Driving in my car today, a song came on the radio that caused a tightness in my chest and a sudden, urgent need to change the station.
The song that prompted this was Don't Speak by No Doubt. It wasn't that I was mortally offended by Gwen Stefani's dulcet tones or the quality of the musicianship, it just reminded me of a bad break up. The funny thing is I can think about the man and the bad times we went through without getting remotely upset these days, but if I chance upon Don't Speak, or Lately by Stevie Wonder, I'm in bits. Even ten years after the relationship turned to dust.
In the midst of a break up there is nothing like a truly sad song to help you pour out all the feelings of loss and regret. Most of us have found ourselves clutching a bottle of red wine and sobbing our hearts out to one or other of these sad songs. The problem is that those songs seem to become boxes into which we empty all our hurt and those boxes can be reopened.
At the time it's so cathartic. Hear them again when we are feeling OK about life and they have an unexpected effect. It's like someone leapt out of the box of feelings to stab you in the heart all over again. A song you might previously have loved is ruined forever. Dry Your Eyes by The Streets is just such a song for me.
Maybe it's a sign that you haven't really dealt with all those feelings properly or maybe music just has the ability to give us a very clear window on past times. Like when you catch a certain smell and are immediately transported to long forgotten memory.
All I know is that Magic FM is a particularly dangerous territory for these type of songs. In order to avoid a repeat of today's sharp intake of breath moment, I'll be transferring my allegiances to 6 Music for a while!
