High Fidelity

The opening lines of the movie:

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?

There is a sort of high fidelity blog on the (e-) Guardian where a writer suggests a musical theme (which can vary from, I don't know - an emotion, to songs with a colour in the title) and invites readers to suggest suitable songs. It's clearly popular - it attracts several hundred responses a week - and every week a list of the most interesting ten songs from the previous week is published (a sort of virtual themed compilation tape). I've only just discovered it.

Last week the theme was songs that make you cry. Turned out this was the most popular theme ever, confirming the importance of Nick Hornby's /John Cusack's question. Man of the World by Fleetwood Mac was the most popular weepie. You can find it on You tube (but I'm not going to link to it because it is so - maudlin - though the great guitar breaks and the shifts from ballad mode to hard rock do give it a lot of edge).

My vote for the greatest ever weepy song goes to In My Life by the Beatles. Its got nothing to do with heartbreak (well ok its not completely about it) - it just catches a sense of memories and nostalgia and feeling for things that have gone before - what a great ending falsetto and what a lovely video.