Getting over it, or not

I am not sure where I came across it but I have a vague quote in my head that true art can never come from contentment or a feeling of well being in the world. It comes from misery, depression and a sense of dislocation to the surroundings.

I wrote about this in my post about Weddings and I have been thinking about it more and more subsequently. The artists I like do not write about the happy things in life so much. There are exceptions of course. I do think that however, when your favourite song about happiness is actually about adultery then it points to walking on the shadier side of the street as it were.

One of the things that does seem to bring out the best in songwriters is the heartbreak. In fact I think that it is not too outrageous to say that some of the actual best songs written are about heartbreak. There is something about the particular emotion that seems to bring out the introspection that makes songs so brilliant.

Here is I Don't Wanna Know by Husker Du

I am not sure if there has been a better example of the angry ' just get out of my life' song? I have had many discussions about music over the years as you can well imagine. Many of them in the last few years have been about the Emo movement. If you are of my vintage it seems a little wrong to be into Emo, but it does seem to me that every Emo band is taking something from Husker Du. Much more than Fugazi, who in all honesty I do not think are as good. Husker Du, Bob Mould in particular, writes about such a range of emotions from songs like the above to songs about contemplating suicide that everything else seems a little contrived. For example, this is not a bad song, but it is more of a brick to the face that an arrow through the heart:

However, perhaps I am missing the point a bit. The Husker Du song is more about a man scorned, the Chemical Romance song is from the other side - the person doing the scorning. Do you think I have that right?

A song, even though is not my actual favourite, that has always been up amongst my favourite songs, is Everlong, by Foo Fighters.

I have put this version in because it is about the lyrics of the song, not the film clip, which while it is good, simply detracts from the song. The song was apparently written the night after Dave Grohl broke up with his partner. I think it is a brilliant song, obviously. The reason why I think it is such a good song is because it gets the message of not being sure of yourself across very well. That feeling of , oh god what exactly am I losing here. I do not know of a song that does it better actually.

Sometimes though someone is able to get across the emotion that comes just before the breakup.

That is literally the only version of that song on You Tube. I have no idea about the video. I don't think it is connected in any way. The song is from the magnificent Tahiti 80 album Extra Pieces of Sunshine. I have no idea why that song is so hard to find. It is a great song. I love the way that it is about having that conversation with the other person, about how you do not really want to leave and that if things could only be different by going down a different path, then maybe it might work.

Then there is this:

The idea 'I want you, but I am not able to deal with you' reaction to the situation. There have probably been better song writers than Neil Young, I look forward to hearing them someday. It took me four years to actually find a copy of After the Goldrush, from when I first heard the album to when I got it. In the end  I managed to buy a copy from a University coffee shop just off Shibuya crossing. Now, it is in almost every HMV that I go into. Strange how that happens. Sorry , I digress massively. That song is not from After the Goldrush but came a long time after on American Stars 'N Bars from 1977. It is a great song.

So five songs that come at the same situation in completely different ways. All managing to get across the subtle differences to their situation if not perfectly, then well enough for them to be interpreted in that way.
There are so many more songs that I could add. I have tried a bit to avoid the usual suspects. Who do you think managed to get the feelings of the situation across as well as these? or Better?

I will leave with a simple phrase that I have always used, Nothing grows without rain. Just hope it doesn't rain every day.