The Saddest Music in the World

For some reason (hormones, probably), I decided to put together a playlist of my favorite sad songs. I am such a fan of sad music, to the point where I had a hard time picking music to walk down the aisle to for my wedding. All the songs I absolutely loved were so incredibly sad.

Anyway, each one of the songs listed below has guided me through darkness at one time or another. Music is amazing that way.

Also, other people might not think that some or all of these songs are sorrowful, but some of them are sad (to me) because they remind me of certain moments in my life. One particularly problematic song, though, is "Breathe Me," which is what Roy and I consider to be "our song." It was even our first dance song at our wedding. However, its association with the heartbreaking, sob-inducing series finale of Six Feet Under is undeniable.

1) "A Bad Goodbye" - Clint Black & Wynonna Judd
2) "Both Sides Now" - Joni Mitchell
3) "Breathe Me" - Sia
4) "Cleaning Apartment" - Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet
5) "Crestfallen" - Smashing Pumpkins
6) "Crying" - Don McLean
7) "Disarm" - Smashing Pumpkins
8) "The Drugs Don't Work" - The Verve
9) "Eleanor Rigby" - The Beatles
10) "Everyday Is Like Sunday" - Morrissey
11) "Fade to Black" - Metallica
12) "Foolish Games" - Jewel
13) "Glycerine" - Bush
14) "Good Enough" - Sarah McLachlan
15) "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley
16) "Here Comes the Flood" - Peter Gabriel
17) "Hey Jupiter" - Tori Amos
18) "It Can't Rain All the Time" - Jane Siberry
19) "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" - Spiritualized
20) "Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me" - The Smiths
21) "The Last Song" - Elton John
22) "Lightning Crashes" - Live
23) "Me and a Gun" - Tori Amos
24) "Moon River" - Morrissey
25) "My Skin" - Natalie Merchant
26) "Nobody Home" - Pink Floyd
27) "Nothingman" - Pearl Jam
28) "One" - U2
29) "Putting the Damage On" - Tori Amos
30) "The Scientist" - Coldplay
31) "Something I Can Never Have" - Nine Inch Nails
32) "Summer Overture" - Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet
33) "Trust" - The Cure
34) "The Unforgiven" - Metallica
35) "Wise Up" - Aimee Mann
36) "1000 Oceans" - Tori Amos

Here's "Cleaning Apartment" (man, this song kills me):



And "Breathe Me" (and I cry every single time I watch this video):

Music Meme

I got the idea for this here.

Albums that changed my life
Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel
Peter Gabriel - Up
Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
Pink Floyd - The Wall

Songs I can listen to on repeat
Travis - "One Night"
Sia - "Breathe Me"
Tori Amos - "Sugar" (live from the To Venus and Back album)
Peter Gabriel - "Signal to Noise"
Dave Matthews Band - "Crush"
and about a billion others....

An album I'd take to a deserted island
I'm cheating on this one. I'd take my iPod.

Music that makes me smile
Anything cheesy like Perrey & Kingsley, NKOTB, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, NSync, Lindsay Lohan, etc.

Music that makes me cry
This is a subject for a whole other post.

Music that I wish had been made
If I knew the answer to this question, I'd be a musician, now wouldn't I?

Music that I wish hadn't been made
Most country, although there is some I like.

Music I'm currently into
Travis
The Pierces
Tegan & Sara
Manu Chao
Stars

Music I've been meaning to explore
Jazz
Blues

People I'm tagging
Everyone. No one. You decide.

Another Vegas Playlist

I have to confess that having a monthly theme is getting to be a pain in the ass. Maybe it's just that I don't really know what to say about the music I like, except the effect it's had on my life. I'm by no means a good reviewer. The best I can really do is offer another cool playlist, which we listened to on our trip to Vegas. It's called ...But I've Got to Get to Vegas, a reference you probably won't get unless you're a Tori Amos fan.

1) "One Night" - Travis
2) "Sticks and Stones" - the Pierces
3) "Suddenly I See" - KT Tunstall
4) "Mrs. Robinson" - the Lemonheads
5) "Blind Willie McTell" - Bob Dylan
6) "Kashmir" - Led Zeppelin
7) "Woke Up This Morning" (Acoustic) - A3
8) "Sinnerman" - Nina Simone
9) "Surfing on a Rocket" - Air
10) "Rehab" - Amy Winehouse
11) "Boston" - Augustana
12) "Poison" - Bell Biv Devoe
13) "Longshot" - Antigone Rising
14) "Call Me" - Blondie
15) "Tender" - Blur
16) "Fortunate Son" - Wyclef Jean
17) "Hash Pipe" - Weezer
18) "Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2
19) "Riot Poof" - Tori Amos
20) "Girlfriend in a Coma" - the Smiths
21) "Black" - Sarah McLachlan
22) "Crush with Eyeliner" - R.E.M.
23) "Under the Milky Way" - the Church
24) "In My Place" - Coldplay
25) "Drowning by Dreamtime" - Cynthia Glass
26) "Ants Marching" (live) - Dave Matthews Band
27) "Under Pressure" - David Bowie & Queen

Because I didn't include any direct links to the songs, here's a couple of videos. The first one is "One Night" by Travis, which is easily my favorite song of the moment. The second is "Under the Milky Way" by the Church, which I have been playing constantly for the past year or so.

The Pierces

I downloaded The Pierces' album Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge several months ago after hearing about them in Us Weekly. From the clips on iTunes, I was able to get a glimpse of their style, and once I downloaded the album, I was listening to it all the time. I'm not one of those people who will listen to whole album by a musical artist and usually enjoy the whole thing, but to my surprise and delight, I really love every single song on this album. I've listened to it many times now. Every time I make a playlist it seems another song by the Pierces makes its way onto it. I'm hoping that The Pierces will be making an appearance in California soon, as I would love to see them live.

Here's the video to my favorite song on the album ("Sticks and Stones"):

Desert Skies

I made 2 playlists for the trip to Vegas and really love both of them. This one, Desert Skies, is somewhat darker than the other one (which I will hopefully blog about later), but I was trying to convey many different aspects through my song choices: alienation, isolation, beauty, emptiness, and change.

One thing that I learned about our trip is that Vegas is much more complicated than I first assumed, and hopefully this music reflects that.

Obviously, I take my music much too seriously.

1) "Desert Song" - Dead Can Dance
2) "I Would Follow You Into the Dark" - Death Cab for Cutie
3) "Warehouse" - Dave Matthews Band
4) "On the Road" - Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson & Sigur Ros
5) "Track 6" - Sigur Ros
6) "African Journey" - Anugama & Sebastiano
7) "The Sinister Minister" - Bela Fleck & the Flecktones
8) "The Stars of Track and Field" - Belle & Sebastian
9) "Things Are What You Make of Them" - Bishop Allen
10) "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" - Charles Mingus
11) "Sugar is Sweeter" - CJ Bolland
12) "Absurd" - Fluke
13) "Message in a Bottle" - The Police
14) "Sandstorm" - Peter Gabriel
15) "Learning to Fly" - Pink Floyd
16) "Glory Box" - Portishead
17) "Drive" - R.E.M.
18) "House of Cards" - Radiohead
19) "I Turn My Camera On" - Rock Kills Kid
20) "Fly" - Sara Groves
21) "Black Trombone" - Serge Gainsbourg
22) "There Is a Light that Never Goes Out" - The Smiths
23) "Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol
24) "Two People" - Spiderworks
25) "Sleep Tonight" - Stars
26) "Sorrow in Desert" - Tan Dun

Sorry, no YouTube links. That took entirely too long last time. Guess I don't take my music too seriously after all!

To make up for it, here's a video to "Fluke" by Atom Bomb. Awesome song!

Receive and Transmit, or The Secret World of Peter Gabriel

I came to love the music of Peter Gabriel when I was about 21 years old. I had heard some of his hits before, but I didn't really appreciate him until my ex (who was a huge Peter Gabriel fan) started playing me some of his lesser-known songs. The song that sealed the deal for me was "Lay Your Hands on Me". I found it to be an incredibly odd, dark, interesting song. I was hooked.

From there, I went on to fall in love with the Secret World Live and Up albums. I would dance around the living room while listening to "Secret World (live)". I would play air drums while driving and listening to Signal to Noise. As a matter of fact, I still do these things any chance I get.

Despite the huge amount of love I have for his music (and his humanitarian efforts, which are plentiful), I have only been to 2 Peter Gabriel concerts. I would love to see him live again, because he is probably the best performer I have ever seen. His shows are an amazing spectacle of lights and props. His lyrics make me shiver. The drums and percussion in his songs transport me to unknown places. His music is extremely innovative - he is always incorporating world music into his songs and trying new things. I have seen some great concerts, but the 2 Peter Gabriel ones I've been to were the best, hands down.

Honestly, I don't know what I would do without the presence of Peter Gabriel's music in my life. He really does keep it real and has had an enormous impact on my life. His range is incredible, and I admire his ability to try new things (and usually succeed). Moreover, I love how "weird" his music is. I think more musical artists should push the boundaries instead of just producing the same album over and over again.

Here's a video of "Secret World (live)." Enjoy!

Everybody Else's Girl: My Love Affair with the Music of Tori Amos

When I was 15, I discovered the wonder that is Tori Amos. I hung around with my friends (who were sisters) Katie and Bonnie much of the time that year. One afternoon I came over to their house, walked into Katie's room, and heard this mysterious, magical, and very sad melody playing on her tape player. I was intrigued and discovered that it was the "God" single. Eventually I ended up buying the "God" single on CD, but to my dismay, the song I heard in Katie's room wasn't on it. It ended up being on another single (but I can't remember which one at the moment). Finally, I learned the name of the haunting song that served as my introduction to Tori Amos: "Sister Janet". I was 15 years old, and I fell head over heels with the music of Tori Amos.

I bought Little Earthquakes, her first album after the failure of her first artistic venture, Y Kant Tori Read. I listened to Little Earthquakes over and over. I was completely taken by her voice and the music, but I didn't really pay much attention to the meaning of the lyrics. Eventually I knew them all by heart, although I don't think I really understood what they meant to me until after I graduated from high school.

When I was 19, I went to my first Tori Amos concert (and my first concert ever, actually). It was in Austin, Texas, at The Backyard, and Tori was promoting her From the Choirgirl Hotel album (which is one of my all-time favorite albums). It was a completely amazing experience and a turning point in how I began to process her music. From that point on, I became a genuine Toriphile (or Ears with Feet, as Tori calls her fans).

Tori's music saw me through many dark days during my very angsty late teens/early 20s. She was able to put in words what I could not express. I felt she had written her songs with me in mind, and I felt so very close to her. (I know that sounds creepy, but rest assured, I wasn't a stalker or anything. I was just a really troubled woman-child who needed a hero.) I went to see her live 6 more times, sometimes with just her and her piano, sometimes with the band, sometimes with part of the band. Each time I saw her live was a magical experience. She was (and I'm sure she still is) an amazing performer.

I'm not sure what happened after that. Right around the years of 2001-2003, Tori's music began to go in a different direction. In my opinion, it became much more underdeveloped, so listening to it didn't really do anything for me anymore. I was sort of disappointed in her for not creating the complex music that she had once produced. I stopped buying/downloading her albums after Scarlet's Walk failed to really hold my attention. I haven't seen her live since 2002 or 2003.

But I still count myself a loyal fan, as I still love her older music and consider her as one of my favorite musical artists. I still think she is amazing, brave, beautiful, and heroic, even though I may not agree with some of her creative choices. As a matter of fact, I respect her that much more for always trying new things instead of continuing to produce the same thing over and over. Her music will always hold a very special place in my heart, because to forget her is to deny a huge part of my past. Watching her music evolve has been as rewarding as watching myself grow and change.

She's been everybody else's girl
Maybe one day she'll be her own
-Tori Amos, "Girl"

I'd say she's already there. And so am I. Thanks, Tori, for seeing me through.

*****

Here's the video for one of my favorite Tori Amos songs, "Hey Jupiter":

Worm Trippin'

This playlist was created playlist for my mini-roadtrip with Melinda to see Kim. I called it "Worm Trippin'" as an homage to Melinda, who's about worm-height. We didn't really get to actually listen to the music because of the yak factor. But I still think it's a cool playlist and have been listening to it quite often since. It's got some songs that make me want to dance, some songs that make me want to cry, some songs that make me think, some songs that make me go "WTF?!", and everything else in between. So it's a lot like life. (It's listed in alphabetical order here. I always have my iPod on shuffle mode, so the order is always different when I'm listening to it.)

Hyper links to random videos featuring each song are provided for your convenience!

1) "Celebration Guns" - Stars
2) "Excess" - Tricky
3) "Exhibit 13 - Mandelbrot, No. 4" - Blue Man Group
4) "Gimme More" - Britney Spears
5) "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" - Black Kids
6) "I Was Married" - Tegan and Sara
7) "Into the Fire" - Thirteen Senses
8) "It's Gonna Be (Alright)" - Ween
9) "Kill, Kill, Kill" - The Pierces
10) "Life's a Song" - Patrick Park
11) "Lights On" - The Pierces
12) "Like O, Like H" - Tegan and Sara
13) "Like Spinning Plates (Live)" - Radiohead
14) "Lose Yourself" - Eminem
15) "The Night Starts Here" - Stars
16) "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" - Digable Planets
17) "Sad Eyes" - Josh Rouse
18) "Secret" - The Pierces
19) "Shake Hands with Beef" - Primus
20) "She's the One" - Robbie Williams
21) "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
22) "Soul Meets Body" - Death Cab for Cutie
23) "Sugar" - Tori Amos
24) "This Fine Social Scene" - Zero 7
25) "This Is Such a Pity" - Weezer
26) "Time" - Tom Waits
27) "Very Loud" - Shout Out Louds
28) "Whistling In The Dark" - They Might Be Giants
29) "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" - Travis
30) "Word Up" - Willis