Have you ever used music as therapy? I mean, it's certainly cheaper. And with headphones on, or the windows up in the car, no one knows. It's often not the lyrics that help, but the repetition.
Here are a few songs that have served as antidepressant, grief counseling, and confidante for me. They vary from light to sad to brutal, because sometimes, as Elton said…. sad songs say so much.
Bela Lugosi’s Dead, by the Bauhaus
I'm a Fool to Care, by Les Paul and Mary Ford
It's a Wonderful World, by Joey Ramone
Dreaming, by Blondie
Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, by the Ramones
I Don't Wanna Grow Up, by Tom Waits
Heaven is a Place on Earth, by Belinda Carlisle
Groove is in the Heart, by Deee-Lite
Maybe for Sure, by Debbie Harry
In Dreams, by Roy Orbison
Papa Was a Rolling Stone, by Was (Not Was)
I Touch Myself, by the Divinyls
Man With a Harmonica, by Apollo 440
Nightcall, by Kavinsky and Lovefoxxx
Do You Realize, by the Flaming Lips
Splendid Isolation, by Warren Zevon
My Prayer, by The Platters
Only a Dream Away, by George Harrison
Sick of Myself, by Matthew Sweet
Pepper, by Butthole Surfers
I Don't Care About Nothing Anymore, by the Beasts of Bourbon
Groove is indeed in the heart. Thanks for sharing these. For a long time because of Michael’s sensitivity to sound I basically didn’t listen to music at all, and it’s nice to have it back now. I missed some of these songs and miss others -- I’ll have to look them up.
Sometimes my taste is so bad! I still love all the techno I used to dance to. I just put on Sandstorm by Darude and Rhythm is a Dancer. <eye roll emoji> So maybe Michael had a point. :)
Much to my family's annoyance, the cathartic song for me after my first real breakup was George Michael's One More Try. We had a stereo in the living room and I played it over and over sing-crying.
So true. But I like projected futures that seem dated, like visions of the future through the lens of the 50s or 60s. I didn't think of it as the same through an 80s lens, but it is. And some parts were prescient.
That's its magic. That it begins with a 4/4 rock beat that gets your feet tapping, and then Joey, lead singer of a band that goofed around from day one, pours his heart into a song about how a joke of an actor turned president compared Nazis to their victims on the world stage. Joey Ramone aka Jeffrey Hyman, had a bone to pick with Reagan over that...
Groove is indeed in the heart. Thanks for sharing these. For a long time because of Michael’s sensitivity to sound I basically didn’t listen to music at all, and it’s nice to have it back now. I missed some of these songs and miss others -- I’ll have to look them up.
Not all of these are "good" per se... Sometimes it's just the repetition! But I'm glad you can listen to music again.
Sometimes my taste is so bad! I still love all the techno I used to dance to. I just put on Sandstorm by Darude and Rhythm is a Dancer. <eye roll emoji> So maybe Michael had a point. :)
Then you'll dig some of the songs on the list 😂
Mine are Giant Steps, Coltrane and Playing God, by Polyphia.
"Groove Is In The Heart" used to cheer me up.
But with each passing year, I realize I probably won't realize my dream of owning a yacht -- or a racehorse - named #MySuccotashWish 😂
You'll just have to dance for another.
Much to my family's annoyance, the cathartic song for me after my first real breakup was George Michael's One More Try. We had a stereo in the living room and I played it over and over sing-crying.
Now I have to go listen to that song.
Whatever gets you through the night, it's alright, alright...
Thanks for sharing this!
"Dreaming," for sure. Warren Zevon's "Nobody's in Love this Year" got me through a bad year.
The whole album Transverse City is brilliant. I may have to start monthly posts about albums, and that will be one. What about "They Moved the Moon"?
Yes — It's so specific to that place and time, I wonder if people who didn't live through the 1980s would even get it.
So true. But I like projected futures that seem dated, like visions of the future through the lens of the 50s or 60s. I didn't think of it as the same through an 80s lens, but it is. And some parts were prescient.
Bonzo Goes to Bitburg carries an unexpectedly weighty emotional heft.
That's its magic. That it begins with a 4/4 rock beat that gets your feet tapping, and then Joey, lead singer of a band that goofed around from day one, pours his heart into a song about how a joke of an actor turned president compared Nazis to their victims on the world stage. Joey Ramone aka Jeffrey Hyman, had a bone to pick with Reagan over that...
Quite a list. Some great songs and some songs I've never in 79 1/2 years heard of. May I copy the list so I can look for them?
Love most of them