Well, it’s Valentine’s Day. Now, Baby & I don’t celebrate it, not for any particular reason, I guess with her birthday, our anniversary, and the holidays JUST passing, we don’t feel the need to go out and buy each other another gift. Rather save the money for a little vacation action this year! But, alot of people DO celebrate and maybe tougher, a lot people EXPECT some kind of celebration. Want to hear a sad one? Yesterday on my rollcycling Twitter, someone in the cycling world gleefully tweeted how all his wife wants for Valentine’s Day is for him to do the dishes, no presents, just that.
Let me ask you. How awesome of a partner can you be, when all she wants, is just for this one day, that you get off your ass and give her a hand. Wow. Sad thing is… how many people DO wait til a holiday, say Valentine’s or Mother’s Day before they “do something”? Dude. Turn off the TV and go do the fucking dishes.
*sigh*
Well… that’s just one component of these awesome-O “holidays” The others can be worse. Why is being “alone on Valentine’s day” and worse than being alone on any other day? Why Valentine’s day to propose? Why not your own special day? I don’t know man.
Fortunately for you and me, we got AdventurerNeil, his letter, and an amazing compilation to help get us all through this holiest of holy days… Go on, Neil, TESTIFY!!!
Dear Aaron,
Why oh why do relationships come with absolutely miserable expiration dates like Nov 1, or Dec 25, or some other depressing wintery time? I don’t know. I think that the cold scares love away, and for that, I will never forgive it.
Have you ever noticed how relationships (and major moments in them) can come to be defined simply by a song or two? Further, I believe music is the way we come to love and accept all of the small moments in between. A number of the songs on this compilation were introduced to me by females who would later break my heart. I’d stop giving my heart away so freely… really, I would… but it seems to me that to do so is to DIE a little on the inside. And I’m alive to LIVE, goddammit!
This is a true romantic’s compilation, meant for the dreamers, sent for the feint of heart. And the lyrics… damn! Could they be any more fitting? I tried to make it 3 things: personal, timely, and timeless. If the music doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, you may want to see a cardiologist for a new set of strings.
One of the things I like about sad songs is that they are kind of trump cards. Not that this actually happened, but let’s say I play “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken” by Camera Obscura at the start of a game. She plays, oh, for example, “For Today” by Jessica Lea Mayfield. Blamo! Check mate! She wins all the pogs, sinks my battleship, etc. Or as the Avett Brothers might say… “But if love is a game, girl, then you’re gonna win. I’ll spend the rest of my life bringing victory in!”
You may ask why would I make such an exhaustive mix of painful emotional shit. Well, have you ever subconsciously resisted something? Then you know how it can grow and grow. I’ve noticed myself doing that with sad songs recently… tucking them away, fearing their power. The emotional skeletons in our closets can literally become the elephants in the room (how’s that for a mixed metaphor?). It is with great cathartic joy, then, that I bring out my dead! (heart) and present you with a compilation of songs that are beautiful, sad, and not easy to confront at all. Every sadness needs its catharsis – catharsis is truth. And the truth, my friend, will set you free.
Merry Fuckin’ Corporate Love Day,
AdventurerNeil
PS. If a lot of these look familiar, it’s because I’ve been listening to TSRURURADIO pretty much non-stop… I tried to avoid too many repetitions of already loved Tsuru tracks, but some were un-pass-up-able. Thanks again for all that you do, and please keep up the awesome.
Note to Readers: I kept that in to be true to the letter, not for an ego boost. But man, did my ego boost!
PPS. If you do host this, can you please introduce as: “AdventurerNeil’s Bring Out Your Dead! (heart) Compilation”.. thanks!
PPPS. READERS SHOULD NOTE that if they are depressed, bi-polar, suffering a recent heartbreak, having a miserable winter, etc., that they should SEEK HELP from friends/family/professionals, and not wallow in depressing music. I listen, I let myself feel. But I refuse to engage in extended wallowing, and so should everyone else! “It isn’t right to sit around and think about the awful things that get you down”
TSURURADIO Community Presents…
AdventurerNeil’s Bring Out Your Dead! (heart) Compilation!!! (Full Zip)
01 Frank Sinatra – All The Way
02 Dirty Projectors – Two Doves
03 Eels – Little Bird
04 Camera Obscura – The Sweetest Thing
05 Belle and Sebastian – i’m a cuckoo
06 Spoon – Anything You Want
07 Local Natives – World News — REMOVED ON REQUEST
08 The Avett Brothers – Paranoia In Bb Major
09 Phoenix – Love Like a Sunset Part II
10 Coconut Records – The Summer
11 Regina Spektor – Us
12 Bouncing Souls – Undeniable
13 RATATAT – Breakaway
14 The Police – Cant Stand Losing You
15 Everything But The Girl – Each And Every One
16 Noah And The Whale – Blue Skies
17 Jessica Lea Mayfield – For Today
18 The Fruit Bats – When U Love Somebody
19 Yo La Tengo – Today Is The Day
20 Flaming Lips – Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell
21 Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love
22 Coldplay – Warning Sign
23 Spoon – I Summon You
24 Girls – Lauren Marie
25 The Radio Dept – Strange Things Will Happen
26 Okkervil River – Red
27 Paolo Nutini – Rewind
28 Citizen Cope – Sideways
29 Camera Obscura – James
30 Eels – All The Beautiful Things
31 Do Make Say Think – Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
32 Hank Williams – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
33 Billy Bragg and Wilco – At My Window Sad and Lonely
34 Noah And The Whale – I Have Nothing
35 Yo La Tengo – Tears Are In Your Eyes
36 Bjork – Desired Constellation
37 Johnny Cash – Hurt
38 The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
39 The Shins – Pink Bullets
40 The Jackson 5 – I’ll Be There
Thank you so so much Neil! Another amazing mix! Cheers to everyone and have a wonderful Sunday!
Tsuru
Aw snap! It’s summertime, biatches! Happy summer. :)
This phenomenon may have its origins when my neighborhood buddies and I would have sleepovers that lasted multiple nights… we were always together! All summer every summer. Playing games, sleeping out on the trampoline, and most importantly, sneaking out of the house at night to go enjoy some fresh air and mischief. Girls were often involved. But the girls were never our accomplices or sidekicks… nay… they were our mission objectives, waypoints, dangerous beauties to be enjoyed from afar. Legend had it that if a girl ever made actual eye contact with you, she would turn you to a statue! Now that I’m an adult, I know that’s definitely true. :) Zap!
Anyway, so yeah, we’d sneak out and go cause trouble, because we were bored, and because the world outside was just so much more heart-pumping and less predictable than the safe, structured world in our homes. Plus, after baking all day, it only makes sense to want to cool off and enjoy the world at a temperature that’s more comfortable.
So I made a mix that captures the feelings, and some of the songs, of my current and past long summer night strolls. There’s enough energy and new stuff to get ya to the disco, but enough thoughtful and old stuff to keep you coming back and thinking, smiling, nodding, foot-tapping, singing. Can I get a WOOT for that!? WOOT!
Don’t get angry with yourself. I’ll heal you.
Do you ever walk alone?
Like a drifter in the dark!
I can feel it comin’ in the air tonight… oh lord!
