Jump to content

There'll Be Sad Songs to make you cry...


jippers

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

I am in the middle of writing a philosophy assignment regarding why tragedy is appealing to humans. I interpret this to include why we find sad songs so fascinating.

Does anyone have any theories as to why this is the case? If so please share them.

There were a spate of car/bike crash songs released in the 60s, culminating with the mother of all crash songs "Bat Out Of Hell" in 1977. Why do these hold so much appeal for us all?

Please discuss. I'm interested to hear your opinions.

Thanx heaps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a Country song called "You can feel bad if it makes you feel better."

At any given time, it helps us to feel miserable - it's allows us to take some time and feel better again. There are some people in this world who seem to create unhappiness for themselves, and you'll win a prize for your writing if you can figure out why.

I think tragedy is popular because it is fascinating to us. It's why we gawk at accidents and watch J. Lo movies. Songs like "Dead Man's Curve" and "Leader Of The Pack" have been drawing us in for years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree...sad songs give us the opportunity to feel a sense of grief without having to suffer real loss. Why does that appeal to us? Perhaps we're staving off real grief, ie: real loss? Perhaps it's just a way of exercising one of our emotions that we luckily don't get to use very often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's because each and everyone of us HAS suffered a similar loss at one time or another, or are afraid of suffering such a loss, whether it be the death of a loved one or the breakup of a relationship, or even if your dog dies (which I believe 'Seasons in the Sun' was inspired by). Everyone has felt that pain, and the closer the actual loss to the contents of the song, the more heartfelt it would be to that particular person.

:afro: :afro: :afro: :afro: :afro:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who knows why we like sad songs, movies, books, etc. You could always include information in your essay (a page or so) on Lachrymology which is the science or crying as a therapy. It's kind of interesting. I personally believe crying IS a therapy because it releases pent-up anger, anxiety, sadness, frustration, etc.

Just a thought anyway. Good luck with your essay. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lets take the song "Tears in Heaven"...and the history behind that song...His son fell out of the window and died. Now...ALOT of people respect Eric Clapton, so, they listen to the song, and then they think....what if that happened to me....man...thats sad. And then the tears flow.

Tears in Heaven can also work for anything...your Grandman dying CD!! Or a friend, or anything. These songs help promote our emotions and in turn we think of our pain and then we deal with it. Humans deal with emotions in different ways, songs are just one of them. :puppyeyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's because each and everyone of us HAS suffered a similar loss at one time or another, or are afraid of suffering such a loss, whether it be the death of a loved one or the breakup of a relationship, or even if your dog dies (which I believe 'Seasons in the Sun' was inspired by). Everyone has felt that pain, and the closer the actual loss to the contents of the song, the more heartfelt it would be to that particular person.

:afro: :afro: :afro: :afro: :afro:

Don't do crack, sammy. "Seasons In The Sun" was dedicated to a human friend of Terry Jacks's :beatnik:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are so many different reasons for every different person for enjoying sad music. Some might be sympathetic or empathetic towards the music. Some people like to hear how bad others are doing to make them self's feel some sense of false hope. Some people just like to be sad...cause they hate how everyone else is happy, cause they can't experience it. But I think with a lot of sadness comes great poetry and lyrics because there is so much true meaning behind that emotion everyone loves to hate. That would be a tough essay, cause I don't believe there is one meaning as to why people enjoy sad songs. Sorry if I wasn't any help, I just felt like voicing my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... "Seasons In The Sun" was dedicated to a human friend of Terry Jacks's

"Seasons In The Sun" was written by Jacques Brel with English Lyrics by Rod McKuen. So Terry Jacks dedicating it to a human friend is irrelevant. The inspiration wasn't his!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two songs that reduced me to tears after my mother died. One was "Alone Again, Naturally" and the other was "I'll Be Missing You" - especially on the extended version which has Puff talking at the beginning, bemoaning the loss of his friend (B.I.G.).

Other than that, there are plenty of songs that make me "weep" - especially anything by Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Seasons In The Sun" was written by Jacques Brel with English Lyrics by Rod McKuen. So Terry Jacks dedicating it to a human friend is irrelevant. The inspiration wasn't his!

Alright. Terry Jacks's dedication is irrelevant. The song still is about two human friends. The song is told from the perspective of the dying friend:

"Seasons In The Sun"

Goodbye to you, my trusted friend.

We've known each other since we're nine or ten.

Together we climbed hills or trees.

Learned of love and ABC's,

skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.

Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die,

when all the birds are singing in the sky,

Now that the spring is in the air.

Pretty girls are everywhere.

When you see them I'll be there.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.

But the hills that we climbed

were just seasons out of time.

Goodbye, Papa, please pray for me,

I was the black sheep of the family.

You tried to teach me right from wrong.

Too much wine and too much song,

wonder how I get along.

Goodbye, Papa, it's hard to die

when all the birds are singing in the sky,

Now that the spring is in the air.

Little children everywhere.

When you see them I'll be there.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.

But the wine and the song,

like the seasons, all have gone.

Goodbye, Michelle, my little one.

You gave me love and helped me find the sun.

And every time that I was down

you would always come around

and get my feet back on the ground.

Goodbye, Michelle, it's hard to die

when all the bird are singing in the sky,

Now that the spring is in the air.

With the flowers ev'rywhere.

I whish that we could both be there.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun.

But the stars we could reach

were just starfishs on the beach

It's cheezy as hell and even hated by a lot of music fans, but I like it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...