Songs of self pity

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Bloomfield
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Post by Bloomfield »

Innocent Bystander wrote: But pretty nearly anything by Leonard Cohen.
No, that's not self pity. That's insight into painful human nature. Well, all right perhaps a leeeeettle bit of self pity. =)

One of Us Cannot Be Wrong

I lit a thin green candle, to make you jealous of me.
But the room just filled up with mosquitos,
they heard that my body was free.
Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night
and I put it in your little shoe.
And then I confess that I tortured the dress
that you wore for the world to look through.

I showed my heart to the doctor: he said I just have to quit.
Then he wrote himself a prescription,
and your name was mentioned in it
Then he locked himself in a library shelf
with the details of our honeymoon,
and I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse
and his practice is all in a ruin.

I heard of a saint who had loved you,
so I studied all night in his school.
He taught that the duty of lovers
is to tarnish the golden rule.
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure
he drowned himself in the pool.
His body is gone but back here on the lawn
his spirit continues to drool.

An Eskimo showed me a movie
he'd recently taken of you:
the poor man could hardly stop shivering,
his lips and his fingers were blue.
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes
and I guess he just never got warm.
But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice,
oh please let me come into the storm.




:)
/Bloomfield
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Congratulations
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Post by Congratulations »

Ticket to Ride, Beatles
Catch the Wind, Donovan
Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word, Elton John
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Elton John
The Boxer, Simon and Garfunkel
I Am A Rock, Simon and Garfukel
Tears of a Clown, Smokey Robinson
All By Myself, Eric Carmen
Heart of Glass, Blondie
Oh, Lonesome Me, Neil Young
Look at Me, John Lennon
My Mummy's Dead, John Lennon
Only the Lonely, Roy Orbison
Crying, Roy Orbison

And these are silly, but I like them, so I'm throwing them in:

Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me, Warren Zevon
Working at the Carwash Blues, Jim Croce
Innocent Bystander wrote:But pretty nearly anything by Leonard Cohen.
That's the truth. I love Mr. Cohen, but Jesus.

Like a bird on a wire
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried, in my way
to be free.

Like a worm on a hook
like a knight from some old-fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons
for thee.


EDIT: Okay, Bloomfield beat me to the Cohen commet. :D
Last edited by Congratulations on Fri May 19, 2006 8:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Innocent Bystander
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Post by Innocent Bystander »

Flyingcursor wrote:Buck Owens recorded "Act Naturally" in 1963. The Beatles in 1965.

What is a "mickey-take"????
Sorry. A Mickey-Take is a Pastiche for the purpose of mockery. A Parody or a Lampoon. I must have drifted off and thought I was at home in Yurp.

Good Call, Fearfaoin!

so: - Pretty nearly everything by Sting.
Wizard needs whiskey, badly!
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Bloomfield
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Post by Bloomfield »

Congratulations wrote:
Innocent Bystander wrote:But pretty nearly anything by Leonard Cohen.
That's the truth. I love Mr. Cohen, but Jesus.

Like a bird on a wire
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried, in my way
to be free.

Like a worm on a hook
like a knight from some old-fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons
for thee.



EDIT: Okay, Bloomfield beat me to the Cohen commet. :D
We haven't even mentioned the be-all-and-end-all of self pity:

Please don't Pass me By (A Disgrace)

Oh please don't pass me by,
Oh please don't pass me by,
For i am blind, but you can see,
Yes, i've been blinded totally,
Oh please don't pass me by.




But even in an hard-to-bear 18-min disgrace like that, Cohen burries really cool stuff like this:

Now there's nothing that I tell you
that will help you connect
the blood-tortured night
with the day that comes next.
But I want it to hurt you,
I want it to end.
oh, won't you be naked for me?


Cohen said btw that now that he's found buddhist peace and tranquility he realizes that he was deeply depressed for forty years.
/Bloomfield
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Post by buddhu »

Flyingcursor wrote:
buddhu wrote:Nooo... :o

You can't just write off the blues like that...

Well...I don't count the blues. I can see where this might backfire.

How 'bout them Tigers?
Indeed! :lol:

Sorry, mate. I wasn't serious, but the oversight was too good to pass up. :D
And whether the blood be highland, lowland or no.
And whether the skin be black or white as the snow.
Of kith and of kin we are one, be it right, be it wrong.
As long as our hearts beat true to the lilt of a song.
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Post by Jack »

fearfaoin wrote:Tori Amos has some self-pity in her music, but she tempers it with a
healthy dose of wrath.
  • He said you're really an ugly
    But I like the way you play
    And I died...
    But I thanked him
    Can you believe that?
    ...
    I wanna smash the faces of those beautiful boys
    Those christian boys
    So you can make me ***
    That doesn't make you Jesus


    etc.
He said you're really an ugly girl. I love that song. It's one of my favorites in the world. I don't think it's self-pity as much as anger.

Have you heard the story behind that song? I have a live version a friend recorded for me and before starting the song, Tori told the audience the story of how she used to be read stories from Leviticus by her grandmother who wanted her to grow up to be a "good Christian girl" and how she (Tori) as an adult used to live behind a church and how those experiences formed this song. It's really awesome.

Tori Amos is a Christian, by the way. That's what makes her music so interesting to me. She also has a song which mentions "Maybe next I'll give Judas a try" and that has always made me feel uneasy but it's honest, at least.
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Post by BillChin »

This thread brings to mind two sets of lyrics. One from a song I wrote and some by Roy Orbison "Absent Friends."

My song is about as direct as you can get.

One Good Reason

Is there light at the end of this tunnel?
Is there hope at the end of this day?
Is that another train coming?
Or is some kind of help on the way?

[chorus]
Give me one good reason, to live another day,
Give me one good reason, to keep going this way.

I’ve heard all of your stories.
I’m tired of all of your prayers.
I need something else,
To lift me out of despair.

[ch]
Give me one good reason, to live another day,
Give me one good reason, to keep going this way.

[bridge]
Joy is gone, Hope is gone, and Love was never here,
Please dear God show me, show me that you care.

[ch]
Give me one good reason, to live another day,
Give me one good reason, to keep going this way.

//

Roy Orbison "Absent Friends"

I sat there alone upon the ferris wheel
A pastel colored carriage in the air
I thought you'd leave me dangling for a little while
A silly twist upon a childish dare

Below I saw you whispering to another man
Who held the lever that could bring me down
He'd stop the world from turning at your command
It's always something cruel that laughter drowns

And I'm up while the dawn is breaking
Even though my heart is aching
I should be drinking a toast
To absent friends
Instead of these comedians

I can hardly hear the music from the carousel
The wind picks up, the carriage starts sway
As one by one the lights go out
It's closing time

I see you take his hand and walk away walk away
They say that you will always be the last to know
They say that all that glitters is not gold
It's not just that you're never coming back to me
It's the bitter way that I was told

And I'm up while the dawn is breaking
Even though my heart is aching
I should be drinking a toast
To absent friends
Instead of these comedians
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fearfaoin
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Post by fearfaoin »

Cranberry wrote:He said you're really an ugly girl.
Whoops. Yeah, that makes more sense. Stupid cut&paste
Cranberry wrote:Tori Amos is a Christian, by the way. That's what makes her music so interesting to me.
I knew she grew up in some sort of Evangelical tradition, but I didn't
know she was a practicing Christian. I do remember hearing her tell
a story on a live album about pleasuring herself in her room whilst
her parents were entertaining churchfolk downstairs.
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Post by Jack »

fearfaoin wrote:
Cranberry wrote:He said you're really an ugly girl.
Whoops. Yeah, that makes more sense. Stupid cut&paste
Cranberry wrote:Tori Amos is a Christian, by the way. That's what makes her music so interesting to me.
I knew she grew up in some sort of Evangelical tradition, but I didn't
know she was a practicing Christian. I do remember hearing her tell
a story on a live album about pleasuring herself in her room whilst
her parents were entertaining churchfolk downstairs.
I remember that too. I also remember her saying that her dad is a preacher, and preachers' daughters have a bit of a "reputation."

I know that she seems like an unlikely follower of Christ, but so did the apostle Paul. You have to remember the "last being first, and the first being last."

Here is a quote from her:
Tori Amos wrote:"I approached the last record [ Scarlet's Walk ] from the Native American part of my bloodline," she says. For this album, she realized that "the only way to address the severing that was happening in America itself was to go into myself as a Christian woman. If Jesus' teachings are being hijacked and manipulated by politicians, then I must therefore go back as a daughter of the Christian church into that system and that symbolism and those allegories."
She uses a lot of religious imagery in her music, needless to say. Two songs I especially like are "Mary" and "Me and a Gun." The "Holy, holy, holy" lines in "Me and a Gun" really cut my soul.

When people ask who your favorite Christian artists are and you say Tori Amos, they look at you funny. Moby (another popular artist) is also born again, but not many people know about it.

Since she mentioned her Native heritage, I thought I would mention that her maternal grandfather was Eastern Cherokee. I know she's a redheaded green-eyed ghostly pale one, but those things happen with human genetics I guess. I am a green-eyed pale skinned one myself (although I do not have red hair).

This is Tori Amos how she appears in every day life:

Image

This is Tori Amos when Kevyn Aucoin tried to "play-down" her white-girlness:

Image

:boggle:
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Post by Chiffed »

Innocent Bystander wrote:
Flyingcursor wrote:Buck Owens recorded "Act Naturally" in 1963. The Beatles in 1965.

What is a "mickey-take"????
Sorry. A Mickey-Take is a Pastiche for the purpose of mockery. A Parody or a Lampoon. I must have drifted off and thought I was at home in Yurp.

Good Call, Fearfaoin!

so: - Pretty nearly everything by Sting.
How 'bout David Allen Coe? The Perfect Country and Western Song.

I was drunk the day that Mama got out of prison
So I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got run over by a d%mned old train.

Oh, I'll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standin' in the rain
Well you don't have to call me "darlin", darlin
But why don't you ever call me by my name?
Happily tooting when my dogs let me.
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Post by rh »

fearfaoin wrote:Ooo, the ultimate self-pity song: The Police's Can't Stand Losing
  • I guess you'd call it suicide,
    but I'm too full to swallow my pride.
    I can't stand losing you.
That's the same one that immediately came to my mind. But the verse that precedes your quote is i think even better:
  • I guess this is our last goodbye,
    but you don't care so I won't cry,
    and you'll be sorry when I'm dead
    and all this guilt will be on your head.
(sung in that pouty, sing-songy way that Sting did so nicely)
there is no end to the walking
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fearfaoin
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Post by fearfaoin »

rh wrote:But the verse that precedes your quote is i think even better:
Good point. That really brings home the self-centered immaturity!
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Post by Wombat »

Does anybody else hear Elvis Costello's 'Alison' as a song of self pity?

Taken uncritically, we're meant to pity Alison, but he doesn't fool me.

It's also a brilliant song.
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Post by mamakash »

fearfaoin wrote:Tori Amos has some self-pity in her music, but she tempers it with a healthy dose of wrath.
Tori has these really moody-rainy-sad and sometimes ironic songs that let me be sad if I want but don't demand it. It's funny how she won't tear at the heartstrings but she'll lead you, if that's your mood. The only emotionally explotive song she's ever wrote(in my opinion) is "I Can't See New York" and I avoid listening to it. I end up sobbing . . . not a good thing.
"Hey Jupiter" is moody-rainy-sad and I can relate looking back to old relationships and wishing they were still around. You'd call them on the phone if you could, but how to you possible explain needing them when the relationship is long past? And you kind of wonder what their up to and if they ever think about you as much as you think of them.
Today is a Tori Amos day, rainy and cool, prefect for drinking coffee and misting over a past relationship.
Last edited by mamakash on Fri May 19, 2006 1:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by doogieman »

Janis Ian - yes depressing self pity, agreed, but - I saw her at the Philly Folk Festival in about 1976. One small girl with a big guitar standing alone on the stage, and that voice - it was an absolutley riveting performance.
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