Quote:
Originally Posted by Velvet  Madge:
My songwriting turned an interesting corner when I sat down after my divorce a couple years ago, and started writing this sad, mopey song, and then stopped. |
what i'm writing isnt sad and mopey -- it's just country!
no, seriously, what i'm try to get at is what i love about those sad songs. there's an emotional strength and an acorn of redemption in them.
like the original "little mermaid" story (the one where she dies at the end), there is something so beautiful in that sadness, you know? something injured but still vibrant and alive. like, okay world, you messed with me, but i still believe in love. i still will not kill the prince and his princess in their sleep. i wont sell out. i still believe.
i guess when i hear a great torch song (like linda ronstadt's "love has no pride," for instance) it touches that place in me that feels noble in its sadness. like tolkien calls the struggle against evil "the long defeat" but insists we must not give up.
hmm what i'm coming to is, it's all about how i feel about what i'm expressing/singing/thinking about.
for instance, the martha wainwright song that's in my head is somewhat sarcastic and heartfelt at the same time. she sings "i have no children / i have no husband / i have no reason to be alive / please give me one."
i feel the depths of sadness and irony in that, but i dont feel it is "true." and i didnt make the little "the secret" shockwave go out through the universe in my imagination. so i guess i'm safe.