For those really low, just-got-your-heart-ripped-to-shreds moments, The “God, I hate that girl I love” times…
Bubble and Scrape by Sebadoh and
Gentlemen by The Afghan Whigs
are both tough to beat.
nice (almost same answer) simulpost, DaveX. 
(server timed out - if it doubles sorry!)
This was exactly me although a bit older stuff - Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, and Stained Class, Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind and Powerslave. Ozzy’s Diary and Blizzard. When my cat died it was Metallica’s Fade to Black and Pantera’s Cemetary Gates.
(I get to see Morbid Angel, Slayer, and Pantera tomorrow night!)
NP: Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges
Rick Wakeman
Early stuff – Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Rick Wakeman’s Criminal Record, White Rock
I remember the first time I had my heart broken, I listened to the album Flesh and Blood by Roxy Music over and over again.
Nowadays, I find Big Band in general (and Glenn Miller in particular) really picks me up when I’m feeling sorry for myself. I get this mental picture of soldiers dancing with dolled-out dames, knowing that tomorrow they’re being sent off to their deaths. For some reason, that helps me to put things into perspective.
Just remembered a couple more. Singer songwriter Mark Curry had an album called It’s Only Time that I used to play constantly. Had a lot of autobiographical moments in it for me. But unlike the other stuff I posted, this was more of a wallow-in-my-misery-kinda album. It was nice to know someone else was feeling as mopey as me.
Anybody know his stuff? Never met anyone who did. He did the “Sorry About the Weather” song back in '92.
And more recently, Ani Difranco’s “Untouchable Face” has some nice broken hearted bitterness to it. I played that one song like a hundred times one weekend, years ago.
Song For the Dumped. A great song, indeed.
Hang, Matchbox Twenty
Rest Stop, Matchbox Twenty
If It’s Hurting You, Robbie Williams
Lately, Jodeci
How’s It Going To Be, Third Eye Blind
Blame It On Me, BNL
Liar, Rollins Band
Does She Love That Man, Breathe
Can You Stop The Rain, Peabo Bryson
Dear Lie, TLC
6, 8, 12, Brian McKnight
Among others.
Don’t Forget Your Second Wind by Billy Joel and Jacob’s Ladder by Huey Lewis and the News helped me through a depressing period when I managed to run through most of my money and assets while trying to be an insurance salesman. Luckily, a friend gave me a job in the newspaper business at an absolutely crucial time, and I’ve been there ever since.
When my wife died, The Dance by Garth Brooks was tremendously healing.
** Don’t Give Up** by Peter Gabriel has gotten me through a number of difficult situations, especially the last verse :Don’t give up, 'cause you have friends
Don’t give up, you’re not the only one
Don’t give up, no reason to be ashamed
Don’t give up, you still have us
Don’t give up now, we’re proud of who you are
Don’t give up, you know it’s never been easy
Don’t give up, 'cause I believe there’s a place
There’s a place where we belong
The last two weeks have been a definite low point for me (ugh…I hate to even think about it.) The only thing that has pulled me through is Linkin Park, especially the song “In The End.” I’m not a metal fan, but I overheard some of their songs on the radio and bought the CD. Decent lyrics, incredible sound.
Pushing Me Away helps dull the hurt:
Meshell Ndegeocello helps too, especially the “Bitter” album, and the song “You Made a Fool of Me”:
Ahh…sweet heartbreak. Let’s all hope someone better comes along before I join the convent.
When I was a depressed it was Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. Oh and I listened to on an ALBUM played on a TURNTABLE!
When my wife left me and I was going through a bankruptcy I listened to a lot of classical music and opera. Now of course my first wife (hearafter refered to as THE BITCH!) took some of my cd’s and so listening to music would sometimes set me off as I would search and search for a cd I knew I had but where could it be… oh THE BITCH must have taken so her new boyfriend could listen to it.
But also I am disorganised and sometimes when I changed disks I would take the disk out of the player and just put in the case of the disk I was putting in. (this makes it really hard to find some things)
So one time I was putting some music to cry to and suddenly a cd that I thought THE BITCH! had taken started to play.
The Pretenders and what I heard was
It is time for you to stop all of your sobbing
It was a real turning point for me.
My roughest time was when my ex-fiance ended it by letter. Believe it or not, Alanis Morrisette’s * Jagged Little Pill * got me through. I honestly think that if I hadn’t sung those lyrics in my room as angrily as she sang them in the studio, I would have taken the anger out on myself (draw your own conclusions).
As a side note, the ex and I have spoken and gotten everything resolved. We are now good friends. Matter of fact, I intend to invite him to my wedding in March, and I have been helping him deal with the end of a relationship. Weird, huh?
Oh man. There was a period when I had The End of Silence (sorry, nitpick) in my CD player, my car tape deck, and at work. That disc just echoed the way I felt so perfectly. Every track seemed like it was ripped right out of my mind. I couldn’t listen to “Just Like You” without having a total meltdown. Ahhh, those were the days.
Other than that, my other choices featured a lot of Hank as well. “Gun in Mouth Blues” was always a fave. I also got into Ministry’s In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing up, NIN’s Fixed and The Downward Spiral, and Bob Mould’s Workbook and Black Sheets of Rain.
It’s varied a lot, depending on my age and the problem. As a teenager, it was definitely Never Surrender by Corey Hart and Things Can Only Get Better by Howard Jones. This dates me, doesn’t it? Oh, and when I needed calm (often when I had a migraine) I’d play the entire Black Celebration lp by Depeche Mode.
Since I’ve probably already embarrassed myself, I’ll plow on.
During the time I realized I hated my ex (while we were still together), I used to listen to How Can We Be Lovers If We Can’t Be Friends, the only Michael Bolton song I could ever stomach, and only because the lyrics rang true to me. Around the time I was trying to figure out how to leave him, I used to pop a loonie in the jukebox at work and listen to I’m Free by Jon Secada and From a Distance by Bette Midler, the former lifting my spirits, and the latter calming me down.
Just before I left, I listened to The Jagged Door by John Kilzer a lot.
From the song:
*How many days has it been since I fell from grace
Let me count the ways
I’m sure you have them posted on your door
Moons wax and wane
But our constant nonchalance is intent on parades
That rise and fade
But just for what who knows what for
And one little me wants to hold you tight
Other little me wants to scream and fight
It’s just not right for us to act like this
First you wanna strike and then you want to kiss…*
Dare, by Stan Bush. A very encouraging/motivational pop rock song, and one I’m sure 99.95% of the people reading this won’t get without checking some internet database…
Well, if everyone’s gonna start posting lyrics…
Not too long ago, it seemed like I was pissed off for an extended period of time. Work, social life, everything seemed to suck. And I was just a grumpy guy to be around.
Then, one day, I was listening to an MP3 mix and this song came up by Jill Solbule (the I Kissed A Girl, girl). It’s called Bitter, and as sappy as it sounds, it really snapped me out of my little funk.
Bitter
I could slip, I could fall
In that mean and awful hall
With the other jealous bitches
And the bitter grumbling men
I could sneer, I could glare say that
life is so unfair And the one who
made it, made it `Cuz her breasts
were really big
Well I don’t wanna get bitter
I don’t wanna get cruel
I don’t wanna get old before I have to
I could bitch, I could moan
Say I want to be left alone
But that’s not really true,
Because I like my time with you
Till you rant and you rave
Wishing fat folks to their grave
But I feel sorry for them
You say they get what they deserve
Well I don’t wanna get bitter
I don’t wanna get cruel
I don’t wanna get old before I have to
I don’t wanna get jaded
Petrified and weighted
I don’t wanna get bitter like you
Like you, with the darts in your eyes
Like you, with disdain for mankind
I was charmed, now I wonder
Well I don’t wanna get bitter
I don’t wanna get cruel
I don’t wanna get old before I have to
So I’ll smile with the rest
I’ll wish everyone the best
And know the one who made it,
Made it cuz she was actually pretty good
Well I don’t wanna get bitter
I don’t wanna get cruel
I don’t wanna get old before I have to
Oops. It should also be noted that Public Enemy’s proper album title (mentioned in the OP) is: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (vs my sloppily shortened “Takes Nation Of Millions”)
I have to pretty much “me too” here, but I have a little
bit of original content to add.
Basically, seems like I go through three steps:
- Anger
- Sadness/Bitterness
- Resignation
Actually, there’s usually some denial before those, but I don’t need music to deal with that, it goes away on its own fairly quickly.
For anger, I need something to really feel the anger. Vent it, get it out. Angry speed metal is good. Older Metallica, but some of the newer stuff is good too. NIN is also pretty good here, depending on the album. Broken is very angry and harsh, and I listen to it a lot when I’m angry. Every possible male emotion after a breakup, from “I’m sorry I hurt you” to “DIE BITCH!! DIE!!!” can be found in NIN’s music. ;]
Between Anger and Sadness it’s usually NIN again. The quieter albums. Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine. I’ve been listening to “Something I Can Never Have” quite a bit lately trying to get over a girl.
And then Sadness, strangely enough, I listen to a lot of Type O Negative. I’ve been listening to “Everyone I Love Is Dead” about once a week for the last three weeks.
Resignation, ironically enough, tends to be slightly more upbeat music. I listened to Tom Petty’s “Full Moon Fever” and it really was good for my mood. It starts out with “Feel a Whole Lot Better”, which takes the anger and sadness of the end of things and puts it in sort of weary perspective. But with upbeat music, which is pretty strange but if you’re trying to get over things, pretty good. Plus Tom Petty is just feel-good music. It’s hard to be totally down at the end of a Tom Petty album.
After it all blows over, I generally go back to my normal, energetic techno/industrial stuff.
My emotional lifecycle as expressed in music. Cool thread!
-Ben
Well, when I went through my Angry/Bitter[sup]tm[/sup] stage I listened to a lot of Metallica (still my favorite group) and Korn’s debut album. I also played Pantera and Counting Crows quite a lot. Nothing helped me feel better than screaming my throat into a raw bloody mass with Jon Davis back in '96 and singing along with James Hetfield’s live version of Fade to Black.
Anything by John Coltrane
Undertow by Tool
Anything by The Smiths