Why does happy music suck?

Belial

Belial

Rainbow Demon
Nov 18, 2001
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I touched on this subject in another post, but now I'm seriously curious. Why does happy music suck so much?

I mean, all my favorite songs basically say the same things: I'm so sad. I hate you, I hate the world, I want to kill everyone, I'm a walking spirit of misery forever damned to walk the earth in sorrow, etc.

But I much prefer that to positive music. Indeed if a song makes me smile, I hate it. In fact there are few happy songs I can even remotely tolerate. Not to say that there aren't happy songs that I like. They're just rare.

So why does positive music suck so damn much? Any insight?
 
Hehehe not so, must classical music sounds really happy to me and i still like it.

But there is a difference between virtuoso happy music and Pop and powermetal happy music you know.

Misanthrope ( who thinks you might listen to the WRONG kind of happy music, get some jazz going on it can be both happy and sad )
 
I've thought about this also and one thing that I can say is that I feel it's tough to be emotionally happy and aggressive at the same time because of the singing style. For myself very few bands have been able to reach me at an emotional level while singing about happy things. I still like these style of bands but when the need to get emotionally close with a disc it's always the sad ones that are reached for.
One of the exceptions to this is the new Winds disc. I've been completely caught up in this disc and I wouldn't consider it sad or hateful disc at all. I've also gravitated towards instrumental only bands so I can have a break from the negative lyrics and emotions.
 
Yep, happy music can be good, but what youve heard is just obviously not for you.

you should research jazz, there are as many completely different subgenres of jazz as there are for metal, i mean the jazz i most love is the relaxing calming stuff, its neither happy or sad, its uhhhh 'content' (seems the best word to describe it). But im certain if you looked hard enough youd find music you liked that has a positive feeling.

But of course since youve been listening to so much sad music itll probably take a few listens before you start appreciating happy music for its effects, instead of just focusing on what happy music doesnt achieve (ie sadness)
 
It depends on what you mean by happy music. Personally, quite often I find myself enjoying bands like Kyuss or Monster Magnet, you know straight rock that doesn't give a shit about anything. After all its boring to listen to the same style of music all the time. For me it depends on my mood. So, I don't believe happy music suck. Hell, I even enjoy Future World from time to time...
 
music that I like doesn't make me sad, it makes me feel better.
even what a lot of you classify as depressive, such as katatonia and my dying bride, makes me feel better or just more emotional.

yup
 
I perfer sad music to happy music cuz of it is more real. Still there is good happy music. It's just that a lot more happy music seems contrived. What I think is cool is when the music is happy but the lyrics are still depressing (lots of and Smashing Pumpkins and some Fiona Apple for example)
 
all music is happy music. at least for me. i listen to music from almost every conceivable genre, with the exception of pop and country. music is a purely subjective thing. it speaks to different people in different ways. for instance, i listen to Cryptopsy because i find them relaxing. i'm sure that many other people don't get the same things from them that i do, and vise versa. i don't even head bang or whatever else it is metal-heads are 'supposed' to do. that's just me. someone who is intensely angered might get some sort of anger release through metal, so the music might sound angry or violent to them. someone who is usually depressed might find metal depressing, and so on.
 
Originally posted by Belial
I touched on this subject in another post, but now I'm seriously curious. Why does happy music suck so much?

I mean, all my favorite songs basically say the same things: I'm so sad. I hate you, I hate the world, I want to kill everyone, I'm a walking spirit of misery forever damned to walk the earth in sorrow, etc.

But I much prefer that to positive music. Indeed if a song makes me smile, I hate it. In fact there are few happy songs I can even remotely tolerate. Not to say that there aren't happy songs that I like. They're just rare.

So why does positive music suck so damn much? Any insight?
Click to expand...

Well, the answer is quite simple. You'll always like things you can identify with.
 
well, all of us know "foxey lady" by jimi hendrix, right? now thats a VERY happy song...but it's great!
"You know you are a cute little heart breaker
And you know you are a sweet little lover maker
I wanna take you home, yeah I won't do you no harm
You've got to be all mine, all mine
Now-a I see you come down on the scene
You make me wanna get up and-a scream
oh baby listen now
I've made up my mind, I'm tired of wasting all my precious time
You've got to be all mine, all mine
You look so good, Foxy oh yeah Foxy yeah, give us some, Foxy"

RIP, jimi
 
Originally posted by _Transparent_
why are you associating happy with posotive? why cant sad be posotive?
Click to expand...

Oh, sad can definitely be positive. One of the main things that blew me away when I first heard Nightingale was how the songs were to uplifting while at the same time exploring the very depths of human psychosis and despair.

It's just that in general, the sad stuff I heard has been negative.
 
There is no "happy" or "sad" music. There are only happy or sad listeners.

Music is not supposed to be anything but music - the "emotional music" thing is like vapour (jazz is "content"??? it's music, man!): all emotions come from the listener, not from the music. Or are emotions aesthetic?

Either way, I like music that is not just an equivalent of a simple emotion that can be measured on the happy/sad scale. I like to see music as a universe instead of a therapist's chair.

And I like O'blivion's point of view too.

D Mullholand
 
Originally posted by avskum
music that I like doesn't make me sad, it makes me feel better.
even what a lot of you classify as depressive, such as katatonia and my dying bride, makes me feel better or just more emotional.
Click to expand...

That's my case as well. Many songs that sound so depressing that I know it should make me feel depressed actually make me feel better about myself. It inspired and uplifts me. Depressing music makes me happy just as much as it makes me sad. It all depends on my mood at the tim, I guess.

But that's not quite the point. I'm asking, what is it in that negativity that has that power? What gives sad music so many dimensions while the happy music I've heard can't even come close to moving me like sad music does.
 
well, belial, dont you think this is also a matter of personality, general look on life, etc.? i mean, could you possibly expect a funny, happy guy like, i dont know man....oh yeah jerry seinfeld? would you expect him to like gothic/ doomy stuff?
 
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