I'm not the type of person to listen to songs that make me sad. Most songs I enjoy with that undertone usually end in hope. And I try to listen to more upbeat music when I'm sad ... so I struggled with this day.
I went through my music files and came up with eight songs. Three songs were from musicals, so context is pretty important to lend the emotion and that's a little bit of an unfair advantage.
But one shone over the others whenI realized that I sometimes skip this song because of how melancholy it makes me.
Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) - American Pie - Don McLean, 1971
Vincent is McLean's stirring tribute to the artist Van Gogh.
I've always admired Van Gogh's most well known painting, Starry Night. (I saw it at the MoMA and used it as inspiration when I painted my bedroom.)
But I began to notice often the things I found beauty in were subjects of Van Gogh's art: sunflowers, deep blues and purple, soft greens and finally, my favorite flower Irises.
I'm not sure what exactly the paper was about, but I had to write a persuasion paper for an English class, and I chose to center it around Van Gogh. At this point, I discovered the song by McLean. Since, Josh Groban has covered it, also a fantastic version.
It makes me sad because so many are inspired by Vincent's works now. But he found very little success or praise when he was alive. Vincent barely made a living and was often tortured by various afflictions of mental illness. I think everyone can relate to not being appreciated or understood, and McLean captures the anguish we all feel in this song.
Tomorrow: A Song that Reminds Me of Someone ... I had one picked out ... but changed my mind!
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