h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Possibly there needs to be an agreed upon definition that separates depressing from melancholy/moody?


az

Absolutely. Count me out of that for now - it's far too Friday afternoon...

Jack Naples

A little more then....

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...I want to...f*** you
C'mon baby, take a chance with us X3
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin' a blue rock, On a blue bus
Doin' a blue rock, C'mon, yeah
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

This is the end, Beautiful friend
This is the end, My only friend, the end
It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
This is the end

Cheerful stuff indeed! [That and 'Apocalypse Now']

Yes but any attempt at moodiness is dispelled [in the unexpurgated version at least - not sure about this] by Morrison belting out "F**k, f**k, f**k, yeah!" in the final wigout

Anyway, it's a personal thing. Upbeat music, downbeat lyrics, could go either way. It reminds me of being at university, and particularly a mate of mine who'd play it whenever he had "a fatal cold."

Sorry, not upbeat music - slow in tempo but not depressing is what I meant.

Well cheery songs used to depress the crap out of me if I was in the wrong mood - in a kind of bas*****, why are they so happy? I'm never going to be that happy *stuffs face with choc and icecream* kind of way

Am I the only person who screams "The MOBIUS STRIP only has one side" at Travis, whenever they hear it?

Off to read the backlog now...

Ben

The thing which depresses me the most about Seasons in the Sun, which is surely schmaltzy rather than depressing, is the implication that they did not learn to read until he was 10:

"We've known each other since we were 9 or 10"

and

"Together we learned our ABCs"

What? I mean, WHA-A-AT?





I've never been able to decide whether Nilsson's version of "Without you" is pure emotion or another schmaltz-fest.





I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the existential angst in ABBA - I am serious - if their songs were sung by a blues singer you'd slit your wrists:

Check out:

Facing twenty thousand of your friends
How can anyone be so lonely
Part of a success that never ends
Still I’m thinking about you only
(still I’m thinking about you only)
There are moments when I think I’m going crazy
(think I’m going crazy)
But it’s gonna be alright
(you’ll soon be changing everything)
Everything will be so different
When I’m on the stage tonight

Or:

Half past twelve
And I’m watching the late show in my flat all alone
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
Autumn winds
Blowing outside the window as I look around the room
And it makes me so depressed to see the phone
There’s not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer

Or:

Must have left my house at eight, because I always do
My train, I’m certain, left the station just when it was due
I must have read the morning paper going into town
And having gotten through the editorial, no doubt I must have frowned
I must have made my desk around a quarter after nine
With letters to be read, and heaps of papers waiting to be signed
I must have gone to lunch at half past twelve or so
The usual place, the usual bunch
And still on top of this I’m pretty sure it must have rained
The day before you came

I had been going to compare these with some Janis Joplin lyrics, but the woman was incoherent...

Ben

All depressing stuff I agree ,depending on your mood at the time of hearing the music,but I still can't find anything as depressing as 'Bat out of Hell',it just goes on,and on,and on ,then on a bit more,then, for good measure...on a bit more,and when you think it's all over......how wrong can you be....on it goes again...

From "Remember My Song" by Labi Siffre.


I've seen the sunrise
And I've kissed the rain
I've laughed with people that I'll never see again. []
You've been beside me
In sadness and joy
Now we are three
It's a baby boy.

When I die
I want you to know
My life has been happy
I pray yours was so
And if you think of me
After I'm gone
Remember me smiling
Remember my song.




Does anyone have a copy of 'An Electric Storm' (1968) by White Noise?
[Group members included the late Delia Derbyshire, composer of the
Dr. Who theme.]

My copy is sitting in a dank garage in Northwood, so I can't quote the lyrics...specifically 'The Visitation' and (perhaps beyond merely depressing) 'Black Mass: An Electric Storm in Hell'.

I'm very much the amateur surfer, so I failed to find the lyrics on the web - though I did learn that an album (remember them?) in good condition has been sold via ebay for 100 pounds sterling.

A remarkable work.

<>

Probably a bit of both done in a very manner, as much of his stuff was done.

That's quite funny about Seasons in the Sun . . . unless he meant another sort of ABC's? First kiss, for example? Horribly whiny and depressing song, nevertheless.


az

Mmmmmmmm,you see,I quite like that song.

Life is Hard - Johnny Winter

"No matter how you try
Life is hard and then you die"



Is that more like it, az?

I wonder if there's a thread about songs that cheer people up. After reading a couple of pages of backlog here, I think I'll start one, before we all start outdepressing each other.

I'll follow your new thread Trillian,I could do with a bit of cheering up after reading this lot myself.It's costing me a fortune in Kleenex.Great idea.

Get down? http://www.mojoflix.com/Video/Get-Down-Lip-Sync.html

The old man died on the hill.
By trauma. A band from the north east.

Well,if they're from the North East,they can't be all bad.

I think I did see a thread somewhere about cheerful songs, TC. As I recall, some of them mentioned were just a whole other sort of depressing . . .


az

Hahahhahahahhahahha