Songs About Loneliness

I decided to compile a short list of songs that deal with the nature of loneliness, seclusion, and the feelings that come with being isolated from the rest of the world.

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

"Eleanor rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved"

I figured I'd start off this list with an obvious one. The most poignant thing about the nature of loneliness in this song is that each person never surrenders their routine to the reality of isolation. Even within the small spectrum of community, their existence is nothing but that doesn't stop them from losing hope in a hopeless situation that one day they will be acknowledged and cared for by other human beings. Regardless, they pass on and the culmination of their lives results to nothing more than a mound. A mound that is already composting into the world around it.

Street Flash - Animal Collective

"Does anyone in here get hit
with inside fever?
So bad sometimes it's hard
to move around"

A song about seclusion, "Street Flash" deals with the feelings of self-doubt that depression brings and how being completely isolated does nothing to stop someone from reinforcing bad ideas about themselves. The only relief comes in the passing observation of others as the speaker walks through the streets and lessens some of the negative feelings that were built up in isolation.

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times - The Beach Boys

"Where can I turn when my fair weather friends cop out?"

A lamentation for an inability to build true long-lasting relationships, completely hopeless and (essentially) alone-the speaker here also has nothing to stop themselves from reinforcing feelings of sadness and self-doubt.

If I Go Mad/Funeral In My Head - The Flaming Lips

"But if I go mad no one will no it
I won't let it be seen
'Cause I don't want you to be sad for me
Be happy, don't cry"

A track about the nature of inner-turmoil and the sides of ourselves we'll never share with others.

Whatever - Gnarls Barkley

"I don't have any friends at all
Cause I have nothing in common with ya'll
So who's gonna catch me if I fall
My backs always against the wall
I don't have anything to say
I want everything to go my way
Shut up mom it is not OK
I'm alone almost every day"

A trademark in the loneliness of youth are the Holden-esque irrational self-loathings and juvenile mentalities that a lot of teenagers have. Mocking those feelings, this song provides a great portrait of the world many have come from and many more sprightly kiddos will unknowingly go through.

Lamentations for the music video

One thing that really annoys me these days is how there's no longer a TV channel that just plays straight up music videos. The music video is a dying (or some would debate dead) art form and because of that very few artists actually make music videos for their new releases. Thus, the ones that do get made have a very little chance of ever being seen unless they're from an already well-established artist that can win the very exclusive 30 second time slot MTV uses between commercials to play them. Yes, I realize there is the internet to watch videos on but having to actively seek out an artist ruins the feeling of discovery or rediscovery that the random playlist of a television program affords.

Anyway, I'll close this out with a video from music video's golden age (the eighties) with "Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: Head Like a Hole (1990) from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

Celebrity Crush Case #2: Lily Allen

First off, I informed a handful of people about this blog and told them I'd be updating "every day" and then the day after I said this...I stopped updating everyday. Don't let that deter you from checking this often though! I was all over the place this last weekend and didn't really have the time to ego trip and share my thoughts and opinion with you all. Now that that's past, lets move on shall we?

I'm pretty enamored with English culture and because of that I have a real thing for English chicks. The attitudes, the styles and...of course, the accents. I could meet an English lady and she could be some screeching bitch with a batshit level of insanity and I'd be so charmed with her that I wouldn't even notice.


Around 2006, I came across Lily Allen's video for "LDN" and that's when my crush began. I checked out her record, a fun ska pop album, shortly after and grew a real thing for her. She was spunky, cute, bratty (but not bitchy), intellectual, and self-aware. And yeah, the British thing was a definite plus too. I followed her a lot after that and we had a real good thing going on.

Well, sometime after her first album hit the US and she started to get some real fame-things began to change between us. She dyed her hair blond, started hanging out with Lindsay Lohan, and focused more on being a crackhead socialite than making good music. Then, her second album hit. All the ska from the first album was replace with electro-pop which wasn't necessarily a bad thing but the album somehow managed to do away with all the good will I had left for her. The songs wreaked of a higher social purpose as her idol complex kicked in and all the intellect and self-awareness I pegged her for before was gone when her social criticisms offered nothing more than shallow, immature observations.

Regardless, my relationship with Lily Allen wasn't over. I'd see clips and pictures of her around and read an interview or two with her and I couldn't help but renew my love. As far as celebrity crushes go, Lily Allen is the girl that is completely wrong for me yet I keep coming back time and time again. It's a doomed relationship but I can't help but stick around.

The Beatles....!

So, I was going to write a whole blog about how the Beatles are the greatest band ever and how they're the only band in the history of the planet that's equally respected by people with absolute shit taste in music and people who are absolutely obsessed with everything to do about music and blah blah blah.

Anyway, it's all been said a billion times before so I'll just give you this video and remind all of you to download the Beatles remasters because they're really fucking good.

Good day!

Batman, yo!

For the most part, I'm pretty bored with the superhero genre. There's little left in it that hasn't been exhausted completely everywhere else. Plus, superhero comic books are so scatter shot in quality and absorbed in making self-references to previous issues, obscure fact's about the character's history, and other heroes in the universe that I couldn't give a shit about and who (inevitably) appear often-that comic books are not very friendly to people who aren't completely obsessed with them.


Regardless, Batman is still a superhero that excites me. I absolutely love the current generation of Batman movies and the new Batman game, Arkham Asylum, manages to achieve what it is to be Batman rather than just using some simple conception. I love the gothic, noir style of Batman's world and how he's (at heart) just as crazy as the people he's capturing. Not to mention there's no better antithetical super villain to a superhero than the Joker is to Batman. Any other lesser superhero has some lame ass evil twin type villain with the signifying evil mustache and a slightly different color palate that's little more than a shallow mirror copy.

Plus, the old nineties Batman cartoon is fucking great. It's one of the few things that has more long lasting quality than anything my childhood nostalgia usually needs to vouch for to appreciate.

You can download and read the 25 best Batman graphic novels: here
The site is in Spanish, so just bear with that. I recommend starting with "Arkham Asylum" or (if you're unfamiliar with the character/universe) "Year One"...though I find the art on that one a bit of a drag.

At some point after I read through all of those, I'll post some sort of cohesive analysis of the Batman character. Oh yes, be excited.

Autumn Story - Fire Kites

I really love the late parts of the year. Despite the huge clusterfuck rush that is Christmas and (sometimes) Halloween-Winter and Fall are largely mellow, chill seasons. There's a certain solitude with the later parts of the year that most find depressing (and at times it is), but I find great for listening to intimate, emotionally raw music. While the colder seasons aren't here just yet, I figured I'd share a beautiful music video someone else shared with me that embodies what I love about late season music: "Autumn Story" by Firekites.

Check it out.