In an interview I conducted last week I got onto the subject of fans projecting their feelings onto the writers songs. I’ve long lived by the adage that rock music is essentially happy music about sad things. Rock is, perhaps because it is a teenage medium, given to extremes and the most of all extremes is sadness.
But is it true?
Is it all found love? Lost love? And then everything else (politics, for instance).
So here is an entirely unscientific projection of my natutal disposition (sadness) on a ton of rock stars of varying popularity to prove I am not simply projection to describing.
Three categories: Sad, Happy, Neither:
Sad.
1. John Lennon
2. Elliott Smith
3. For Science
4. Morrissey
5. The Smiths
6. The Buzzcocks
7. Van Morrison
8. Elvis Costello
9. Lou Reed
10. Otis Redding
11. Marvin Gaye
12. The Sex Pistols
13.Public Image, Ltd.
14. Kid Cudi
15. Elliott Smith
16. The Stone Roses
17. Blur
18. Bob Dylan
19. Janis Joplin
20. Paul Simon
21. Johnny Cash
Happy.
1.Paul McCartney
2. Ringo Starr
3. Smokey Robinson
4. Marshall Crenshaw
5. Jay-Z
6. Oasis
Neither
1. George Harrison
2. Mick Jagger
3. The Clash
4. Bruce Springsteen
5. Bob Marley
6. Elvis Presley
7. Simon And Garfunkle
OK, let’s stop there and retrace our steps. On the neither (and always on the neither) is political bands. Woody Guthrie may have beeen unhappy with the great depression but his songs are activist shouts whereas Dylan’s the political is personal is emotional devastated landscapes.
Spirituals aren’t depressive. Gospel isn’t depressive. Reggae isn’t depressive (though lover’s rock can be).
Happy folks like McCartney make happy music, eccentric depressives like Lennon made sad songs.
All eccentrics -all the Morrissey’s of the world are suicidal head cases. Eccentrics crossover in form of sadness: the Kid Cudi’s of the world. As of course singer-songwriters like Cobain (i know you think he wasn’t but he was) and Elliott Smith.
Teen pop isn’t depressive (though Taylor Swift is always about to break down), dance pop isn’t depressive, but any time any one is emoting they are emoting sadness.
Negative emotions are stronger than positive ones when it comes to music: it is the reason why it is easier to write negative than positive reviews: sadness, anger, betrayal: all the spots need strong language. So in conclusion…
With the broadest of strokes my claim is rock is sad, pop is happy. Now I think I’ll cry!!!