Rock Spot – A Little List
By WTJU Rock
Annie De Blanco’s Says It’s Ok To Cry.
I have a little list, I have a little list. It is shorter than the Mikado’s Lord High Executioner’s list of annoying people (there’s the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs. All people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs… he’s got them on the list, he’s got them on the list) and far more serious!
Mine is a list of two. Two songs that are essential for those moments when a good cry is needed but, dammit, you don’t cry easily. You know that crying is a great release, so it is helpful to have a little encouragement when things have got so bad (such as the state of the world; someone’s bad news; when things are not going right; the state of the world etc.) that a good howl would really, really help. Music to the rescue!
First on my list is Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide by David Bowie from the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. In the song, the last track of an extraordinary album, a lonely figure, a superstar who rose to a great height and is now tumbling down, is stumbling through the streets. Lost, vacant, drowning.
But there is someone out there, someone watching over you who exhorts that you are being too hard on yourself. “Oh no love you’re not alone, you’re watching yourself and you’re too unfair.’ No matter what has happened, you are human, you have worth, “you’re wonderful,’ and then the urgent demand, as this someone reaches out to the drowning person, ‘gimme me your hand . . .’
It is so sad but hopeful, powerful. Play it loud and let loose!
The other song on my list is Elton John’s ‘Tonight’ sung by George Michael. It is the story of a couple who are not doing well, they are arguing again about the same old stuff. The singer wants them to be happy again. He wants things as they were before everything went wrong. He sings as if he is writing a letter to his lover signed, ‘the man who’d love to see you smile’. But he is not going to get that smile. The relationship is over.
The music, the piano, is an Elton John masterpiece. Incredibly beautiful. Definitely listen to his recording. But equally fantastic is George Michael’s version recorded live (on ‘Two Rooms, the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’). His voice is amazing, hitting the high notes with perfection, the song suffused with sadness and pain, and is especially poignant since George Michael is no longer around.
It doesn’t have to be played loud but good speakers are essential. Lie on the floor, take time for yourself, be sad, be overcome by waves of musical perfection and let it all out.
And that’s my list. I have them on my list. Such very very sad songs that are too hard to resist.
Do you have a list that you care to share? Of sad songs or happy songs. Break up or kooky songs. Or concert reviews, perfect albums, favourite music films . . . send submissions to anniedeblanco@gmail.com and read them on the Rock Spot.
