My pick me up music

Sometimes, I find myself in a bit of a funk.  Nothing necessarily bad has happened, but for some reason, I just find myself with a rather heavy case of "blah".  And, minus a rather enjoyable saturday night hanging out with Happy Apple, it's definitely been a "blah" heavy weekend.

As a music nerd, it's probably to be expected that I like to play music to blast me out of the funk.  I'm sure most people would gravitate towards incredibly cheerful music when they're feeling down... but I'm not most people.  Instead, I tend to play super depressing music - radiohead, old school blues, and sombre Johnny Cash tunes.  You'd think this music would destroy me, but it always helps boil away the blahs.

This weekend, I've dusted off some of my go-to songs for "blah" weekends, and I figure I'll share some of them (as well as the downer lyrics) with you guys.  Enjoy!

Do You Realize?  the flaming lips 

This song has been on almost constant repeat all weekend.  I have no idea why it picks me up, because the lyrics are kind of a downer, but they really make me smile. 

do you realize that you have the most beautiful face
do you realize we're floating in space
do you realize that happiness makes you cry
do you realize that everyone you know someday will die
and instead of saying all of your goodbyes
let them know you realize that life goes fast
it's hard to make the good things last
you realize the sun don't go down
it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round
do you realize
do you realize that everyone you know someday will die
and instead of saying all of your goodbyes
let them know you realize that life goes fast
it's hard to make the good things last
you realize the sun don't go down
it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round
do you realize that you have the most beautiful face
do you realize?

Chill Out, ze frank

I also wish I could find a way to legally purchase this song, too.  The story is pretty sweet, too - a woman wrote Ze Frank saying she felt alone and stressed, and he penned the song.  Then he got something like a couple dozen people to sing the chorus ("hey, you're okay, you'll be fine, just breathe").  He sent it to her, and well, there's a reason Ze Frank is the man. 

right now it feels like i forgot to turn the light on
and things that looked so good yet sturdy are now shades of gray
and it seems like the world is spinning while I'm standing still
or maybe I am spinning I can't tell
and then you say hey, you're okay, you'll be fine, just breathe
and now the women sing hey, you're okay, you'll be fine, just breathe
now everybody sings hey, you're okay, you'll be fine, just breathe
hey you're okay you'll be fine, just breathe
hey, you're okay, you'll be fine, just breathe

Dinu Lipatti's Bones, the mountain goats

And then there's The Mountain Goats.  The most depressing band on the face of the earth (and I use the term "band" loosely, as 'they' consist of just one guy).  However, I guess for me, there's just something about depressing music that makes me happy.  My mother always said I listened to music you could hang yourself to.  I guess this song is a case in point, eh?

we stank of hair dye and ammonia
we sealed ourselves away from view
you were looking at the void and seldom blinking
the best that I could do 
was to train my eyes on you
we scaled the hidden hills beneath the surface
scraped our fingers bloody on the stones
and built a little house that we could live in
out of dinu lipatti's bones
we kept our friends at bay all summer long
treated the days as though they'd kill us if they could
wringing out the hours like blood drenched bedsheets
to keep winter time at bay
but december showed up anyway
there was no money it was money that you wanted
i went downtown sold off most of what i owned
and we raised a tower to broadcast all our dark dreams
from dinu lipatti's bones

So, that's my list.  What's your list of pick me ups?  Is it half as bleak as mine?