Do you listen to depressing music?

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and if so why.

tom west (thomp), Thursday, 27 November 2003 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

because black is how I feel on the inside!

Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 27 November 2003 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I dunno if this new Liars album is depressing or not but it's sorta goth when loud.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 27 November 2003 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never listened to music which actually made me more miserable (except when I've made myself in order to review it or something) - what would be the point? I have listened to music which let me wallow in misery or self-pity in a kind of sympathetic way, though - music which might have reinforced whatever low ideas I had that day.

Why did I do it? To feel less lonely; because capturing that kind of emotion can make for great songs; to 'drain' the low feelings and bring myself out of it quicker; sheer bloody self-indulgence. These days my hunch is that a little of that stuff goes a very long way.

Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I've had a few incidences where I didn't think I was listening to depressing music, like say Will Oldham, and somebody else is like "Huckleberry is always listening to downer tunes, du-ude."

Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

For some reason those nu-metal covers of old tunes they use in Coors ads depresses the hell out of me.

Gear! (Gear!), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

hmm, don't thunk i've ever gone more bleak than the housemartins.
'this is how it feels' by the inspiral carpets had me glum for a month though...

paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Happy music is, at least from my own experience, about the worst remedy possible when you feel misarable. Happy music in times like that is like being punched in the face, because it just emphasizes the difference between what you actually feel on the one hand, and what you'd prefer to feel on the other. Sad music, though, becomes a comfort of sorts, someone that's listening, someone that understands.

Tobias H (akausal), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:22 (twenty-one years ago)

These days if I'm low I tend to wallow in a computer game instead. If I do play music it's either something I'm so familiar with it works as a comfort blanked or something pretty emotionally neutral.

Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:27 (twenty-one years ago)

... then there is of course Leonard Nimoy. His music always makes me laugh, no matter how I feel. :D

Tobias H (akausal), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Only stupid, incompetent music is depressing.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Mix Tico Tico (is that Tom, right? and Charltonlido is Gareth?!) and kenan together and there's yer answer.

Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 27 November 2003 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I'd guess all I listen to has something of negative feelings to some point. I'm a depressing person, so I need to listen to people that also are.

Cacaman Flores, Thursday, 27 November 2003 22:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Tobias otm.

I'm told that I listen to depressing music, or at least people I work with, and strangers, have told me that. I once traumatized someone in my printmaking class by playing shannon wright. (she didn't mind Neko Case, though.) She started flailing about and mocking it and acting absolutely horrified, like I was playing a live tape of a suicide or something. It would just never have occurred to me that it would be depressing or scary to anyone because I never found her music depressing in itself.

I have a low tolerance for 'cheerful' music for some reason. It makes me more depressed than 'sad' music and just has less depth to me personally. I can take it in small doses but don't listen to it constantly... my brain would melt. It just gets tiring.

If I had to listen to happy joyful peppy music when I'm upset, I'd probably kill myself... it reminds me of how everyone else is happy but I'm not, and then I feel worse. A good record can feel like having a friend, or a warm blanket, if there isn't anyone you feel like unloading your problems onto. Then you don't have to make a fool of yourself cos records won't make fun of you or get annoyed by your bad moods.

Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Thursday, 27 November 2003 22:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yeah, 75% of the music I listen to is miserable, because no matter how well my life is going, that's how I feel 75% of the time. I like a certain kind of claustrophobic gloom though rather than a "my girl left me" veriety, though that's nice too occasionally.

James Slone (Freon Trotsky), Thursday, 27 November 2003 22:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I like "sad" music, but it's because I like the aesthetic tropes that tend to accompany such songs (slower tempos, acoustic instruments, 'earnesty', poetry, lyrics on love/loss/death/melancholy, spare production). I like "happy" music too, but I'm conscious that my favourite records fall along "sad" lines... often "happy" music is busy, energized, spontaneous, proud (I'm trying to choose words that aren't coded as negatives), which are attributes that appeal to me less (in general).

Sean M (Sean M), Thursday, 27 November 2003 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm listening to the latest Sylvian disc, blemish. It is extremely dark and depressing.

bahtology, Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I have the same problem as HM and trixy-cybele: I never think I'm listening to depressing music, and then someone comes along and says a variation on "music to slit your wrists to, wot?"

(I think I once shouted at the telly when the video for radiohead's 'no surprises' was shown on some news discussion programme and the lady anchor said that.
me, throwing book at screen: SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP! It's not depressing, it's beautiful, you just aren't listening!
...not that 'no surprises' is in any way shape or form particularly sanguine, but it was I suppose the culmination of a lot of people JUST NOT UNDERSTANDING and whatnot.)

Music that's got a sense of gentle melancholy - even defeat - to it can be stunningly beautiful in a very specific way. In fact, 'beautiful' isn't really a term I'd apply to any other types of music: cute, pretty, charming, yeah, but they lack whatever it is I think of as beauty. There's often some sort of shining quality, something special to the way that a fairly ugly emotion can be translated into sound. I think I find it soothing as much as anything else: like watching the rain or curling up under a blanket.

I'm a lot less depressed than I used to be, and listen to a lot more bouncy bubblegum, but I couldn't say whether it's coincidence or cause and effect going on there - there've been so many other factors to contend with.

The 'music to slit your wrists to' line can suck my metaphorical cock, tho.

cis (cis), Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I like "sad" music, but it's because I like the aesthetic tropes that tend to accompany such songs (slower tempos, acoustic instruments, 'earnesty', poetry, lyrics on love/loss/death/melancholy, spare production). I like "happy" music too, but I'm conscious that my favourite records fall along "sad" lines... often "happy" music is busy, energized, spontaneous, proud (I'm trying to choose words that aren't coded as negatives), which are attributes that appeal to me less (in general).

Good point. The overall aesthetic package has appeal beyond simply being cathartic or connecting with life experience. The basic elements, like the slower tempos and sparse arrangements, make it more listenable if you're into that whole approach. It's the whole package.

James Slone (Freon Trotsky), Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I never think I'm listening to depressing music, and then someone comes along and says a variation on "music to slit your wrists to, wot?"

some people just have no fucking clue, do they? these fuckers are the very same people who give you shit about being "miserable" if you opt to stay home on a saturday night.

bad jode (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes! And order you to smile when you meet them in the corridor, as if having a neutral expresison is some kind of affront, the twats.

cis (cis), Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

;)

B*R*A*D (Brad), Friday, 28 November 2003 00:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"it's so sad to see a pretty girl without a smile. smile!"

amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 28 November 2003 00:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I certainly listen to "Black Celebration" and "Some Great Reward" by Depeche Mode.
I also listen to "17 Seconds", "Faith" and "Pornography" by The Cure.

Why? Because they are great albums!

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 28 November 2003 00:31 (twenty-one years ago)

People only ever say the sad/'slit wrist' thing about slow tempo, indie/folk or droney rock or whatever. No-one ever says The Shangri-La's or Otis Redding are miserable/sucide-inducing, even when they sing about death or loneliness. No-one ever says every single song you hear on the radio about love gone sour is 'sad'.

At this stage, someone needs to make a rather insightful, poignant point.

Jim Robinson (Original Miscreant), Friday, 28 November 2003 01:18 (twenty-one years ago)

People only ever say the sad/'slit wrist' thing about slow tempo, indie/folk or droney rock or whatever. No-one ever says The Shangri-La's or Otis Redding are miserable/sucide-inducing, even when they sing about death or loneliness. No-one ever says every single song you hear on the radio about love gone sour is 'sad'.


Well, I was thinking more about genres like doom metal, ethereal, "dark" folk, and country, but I see your point. There are plenty of depressing vocal pop, r&b, soul, blues, jazz, drag racining rockabilly, hip hop etc. etc. songs/pieces out there to choose from. Hell, anytime I hear the original version of "track of my tears", I want to down a beer and feel sorry for myself at the bar for at least three hours.


James Slone (Freon Trotsky), Friday, 28 November 2003 01:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Really? That song, and Motown in general, makes me happier than anything in the world. To each his own.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 01:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Depressing = listening to only one kind of music. Like, someone who only listens to chartpop. Or only listens to punk. Or only listens to hip hop. It's none of my business, but it bums me out, because I know that in a matter of years (months!) these people aren't going to listen to music at all anymore.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Really? That song, and Motown in general, makes me happier than anything in the world. To each his own.

i didn't say I didn't like it. I get immense pleasure out of music that moves me, regardless of how it moves me.

James Slone (Freon Trotsky), Friday, 28 November 2003 01:54 (twenty-one years ago)

When someone watches an Ozu or Bergman drama it's not because they want to ruin their day. "Depressing" subject matter, when heartfelt and "true", can move someone immeasurably. I get more real happiness out of powerful cathartic music than jittery fun music, even if I recognize the value of the former.


James Slone (Freon Trotsky), Friday, 28 November 2003 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Make that former latter.

James Slone (Freon Trotsky), Friday, 28 November 2003 01:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, I know what you mean. It's like what I said earlier, about the only depressing music being poorly made music. What I mean is that I find "Tracks of My Tears" or "You Don't Miss Your Water" or whatever -- old soul music -- happy. It makes me feel warm inside. It cheers me up. Maybe because I grew up on it.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 02:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Righto, I understand. And I totally agree. I'm not actually depressed when I listen to so-called "depressing" music. It's blandness, vacuous content, and shoddiness that depress me. Well that, and much of the real world outside of music.

James Slone (Freon Trotsky), Friday, 28 November 2003 02:05 (twenty-one years ago)

it bums me out, because I know that in a matter of years (months!) these people aren't going to listen to music at all anymore.

I'll amend this rule: unless they're jazz fans or musicians. Anything that gets you laid is not something you're likely to give up.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 02:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Anything that gets you laid is not something you're likely to give up.
I highly doubt I'll ever get it on with Jandek in the backround.

brg30 (brg30), Friday, 28 November 2003 05:40 (twenty-one years ago)

It's just an almanac-type stat. Jazz fans -- you know, those Heffner-type guys -- have more sex than the rest of us. It probably has very little to do with the music itself, more that they tend to be affluent, etc.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 05:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Or that they are more likely to SAY they have more sex. Maybe it's that simple.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 05:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey I just danced around the room the "The Sad Witch" and I'm getting NO action lately.

Aaron A., Friday, 28 November 2003 06:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I've always preferred rather melancholy music. I can remember as a pretty young child thinking about the kinds of chord progressions that were most pleasing to me... the kind that would illustrate a gentle sadness or longing. I'm not sure how much I knew about chords at that time but I remember thinking about that.

Personally I think melancholy quiet people are really sexy, but considering how little action I've gotten in the past... uh, time period, I'd have to guess that most people don't feel the same way. I wish my musical taste would get me laid. But I'm the kind of person that strangers tend to walk up to and ask what's wrong, or if I'm having a bad day, when I'm just standing looking at the bagels or whatever, having a totally normal and bland time of it.

Wahh.

Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Friday, 28 November 2003 07:33 (twenty-one years ago)

If strangers are asking what's wrong, maybe it's time you broadened your musical horizons. Sad all the time is no damn good.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 07:45 (twenty-one years ago)

depressing music listens to me

Christian Rawk (Christian Rawk), Friday, 28 November 2003 07:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not sad all the time; I listen to ABBA and Deerhoof too!

I'm just not a bubbly jump up and down kind of person. Is that so wrong? You're making me cry now, you baddie. I should turn on some Nick Drake.

Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Friday, 28 November 2003 08:06 (twenty-one years ago)

haha

I am mean. I want you to dance around the room a lot. I'm a right bastard.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 08:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Having burbled on upthread about why I listen/ed to 'depressing' music, and acknowledging the excellent points about liking the general aesthetic packaging of said music - I do want to say that listening to and loving happy stuff is giving me more pleasure currently than I think I've ever had from music.

Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 28 November 2003 11:10 (twenty-one years ago)

i used to find Boards Of Canada depressing but at the same time I always recognised and acknowledged it was great stuff. of course everyone else thought I was a mentalist (see also my take on 'In Sides' on the Orbital thread).

stevem (blueski), Friday, 28 November 2003 11:12 (twenty-one years ago)

*cry* But... I don't wanna dance! I wanna mope! Mommeeee!!

Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Friday, 28 November 2003 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

kenan is so off the money, it's unbelievable. melancholic music isn't sad for someone who is melancholic. it is just in harmony with how he/she feels. it's comforting as said before. it's the feeling not to be alone in the world, not to be misunderstood. it can make me feel better when i am down. there is also something relativising in it. your own misery is just a small part of the universal misery. is nothing really. ok i stop now. and listen to "cuckooland".

alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 28 November 2003 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not especially melancholic, so I guess I wouldn't know.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2003 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

There is sadness in the world, and anger, and fear; there is also happiness, and it's a mistake to believe that happiness can't run as deep as any other emotion. I have been happy, and I have been sad, and I strongly believe that happy is better.

The trouble is that most people of deep feeling, and thus most first-rate artists, are sad sacks - though this is less true in rock & roll than in most fields. So do you spend your time engaging with happy crappy art to re-enforce your happiness, or with mopey but meaningful art that makes you want to bleed? (Yes it's a false dichotomy; there is some deep, happy art, but you can only spend so much of your time listening to The Love Below.)

There's no right answer. My strategy is to listen to happy music and go to sad movies. Yours may vary.

B*R*A*D (Brad), Friday, 28 November 2003 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Sometimes I find a sort of quiet happiness in melancholic music. What that means, I don't know. Because it's soothing as has been said upthread. And when I'm happy, because it's beautiful, I suppose.

JuliaA (j_bdules), Friday, 28 November 2003 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Jimmy Buffett = most depressing music ever. Whenever I'm down and about ready to give up on humanity, it's probly his fault.

"Hunter, you look like someone died. It's a party, man"! *makes fake shark fin on head*

Hunter (Hunter), Friday, 28 November 2003 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Mopey art doesn't necessarily make me *more* miserable, although there is a certain point of departure... for example, I'm rather afraid of listening to more than 2 Smog songs in one sitting, as much as I like Smog. Shannon Wright usually makes me feel better. Cat Power can occasionally depress me further. Use in moderation, YMMV, etc.

WHen I am ACTUALLY depressed, I've usually preferred emotionally 'neutral' music that is neither happy nor sad, something like (in my personal estimation) Charalambides or Mum or Bulgarian village chanting, that I can just space out to.

I'm naturally sort of a melancholy person and always have been, but that's more of my basic default setting-- not depressed, just quiet and reflective. I have my jumpy boppy moods too where I want to listen to something really dumb and act goofy... But I can only take so much of that before I wind down.

I avoid really sad movies, because movies depress me more than music ever could.

Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Saturday, 29 November 2003 00:31 (twenty-one years ago)


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