Entertainment For Lively Minds
Grief albums
Posted by Sam Tyler on 22 March 2009 - 8:24pm.
This is hardly a cheery subject, but has anyone found certain albums that helped them through the grieving process?
My dear old nan died suddenly recently, which hit me pretty hard, and I found myself reaching for George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and Neil Young's Harvest.
I'm not altogether sure why, but they became my companions while I dealt with my loss.
All Things Must Pass deals with ideas of death in such a spiritual and uplifting way and Neil Young's voice is so packed with beauty and emotion. Really special records, the two of 'em.
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Sorry
to hear about your Nan. Feeder's "Comfort in Sound" was written as a direct result of their drummer's (Jon Lee) suicide. The main themes of the album are depression, loss, grief and on a more optimistic note a sense of coping and being positive. Not to everyone's taste granted, but the lyrics are definitely from the heart.
Sao Paolo
By The Guillemots. My mum died last year after a sudden illness and the only albums I had with me when I headed down to be with her were the Guillemots albums. Sao Paolo has a lyric about being "thrown across the water like a stone" which pretty much summed up my own particular headspace at the time and got me through it funnily enough.
Electro-Shock Blues by The Eels
Mark Oliver Everett, The Eels himself, has dabbled a lot with death and grieving. This record was written in response to his sister's suicide and his mother's cancer. He has more recently come to terms with finding his father dead at home when he was 19. His growing 'relationship' with his father since his death was at the heart of the BBC Scotland documentary on E, Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, and quite inspirational it is too.
another shout for
Electro Shock Blues - deep, cathartic and uplifting. Put further into context by his excellent book. The opening line of Climbing To The Moon 'So I wrote it all in a letter but I dont know if it came' is about him sending his sister a copy of the Beautiful Freak album shortly before she commited suicide and never knew whether she heard it.
from another album 'Blinkin Lights' is a song that just pulls my heartstrings clean out. 'Things The Grandchildren should Know'
I'm turning out just like my father
Though i swore i never would
Now i can say that i have a love for him
I never really understood
What it must have been like for him
Living inside his head
I feel like he's here with me now
Even though he's dead
Excuse me, i have something in my eye.....
Last Man on Earth
Loudon Wainwright's album written after the death of his mother is a beautiful, evocative set.
most of his finest work is about loss and never fails to connect with me.
Elvis
His 1970s recordings healed me quite a bit after a major loss in my life. At the same time, I heard REM's Everybody Hurts as if for the first time and it went up in my estimation enormously.
Talk Talk's "Spirit Of Eden"...
... is good for a wallow. From the classical side, when my father died unexpectedly I found myself listening to Gorecki's 3rd Symphony quite a bit, and a good deal of Elgar (my dad was a big Elgar man).
The Feeling's first album
Yeah, I know loads of people find them insanely cheesy (which I suppose they are), but their music is so happy and upbeat. I listened to it a lot after my father's death when I felt in particular need of cheering up.
Normally I listen to a lot more profound music, but I found my normal music too depressing when I was already feeling so sad. It had to be The Feeling.
Sorry for your loss, Sam. Best wishes to you.
What are you going to do with your life?
The Echo and the Bunnymen album 'What are you going to do with your life?' from the late 90s always makes me think of mourning and sadness. It's quite a reflective album, but it has that sparkle of melancholy magic that resonates through the Bunnymen's best work. I've never met anyone else who's heard it, either!
I used to play it a lot, following the death of a family friend, and I still think it's wonderful. Just listen to Rust and History Chimes: for the £3 it'll cost you on Amazon etc., it's certainly worth checking out.
I listened...
to Dylan's 'Desolation Row' repeatedly when my mum died last month. For years I never got Dylan, but put this on one day and just couldn't stop playing it.
Funnily enough
I listened to Desolation Row once a few days before my Dad died, and something about it prepared me in some way. A day or two later, Not Dark Yet came on and I somehow knew it was all going to be over very soon. He died a matter of hours later.
I'd love to....
know what it is about the song that strikes a chord. Also, why Dylan struck such a chord with me during that period.
Hmmm
I don't know, other than possibly a sense of finality and wisdom, perhaps. Much of it for me is in the sound and the delivery, which to a certain degree is beyond analysis. Maybe one listens with a different set of ears when the emotional floodgates are open. But the answer to your second question is easy. Dylan struck a chord with you because he's the best there is. I'm glad that the music, as it did with me, healed you a little bit. We can go years before realising that music can do that to us.
Paddy's Doo Wop
Found myself drawn to Prefab Sprout's song 'Doo Wop In Harlem' from the 'Jordan: The Comeback' album when I needed music to fill the void.
Doo Wop
Agree Doo Wop is a very poignant song and one I know I will play repeatedly when the fateful day arrives and my dad is no longer with me.
Another song that links me with very sad memories is Natalie Merchants King of May. 10 years ago my late brother in law was going through a very tortured period in his life. I returned from a trip to the USA with Ophelia the album from which this track is taken. He heard King of May from that cd whilst at my house and proceeded to play it over and over and over again. Something struck a chord with him and to this day I do not know what. Within 3 weeks he sadly died and I still would love to know if this song enabled him to reach a peace he craved for.