5 Songs that make me miserable

In this horrible week, I've been bombarded with songs I really don't enjoy listening to. Some of these songs are great songs, some are not. I turn the radio off when any of these come on because they make me feel miserable and generally I prefer to feel happy.

1. Days - Kirsty MacColl - I don't really enjoy listening to any Kirsty MacColl tracks anymore. Her death was just such a tragic loss. Of all of them, this one is probably the one which makes me feel most miserable. The only song she appears on that I can listen to is "Fairytale of New York" That is such a joyous celebration of life that it transcends everything.




2. "I want to know what love is" - Foreigner. I never liked what I call pompous rock as performed by Foreigner. To make matters worse, I once split up with a long term girlfriend and was feeling rather miserable. She told me she had been to see Foreigner with her new boyfriend, that they were better than all the rubbishy punk bands I used to drag her to and that "I want to know what love is" was her favourite song. Since then I've loathed and detested it. Mind you it made me realise that I was lucky to have split up with someone with such awful taste.

3. "Tears in Heaven" - Eric Clapton. This is probably the saddest song ever written. Having kids, I can't listen to it as it summons images that I really don't want. Clapton wrote it about his 4 year old son, Connor, falling out of a window to his death. I've never really liked Clapton since he made comments that lead to the formation of Rock Against Racism. Having said that as a father and a musician I "get" this song. Can't listen to it though.

4. "Candle in the wind" - Elton John. This song makes me miserable on lots of levels. It used to make me miserable because it was about the death of Marylin Monroe and she was an Icon. She had a few films left in her when she tragically died. Then it became the anthem for Princess Diana. I'm not a big fan of the monarchy, but her death was a tragic loss of a young mother. The thing that it reminds me of most though is Tony Blair and his speech about Diana. That always reminds me of the death of my own hopes for the Labour Government and what it would do with it's massive majority. Don't get me wrong, I think they have done far better than the Tories would have, but they didn't do what I voted Labour for.


5. "Woman" - John Lennon. Now in the Beatles vs Stones argument, I'm firmly in the Stones camp. I also prefer Paul McCartney's compositions to John Lennon's. Having said that, you have to say the man was a musical genius and he was pivotal in the development of modern music. This song was his last hit while he was alive and became the anthem of his death. In my opinion, it is probably his worst song. I think it is quite cruel that such a horrible song is the one we associate with John Lennon's death. I wish he'd bowed out on a higher note. If I had to pick my favourite John Lennon solo song, I'd probably pick "How do you sleep?" written at the height of his argument with Paul McCartney it's sharp, incisive and to the point.


I suppose it's only fair to say that being a punk rocker, I don't really like downbeat music at all. I like fast, furious thrashes. My Missus is under firm instructions that at my funeral, they will play "I'm stuck in a Pagoda, with Trisha Toyota" by the Dickies. I love the idea of my coffin disappearing through the curtains during the solo. I think it would be impossible to listen to this song and feel miserable, which is just how I want it to be.
See what you think?