Melancholy Baby

I'm one of those people to whom music is very important. If you play music for me, I'll usually have a concrete feeling about it one way or the other: I either love it or I hate it, and some songs get me teary. If it makes me sad, you might ask, then why listen to it?

Why deliberately subject myself to an attack of heartache?



It's kind of like the emotional "bump" people get from riding a roller coaster or seeing a scary movie. And when the ride's over, the fear will be over. You know you're not really in danger, so you can experience it as an entertaining rush and move on.

Sometimes it's an association with real-live events that make music emotional. Songs can evoke the memory of a past relationship or situation, and before you know it, your eyes start to well up. I'm not sure why, but there's a preponderance of country songs on the short list of tunes that make me cry. Don Williams' "Good Ol' Boys Like Me" and "Amarillo By Morning" are just two.

But a piece of music doesn't have to have lyrics to make me "kvell" with sadness. Sometimes it's just a particular chord progression or a melody. After all, the human race has been reacting to sounds long before developing speech, so it makes sense that music (as opposed to language) affects our primal brains first and foremost. As lyricst " Over the Rainbow" Yip Harburg once wrote, "The composer… works in a medium in which the appeal is directly to the emotions. The lyric writer must hurdle the mind to reach the heart."

The second movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony is a direct hit to my ol' ticker. Or watching "To Kill A Mockingbird," when the opening theme starts… all I can say is that there better be some Kleenex handy!

I know I'm not alone in my extreme emotional reaction to music. Anyone you see might be under the influence of the music that's piped out into the air at stores, gas stations, churches, or car stereos. I guess I'm just a rank sentimentalist, but don't be surprised if you see me at Food City with a tear in my eye, and it won't be over the price of the avocados.



Playlist:
1. Misery — The Beatles
2. Sad Songs (Say So Much) — Elton John
3. Blue — Joni Mitchell
4. I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Cryin' — Toby Keith/Sting
5. Heartbreaker — Led Zeppelin
6. Tracks of My Tears — Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
7. Feeling Sad Tonight — Carole King
8. Cry Me a River — Julie London
9. There’s a Tear in My Beer — Hank Williams
10. Glad to be Unhappy — Frank Sinatra

Extra Super Double Secret Probation Playlist of my sad songs (in no particular order):
1. All Roads Lead to You — Steve Wariner
2. Wichita Lineman — Glen Campbell
3. Galveston — Glen Campbell
(thanks for those, Jimmy Webb!)
4. He Stopped Loving Her Today — George Jones
5. Twenty Years Ago — Kenny Rogers
6. Valse Triste — Sibelius
7. Trying to Get the Feeling Again — Barry Manilow
8. The Way Love Used to Be — The Kinks
9. Something in the Way She Moves — James Taylor
10. Diary — Bread