
W.E.B. Du Bois on the beauty of sorrow songs (1903) - tintinnabula
https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/music/unforgettable
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mpol
I adore sad songs. I cannot really explain why, if you don't understand. My
girlfriend doesn't get sad songs, and I just cannot explain it to her.

When I am happy, sad songs can make me sad, and I don't want to hear them. But
when I am slightly or more sad, or just want to feel myself, I enjoy a sad
song. It makes me feel connected to myself.

Giving in to sadness is a nice way for catharsis and healing the soul.
Sometimes in life there is sadness. Denying it will only make the hurt be
bigger. Giving into it can give room for new things. I read once that flowing
tears causes for hormones to flow where you get happy again and see new
opportunities. In the Netherlands whe have a saying about children; "Johnny
cries, Johnny smiles".

There are too many lies on Facebook and Twitter anyway. Sometimes shedding a
tear can give way for honesty, truth and realness.

~~~
virtualwhys
The article, written in the early 20th century, has nothing to do with sad
songs in the, "sad songs hurt so good sense", but rather in the African
American's shared pain (from slavery) and catharsis through music.

I suspect the same holds true for the American Indian, Jews, and any other
enslaved/victims-of-genocide peoples.

Not that all humans don't suffer, far from it, but the article in question is
decidedly not about that sad song on the radio.

------
Bromskloss
The aching and the beautiful often come together, strangely. Pain makes
poetry.

