats bonding over a heart-wrenching Stevie Nicks song.


I would link to these songs if I had the energy and the knowledge, but I am both lazy and stupid. So I will reimburse you if you buy them on iTunes or something, and hate them. (Plus probably only Boulos is reading this – most of these songs can be found on your laptop).

Also, I have officially decided upon my personal guilty pleasure album: Coming Around Again by Carly Simon. I think that most people, if listening to this album for the first time today, would rate it 0 to 1 stars (out of any number possible, really – 5, 10, 100, whatever). But my mom played this album a lot when I was young, and nothing makes me happier than listening to it.

So I am just finished “Everything is Illuminated,” which has made me cry (well, made my eyes water) several times. I’ll admit that I cry during movies (especially when I’m drunk and watching Raising Helen, embarrassingly enough), but books rarely accomplish this. Which isn’t to say I love it – I like the present-day parts. The stories about the grandfather and his ancestors are just a little too precious and postmodern, although they do raise the interesting question of how far removed we have to be from something before it can become a funny, twee little story. I’m not sure I really needed that question answered, though. But Alex and his grandfather are such great characters (does JSF deliberately make his namesake something of a douchebag?) Ok, and now I am done discussing a book 4 years or so too late. In fact, this reminds me of Jim Gaffigan’s stand-up, when he just saw the movie Heat and attempts to discuss it with unwilling people, as everyone saw it years ago.

Um, truthfully I actually wrote this last week and saved it as a draft, hoping to finish it when I was at home. But my sis's computer has gone bonkers and I had some time at work today. So here you go.

~Amanda