Rock ‘n’ roll is not an everyday conversation topic around our family table, but the improbable longevity of The Rolling Stones was remarkable enough to come up once during dinner. I had recently listened to “Sympathy for the Devil” for the first time in a while, and remarked upon how surprisingly dark and intense it was, so much so that it gave me chills. My grandmother asked why, then, would I deliberately listen to something that unsettled me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She had a point. Upon reflection, I’ve found that most of the music I hold dear is chilling (like the aforementioned ode to Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita), chilly (like some of the more academic, brainy music by Brian Eno or Philip Reich), or just plain cold (pretty much everything else). Some have subject matter that makes you want to jump out a window, some just sound<\/em> like they do, and some may not be sad per se, but are rather so painfully beautiful I almost can’t bear listening to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How on earth did incurable sad sacks like The Cure, Nick Drake, or Kurt Cobain become pop stars? Why do we listen to the likes of “Hallelujah”, “Mad World”, or “Hurt” for fun? The answer is simple, but opens a can of worms: prehistoric humans almost didn’t invent music for entertainment or personal expression, but rather as a component to ritual, spirituality, and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To think of music as merely entertaining or escapist is to belittle an entire art form with limitless capabilities. Even at its best, it can be dissonant and ugly (such as Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti’s Requiem, which still sounds alien today in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey) just as easily as it can be pretty and moving (Johan Pachelbel’s Canon in D, so lovely it has passed into cliche and back again). It’s possible to make the same point about other oft belittled media, such as comics — where the uninitiated may be unable or unwilling to accept that the same format that stars Ziggy and Superman can also be as trenchant as Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury or as literary as Art Spiegelman’s Maus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence this new series of short essays exclusively: The Songs That Broke My Heart, in effect a playlist of melancholy, misery, and loneliness. It is not meant to be an objective list of the saddest songs of all time, but rather a personal compilation of songs that create an emotional response in me now, at this time in my life. But first, I’m going to start with something slightly more esoteric. Watch this space for my thoughts on No-Man’s “Days in the Trees (Reich)”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rock ‘n’ roll is not an everyday conversation topic around our family table, but the improbable longevity of The Rolling Stones was remarkable enough to come up once during dinner. I had recently listened to “Sympathy for the Devil” for the first time in a while, and remarked upon how surprisingly dark and intense it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1655],"class_list":["post-4082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-sad-songs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/nick-drake.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-13Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6662,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/lou-reed-and-john-cale-work-through-their-complex-feelings-for-andy-warhol-in-songs-for-drella\/","url_meta":{"origin":4082,"position":0},"title":"Lou Reed and John Cale work through their complex feelings for Andy Warhol in Songs for Drella","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Rather than set aside their differences, Reed and Cale meld them together in a theatrical song cycle dedicated to their early patron.","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"John Cale and Lou Reed Songs for Drella","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/songs-for-drella-blue.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/songs-for-drella-blue.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/songs-for-drella-blue.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/songs-for-drella-blue.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/songs-for-drella-blue.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4085,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/songs-that-broke-my-heart-days-in-the-trees-reich-no-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":4082,"position":1},"title":"Songs That Broke My Heart: Days in the Trees (Reich) by No-Man","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Any playlist of sad songs I might compile must include No-Man, but it was no easy task to select only one piece from a songbook positively chock full of them. To make my job a bit easier, I went back to the band's beginnings. Similar in style to their first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/main-menu\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/no-man-bowness-wilson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/no-man-bowness-wilson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/no-man-bowness-wilson.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/no-man-bowness-wilson.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/no-man-bowness-wilson.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1997,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/scratching-in-the-dirt-peter-gabriels-scratch-my-back\/","url_meta":{"origin":4082,"position":2},"title":"Scratching in the Dirt: Peter Gabriel’s Scratch My Back","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As a Peter Gabriel fan for over two decades, it's difficult to admit that I find myself struggling to appreciate his first new album in many years. There have always been three core things to love about Gabriel's work: his literate songwriting, meticulous soundscapes, and emotionally expressive voice. Behind the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1802,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/decemberists\/","url_meta":{"origin":4082,"position":3},"title":"The Decemberists Live at Radio City Music Hall, June 10, 2009","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"June 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 (including Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Bill Rieflin of Ministry, R.E.M., and The Humans) opened with an enjoyable 30-minute set. I was unfamiliar with Hitchcock, but by total coincidence had just days before seen his appearance in Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married. His quirky\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Decemberists","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/decemberists-light.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/decemberists-light.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/decemberists-light.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/decemberists-light.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/decemberists-light.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8415,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/more-itunes-and-ipod-minutia\/","url_meta":{"origin":4082,"position":4},"title":"More iTunes and iPod minutia","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"September 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Because I just can't help myself, a few more comments on iTunes: The iTunes 7.0.1 maintenance update (no longer online: apple.com\/support\/downloads\/itunes701.html) has finally dropped. I haven't noticed any real speed improvements, but Apple has fixed the bug of dragging image files to the album art window not working. Partially fixed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Tech","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/main-menu\/tech\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"iTunes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/itunes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/itunes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/itunes.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/itunes.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/itunes.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1669,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/david-byrne\/","url_meta":{"origin":4082,"position":5},"title":"David Byrne, Live at Radio City Music Hall, February 28, 2009","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"David Byrne and Brian Eno, both long favorites of this blog, collaborated extensively between 1978-1980. Many of these classic albums have passed into the musical canon, most especially Talking Heads' Remain in Light (1980) and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981). There are lingering rumors of interpersonal friction,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"David Byrne live at Radio City Music Hall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/byrne-radio-city.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/byrne-radio-city.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/byrne-radio-city.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/byrne-radio-city.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/byrne-radio-city.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4082"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7288,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4082\/revisions\/7288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Songs That Broke My Heart:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n