Music and Moods

[sinanju]

One of my favorite bands is Oingo Boingo. I love the juxtaposition of their bouncy melodies with the grim, sometimes gruesome, lyrics. Alas, my lovely and talented wife snippy can't bear to hear them so I can only listen to the music if I'm wearing headphones. It's not that snippy dislikes their music--it's that she has a visceral reaction to the music. It depresses her. There's nothing she can point to to explain, but that's the effect it has on her.

I've discovered that I have a similar reaction to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's melancholy version of Over the Rainbow. You've probably heard it even if you don't recognize the name. It's turned up in various tv shows or film soundtracks. It's a lovely arrangement, just his voice and a ukelele, and I enjoy listening to it.

But at the same time listening to it always leaves me with faint burning sensation in my eyes, like I'm about to cry. Not that I have anything to feel melancholy about, but damned if that isn't my reaction every time I listen to it.

Comments

[okoshun.livejournal.com]

I find that the song Broken Wings by Mr. Mister has the same reaction. It came up on epi_lj's mix that he was listening to last night and I had to ask him to skip the song. I'm not normally that demanding, but combining that song with my general mood was just a very bad idea.