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Music as a language 2
As the Music as a language thread is getting quite long and cumbersome to navigate, I thought I’d start part 2 of that thread. Here is a link back to the original thread Music as a language.
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69 Replies
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Chopin’s Funeral March is probably the most somber and sad piece of classical music ever, so I thought. You hear that somber tune used in cartoons and movies like a cliche to symbolize the sound of death. I’ve always glossed over this piece and usually would skip over it. I always saw it as too dark and depressing to listen to.
I was listening to my favorite Chopin CD the other day, that I got decades ago, and I ended up listening to the Funeral March intently for some reason this time like never before. The familiar funeral march chorus melody has such a feeling of finality to it like death is the fate that awaits us all, but amazingly at the 2:20 mark the funeral march chorus ends and a beautiful piano voice picks up. This I guess is Chopin’s genius! From 2:20 to 6:27 this beautiful and elegant piano voice consoles you like an angel or the loved one who passed away expressing love and consoling you to not be too sad and that you’ll be OK. I couldn’t help but feel the stream of tears running down my cheeks as I listened to this. It is amazingly beautiful and moving. Then at 6:27 the somber funeral march anthem takes over again, to remind you it is a funeral march. The funeral march I learned is a piece Chopin wrote to console in the most beautiful and touching way, not to depress.
I wanted to share this, just to illustrate the power of music, how emotional in a beautiful way it can be, even in a funeral march. Power of music to console.
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Here is a more inspired interpretation of Chopin’s Funeral March done by the brilliant pianist Helene Grimaud.
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I will go out on a limb and express my opinion that many of the greatest most beautiful and moving songs in any genre are the sad songs. But it’s not to say sad songs necessarily are there to make you feel sad, but the song takes you from a place of sadness to a place of peace and beauty. I know this to be true in Classical Music, like many of Beethoven’s music as well as the Chopin Funeral March I illustrated above. Leonard Bernstein stated that most of the great modern pop/rock/blues/jazz songs are in the minor (darker) mode of Mixoydian (and Dorian), examples: Kinks – “You Really Got Me”, Beatles – “Norwegian Woods”. I have to say I find the most beautiful and moving songs that leave a lasting impression to be the sadder, darker ones. I often find the happy, cheery, bright songs less inspiring and moving. Could it be that the sadder, darker songs stir more and deeper emotions, and therefore can be more moving?
I did an unscientific search using Google for the “saddest Beatles songs”. I went through a number of forums including Quora and Reddit. Two songs I notice that are mentioned the most often are: “She’s Leaving Home”, and “In My Life”.
Other ones that were mentioned frequently are: Nowhere Man, Here Comes the Sun, The Long and Winding Road, Two Of us, Yesterday, Across the Universe, Here There and Everywhere, For No One, Let It Be, Hey Jude, Eleanor Rigby….
I have to say all the Beatles songs mentioned are beautiful. They don’t make me sad, but feel immense beauty instead.
What are peoples opinion here?
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Well Jung, respectfully contrary to your opinion…I’m emotionally sensitive somewhat, so certain sad songs do just that to me, and I don’t care to listen to songs that make me sad hearing them, I just don’t …but Happy songs, even with some low notes, are more pleasant for me, …an example of how a sad song I did once like got ruined because of how I now associate it with…” Sweet Dreams” by Patsy Cline is a lovely song, and I liked it up until….I saw the movie based on her life “Sweet Dreams” with Jessica Lange as Patsy…well they conveniently used that song in the final scene when the plane crashed…and to this day thereafter, I refuse to listen to it, it had me so upset…it associated quite a negative impact on me….so while some sad songs I can tolerate a tad, some like Sweet Dreams, if it gave me quite a negative impact emotionally, don’t expect me to ever listen or at least intentionally not listen if I hear it on radio or tv or wherever…It can also effect me physically to that it got me so emotional….so bottom line, only positive infused songs are my main preferences with very rare occasional sad songs that do not do extreme emotional/physical negative impacts on me…perhaps and probably another reason as to why I’m not keen on Classical Music as well not having nor wanting an acquired taste for it…????
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I agree with you, Jung. Apart from “She’s Leaving Home”, I can’t think of a single Beatles song that is not at least somewhat hopeful and uplifting lyrically, even if it’s sad melodically.
In fact, overall I can only think of two 60’s songs that pack that double punch of a somber tune and hopeless words: Elvis’ “In the Ghetto”, and “Patches” by Dickey Lee. It takes despair on all levels like that for a song to get to me.
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Jacki, David. Yes it is an interesting topic about sad songs. It obviously impacts people differently. I just posted this because when I did the search on the word string “sad Beatles song” in google, it popped up many Beatles discussion forums that discussed sad Beatles songs, and many fans mentioned Beatles songs Yesterday, Here Comes the Sun, Across the Universe, Let It Be, and Hey Jude to be sad songs. The greatest pop/rock songs ever written have a sad feel to it, but what it does in my opinion is it lifts you up out of the sadness to a place of peace or joy. An emotional journey if you will, just like classical music does. It’s not just the lyrics but the melody and feel of the music. It doesn’t leave you sad, at least not the ones I like, but takes you from a little sadness or blues to being uplifted. Takes you through all the shades of emotions I guess.
The whole sub-genre of blues music I suppose is like that too.
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Reference article 10 most Emotional Beatles songs.
Written by Paul McCartney, “Yesterday” is the most covered pop song of all time. This song looks back longingly to a happier life full of love. Songs about heartbreak and lost loves are everywhere today, but this one in particular is devastating in the pain coming through the lyrics and melody. The sadness of losing someone you care for so earnestly is portrayed beautifully.
When John Lennon and his wife split up, Paul wrote this song (Hey Jude) to Lennon’s son, Julian, to keep his head up following the divorce. The lyrics encourage Julian to let in someone new, perhaps Yoko Ono, and once he can learn to be accepting and optimistic, his life will get better. Though directed at Julian, this song can be applied to anyone experiencing pain to let them know anything can improve once they open up their hearts.
During a time of struggle within the band, Paul wrote this song (Let It Be) about how everything will work out for the best if you let it be. He describes seeing his late mother in a dream, telling him if he maintains hope and has faith, he will be all right. Paul’s dear mother Mary, who died when he was 14, brought him peace in his worst times. The emotion behind this song comes through in his voice.
The combination of heartbreaking lyrics and eerie melody provide for a tragic song (Eleanor Rigby). It makes the listener think about all the lonely people in the world who aren’t as fortunate to be surrounded by people they love. What happens when those people pass away and no one is there to mourn them? Those are the types of questions this song addresses. They are the questions people don’t like to think about, but The Beatles explore them in a striking way.
Beatles music is so deep and meaningful, that’s why their music survive the ages and one can never tire of listening to them. Generations of people can connect to their music because it touches people so deeply, emotionally. What geniuses!
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This is the music theory video I’ve been waiting for all my life!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmzgVtZtUQ
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David, fascinating video, love it, thanks for posting. And love the explanation of intervals, relationships between the notes and pleasant consonants and sense of tension and release created with dissonants etc. Interesting about that 24 notes per octave special piano keyboard invention. That looks hard to play! A lot of awesome music theory concepts to digest and will watch this many more times. Gotta love David Bennett!
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Here are some more fascinating music theory tidbits I found about creating emotions. Gives insight into the structure of emotions in music.
This video shows how emotions can be created with just 3 notes (B, C, G) in 2,3,7 interval with the right hand , and 5th interval (A,E, or F,C or G,D or E,B etc) chords with left hand, and by just moving up and down the octaves in any combination create emotions. I presume this can translate to the uke or guitar.
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Here is another one about building tension and contrast with a few 8th interval chords with the left hand, and simple 5 notes combination with the right hand moving up and down the octaves.
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David, have you seen the movie “Mr Holland’s Opus”? If you haven’t I think you’d like it and I recommend to others. Just saw it and it’s awesome. It’s about a highschool music teacher who teaches unmotivated students and faculty music appreciation. The power of music! Very touching. Can find it on you tube or netflix.
Here is a trailer
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I haven’t seen that one, Jung, but I remember hearing about it when it came out. After watching that trailer and reading the synopsis, I’ll definitely have to check it out. As a guy who once dreamed of becoming a famous scientist, I can really relate to the last sentence of the synopsis: “Ultimately, Mr. Holland realizes that his true passion is teaching and his legacy is the generations of young people he inspires.”
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I have watched some of that movie before, it happened to be on TV when I flipped channels, I must watch whole thing now, since you mentioned it, while on topic here, I do love To Sir With Love ‘ , ” The Commitments “, ” Roadhouse “, ” Bodyguard”, many others…
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