Songs that get me (you) through the tough times...

[raublekick]

We all go through hard times, right? What songs do you listen to when you need a cheering up?

I think like Stormy said in her thread, when I am feeling down I can't really listen to anything too happy, so I tend to stick to some stuff that is an emotional mixed bag. Stuff that is happy but with a tinge of sadness or longing, yet reassuring.

Off the top of my head all I can think of is

Talking Heads - Heaven
Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Chromelodeon - The Final Recordings (the entire album)

This Must Be The Place is pretty much the embodiment of comforting songs in my opinion. The instrumentation is curious, joyful, and whimsical, yet the lyrics and David Byrne's voice keep the song focused on what was and may never be.

[raublekick]

oh ok

[Optimus Funk]

"Smack My Bitch Up" by Cypress Hill

[thecreeper]

missed this thread. sorry rubbbbble.

i dont have too many albums that i listen to straight through when i'm sad and sappy and depressed. i usually tend to stick with atmospheric stuff. a few albums:

Sigur Ros - ()
nearLY - reminder
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Red Sparowes - At the Soundless Dawn
Mike Doughty - Skittish
Nine Inch Nails - Still (really great acoustic album, recommended)
Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies

there's a ton of individual songs i like to listen to. here's a few:
Thorne (Zoast) - Shades Down
M83 - Gone (Live)
M83 - Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun
Dinosaur Jr - Alone
Dinosaur Jr - Thumb
Modest Mouse - Broke
The Mars Volta - Televators

i repeated a few bands there, so forgive me, i'm not remembering everything.

[raublekick]

Originally Posted by Optimus Funk

"Smack My Bitch Up" by Cypress Hill

you mean Prodigy?

[Optimus Funk]

Yeah, I just wanted someone to say something about my selection....It worked! Finally I feel like I am a member of the board. Also, fuck you for correcting me :P

[Stormy]

It really has changed over the years. This is a hard question to answer, and to be honest, a lot of the time I only remember the hard times, and not how I got through them--only that I have and I can. I think the biggest problem is that tehre are a variety of things that make a variety of times a variety of... tough. And this leads to a variety of music. There's breakup music. There's "oh shit, this is terrible and personal and I'm not going to share it on the Internet" music. There's stressed out music. There's just sheer glum music. Usually, when I'm simply down or, during one of those "oh shit, this is terrible...." dilemmas--not involving heartbreak--I listen to sad music. Cristina Branco has lovely fado music; a select few songs from The Mountain Goats I absolutely adore; sometimes Iron & Wine, sometimes Mirah or Lamb.

I remember when I first had my heart broken, I listened to a lot of different kinds of music that reminded me of him and the situation.

After my second boyfriend dumped me to try (and fail) at fucking fellow college freshmen, my best friend burnt me two CDs that got me through studying. I also listened to a lot of Led Zepplin, and (lamely) a lot of the first indie stuff I got into because of my (later) third boyfriend.

I listened to a lot of Royksopp about a year ago, at the end of my 3rd year's spring semester--to get me through a ridiculous exam schedule.

All nighters the fall semester of my last year of college were survived via some shitty stuff like Wolfsheim, and a few select songs I would play over and over and over again (like Forseti's Abendbrot).

This past semester I listened to a lot of Asobi Seksu and Cranes, mixed with Ideal Free Distribution and oh no! oh my!.

I think overall, the trend has been that different styles of music with some kind of pep are what I listen to the most when I'm struggling with something other than sadness (not derived from heartbreak).

More than anything, really, I best enjoy music when I've already established a niche somewhere--and I use the music as atmosphere, or as marking points, to remind myself of who and where I am. Trying to reestablish my musical tastes in a new environment/situation is part of me trying to reestablish my self, as lame as that sounds. The music I listen to through tough times will always be different because of that.

[raublekick]

Loveless is a really great album for when you are feeling, well, loveless...