Vox Pop.

[stoutfellow]

At the end of the article on depressing songs, the Post-Dispatch invited readers to make their own nominations. Now, I don't know whether these songs are mentioned in the book, but they certainly did not appear in the original article. Here are the top three reader-nominees:

Alone Again Naturally, Gilbert O'Sullivan. Yes! This is the absolute epitome of depressing songs, junior class.

Cat's in the Cradle, Harry Chapin. And this one's top-of-the-charts in the senior class.

Downbound Train, Bruce Springsteen. On the money again (although the songs from his 9/11 album, especially "My City's In Ruins", hit me harder - so hard that I made only one attempt to listen to the album, and shut it off after about three songs).

It's almost enough to make me believe in this "democracy" thing...

Comments

[pompe.livejournal.com]

No Depeche Mode? Or Alphaville? Smashing Pumpkins? It's like an entire generation of depressed people haven't voted! ,-)

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

I can only say that Depeche Mode's harmonies and bouncy rhythms negate the effects of their lyrics for me.

Totally agree with Cat's in the Cradle entry. It makes me feel like I did at our high school's 10th anniversary upon seeing a shaky, skinny guy and realizing that he had been one of the smartest kids in my accelerated English classes throughout, witty, and with a supposed bright future. He was obviously a user, and at the end of the conversation with me asked if I had any spare cash. Now I think of Thayne when I hear this song.

There's a song that strikes Immediate Depression/Anxiety Alert in my brain as soon as it starts. I don't know the name or the group that performs, but the drift is that maybe God is just trying to find a way home, too, is scared, etc. The lyrics make me feel like a very small child whose parents have suddenly and inexplicably shown a previously unseen inability to cope and are *crying.*

Most of the songs being sung by current *alternative* performers in the last 2-3 years seem cut-your-throat depressing to me.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

There's a song that strikes Immediate Depression/Anxiety Alert in my brain as soon as it starts.
This (http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/ifgodwasoneofuslyrics.html), perhaps? It was the theme song for "Joan of Arcadia", and in context actually succeeded in seeming upbeat.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's the one.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Here and in the previous post, I only mentioned songs that I was familiar with (and not all of those). Since I'm not familiar with anything by the groups you mention (yes, I've heard of them), I didn't include them.

On the other hand, none of the other songs that appeared in today's article were by those groups.

[pompe.livejournal.com]

Ha! I'm not overly into rock music - but I know Springsteen well enough to be able to sing along to The River... ,-)

Depeche Mode's "Black Celebration" album is a depress-the-teenagers-classic! I should know as I must have been like 13 when it came! ,-)

And "Forever Young" by Alphaville? The entire 1980's seems like a depressing teen disco when you listen to that... ...because it was played at least once on every depressing teen discom in the 1980's.

Smashing Pumpkins even got Simpsons appearance for depressing teens.

More seriously, I'd go with Joy Division for being the epitome of depressing. If the article has no Joy Division songs I'd be really concerned.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Be concerned then.

The only other post-1980 songs mentioned in the article were: George Jones, "He Stopped Loving Her Today"; Portishead, "Roads"; and R.E.M., "Everybody Hurts". (There may, of course, have been some editorial or reportorial filtering.)

[pompe.livejournal.com]

Joy Division ceased to exist in 1980 - band member suicide, of course. Arguably one of the most important (and depressing) bands of the late 1970's, huge influence on 1980's and 1990's rock/pop. Most famous song: "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

I've always considered Gilbert O'Sullivan to be the epitome of whine. That one is one of the reasons.

Cat's in the Cradle belongs on the list.

Don't know Downbound Train, at least not to recognize by name.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I'd cut O'Sullivan a bit more slack than that, but I won't argue the point.