Sometimes a sad song weirdly just makes you feel happy. Something about the soulful and sorrowful tune has a paradoxical result of the listener feeling better. I thought I would highlight some songs that always make me happy (even if the songs themselves are the opposite) and might do the same for you.
Anthony Hamilton is one of those music artists who has been around for decades, putting out lots of great songs. "Coming From Where I'm From," is a longtime favorite of mine, with, "Charlene," being another older tune that still is a treat to hear that you can bop your head to, despite how sad both pieces are.
John Waite's 1984 hit, "Missing You," is clever as the song breaks down all the ways he misses a love, but then insists that he isn't missing them at all. It gives the whole song a bit of a vibe of a clever little twisted and depressed joke.
I made a post back in 2021 about greatly enjoying the piece, "Like I Want You," by Giveon. The man's voice is amazing, and this song shows how wild his vocals are; he sounds like the reverb has been turned all the way up, but it is just him! Despite the longing and sorrow in the song, it always makes me smile just hearing his amazing voice.
Joshua Malilay's song, "Warm Body (Demo)," is incredibly minimalistic with just a guitar and him singing about a relationship that fell apart. It just works and makes me feel chill, however.
I randomly stumbled upon the song "Drugs You Should Try It," by Jordan Bratton, some time ago. It is, wildly enough, a cover of a trippy Travis Scott song, but I adore his version. This lush and orchestral take gives everything a deep and introspective feeling.
Kacey Musgraves makes amazing songs, and one quite sad one is, "Justified." It was my song of the year in 2021, and I still adore it. She's just such great singer and lyricist.
To touch upon another cover, Tony Bennett's version of, "Fly Me to the Moon," takes a song that can actually come across as quite peppy, but by slowing the song down and giving his voice a sense of forlorn longing this happy little ditty suddenly becomes a bit sad, and my favorite version of this piece.
Mary J. Blige has a massive discography, but one of my favorite songs by her is the downtrodden, "Rainy Dayz," featuring Ja Rule. It's about how much those literal and metaphorical rainy days just suck. Sometimes you just have to get through a storm to enjoy better times!
Let's end on a big one. Should you read my blog regularly, you'll know I am a huge fan of Kendrick Lamar. One of my favorite songs by him is also incredibly depressing when you listen to the lyrical content--"Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe." It's all about fighting your inner doubts, negative self-talk, and how hard that can be. The kernel of hope in the song makes it extra special, however.
No comments:
Post a Comment