What have I done to you?

Whining is intolerable. Especially whining about the state of your heart as a stand-in for emotional distress, not an actual medical condition. Unless you put it to a backing track that soars and swells with the verve of a heart that functions just fine (with bells even). Irony or fakery —  you tell me.

Loney Dear - My Heart

Life is but a memory

I don't care how somber or lonely he sounds, Nick Drake is always the magic elixir for washing away the hectic static of the day. Or the week. And he's great at reminding how ephemeral everything is. So let him usher in the weekend.

Nick Drake - Fruit Tree

Blues run the game

Here's one from the "busted luck folk singer" files. From being badly burned in a classroom fire to a subsequent life of depression, despair, and poverty, Jackson Frank seemed to have had enough sorrows to fill a vast catalog. Instead, he made a hauntingly pretty debut (songs later covered by folkies and non-folkies, apparently) and that's about it. From the comfortable vantage point of the listener, that's all there needs to be. I'm sure, however, that his life would've been a lot better had he been a more prolific man. Sad sad sad.

Jackson C. Frank - Blues Run The Game

Big kiss

Another one from the dust-off-the-CD files. I'm in the minority of Elliott Smith fans in that I don't get all that affected by the lo-fi misery of the early albums. Rather, his big-label albums with their big sound are what do justice to his big talent. XO in particular is just about flawless, end to end. And this tune conjures visions of 1998 that don't even make me cringe.

Elliott Smith - Baby Britain

Ghost notes

Songs named after emotional states can be pretty dicey, and it's a rare track that can shoulder the weight. It's especially tough when the emotion is actually a knotted set of feelings. According to some quick research, saudade is a Portugese word referring to a longing for something that was loved and is now lost, not only a deep desire to have it back, but also a belief that one day it will actually happen. Refusing to let the thing or person go means that the ghost is always present. And the constant failure of the past to return creates something that's both a huge emptiness and a crushing sadness. Interestingly, in Brazil, they have a holiday for it (January 30, if you want to mark your calendar).

Apparently, saudade has no true analogue in English, and I'm probably missing a lot in the translation. Thankfully, music can do it a lot better. So...does old Vini Reilly nail it with this one? Songblague says yes. Agree?

Durutti Column - Saudade

Christmas in New York

Ah, the Yuletide. Most years, I find myself with plans fallen through or neglected, spending Christmas day in the emptied-out city. Not having much use for the holiday itself, I tend to happily drift through town, enjoying the hush and exodus. It lasts just long enough to get into some good alone-time reflection before actual loneliness can set in.

This song came to my attention in a bar in Tel Aviv. Hey, why not? Having since heard Elliott Smith's original, I like this one much better. And I think it aptly suits my Christmas mind. Sure, it's maudlin, but it's pretty like cold air and tiny lights.

Madeleine Peyroux - Between The Bars

And, special for Christmas, a friendly note on appropriate holiday behavior. With love from Songblague.

Reverend J.M. Gates - Did You Spend Christmas in Jail

Why don't you be good for something

In the 1990s, I used to imagine Mark Eitzel and Mark Kozelek locked in an epic rivalry, a sort of King of the Downers version of Magic and Bird. Kozelek ran up the score on confessional despair, but Eitzel clearly had the edge on drinking himself to death. Put this one on next time you wake up wondering where the rest of you went.

American Music Club - Gratitude Walks

Cover me

I admit, I'm still a sucker for Mark Kozelek's music, even at its most emotionally raw. And I'm always amazed at his ability to draw the same intensity out of other people's songs. Who'd have thought a fairly minor Cars tune could sound so epic and heartfelt? Slowed down, stripped down, it opens wide, with a voice somber and beautiful like a cello. It's so good you can almost forgive him licensing it for a Gap ad.

Red House Painters - All Mixed Up