Depressing?
Jul. 20th, 2006 06:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowYesterday's Post-Dispatch, in the Entertainment section, reviewed I Hate Myself and Want to Die, by Tom Reynolds. This book lists and describes what Reynolds judges to be "the 52 most depressing songs you've ever heard". Now, I haven't read the book, so take my comments below as applying not to it but to the article. (I'd rather blame the reporter than the author!)
The article states that "Reynolds distinguishes between depressing songs, which have no redeeming social value and make you want to shove sticks in your ears, and sad songs, which offer listeners empathy, reflection and wisdom". I'm going to write "depressing*" for this meaning of the word, since it isn't quite the one I'd use. Now let's look at some of the songs the article names in this context.
Macarthur Park, Richard Harris. I don't know about you, but I don't find this song depressing, or even sad. (Not in terms of content, at least; that it was ever written, let alone performed, is rather sad...)
At Seventeen, Janis Ian. Okay, this one's depressing; I wouldn't call it depressing*, though. Is there no "empathy, reflection and wisdom" to be found in it?
You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. Sad, yes, but not depressing, at least in my view.
Last Kiss, J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. This is the one with the chorus "Where oh where can my baby be?" Maudlin and drippy, but (again) not depressing. Note that the singer is inspired to virtue by his girlfriend's death - "She's gone to Heaven so I've got to be good..." - which by itself removes it from the depressing category.
Honey, Bobby Goldsboro. Again, drippy, but more bittersweet than anything else; I certainly don't find it depressing. (Reynolds ranks it at #3.)
Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler. The singer's position is more scary - emotionally scary, that is - than sad: "Once upon a time there was light in my life / Now there's only love in the dark". This is a bizarre choice for this list. (Reynolds ranks it #4!)
Seasons in the Sun, Terry Jacks. Ick. This one makes me want to run away, yes. (Remember what Douglas Adams wrote about Vogon poetry - that hearing it makes one wish that one had never been born, or, if one is thinking more clearly, that the poet had never been born?) (Reynolds rank: #5.)
And the most incomprehensible choice: Strange Fruit, Billie Holiday. Depressing, perhaps, but depressing*? No redeeming social value? A bitter denunciation of lynching, written and sung when the practice was near its height, has no redeeming social value? It passeth understanding.
Gah. This is ridiculous. Any categorization that lumps together classics ("Strange Fruit", "At Seventeen") and quality if non-classic songs ("Total Eclipse of the Heart", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers") with cookie-cutter angst ("Honey", "Last Kiss") and sheer crap ("Macarthur Park", "Seasons in the Sun") is, um, of dubious validity, and the definition of "depressing" given above is absurd.
The article states that "Reynolds distinguishes between depressing songs, which have no redeeming social value and make you want to shove sticks in your ears, and sad songs, which offer listeners empathy, reflection and wisdom". I'm going to write "depressing*" for this meaning of the word, since it isn't quite the one I'd use. Now let's look at some of the songs the article names in this context.
Macarthur Park, Richard Harris. I don't know about you, but I don't find this song depressing, or even sad. (Not in terms of content, at least; that it was ever written, let alone performed, is rather sad...)
At Seventeen, Janis Ian. Okay, this one's depressing; I wouldn't call it depressing*, though. Is there no "empathy, reflection and wisdom" to be found in it?
You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. Sad, yes, but not depressing, at least in my view.
Last Kiss, J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. This is the one with the chorus "Where oh where can my baby be?" Maudlin and drippy, but (again) not depressing. Note that the singer is inspired to virtue by his girlfriend's death - "She's gone to Heaven so I've got to be good..." - which by itself removes it from the depressing category.
Honey, Bobby Goldsboro. Again, drippy, but more bittersweet than anything else; I certainly don't find it depressing. (Reynolds ranks it at #3.)
Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler. The singer's position is more scary - emotionally scary, that is - than sad: "Once upon a time there was light in my life / Now there's only love in the dark". This is a bizarre choice for this list. (Reynolds ranks it #4!)
Seasons in the Sun, Terry Jacks. Ick. This one makes me want to run away, yes. (Remember what Douglas Adams wrote about Vogon poetry - that hearing it makes one wish that one had never been born, or, if one is thinking more clearly, that the poet had never been born?) (Reynolds rank: #5.)
And the most incomprehensible choice: Strange Fruit, Billie Holiday. Depressing, perhaps, but depressing*? No redeeming social value? A bitter denunciation of lynching, written and sung when the practice was near its height, has no redeeming social value? It passeth understanding.
Gah. This is ridiculous. Any categorization that lumps together classics ("Strange Fruit", "At Seventeen") and quality if non-classic songs ("Total Eclipse of the Heart", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers") with cookie-cutter angst ("Honey", "Last Kiss") and sheer crap ("Macarthur Park", "Seasons in the Sun") is, um, of dubious validity, and the definition of "depressing" given above is absurd.
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Date: 2006-08-01 05:04 pm (UTC)Well, the sad fact that it was ever written has been overcome by the sheer absurd enjoyment of the rendition performed on Space Ghost Coast to Coast (or it might have been Cartoon Planet) by Brak, a kind of red-neck, feline alien. He warbles the song, occasionally breaking away from the established lyrics, wailing, "Oh, no! I was gonna EAT that cake!" This version has to be seen - and heard - to wipe the original bad taste out of your brain!