ALONE AND LONELY

Rey's post about his appreciation for country music reminded me of a repartee I once had with Melai on the subject of loneliness.

Told her in jest how the American country music genre has notoriously earned the dubious distinction of being habitually morose if not outright sorrowful.

And that most of the stories they depict are laden with multiple subplots of nothing but a life of sheer agony (e.g., a dog was hit by a truck while running after his master’s car on his way to a funeral of a friend who got shot while in a drunken stupor at a bar after his wife ran off with another guy whose wife recently died of breast cancer).

This was a joke, of course, to make Melai laugh and perhaps, make her snap out of feeling melancholy. But then again, just recently while listening to the radio, the song that came on reminded me that not only country music but pop as well has hit songs romanticizing a wretched happenstance.

Take for example this miserable song (but a big hit no less, staying as number one on the charts for six straight weeks) which opens with a young man’s deliberation to commit suicide by jumping off a tower after his fiancé stood him up at the altar — while the cold-hearted attendees were quick to decide on going home without so much thinking of keeping the poor guy company. The incident also left the young man questioning the existence of God; if not outright blaming Him for his pitiable life. This, in turn, led him to conclude that the whole world has more broken hearts than realized. And the song’s final verse reveals the young man’s dysfunctional family whose father died and left his mother unable to deal with it. Whoa!

Do you remember this song? Can you fill-n the blanks? Here are its lyrics:

In a little while from now,
If I'm not feeling any less sour
I promised myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower,
And climbing to the top,
Will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to whoever
What it's like when your shattered
Left standing in the lurch, at a church
Where people 're saying,
"My God that's tough, she stood him up!
No point in us remaining.
May as well go home."
As I did on my own,
_____ ____, _________

To think that only yesterday,
I was cheerful, bright and gay,
Looking forward to, but who wouldn't do,
The role I was about to play
But as if to knock me down,
Reality came around
And without so much as a mere touch,
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt,
All about God and His mercy
For if He really does exist
Why did He desert me
In my hour of need?I truly am indeed,
_____ ____, _________

It seems to me that
There are more hearts
Broken in the world
That can't be mended
Left unattended
What do we do?
What do we do?

(instrumental break)

Now looking back over the years,
And what ever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to have cried the tears
And at sixty-five years old,
My mother, God rest her soul,
Couldn't understand, why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart
So badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
_____ ____, _________
_____ ____, _________

(end)

If too young to remember it, click here for title.

Recently, Neil featured a pop song, though it has a catchy dance beat, the lyrics are just so sad?

Maybe it’s time to listen to some happy tunes by Abba?