It will most likely come as no surprise that I'm a person who can get really melancholy and self-pitying and just terrible. (Have I ever hidden how much I truly love Morrissey?)
Some of my favorite artists and songs are those that help me indulge this tendency, but that also help me view it through a slightly different lens -- an ironic remove, or a sense of humor, or a sense of the general absurdity of everything.
Right now I'm really digging on these two songs, both from Erasure's 1989 album Wild! One lowers me into the pit where I frankly enjoy wallowing for limited amounts of time, the other lifts me back up. Here they are.
(Previously: Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs, "Like Rock & Roll and Radio", "Old Before Your Time")
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The song: Erasure, "How Many Times?"
If I couldn't hear the lyrics I would almost believe this was a modern Christmas song, particularly in the bridge. There is a melancholy festiveness to this song that makes it a perfect complement to an activity I find myself inadvertently indulging in pretty often these days, namely walking around in a black trench coat past windows filled with lighted happy holiday decorations and couples.
And then there's this.
The song: Erasure, "Drama!"
This whole song is just gold. I started quoting my favorite lyrics but there are so many of them and they are all delivered with the perfect snideness. (The British pronunciation of "drama" as "drahmer" particularly enhances this song.)
If this song can't make you laugh at yourself and your black trench coat, there may really be no hope for you.
After all, "God only knows the infinite complexities of love."
Yrs,
AW
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