Siren Call Of Melancholy

I often wonder why it is that I have such a passion for sad songs. I know they say so much (sorry, couldn't resist), but what is it about them that is so enticing to me? I think I should clarify: I’m talking about songs that sound sad yet beautiful, not just songs that have depressing subject matter. A tune has to have a stark or soaring beauty to really hit me.

For example, I’ve been listening incessantly to the Dimitri Tikovoi remix of "Driving In The Sun" by Cranes. Listen to this track. Is this not one of the most beautiful things you've ever heard? Especially when the arpeggiated synth kicks in around the 5:10 mark?

Check out the full lyrics. The remix doesn't use them all, but here they are. Try and see which ones are actually used (tough at first because of the vocoding, but suck it up; Tikovoi chose well).

We would go driving in the sun
Into a world where we were one
We'd close our eyes and we'd become
As free as the sun and moon that shone

And even when our love has gone
And time has moved us all along
And even when the shades have passed
And what we made has gone at last
Something goes on and on and on . . .

And though I know that things won't change
I remember all of our days
Beautiful in many ways . . .

Guess I was searching for someone
I guess I thought you were the one
Cos I so wanted to belong
But now I know that I was wrong

But I believe that there was love
That fell between the two of us
And I believe the time we had
Was meant to be, but not to last . . .

And though I know that things
won't change
I remember all our days
Beautiful in many ways . . .

Wow.

Brings me tears almost every time, especially since it speaks to a particular aspect of my own life (the 2nd to last stanza).

This is music that soars. Alison's vocals are so delicate and the whole track just shimmers. Sure, I like my death metal, my gabber, and my drum and bass, but Jesus, this just slays me (honestly, no pun intended).

I have on rare occasions created sounds like this (very, very rare occasions) and each time I have, I feel like I've been touched by something higher. I firmly believe that music is what brings us closest to the divine (that and sex).

Today's self-indulgent Psalms:

Cranes - Submarine EP
(includes the aforemention remix; startlingly gorgeous)

Abstract Audio Systems - Ambient Caramel
(a 36-minute journey into majestic drift)

Bonechurch - BlackStatic
(the glorious antithesis of Abstract Audio Systems)

Puzleboy - Target Light
(gettin' my groove on)

Puzleboy - Still Young And Upwardly Mobile
(gettin' my glitch on)