Teary-Eyed Tuesdays, or The Alternative to Emo

Today’s post goes out to the emo kids. Consider it an apology of sorts.

I was once amongst your harshest detractors, watching you sitting there with your headphones on, sulking in your own little worlds, and thinking “Give me a break… stand up, quit the pity party, and do something in this world.”

But after going through some personal stuff myself in the past month or so, I feel like I should have cut you kids a little slack. Music is an incredibly cathartic force for things like this: hearing that voice that resonates and tells you that you aren’t the first to feel like this, and won’t be the last… essentially that you are not alone. It’s a great feeling, and I see why you turn to the headphones for solace.

However, while I support the principle, I think you guys have the execution of it all off—basically, you’re choosing the wrong songs to listen to. Of course you’re going to feel like crap after listening to Konstantine on repeat all night long in all of its bloated nine minute glory while weeping into your LJ... it’s one depressing song.*

Fear not, because I’m here to help. Believe it or not, there’s a world of music out there that you can empathize with that will put some life back in you at the same time, or at the very least help you to look at things in a new light. I don’t claim to be an expert on this by any stretch, but I do know what’s worked for me and what perspective I gained from it, and I’d like to share it with you.

So without further ado, the first selection (I’m thinking this will be a weekly deal… neat, huh?)

I begin with the granddaddy of liberating breakup songs, Billy Bragg’s A New England. Billy spent his childhood in England listening to old Motown records, and found that much to his dismay the real world of love did not match up to the ideals of R&B. The result is some of the most powerful and yet thoughtful music about love I’ve ever heard, embodied in this song. It’s the kind of song that you sing out loud to yourself at the top of your lungs on the way home late at night when you think nobody’s listening, bad British accent and all… or maybe that’s just me ;)

When he gets to the chorus, though... somethings always bugged me- the bit about not wanting to change the world. It feels contradictory to Billy Bragg's entire philosophy (he's also a major politcal activist), but I've always dismissed it as just a desperation thing. Now, I think I get it- it's his means of acceptance. He can't change the situation, so he'd just as well move on, hard as it is to do. Brilliant stuff, Bill.

Anyhow, I'll cut myself off here, as it’s really just one of those songs that speaks for itself… absolutely genuis in its simplicity.

Billy Bragg- A New England.mp3

*as an aside, can anybody out there explain to me why this song makes any female between the ages of 16-24 just completely melt? Because I’ve tried to figure it out for a probably a good three years now, and I’m still stumped.