Blue, here is a shell for you.
Inside, you’ll hear a sigh
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me – Joni Mitchell, “Blue”
Ever feel a little blue, a little melancholy sometimes? Pensive, perhaps? We all do. This is not depression, just being a bit wistful. It is a sweet sadness on a gloriously cool and overcast day.
I like a good melancholy song. I don’t want a sad song, a song about the loss of a child (Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven”) or a song about pain and suffering (Midnight Oil’s “Beds are Burning”). Nor am I looking for labored sentimentality, songs that determinedly play on the emotions (anything by Toby Keith). No, sometimes I want a pensive song about life’s bittersweet moments.
There are some great ones out there, of course. The trouble is, some of the best melancholy songs lose some of their power when they’re heard too often. To wit:
Dan Fogelberg, “Same Old Lang Syne,” REM, “Losing My Religion,” U2 “New Years Day,” Jerry Jeff Walker, “Mr. Bojangles,” Gilbert O’Sullivan, “Alone Again, Naturally,” The Who, “Behind Blue Eyes,” Al Stewart, “Year of the Cat,” Janis Ian, “17” and “Luka, ” B.B. King, “The Thrill is Gone,” Harry Chapin, “Cats in the Cradle,” the Beatles, “Yesterday” and many, many others.
A few more just on the cusp of being overly familiar: Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” and Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms” (both suggested by Alan Nelson), Don Henley’s “Heart of the Matter,” John Lennon’s “Mother,” Moby’s “Natural Blues” and Ray LaMontagne’s “Beg, Steal or Borrow.”
And there are other artists who have recorded so many melancholy songs that it would be hard to pick just one: Bob Dylan, the Band, the Civil Wars, Kate Bush, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Big Star and, of course, many more.
Since I’m making the rules here, I get to pick what goes on the list. For instance, in my mind, Neil Young has recorded his share of these kinds of songs, but two of the most famous/notorious, “Needle and the Damage Done” and “Tonight’s the Night,” (both about losing a friend) are more harrowing than melancholy. Bruce Springsteen’s entire Nebraska album is lonesome and desolately beautiful – but not necessarily melancholy.
When I mentioned this idea to Van (in hopes of getting a song from the metal side of music), he immediately suggested two CDs by the Norwegian group Ulver, Kveldssanger and Shadows of the Sun. I listened to both over a period of several days and fell in love with their glorious, mournful waves of sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3PRUmS012I
The other music he mentioned was a song that was already on my list, Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross,” which Van said he wanted played at his funeral … 70 years from now. I promised I’d do my best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGeCeK85sUg
Mary’s first choice was Joni Mitchell’s aptly named “Blue.” Like some of the artists listed above, you could create an entire blog around her best, most introspective songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5782PQO5is
I also drew from the vast repertoire of classical music. Some of the world’s greatest symphonies have melancholic movements. I eventually narrowed it down to two. The first is Erik Satie’s moody and memorable tone poem, “Gymnopedie #1”. I love the version by Sky, but I first heard it by, of all people, Blood, Sweat and Tears as “Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU
The second is a song cycle I was first introduced to in Peter Weir’s moving The Year of Living Dangerously, Strauss’ “Four Last Songs,” as performed by Kirsten Flagstad. This is the music Linda Hunt’s character listens to as Indonesia lurches inevitably towards chaos. I couldn’t find a performance by Flagstad on YouTube, but here is a nice version by Renee Fleming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppoqUVlKkBU
Part II is the rest of my list and it includes a LOT of Texas singer/songwriters. Maybe it is the weather, maybe it is the politics, maybe it is the land, but Texans dominate the list. See you then.