Friday, February 4, 2011

Day 4 - A song that makes you sad

30 Day Music Challenge
Click here to see the entire list.

These songs have to ability to instantly bring down my mood a notch. So, while I also like these songs ... I really need to take caution as to when I listen to them. On Day 22 the entry is 'A song you listen to when you are sad' and none of these songs could fit there because if I'm already sad each one has the power to send me spiraling deeper into depression. My mood has to be firm and on the upside to enjoy the good cry these sad songs offer.



Musicals will bring life to a song like nothing else can. So, when Mamma Mia! hit the big screen, I found a new place for an old ABBA song to sit within my life. Meryl Streep (LOVE her) sings as a mother watching her daughter (Amanda Seyfried) preparing to get married. And while she's looking at her adult daughter, she 'sees' her daughter as the child she was - growing through the years.

I explained it to my kids once this way. As a mother (or parent) we see our children two ways ... the person or adult they are and as the small child they were. It's an interesting position life gives us as parents. We love and appreciate our children ... they are right in front of us. Yet, we grieve for that little person that we can see so clearly in our hearts and minds ... yet, can no longer embrace. Time definitely 'slips through your fingers' as a parent. And this is for my 'little ones.'

Slipping Through My Fingers from Mamma Mia!




I love this song by REM, but I stay away from it when I'm down. It's really just in your face that it's a sad song ... it's about pain and hurt, about being alone and how everybody experiences it at some point ... so maybe you aren't really quite all alone afterall. This song itself is beautiful, like waves rhythmically carrying you through it, delivering you to a somewhat hopeful end in an hypnotic trance. And it's great for a good cry ... not so much a help if I'm already down.

Everybody Hurts by REM




The tragedy of Eponine in Les Miserable is heartbreaking. Her love for Marius ... a man who loves another ... propels her to wander the streets daydreaming of the love they could have. So, when Eponine is riddled with bullets during the revolution, we see her get her ultimate desire as she dies in the embrace of the man she loves. 'A Little Fall of Rain' marks this poignant moment giving Eponine's unrequited love the resolution she's longed for.

A Little Fall of Rain from Les Miserable



What song makes you sad?

3 comments:

  1. Robin you write so well. I'm getting all teary eyed just reading this. It hits very close to home. I have to go to the gym right now and I wont do very well if i'm sad. I'll be back to read some more though!

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  2. Thank you, Linda ... hopefully the next few days will be more upbeat!

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  3. Ok, so I'm back from the gym and free to cry if needed. haha. I had never heard the song by REM.
    Great song!I posted on FB that one of my sad songs is by The Eagles, 'Last Resort' it makes me think of how the white men pushed their ideals onto the natives of Hawaii and pretty much took over. I love Hawaii...I wish I could have seen the islands back then.
    Since I've had some time to think about which songs make me sad and can also bring me to tears. I have three and each one for specific reasons that I wont go into:) Eric Clapton 'Tears in Heaven', Sarah Mclachlan 'In the Arms of an Angel' and 'I hope you dance by Lee Ann Womack.

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