Soup Ninja's Guide to Spotify: Tearjerkers
This blog will be a hodgepodge of lots of things. But I decided to start off by doing brief commentary on one of my Spotify playlists. I figured that if I go public with it one day, some might wonder why I classify certain songs. Since Spotify doen't have that abiiity (yet) to blog or discuss songs on the app (that I know of, I'll talk about them here. There's a little bit of a story behind every song and why I include them in my collection. Since the list is ecclectic and not always intuitive (though some songs are,) this will be my chance to open up on my thoughts on certain songs. Just in case you're wondering. By the way, the list is in no particular order. The playlist is meant to be shuffled and I added songs as they occurred to me.
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong: If this song doesn't leave you in tears, you probably have a heart of ice... no, seriously, get that checked out. This is one of those "intuitive" additions and really needs no further explanation.
Always - Bon Jovi: Beyond the obvious break-up sadness of this popular tune, this one has a sad backstory. My family had two pet guinea pigs. The male, Marty, was definitely mine. The female, Rachel, was adopted by my mother primarily because of her distinctive markings. She had white fluffy fur and a face that blended brown and black fur so she looked a lot like a sheep, hence the name "Rachel" meaning "Lamb of God." My mother had me take care of Rachel mostly, but she was fond of Rachel. One day when I was at work, Rachel quickly turned sick and began to die. My mother heard the distress and got Rachel out of her cage. She had dealt with animals before, and so figured Rachel wasn't long for this world. Mom had been listening to some music. She held Rachel in her dying moments. Just as Rachel was breathing her last, Bon Jovi's "Always" played. My mother sang the words of the refrain, "Yeah and I will love you. Baby. Always..." My dad came to get me from work before my shift was over and told me in the car on the way back what happened. See, this is why it doesn't matter to me the size or type of pet. I know that even the little ones take a big piece of your soul and occupy your life forever.
Here I Confess - Sleepthief: This is one of those more obscure songs many people may not have heard before. It's the first track on the "Labyrinthine Heart" album. Go look it up, but bring tissues. It's a song that was likely written to denounce the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000's, but its lyrics are timeless. The singer voices the part of a wife watching her husband walking out the door on his deployment to war. She ponders what sort of horrors he will see, what he cannot share with her, and wishes fervently that he could simply hide until it's all over. The line that gets me every time: "Here am I hanging onto love more than life."
This Wild Darkness - Moby: Coming from Moby's most recent album, this one caught my attention as I'm in the process of writing a very emotionally intense story. The song is almost like a prayer, very similar to the hopelessness my characters feel in a world turned upside-down, when the rain won't stop, and people have lost their minds because they have lost touch with their basic humanity. I'm still working out the details of this story and may post snippets here now and then, so I won't reveal any more than that. Let's just say that this song is giving me some inspiration to keep plugging at this difficult tale.
Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.: This is one of those "intuitive" additions, so I won't have to say much. However, this is one of those rare songs where the music video is better than the song (if only slightly.) Go look it up (use NewPipe to avoid giving YouTube any money. That way, you can also download the video free and watch it when you can afford to shed some powerful tears without embarrassing yourself.)
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor: Depending on whether you like Sinead O'Connor or not, this one may be a likeable song or a discordant misery that may lead you to weep for other reasons. The strange key for this song is reflective of the discord one feels after a heartbreak. Someone once pointed out the sadness of the first line, which is almost missable. The singer knows exactly how much time has passed since "you took your love away." Isn't it like that when you're so deeply in love and suddenly have your entire world upended? I know it's felt like that to me, certainly.
More in Part 2
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong: If this song doesn't leave you in tears, you probably have a heart of ice... no, seriously, get that checked out. This is one of those "intuitive" additions and really needs no further explanation.
Always - Bon Jovi: Beyond the obvious break-up sadness of this popular tune, this one has a sad backstory. My family had two pet guinea pigs. The male, Marty, was definitely mine. The female, Rachel, was adopted by my mother primarily because of her distinctive markings. She had white fluffy fur and a face that blended brown and black fur so she looked a lot like a sheep, hence the name "Rachel" meaning "Lamb of God." My mother had me take care of Rachel mostly, but she was fond of Rachel. One day when I was at work, Rachel quickly turned sick and began to die. My mother heard the distress and got Rachel out of her cage. She had dealt with animals before, and so figured Rachel wasn't long for this world. Mom had been listening to some music. She held Rachel in her dying moments. Just as Rachel was breathing her last, Bon Jovi's "Always" played. My mother sang the words of the refrain, "Yeah and I will love you. Baby. Always..." My dad came to get me from work before my shift was over and told me in the car on the way back what happened. See, this is why it doesn't matter to me the size or type of pet. I know that even the little ones take a big piece of your soul and occupy your life forever.
Here I Confess - Sleepthief: This is one of those more obscure songs many people may not have heard before. It's the first track on the "Labyrinthine Heart" album. Go look it up, but bring tissues. It's a song that was likely written to denounce the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000's, but its lyrics are timeless. The singer voices the part of a wife watching her husband walking out the door on his deployment to war. She ponders what sort of horrors he will see, what he cannot share with her, and wishes fervently that he could simply hide until it's all over. The line that gets me every time: "Here am I hanging onto love more than life."
This Wild Darkness - Moby: Coming from Moby's most recent album, this one caught my attention as I'm in the process of writing a very emotionally intense story. The song is almost like a prayer, very similar to the hopelessness my characters feel in a world turned upside-down, when the rain won't stop, and people have lost their minds because they have lost touch with their basic humanity. I'm still working out the details of this story and may post snippets here now and then, so I won't reveal any more than that. Let's just say that this song is giving me some inspiration to keep plugging at this difficult tale.
Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.: This is one of those "intuitive" additions, so I won't have to say much. However, this is one of those rare songs where the music video is better than the song (if only slightly.) Go look it up (use NewPipe to avoid giving YouTube any money. That way, you can also download the video free and watch it when you can afford to shed some powerful tears without embarrassing yourself.)
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor: Depending on whether you like Sinead O'Connor or not, this one may be a likeable song or a discordant misery that may lead you to weep for other reasons. The strange key for this song is reflective of the discord one feels after a heartbreak. Someone once pointed out the sadness of the first line, which is almost missable. The singer knows exactly how much time has passed since "you took your love away." Isn't it like that when you're so deeply in love and suddenly have your entire world upended? I know it's felt like that to me, certainly.
More in Part 2
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