A song to express your feelings

[lookingforme]

At this hour, I find myself particularly vulnerable because I am heavily sleep deprived, and my brain can't really process. I have been awake for 21 hours and 12 minutes straight after a string of nights of only a few hours' sleep. I don't feel well, nor do I feel sleepy. So, I am listening to the soundtrack of my life entitled "Walkabouts" and right now, the perfect song to describe what I am feeling (at least the chorus of it) is Madness by Muse. Has anyone ever felt like they could communicate more if they did it through the songs that already exist? I challenge us to have a conversation consisting of song quotes.

So, dedicated to my depression; here I go...

Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad...Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad....Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad...Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad...I, I can't get these memories ooout of my mind, and some kind of maaaadness has started to evolve. Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad...Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad... And I, I tried so hard to let you go-ooo, but some kind of maaaadness is swallowing me whole, yeah....Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad...Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mad mad mad...I have finally seen the light. And I have finally realized, what you mean....

Ooh oh oh

[MODERATOR'S NOTE: Hi everyone, just a reminder that song lyrics are copyrighted material, and we (as in BB) can get into trouble for reproducing them without permission.  If you could just keep to sharing song titles, or one or two lines from the song at most, rather than whole lyrics that would be great - that way we can keep this thread open. ]

[Eagle Ray]

Hi smallwolf,

I just wanted to say I just listened to Peacefield and it really helped me. I watched it a few weeks ago when you mentioned Ghost but that was not the current video that it looks like they’ve just released that I watched just now. I like the official video. I’ve been going through another extreme panic attack for the last two and a half hours and this song really helped me. I think it expresses something quite close to what I’m feeling. It resonates with the turmoil, angst and fear I’m feeling and that somehow helps to cope and feel a bit better. Thank you 🙏 

[smallwolf]

Hi Eagle. Sad to read what you have been going through. And to hear you say that the song helped you actually moved me. Though I'll be listening to it tonight again. Bit low right now. Someone else can pick a new song!

[Eagle Ray]

Hi smallwolf. The song really helped me because it’s about transforming darkness into light. I looked up the meaning of the song online and an article suggested it can be interpreted as being about generational trauma, political upheaval or personal loss. It’s like the song can work at different levels. It helped me face the darkness of the feelings I have been flooded with in recent weeks which is the result of EMDR therapy that went wrong. That’s where the panic attacks are coming from. The references to the child in the song make so much sense for me based on what I’m experiencing. Music can reach into those primal places where we need healing.

I hope you are feeling better soon. It’s ok to feel low. I try to remind myself at such times that everything is transitory and things will shift again. You really helped me with the song anyway so thank you so much. 🙏

(I can’t think of another song to add at the moment so I’ll also leave it for the next person).

[smallwolf]

Swings and round-about(s) re my mood. Ghost's songs can have different meanings depending on the listener. I won't destroy it for you but the whole album is quite introspective except for perhaps 1 song. But I digress. The song 'Guiding lights' can be seen is a number of ways, but when I first heard the song it took it in a positive direction and being hopeful (despite feeling lost).

So, there is my next song - "Guiding Lights"

[Croix]

PDQ Bach - Beethoven Symphony No. 5

PDQ Bach is an acquired taste as it consists of orchestral spoofs of classical music, here we have the full orchestra complete with sportscasters and penalty box.

For those that are wondering PDQ Bach is the fictional 21st son of JS Bach.

[Eagle Ray]

I really like "Guiding Lights" smallwolf. Yes, I hear it as hopeful too. The lyrics could be taken in different ways. I really like the idea of guiding lights. It has that anthem-like uplifting quality and I like those sorts of songs. I will listen to some more Ghost songs.

Weirdly, a particular song just came to me now that I really liked as a kid. It's "True Faith" by New Order from 1987. I never paid any attention to the lyrics closely before, I just always really liked it. Well I just looked more closely at the lyrics and they kind of reflect aspects of what I'm going through. It speaks about "The childhood I lost, replaced by fear" which is something I've been processing - literally what happened to my childhood. But also it is a song of hope where the "the morning sun" brings the person close to what was lost and there is a new sense of liberty (what I am looking for).

So, anyway, that seems to be the song reflecting my feelings at the moment. It has a very 80s quirky video.

[Eagle Ray]

I just thought I'd add, I've since learned that "True Faith" is about drug addiction, so maybe it doesn't reflect my reality, at least literally anyway. 

Croix, I just had a look at PDQ Bach - Beethoven Symphony No. 5. It seems so incongruous as I can imagine many sports fanatics not being into classical music and vice versa. So it's like putting two disparate things together. But it did make me think how I've heard people describe Australian Rules Football as being like ballet, which it sort of is in terms of some of the leaps, pirouette-like moves etc that the players do to take marks, weave between others, escape tackles etc.

[smallwolf]

there are plenty of songs like that  - where the meaning of the song is very different to what we might think. Without naming songs, this was done by The Beatles, R.E.M, and Bruce Springsteen. The one by Bruce Springsteen might the obvious, the others ...?

[Eagle Ray]

I’m quite a Springsteen fan and I do know a number of his songs work on a personal level (whether the song’s protagonist is personal to him or a character he’s created) and also work on a societal/community level and so the song is a social commentary as well. I think I may know the Beatles examples you may be thinking of, and REM too. I’m not sure which of Springsteen’s you are thinking of though as I have a lot I can think of.

One of his that I think applies to me right now is Brilliant Disguise. It came out when I was 12 and I loved it from that time. I love the simplicity and honesty of the video. For me at the moment I am struggling with trust issues so I realise the song reflects that for me right now. While situationally about a relationship, I’ve heard him say it can work on many levels meaning-wise. The last line of the song is powerful: “God have mercy on the man who doubts what he’s sure of”.

[Eagle Ray]

P.S. I think I’ve just realised the Springsteen song you mean - Born in the USA. It was taken as patriotic when it was actually a critique of the impacts of war, expressing the inner distress of Vietnam veterans. I saw a documentary where veterans said they felt that song was the first time anyone had acknowledged their experience and it helped them.