KyleMcClureMusic wrote:The version of Listening to Otis Redding.....on Golden Opportunities.
Oh, man. I think it's something in the way Will says that "yeah,
well" with such desperate, angry resignation, like he's not even convincing himself. I
know that "yeah, well" well.
I used to judge the quality of most songs by their ability to make me cry; "The Boxer" used to
kill me. I've since found a bit more emotional stability, but there's a few that still make it hard for me to take satisfying, full breaths:
-"Black Pear Tree," The Mountain Goats & Kaki King. No one is better at fist-pumping heartbreak like John Darnielle, but this one's pretty dirge-like.
-"Okkervil River Song," of course.
-"A Stone," of
course.
-"I Know Where the Summer Goes," Belle & Sebastian.
So wistful, just like the potential of summer fading into September.
-"Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right," The Decemberists. Post-coital depression summarized.
-"Ooh La La," The Faces, but only after finishing "Rushmore" (EVERY TIME.)
-"Keep Yourself Warm," Frightened Rabbit. Another grand fuck-up song. "I'm fundamentally flawed! Clap your hands, la-la-la!"
-"Walk, Don't Run," Herman Düne.
-"Only Skin," Joanna Newsom (God, just the
epic scope of the song is enough to wound me...)
-"Age of Consent"- New Order. Like being rejected and knowing there's nothing you could ever do.
-"Sixteen Blue" and "Left of the Dial"- The Replacements. Who knows why? It's just being Midwestern and emotionally repressed, I suppose.
The obvious stuff I remembered first, like Songs: Ohia, Elliott Smith, and "Casmir Pulaski Day" make me feel that future happiness is hopeless, yes, and sometimes that's just
perfectly what one needs, but I've taken to preferring the stuff that builds you up at the same time it tears you down, sneaks around the back door of your brain while you're dancing along to it and reminds you of the cycle of good feelings fading into bad, that true love is an illusion and that we're all going to die.
How's this for a first post topic? Despite it all, happy to be here!