Heartbreak, mix CDs, and something happy
December 29, 2007I love making mix CDs, for other people and for myself, and I’m delighted that technology has revivified and simplified this art form. One of my favourite creations is called Heartbreak, Unrequited Love, and Clever Lyrics, and I recently created a sequel, The Heartache Continues. This exercise reminded me of a passage from Nick Hornby’s novel, High Fidelity: “What came first — the music or the misery?”
Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands — literally thousands — of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss. The unhappiest people I know, romantically speaking, are the ones who like pop music the most; and I don’t know whether pop music has caused this unhappiness, but I do know that they’ve been listening to the sad songs longer than they’ve been living the unhappy lives.
So, as an antidote to all of the Dave Gahan and National and Nicole Atkins, here’s a cheerful song about the unbridled enthusiasm of young love, writing poetry, and unprotected sex.
Link to MP3 download page: The Moths – Valentine
zed equals zee 
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