What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
“Rob Gordon” (John Cusack) in Nick Hornby’s script High Fidelity (2000)
Song: All the Umbrellas in London
Music by Stephin Merritt
Performed by the Magnetic Fields
Get Lost: 13 Songs from the Worst Year of My Life (1995)
More Stephin Merritt