Teh Gloom
I managed to stave it off for a couple of weeks what with the election and then with getting riled up about Prop. 8, but it will be held back no longer:
The November Gloom has arrived.
I felt it descend upon me this afternoon while I was on the reference desk, and it was all I could do not to lie down in a fetal position right then and there in front of the online catalog terminals.
"Music!" I thought. "I need music!" So I went to pull CD holds.
And I saw: Cat Power, the Be Good Tanyas, the Smiths, the Cowboy Junkies.
I revised my thought: "I need music that will not make me want to slit my wrists!"
I looked up "Laura Love" in the catalog: Nothing. I looked up "Dar Williams" in the catalog: Nothing except a guest spot on a Dan Zanes CD, and a couple of children's novels that she wrote, one of which I read a few years ago and by which I was, alas, disappointed. She's better at songs, I think.
There is no real conclusion to this post. Except that the archives reveal that I was hit with a similar gloom about this time last year, which reminds me that my friend Jody made me a set of three painstakingly-compiled CDs at arout that time, which might do the trick if I can find them.
Also, that this morning, before Teh Gloom hit, the song that was running through my head was "Something to Sing About," courtesy of the Mermaid Girl and the Canadian Geography test that she was last-minute cramming for this morning. I don't know how she did on the test, but she sure has memorized the heck out of that song.
All together now!
"From the Vancouver island to the [clap!] Alberta highland
Cross the prairies, the lakes, to Ontario's towers
From the sound of Mount Royal's chimes,
Up to the Maritimes,
Something to sing about,
This land of ours."
Oh! there's a parody on YouTube! It should give you a rough idea of the tune, too. Though MG sings it a bit faster, with more verve.
Actually, that parody was pretty cheering on its own.
All right, then! Carry on!
The November Gloom has arrived.
I felt it descend upon me this afternoon while I was on the reference desk, and it was all I could do not to lie down in a fetal position right then and there in front of the online catalog terminals.
"Music!" I thought. "I need music!" So I went to pull CD holds.
And I saw: Cat Power, the Be Good Tanyas, the Smiths, the Cowboy Junkies.
I revised my thought: "I need music that will not make me want to slit my wrists!"
I looked up "Laura Love" in the catalog: Nothing. I looked up "Dar Williams" in the catalog: Nothing except a guest spot on a Dan Zanes CD, and a couple of children's novels that she wrote, one of which I read a few years ago and by which I was, alas, disappointed. She's better at songs, I think.
There is no real conclusion to this post. Except that the archives reveal that I was hit with a similar gloom about this time last year, which reminds me that my friend Jody made me a set of three painstakingly-compiled CDs at arout that time, which might do the trick if I can find them.
Also, that this morning, before Teh Gloom hit, the song that was running through my head was "Something to Sing About," courtesy of the Mermaid Girl and the Canadian Geography test that she was last-minute cramming for this morning. I don't know how she did on the test, but she sure has memorized the heck out of that song.
All together now!
"From the Vancouver island to the [clap!] Alberta highland
Cross the prairies, the lakes, to Ontario's towers
From the sound of Mount Royal's chimes,
Up to the Maritimes,
Something to sing about,
This land of ours."
Oh! there's a parody on YouTube! It should give you a rough idea of the tune, too. Though MG sings it a bit faster, with more verve.
Actually, that parody was pretty cheering on its own.
All right, then! Carry on!
posted by elswhere | 7:22 PM
9 Comments:
Yeah, it's getting to me too. We hit the halfway mark, and I was all, "Hey, I'm a November-combating machine!" And now, three days later, BLEAHHHH.
Els, the November gloom hit me like the Steel Curtain defense circa 1976 this weekend. Never fear, a new CD will be on the way soon. It makes me feel better to put these things together. Yours in gloomitude.
Game on.
Jody
Music you must listen to to cheer you up or at least be impressed:
Brandi Carlile.
The Avett Brothers.
The Pine Hill Haints
Steve Earle (for the revolution)
Railroad Earth
Kate Rusby
Mary Gauthier
Langhorne Slim
Billy Bragg
Polly Paulusma
The Hold Steady
mary gauthier to cheer you up???
Well, it may not be the most cheerful music, but it is so powerful and authentic that one feels cheered by the artistry and power involved.
How's that?
If Els can find the discs I sent, there are several Hold Steady songs on there. Never fear. Supplemental, non-wrist-slitting, music to get you through the dark times music is just around the corner.
Jody
Also, if you are into some Dylanesque sounds, Joe Pug. And for sheer freakishness, The Moldy Peaches.
the other thing about mary gauthier is you can always think, well, I'm not THAT bad!
That parody is hilarious!
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