My manliness is something I’ve never rushed to vigorously defend. I can’t stand beer, am only slightly more tolerant of football, have never bench-pressed anything in my life – and although the theory might be conclusive, in practice I’m barely even heterosexual. So, when I say that I’ve never cried at a movie, please believe that this is not an effort to appear butch and resilient. I just don’t seem to be wired that way. It’s not to say they don’t have emotional potency, but nothing in a TV show, film, or book, has ever actually squeezed a single tear out of my cold, unfeeling ducts as far back as I can remember.
However, a song can occasionally tip me over the edge. In no particular order, these are the tunes that I can remember actually choking up to at one time or another, usually when I’ve already been feeling in a pretty fragile state. (Links go to Spotify wherever possible, let me know if any of them are broken.)
I should watch Magnolia again. Just heartbreaking, if you’re already feeling quite sad for the right reasons.
It’s not going to stop, till you wise up
2. Dar Williams – Christians And The Pagans
and
Dar Williams – When I Was A Boy
I’m not sure what it is that touches me about either of these, but they’re both delightful in their own way, and her voice is lovely.
And where does magic come from? I say magic’s in the learning
‘Cause now, when Christians sit with pagans, only pumpkin pies are burning
The Spice Girls. Yes, I know. Alright, shut up, I know. It was only once, and everyone’s entitled to their emo moments when they’re fifteen, especially if they have very few friends at boarding school *sob*. Doesn’t make it any less lame, but hey.
Goodbye, my friend
Everything Jonathan Coulton does is made of absolute awesome, but this song in particular is more beautiful than a description of a bunch of random photos on Flickr has any right to be, or could possibly be if composed and performed by any normal human being. It usually just makes me smile, but on one particular moment of being especially emotionally drained and physically exhausted, this really brought it all out of me.
Dear sleeping giant panda: pleasant dreams
Honourable mention: Robbie Williams – Eternity
Never quite made me cry, but it has strong associations with someone who was important in my life when I was still in that sporadically emo teenage period. It brings up some nostalgia for stuff I never really had.
You were there for summer dreaming, and you gave me what I need
Honourable mention: Wicked – Defying Gravity
This is a very close one. I’ve seen the show live twice now, and both times this show-stopper has left me utterly frazzled but not quite tearing up. It’s an amazing song, especially when Cassidy Janson is floating fifteen feet in the air right in front of you and the theatre sound system is just barely managing to cope with her high notes.
More to be added, possibly, as they happen.
Possibly I shouldn’t admit this but depending on stuff, either three or four of those would be on my list, too. (And, uh, the video to Goodbye contributed to that – I’d hesitate to call the spice girls art but that video was damn close.)