English 121... Who knew a Composition class would involve writing papers?
What can I write?? Hmm..I get my car back on friday when I get paid..oodles of fun spending that money. I wrote my english paper on how musicians playing off the emotion of depression makes them more successful than musicians who suck. Causal analysis is what its called... Cause of musicans success is playing off depression. I dunno how that will work out grade wise but its well thought and put together well. Besides even when Iwrite papers that totally blow I seem to get A's on them. Thats good right?
So anything else new in my world? I need to do laundry like mad...and finish my broadcast..I tihnk I may be dressing up and acting as a celebrity and performing a song tomorrow for the show...I was thinking like doing "hurt" by NIN. Since we couldn't tihnk of a third segment to the show we decided that we shuld have a celeb guest...and being the only guy and the only one inthe group with a somewhat decent voice...I am singing. It'll be hot tho. Plus "All that could have been" is recorded live so we dont have to add the audience cheering and shit. Speaking of that Album..I have the Video from that tour and I got it from Lori. I watched it today before I went to work...its so good. And trent reznor is sooo awesome.
I woke up today and had 2 like identical cuts on both sides of my waist when I woke up tihs moring..they were scabbed over..but I have no clue where they came from. Maybe its like Stigmata style or something...that would be interesting. Painful too...but interesting. Speaking of.... Ithink I wantto watch that movie now. Or I could watch NIN again. Decisions to make....F.
School tomorrow..fun stuff. This is a Class read paper...so I'm gonna post it..and give me some feed back on what you think...assuming it gets read. Aight:
Why It Feels So Good To Feel So Sad
“What have I become,
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end.”
“Hurt” - Nine Inch Nails
Depression is the most highly diagnosed mental illness in the United States. In contrast to this, suicide is not the leading cause of death but a cause for success, although many people think that depression is a terrible thing that keeps people from being all that they can be. However in the area of entertainment, depression can be listed as one of the many factors that can actually help an aspiring artist become successful. Depression can help a song’s lyrics relate to the listener, even if the writer of the song has not been diagnosed with depression the emotion intrigues people to listen. From the industrial rock of Nine Inch Nails to the mellow sound of Radiohead, depression can be a make or break factor when it comes to an artist’s success.
In the music industry one of the most depressing rockers is Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. His melancholy lyrics of suicide attempts and drug addictions have made this singer/songwriter one of the most successful artist in the industrial rock genre. Diagnosed with major depression as a teen, his way of letting it out was through writing poems and eventually using digital effects, turning them into hit singles. Since the debut of his first U.S. album Pretty Hate Machine in 1989, Reznor and NIN have never failed to have a sold out show or an album that didn’t sell over 2 million copies. His upcoming release With Teeth is sure to be the same as two weeks ago the pre-release listening party at St. Andrew’s sold out within minutes of the door opening. Not only popular in the United States, Reznor’s progressive rock has become a hit all over the world, selling out shows in Asia and Europe.
Another example of depression helping with his success is his lyrics being able to relate with feelings everybody has. His song Hurt is an excellent illustration of his groundedness and ability to relate with his listener. “What have I become/ My sweetest friend?/ Everyone I know/ Goes away in the end/ You could have it all/ My empire of dirt/ I will let you down/ I will make you hurt.” These lyrics are the chorus of the song and most everybody has felt that way a few times in their life. If not for his depression, he would not be able to write lyrics that so well relate to the lives of so many people and that would make him less successful.
Even if an artist isn’t diagnosed with depression, playing off that emotion can help them become successful. Although not a hit, the song Cocoon by Joydrop is the reason my friend Brianna bought their debut album Metasexual. The lyrics to the second verse: “If I decide I can’t do it anymore/ Try to be so hard/ I’m trying to be so fucking hard/... If I should choose to fall apart/ Don’t you think you should let me/ If I should choose to die alone/ You should forgive and forget me,” are about wanting to die and loneliness. After listening to that song with Brianna, I bought the cd, and although not a huge fan of the band, that song is one of my favorites.
Another band with a lead singer who plays off of the emotion of depression is the band A Perfect Circle. Originally just a side project of Tool front man Maynard James Keenan, the band has become almost as popular as Tool itself. Their first single from Mer de Noms, “Judith”, is about showing someone how putting their faith into something has destroyed their life. Personally, my favorite song by them is called The Noose in which he talks about a person who has made changes in their life, but never really admitted their wrongs. In the end of the song he sings “Your halo is slipping down/ To choke you now.” Even the titles of their hits from the second album, which was more successful than the first, are depressing: Weak and Powerless and The Outsider. This is just another example of how depression or depressing words and sounds can attract people.
Recently several songs that seem to play off the emotion of depression seem to have made it big. Pieces by Sum 41 is an excellent example of this. With the lyrics “I tried to be perfect/ but nothing was worth it” starting off the first verse and the chorus “If you believe it’s in my soul/ I’ll say all the words that I know/ Just to see if it would show/ That I’m trying to let you know/ That I’m better off on my own,” it is a song most everyone can relate to because everyone has felt this way at least once in their life. Other songs that seem to play off emotions that have recently come out and made it large include Passive by A Perfect Circle, Save Me by Unwritten Law, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day.
Taking a look further in to the music industry, bands that write songs that are either pointless or consistently happy lyrics often become one hit wonders. For example the band Marcy Playground had a hit single Sex and Candy. After that song they dropped off radar and the only other song of theirs I know of is on the Cruel Intentions soundtrack but it never made a hit. Another example is American Hi-Fi with their song Flavor of the Weak. Not only did they drop off the charts, they were named by VH-1 as the number one one hit wonder of 2001.
So why does depression make musicians so successful? Is it because we are attracted to depression or want to be sad all the time? Or is it because the words relate to how we feel or have felt in the past? In a way I think it’s both. Depression can lead us into the darker areas of our mind which makes it intriguing to the our conscious self. Or if the song can remind us of how we have felt before, then we don’t really mind the memories of depression because something good came from it. Whatever the reason, depression is a key factor to making it big in the rock music industry.
Anyways.... its movie time. Havea good night everyone.
So anything else new in my world? I need to do laundry like mad...and finish my broadcast..I tihnk I may be dressing up and acting as a celebrity and performing a song tomorrow for the show...I was thinking like doing "hurt" by NIN. Since we couldn't tihnk of a third segment to the show we decided that we shuld have a celeb guest...and being the only guy and the only one inthe group with a somewhat decent voice...I am singing. It'll be hot tho. Plus "All that could have been" is recorded live so we dont have to add the audience cheering and shit. Speaking of that Album..I have the Video from that tour and I got it from Lori. I watched it today before I went to work...its so good. And trent reznor is sooo awesome.
I woke up today and had 2 like identical cuts on both sides of my waist when I woke up tihs moring..they were scabbed over..but I have no clue where they came from. Maybe its like Stigmata style or something...that would be interesting. Painful too...but interesting. Speaking of.... Ithink I wantto watch that movie now. Or I could watch NIN again. Decisions to make....F.
School tomorrow..fun stuff. This is a Class read paper...so I'm gonna post it..and give me some feed back on what you think...assuming it gets read. Aight:
Why It Feels So Good To Feel So Sad
“What have I become,
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end.”
“Hurt” - Nine Inch Nails
Depression is the most highly diagnosed mental illness in the United States. In contrast to this, suicide is not the leading cause of death but a cause for success, although many people think that depression is a terrible thing that keeps people from being all that they can be. However in the area of entertainment, depression can be listed as one of the many factors that can actually help an aspiring artist become successful. Depression can help a song’s lyrics relate to the listener, even if the writer of the song has not been diagnosed with depression the emotion intrigues people to listen. From the industrial rock of Nine Inch Nails to the mellow sound of Radiohead, depression can be a make or break factor when it comes to an artist’s success.
In the music industry one of the most depressing rockers is Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. His melancholy lyrics of suicide attempts and drug addictions have made this singer/songwriter one of the most successful artist in the industrial rock genre. Diagnosed with major depression as a teen, his way of letting it out was through writing poems and eventually using digital effects, turning them into hit singles. Since the debut of his first U.S. album Pretty Hate Machine in 1989, Reznor and NIN have never failed to have a sold out show or an album that didn’t sell over 2 million copies. His upcoming release With Teeth is sure to be the same as two weeks ago the pre-release listening party at St. Andrew’s sold out within minutes of the door opening. Not only popular in the United States, Reznor’s progressive rock has become a hit all over the world, selling out shows in Asia and Europe.
Another example of depression helping with his success is his lyrics being able to relate with feelings everybody has. His song Hurt is an excellent illustration of his groundedness and ability to relate with his listener. “What have I become/ My sweetest friend?/ Everyone I know/ Goes away in the end/ You could have it all/ My empire of dirt/ I will let you down/ I will make you hurt.” These lyrics are the chorus of the song and most everybody has felt that way a few times in their life. If not for his depression, he would not be able to write lyrics that so well relate to the lives of so many people and that would make him less successful.
Even if an artist isn’t diagnosed with depression, playing off that emotion can help them become successful. Although not a hit, the song Cocoon by Joydrop is the reason my friend Brianna bought their debut album Metasexual. The lyrics to the second verse: “If I decide I can’t do it anymore/ Try to be so hard/ I’m trying to be so fucking hard/... If I should choose to fall apart/ Don’t you think you should let me/ If I should choose to die alone/ You should forgive and forget me,” are about wanting to die and loneliness. After listening to that song with Brianna, I bought the cd, and although not a huge fan of the band, that song is one of my favorites.
Another band with a lead singer who plays off of the emotion of depression is the band A Perfect Circle. Originally just a side project of Tool front man Maynard James Keenan, the band has become almost as popular as Tool itself. Their first single from Mer de Noms, “Judith”, is about showing someone how putting their faith into something has destroyed their life. Personally, my favorite song by them is called The Noose in which he talks about a person who has made changes in their life, but never really admitted their wrongs. In the end of the song he sings “Your halo is slipping down/ To choke you now.” Even the titles of their hits from the second album, which was more successful than the first, are depressing: Weak and Powerless and The Outsider. This is just another example of how depression or depressing words and sounds can attract people.
Recently several songs that seem to play off the emotion of depression seem to have made it big. Pieces by Sum 41 is an excellent example of this. With the lyrics “I tried to be perfect/ but nothing was worth it” starting off the first verse and the chorus “If you believe it’s in my soul/ I’ll say all the words that I know/ Just to see if it would show/ That I’m trying to let you know/ That I’m better off on my own,” it is a song most everyone can relate to because everyone has felt this way at least once in their life. Other songs that seem to play off emotions that have recently come out and made it large include Passive by A Perfect Circle, Save Me by Unwritten Law, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day.
Taking a look further in to the music industry, bands that write songs that are either pointless or consistently happy lyrics often become one hit wonders. For example the band Marcy Playground had a hit single Sex and Candy. After that song they dropped off radar and the only other song of theirs I know of is on the Cruel Intentions soundtrack but it never made a hit. Another example is American Hi-Fi with their song Flavor of the Weak. Not only did they drop off the charts, they were named by VH-1 as the number one one hit wonder of 2001.
So why does depression make musicians so successful? Is it because we are attracted to depression or want to be sad all the time? Or is it because the words relate to how we feel or have felt in the past? In a way I think it’s both. Depression can lead us into the darker areas of our mind which makes it intriguing to the our conscious self. Or if the song can remind us of how we have felt before, then we don’t really mind the memories of depression because something good came from it. Whatever the reason, depression is a key factor to making it big in the rock music industry.
Anyways.... its movie time. Havea good night everyone.