take a sad song and make it better

Well, I'm almost done my essay on the triumph of character over class determinism. Fortunately I've had over 13 hours of music going in Winamp, so that keeps me company. But I'm looking for something to delay that last few paragraphs, so I thought I'd make a post.

The fun thing about making playlists is that I get to look through all my old music files (over 2000+ files) and see how bad my taste in music has been in the past, as well as discover old favourites (like "In The Meantime" by Spacehog).

I got to listening to a song that I first discovered on the High Fidelity soundtrack, "Fallen For You" by Sheila Nicholls. It's a super good song, that I absolutely love, but it's also a super depressing song about unrequited love (it's from a girl's perspective, but just change the genders and I identify). I don't know what it is about those kinds of songs but they're right up my alley. Sometimes there's something satisfying about that kind of thing, the depressing love song, which I'm sure we've all experienced. I think it has to do with that fact the kinds of emotions that they describe are universal. I know sometimes I like just listening to a really depressing record and just laying on my bed and remembering painful moments that I associate these kinds of songs with. I think I like it because when emotions are overwhelming, even sad ones, it reminds you that you're alive and that if something can matter that much, then life must be worth living.

"Fallen For You"
Sheila Nicholls


Falling for you
Did you ever see me,
Watching from periphery?
I was playing another game
I hoped you catch on all the same.

Falling from view
Did you ever touch me,
Floating through your potpourri?
I thought I felt your fingers once
After waiting all these months
But I was wrong, so wrong
That was just another song you wrote, for another girl
And I hoped the day could be
When you'd write a song for me


But it never came,
I thank you all the same,
But I'll go now, so you won't know how much I've
Fallen for you,
Pointless trying to be a man
Boy, you don't know if you can
I thought I knew you well enough
But your walls are still too tough

But I was wrong, so wrong
That was just another song you wrote, for another girl
And I hoped the day could be
When you'd write a song for me

But it never came,
I thank you all the same,
But I'll go now, so you won't know how much I
Thought about you all the time,
Walking round, the Guggenheim.
Like a rhyme, in my mind,
There you are, in my car,
But we don't drive very far.
To the beach, out of reach
Next to me... my fantasy

Falling for you
Did you ever see me,
Watching from periphery?
I was playing another game
I hoped you catch on all the same.

--

Actually, another good song that I've forgotten about and that fits with the depressing, lost love theme, is "All I Want Is You" by U2 (featured on both the soundtrack to Reality Bites, which isn't that bad a movie, and also on Rattle and Hum). Again, lay on your bed and listen to it while thinking of past loves. Guarenteed to do the trick.