And The Opposite Of Love...
Since we just did great love making songs, why don't we do the opposite and list the songs we listen to when someone has ripped out your heart and stomped on it and then left it there to bleed while he/she runs off with your best friend and tries to take your dog?
Personally, I wouldn't know about such things. After all, I am the poster child for healthy, loving, nurturing relationships, so I can only imagine what you poor wounded souls go through.
That being said, I think I can try to imagine what that feels like and list my top ten songs to listen to after a breakup.
The number one song for this is:
Positively 4th Street--Bob Dylan. "You know as well as me you'd rather see me paralyzed, why don't you just come out once and scream it?" OH YEAH!
The rest are in no particular order:
Crying-Roy Orbison. When you are moving back and forth from throwing things to going fetal, this is great for the latter.
Head Like A Hole -Nine Inch Nails. This is good for the extreme angst phase.
Soul and Inspiration--Righteous Brothers. Ultimate desperation.
Unchained Melody-Righteous Brothers. You have the candles dripping, playing with the wax while drinking or taking some substance and tears stream down your face while you belt this one out and think you're Bill Medley, but you really sound like Yoko Ono.
I Will Survive-Gloria Gaynor. You don't own this record, but when it comes on the radio, you turn it up and if you're white, you look really stupid driving down West End while your hand is gesturing like Beyonce. Uh huh.
Push-Matchbox 20. With this one, you can trick yourself into believing you did the leaving.
River-Joni Mitchell. "I'm so hard to handle. I'm selfish and I'm sad. Now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had ooooo I wish I had a river." Man...
Every Breath You Take-Police. Should you find yourself lost while driving around and accidentally end up on his/her street.
For No One--Beatles. One of Paul McCartney's finest. "And in her eyes you see nothing, no sign of love behind the tears, cried for no one, a love that should have lasted years."
Et tu?
Personally, I wouldn't know about such things. After all, I am the poster child for healthy, loving, nurturing relationships, so I can only imagine what you poor wounded souls go through.
That being said, I think I can try to imagine what that feels like and list my top ten songs to listen to after a breakup.
The number one song for this is:
Positively 4th Street--Bob Dylan. "You know as well as me you'd rather see me paralyzed, why don't you just come out once and scream it?" OH YEAH!
The rest are in no particular order:
Crying-Roy Orbison. When you are moving back and forth from throwing things to going fetal, this is great for the latter.
Head Like A Hole -Nine Inch Nails. This is good for the extreme angst phase.
Soul and Inspiration--Righteous Brothers. Ultimate desperation.
Unchained Melody-Righteous Brothers. You have the candles dripping, playing with the wax while drinking or taking some substance and tears stream down your face while you belt this one out and think you're Bill Medley, but you really sound like Yoko Ono.
I Will Survive-Gloria Gaynor. You don't own this record, but when it comes on the radio, you turn it up and if you're white, you look really stupid driving down West End while your hand is gesturing like Beyonce. Uh huh.
Push-Matchbox 20. With this one, you can trick yourself into believing you did the leaving.
River-Joni Mitchell. "I'm so hard to handle. I'm selfish and I'm sad. Now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had ooooo I wish I had a river." Man...
Every Breath You Take-Police. Should you find yourself lost while driving around and accidentally end up on his/her street.
For No One--Beatles. One of Paul McCartney's finest. "And in her eyes you see nothing, no sign of love behind the tears, cried for no one, a love that should have lasted years."
Et tu?
posted by Sharon Cobb at 6:31 AM
11 Comments:
I will survive? I DO own that record, and if you don't you should dig a little in the dollar bin.
Best breakup song ever:
"You've Been a Good Old Wagon, Daddy, But You Done Broke Down"
as performed by Judy Henske
Aah the old high school years - in the 70's - after a breakup, the most therapeutic thing to do was to make a cassette that always included a Bonnie Raitt song -
Number one rule: If you're depressed from a breakup - NEVER listen to Bonnie Raitt repeatedly - you'll be tempted to drink turpentine to wallow in your misery...
Anyway: Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac - "If I could, maybe I'd give you my world. How can I when you won't take it from me? You can go your own way..."
For gals - Take Another Little Piece of my Heart - Janis Joplin "Take another little piece of my heart now, baby! Oh, oh, break it! Break another little bit of my heart, now darling!"
Don't Think Twice, it's Alright - Bob Dylan "Good-bye's just too good a word, gal; so I'll just say fare thee well. I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind; you could've done better, but I don't mind. You just kinda wasted my precious time. But don't think twice, it's alright."
There's a lot more - but "Smoke From a Distant Fire" by the Sanford Townshend Band has this line (hidden by uptempo horns) "Don't let the screen door hit you - on your way out" sung with great enthusiam...
Thank God I'm married to my bride of 26 years...
Love Hurts by Nazareth is a great breakup song.
Your Time is Gonna Come by Led Zepelin.
Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound by Hank jr.
Anything by George Jones.
Regardless of what kind of bad thing you have done to cause the breakup, the Possum can relate to it. He also goes good with the alcohol that usually accompanies bad breakups.
Back in my pre-happily married days it was: "Run For Your Life" by the Beatles, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Stones, "Deacon Blue" by Steely Dan, and "He's Got You" by Dean Martin. Then I would dig up some old Metallica for a day or two.
"Somewhere in my Broken Heart" Billy Dean.
"Still" The Commodores
"One More Day" Diamond Rio
"It Don't Matter to the Sun" Gart Brooks as Chris Gaines
"After the Love has Gone" Earth Wind and Fire
"Funny How Time Slips Away", Willie Nelson
"The River" Joni Mitchell
"Missing You" John Waite
Pearl Jam's "Black", if you're gonna miss them.
"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star, in somebody else's sky, but why, oh why, oh why can't it be, oh can't it be mine?"
Big shout out to "For No One" and "You Can Go Your Own Way".
"In The Wee Small Hours" Frank Sinatra
"Give Back The Keys To My Heart" Uncle Tupelo w/Doug Sahm
"Rainy Days and Mondays" Cracker (from the Carpenters tribute)
"Caroline, No" Beach Boys
"Somebody's Crying" Chris Isaak
"Good Year For The Roses" Elvis Costello
"Someone Else's Problem" The Derailers
"Hasten Down The Wind" Warren Zevon
Being raised on country music, with a record collection where the country stuff outnumbers rock about 4 to 1, my natural inclination is to run to the country songs:
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" - Hank Williams. And he sang it that way, too.
"My Baby's Gone" - Louvin Brothers. "I try to tell my lonely heart it must go on alone, but it cries the world has ended, my baby's gone." I ache for you, Ira.
"Four Walls" - Jim Reeves. "Four walls too near me, closing in on me," Jim sings. The claustrophobia of heartbreak -- what a great idea.
"The Grand Tour" - George Jones. So many GJ songs, so little time, but the way his voice cries on the line, "All she left me without mercy, taking nothing but our baby and my heart" can make "the happiest girl in the whole U.S.A." depressed upon hearing it.
"The End of the World" - Skeeter Davis. That's how everyone who's lost at love feels -- like it's the end of the world.
As for rock, two songs pop into my mind immediately, both by Warren Zevon: "Empty-Handed Heart" (I think the title is self-explanatory) and "Accidentally Like a Martyr." "The hurt gets worse, and the heart gets harder," indeed.
Anonymous--Will consider buying it...better yet, d/l it.
Huck--Another good one!
Patsi--So glad to see you over here! What a great title!
Kerry--Great choices, especially Joplin. Talk about a woman who knew about pain first hand...
Glen--Have you heard Emmylou's version? It's amazing.
James--I messed up by leaving off the obvious...country! Thank you for mentioning those tunes.
Oz...I don't think I have heard the song you're referring to, but I love the lyric you quoted.
Sarcastro--Kudos for some not so obvious but appropriate choices.
Karen--Nothing sadder than ol Hank. Great choices.
I love that Weird Al song, "You Don't Love Me Anymore."
Post a Comment
<< Home