Back in the day, as a young boy of 14, in one of those email quizzes forwarded by friends, I was once asked, "Choose one word to describe yourself." I picked the word 'charismatic'. I know, I know. In my defense, I was 14. In your defense, calling oneself 'charismatic' is indefensible. Fair enough.
Anyway, the reason I thought of this was because of this quote I saw at work recently, "Asking a person to define himself/herself is like asking that person to bite his/her teeth." I can't decide if this quote is spectacularly profound or spectacularly confusing. But the message is clear, nonetheless. It is difficult for one person to define himself or herself properly, what more with one word as 14 year old me did.
But, there's something we can describe with one word. And that something is something which people are in a lot but maybe they don't think about it or they really do have something better else to do. And that something is - What is your default mood?
It's not really pretentious, I think, to say, "Oh, I'm by default in a happy mood" or "By default, I'm always angry" or that sort of thing. Essentially, if you were going to make a bet (I have gambling issues) on what mood you would be in on an arbitrary day 2 months from now, what mood would you bet on?
I know people who are generally cheerful. I know people who are generally angry. I know people who are generally lazy. I know people who are generally intense. Whatever works best for you.
For me, I think the word would be 'dark'. Not in an emo or goth kid way. Not in an "I worship the Anti Christ" way. Not in an "I'm Edward Cullen and I'm a vampire" way. (Feel free to disagree in the comments).
No, none of that. I mean it more in a, "I want to be sitting in my room in the dark, curtains all closed, listening to mellow/melancholic music and just enjoying the quiet moments" way.
Hmm...Okay, I realise that doesn't really sound that different from the descriptions above. Crap.
Hopefully the cat picture appeased you. So, from that description of my general mood, yes, I enjoy melancholy/mellow music (ask anyone who's been Karaoke-ing with me). So, to enjoy the 'quiet moments', it would be great to build a playlist of songs with which to do so. I've never actually made a proper playlist; I generally just pick a song, loop it until I get tired of it and then move on.
But now, let's construct a 15 song playlist. So, what's the criteria? Well, the songs must generally be melancholic/mellow sounding (this means lyrics, beats, guitar etc etc - A loud sounding rock song would not qualify here). I want to relax to the music. Maybe indulge in a bit of wistfulness. But the songs do not necessarily to be emotional sad songs. For example, Oasis' "Little by Little" is a great melancholic sound but I think it's more for a sad occasion. Part of the lyrics go, "Little by little, gave you everything you ever dreamed of/ Little by little, when the wheels of your life have slowly fallen off." Mellow? Yes. Emotional? Yes.
Essentially, I want songs that make me ponder on life or people or whatever. But I don't want songs to which I relate right then. Makes sense? Not really? Okay, nevermind. But first, a disclaimer (suggested by my lawyer).
Disclaimer: I didn't make this list to encourage or to induce anyone to kill themselves; It's for my own personal enjoyment. If anyone kills themselves because they listened to this playlist, it's not my fault!
So, here we go, song by song. To be clear, the order of the songs is not by "Best" or "Favourite" but by where each song fits in the chronological order of a playlist.
1. Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
Dude, I want to be alone. And the first line in this song kicks it off - "Hello darkness, my old friend." No other song kicks off the playlist better.
2. The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
There's something about the word 'forever' that makes pondering stuff better. Plus, the intepretation of "Strawberry Fields" is so wide open. The greatest thing about music, to me, is simply the idea that music can mean anything to anyone.
3. David Gray - Disappearing World
"Night falling on the city
Quite something to behold
Don't it just look so pretty
This disappearing world"
Isn't it so peaceful? Like, you can look out into the night, listen to this and all is right and tranquil with the world.
4. Matchbox 20 - 3 AM (Piano version)
The classic song that tells you exactly when you should be listening to it. We're transitioning into real melancholy/mellow tunes here. Which is what we want by the 4th song.
5. Oasis - Half the World Away
The 3AM song is truly mellow. So, we need to step into something a bit more hopeful. Because remember, we're going for wistful, not emotional. We want to be careful not to drop into the 'emotional' level. And Half the World Away does this perfectly.
6. The Real Tuesday Weld - Last Words
Taken from Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. This is the song at the ending scene where Nick and Norah are taking the subway out of the city. It's quite a happy song (by mellow/melancholic standards) and this is helping to keep the mood balance at wistful, a nice transition from Half the World Away.
7. James Blunt - 1973
To keep on the wistful theme, here's something which brings up nostalgia. It mainly stems from this lyric - "And though time goes by I will always be in a club with you in 1973." You see, for every friend, I will always have one memory of them that stands out first. As in, if I were to think of a friend and an experience we shared, that will be the first thing I think of. And..."though time goes by, I will always be "where" with you in "when"".
8. The Beatles - In My Life
Since I'm reminiscing about my friends, why not reminisce about the whole lot?
9. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
I've gotten to really like Bon Iver recently. I think his "For Emma" album alone could make a good case to be 'the' playlist for a melancholic/mellow playlist. But I like a variety of artists. So, the reminiscing now travels into reminiscing about someone for whom you could have razbliuto.
10. Josh Rouse - Sparrows over Birmingham
Continuing on the reminiscence trend, we're taking it forward from the past to the present. There's even a line, "Oh, such a melancholy tune." Brilliant.
11. Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance
As we transition into home stretch, we need to move away from reminiscing about people to a song that invokes pondering about people and the struggles they go through on a day to day basis.
12. Simon and Garfunkel - Bleecker Street
I also happen to really like songs that describe a certain place and the going-ons of that place. And Bleecker Street's melody is so hauntingly melancholy/mellow.
13. Counting Crows - A Long December
Since we've moved into looking at day to day experiences, we can then transition nicely into my go-to "Let's review how this year went for me" song. At the end of each year, I write my personal thoughts and feelings about the year while listening to this story. Trufax.
14. Iron and Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
What do we want from a penultimate song on a playlist such as this? We want one that's soothing. We want one that sounds hopeful (to bring us away from emotional in case we even cross the line). We want one that makes us look at life and love. We want a 'big picture' song. The Trapeze Swinger checks every box.
15. Oasis - Champagne Supernova
Okay, so I cheated here. Champagne Supernova does get a bit loud at some points. BUT, I can't make a melancholy/mellow playlist without my favourite song ever - a song that I think can be used for every single occasion. Plus, it gives a very satisfying optimistic ending at the end of this playlist with its more upbeat tones. And it's my favourite song. Ever.
So, there we have it. To summarise, my playlist for Melancholic/Mellow would be
1. Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
2. The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
3. David Gray - Disappearing World
4. Matchbox 20 - 3 AM
5. Oasis - Half the World Away
6. The Real Tuesday Weld - Last Words
7. James Blunt - 1973
8. The Beatles - In My Life
9. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
10. Josh Rouse - Sparrows over Birmingham
11. Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance
12. Simon and Garfunkel - Bleecker Street
13. Counting Crows - A Long December
14. Iron and Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
15. Oasis - Champagne Supernova
I would recommend that anyone who wants to listen to these songs in this order at least acclimatise yourself first with having a mellow sort of mood. You know, you can listen to upbeat music first with the lights off and the rain pouring outside, or failing that rain sound effects (I love the rain, you see). Then, move into slower songs. And so on. I'm worried that if you were to jump straight in, you might kill yourself right around "Sparrows over Birmingham." Like Scar says, be prepared.
Disclaimer: I didn't make this list to encourage or to induce anyone to kill themselves; It's for my own personal enjoyment. If anyone kills themselves because they listened to this playlist, it's not my fault!
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