/create/
Through my formative teenage years, like most people, I experienced a lot of melancholy.
It wasn’t full blown depression, where I’d listen to The Smiths’ ‘Asleep’ till the wee hours of the morning and drown in my own self-loathing, but rather the unnerving feeling that something was horribly wrong but I never knew quite what it was or how to fix it.
I’d love to say that now I am (by all legal and technical definitions) an adult, that this overwhelming feeling of melancholy has eradicated itself from my life. But like all things we hope to get rid of when we grow up, like acne and mild social awkwardness, the melancholy is still by my side, a loyal puppy always willing to spend time with me.
I still find myself drifting away from reality and indulging in a little bit of unhealthy self-reflection. The only difference between doing that now and when I was a teenager is that I’m abruptly jolted back to real life by a customer asking a question or my niece drawing on my face. And then I realize that I’m a real person who needs to get their shit together. However, if like me your guilty pleasure is occasionally treating yourself to an afternoon of melancholy, here are my top three songs to be melancholy to.
1. Belle and Sebastian – Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying
If you have never heard this song you probably think I have absolutely no understanding of what melancholy is, seeing as the title has depression written all over it. But let me assure you, the upbeat instrumentals and almost singsong voice of Stuart Murdoch creates an ironic contrast to the song’s depressive lyrics. Trust me your inner teenager will jump for joy, or rather sit quietly and look out a rainy window pensively.
2. Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
I don’t know if this even needs any explanation ... “Well you can’t get what you want, but you can get me.”
3. The Velvet Underground – Candy Says
This song is so soft, so quiet and so perfect to fall asleep to while feeling melancholy. It has all the ingredients a song should have to enhance melancholy; a dash of self-doubt, a nip of rejection, a spoonful of self-loathing with just a pinch of happiness.
