Sad Songs

There’s a multitude of sad songs out there. I don’t typically listen to lyrics, its way more often the melodies that move me emotionally, but there’s a few songs that will always have a weird place as a “sad song” in my eyes.

“In my life” by the Beatles is one. My mom and dad had varied musical tastes, but my mom always has the softer, more mellow music in general. I appreciate the influences both brought to me, however, and they definitely shaped my experience a lot more than I realize. The Beatles will always remind me of my mom. And the fact that that song is sad always makes me a little melancholy, even if it’s a good song. I think it’s both the song content, which reminds me more of “days long past” than a pure love song. When I was younger I didn’t know if I had those yet, but I did know the feeling of things changing and that was always scary. To me, that hits harder than anything else, because life often changes a lot, especially when we don’t realize it or pay enough attention. Plus the solo in the song is a neat solo that I try to replicate on the guitar instead of the piano/harpsicord.

“All dead” by Queen is another one. That hits harder after I lost my cat, specifically because I learned he was talking about his own cat in that song. It reminds me on of specific moment before my cat passed on, which will probably always bring a small tear to my eye. It has always sounded sad and that’s the point, but I suppose embracing the sadness sometimes instead of running from it helps to fully encompass the experience. We can’t always run away-there’s no running away from feelings really. They will catch up to you eventually, and while there are some that seem too overpowering-especially in times of death or extreme loss, it’s just part of the cycle we have on earth and what it means to be human. I think I’d rather have that sad memory than no memory at all. It would be terrible to think of life without it, no matter how sad it was or is.

I tried to avoid those songs, but they’re still good songs, and while they remind me of the sadness, I often think of the positives beyond those when they arise. It’s an association, but it helps to move beyond that into my own experiences. It brought to mind another song from Pink Floyd-or just the lyrics really.

All that you touch
And all that you see
All that you taste
All you feel…etc

And my addition to that is:

Is all you will ever be…