Sad Songs

Don’t Un-break My Heart

We all have those moments where you feel that little tinge of sadness welling up inside. It starts somewhere in your belly, crawls up to your heart, (which actually hurts) then moves up your neck to behind your eyes. You’re going to cry. But if you wanted to fight it at this point you could and suddenly the process is reversed. You stop that sad thought, you swallow back those tears, the sadness moves back down, un-breaking your heart somewhere along the way and the fist that lives in your belly dissipates. Voila! You’ve saved yourself from a nice big self-pitying cry.

Play It Again Sam

Then there are those other times when you can’t stop the process. Instead of stepping back, you step forward, toward iTunes where you desperately look for that band, that song that’s going to lead you to the edge of wreckless, heart-wrenching sadness. You see the song, you load it up, all the while holding back your tears until you can really let it rip. Wait here it comes, it’s starting up, the first notes, you’re done. The tears quickly turn into sobs.The ball in your stomach gets bigger, your throat constricts, your heart truly has broken in half and your eyes are blinded by gigantic salty tears. That’s it. You reach over and play the song again and again. ..

How Much Sadder Can a Song Actually Get When it’s Called “Sorrow”?

I have a lot of songs that take me there but the one that’s really doing it for me right now is Sorry by The National. If you’re up for it, have a listen here and have a good cry yourself. Better yet, tell me what song brings you to the edge so I can increase my cathartic moments.

The great thing about really letting yourself go to pieces is that it actually helps reverse the sadness process. Suddenly you’ve given yourself over so much  that you actually have nothing left. This is when you switch tunes…maybe Foster the People Pumped up Kicks will help you get a groove on in your day.