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Is it okay to write sad (subset=breakup) songs?

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Garcin:
Just to point out the obvious, break-up songs (esp. songs written about break-up rather than after break-up) don't have to be emo at all.  They can simply rock.

Eg. 1: P.S. - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.  Therapy from the school of "the best revenge is living well."

Eg. 2: Cake - I Will Survive.  Yes.  I enjoyed Cake.  I continue to enjoy Cake (sometimes.  ok, once a month).  Don't hate me because I'm not trendy.

Anyway, I think that whole self-involved/starvation discussed in the first post is a bit of a red herring.  At any point horrible (and wonderful) things are happening all over the world.  Does that mean that you should never dwell on your own sorrow?  Come on (and I really don't want to start another Descartes thread but . . . .) everyone's at least a little self-involved.  It's part of being human.

Funny thing is, scientific studies by scientists have shown that the best song to listen to after a break up of your own is not a break-up song, but is in fact "Pussy" by The Brazilian Girls.  I can't show you the studies, though, because I left them in my car.

--Moiche

Skibas_clavicle:
Only if you're Blake Swartzenbach....and possibley Ben Gibbard.

Inlander:

--- Quote from: Skibas_clavicle ---Ben Gibbard.
--- End quote ---


Which segues nicely into my opinion . . . Basically, if you're going to be all whiny and self-pitying then keep it to yourself.  A break-up song only works with a bit of self-awareness, or even the ability to laugh at yourself.  A good example is "Nothing Better" by the Postal Service.  Sure, Gibbard whines like a champion in it - but he also had the good sense to offset this by having Jen Wood cutting him down to size throughout the song, and at the end of it all the listener's sympathy is definitely with her.  Another classic song in the same mould is "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues.

My favourite, though, is "She Cuts Hair" by Darren Hanlon, about falling in love with a hairdresser.  If you can't write lyrics like this about being shot down in flames by someone you fancy, just don't bother trying:

As the town hall clock struck three
I delivered my soliloquy:
She wouldn't give the time of day to me,
But she gave my pride
A short back and sides

saturnine1979:
I just heard "Pussy" by the Brazillian Girls the other day. Fantastic song.

And now to earn the rancor of this entire community:

I actually like Dashboard Confessional.

Obviously, most Dashboard songs are extremely melancholy and sad and boo hoo omgzsheleftme whining. I fully realize that, and I.don't.care. I really like the album The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most. It covers just about every kind of breakup in every whiny way imaginable and I think it's great at what it does. Sure, it's depressing as hell and good for nothing but wallowing in sadness, but with that, I think it accomplishes its objective very well.

The followup, A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar (a more pretentious title than the last) falls short to me because of its variety of moods and topics. It's much more straight up pop than "emo", and I think the electric guitars cause the songs to lose alot of the intimacy and "confessional" style that Carrabba had going with his previous work.

Places may be all tear stained diary entries, but damnit, I like it.

Noonch.

sp2:

--- Quote from: Skibas_clavicle ---Only if you're Blake Swartzenbach
--- End quote ---


Blake Schwarzenbach died in 1995 and was replaced by an alien clone, who proceeded to record Dear You.

I actually liked a few songs on Dear You, I feel ashamed, I know every drumroll.

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