Cathy, I'm Lost

[dorothy_parka]

I think Generation X is probably the most depressed generation. When some news guy writes a book about us it will be called "The Glumest Generation

Comments

[substitute]

"It always rains on our generation." -- Charlie BRown

[dorothy_parka]

chuck was a wise man.

[all_unnecessary]

+1

[all_unnecessary]

Also: M*A*S*H, and its theme song "Suicide Is Painless." A staple of my childhood.

[dorothy_parka]

yes! Who every heard of a comedy where people _died_?? What was that all about??

"Peanuts"

[tdaschel]

well y'know, the dynamic of my last couple relationships was .. Charlie Brown and Lucy. and they weren't even an "item," right? she just pulls that football away, endlessly. but, jeez, the more i think about this, the more depressing/telling/what-have-you it becomes. Lucy's crush was Schroeder, a musician whose heart was elsewhere. i'm reminded of the Minister's Daughter who crushed on a Central Virginia Musician with a wife an' kid. fast-fwd to my fake and imaginary spouse who spoke often of her obsession with a local fiddle an' esraj champion, again with wife and kids.

.. but about the Gen X/Depression thing, i don't (want to?) believe you / i just don't have any evidence at this time to the contrary.

Re: "Peanuts"

[dorothy_parka]

well, I'm being a little contrite of of course. there are lots of reasons for depression, and I don't really know if we're more depressed that other generations, it just _seems_ that way, don't it?

It's also much more acceptable to be depressed and to talk about being depressed.

Of course, too, Lucy doesn't _get_ Schroder at all. Remember when she made him play "Jingle Bells"? Her love for him is shallow and based on appearances. Lucy is probably the strangest character in comic strip history. She's so realistic that it makes us uncomfortable.

I'm empty and aching and I don't know why

[loosestrife]

I read this last night before bed. Then I woke up thinking about it. Instead of paying attention at a work meeting I started looking up lists of hits over various periods to look for changes in the prevalence of melancholy. I couldn't reach a conclusion. I never watched TV anyway, growing up, and I don't know all those songs on those lists! I'm always suspicious of claims about differences among generations. But this does seem horribly plausible.

Re: I'm empty and aching and I don't know why

[dorothy_parka]

Yeah, who knows for sure. There have been lost love songs for many many years, but I feel like in the 60s things took a slightly different tone in American popular music. We had a lot of songs about death in the 70s--"Honey" and "Seasons in the Sun" are the two that stick out in my mind. But S+G were in every household in the 60s and 70s, or so it seemed to me. Not like Nine Inch Nails or The Smiths, although I'm sure there are a good number of kids who grew up with parents listening to Hatfull of Hollow over and over again.

I'm sure Kurt Cobain's parents must have listened to Simon and Garfunkel. But maybe not Dave Grohl's :)

Songs in the Key of Death ..

[tdaschel]

"Alone Again (Naturally)" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. It was released in 1972, and in total spent six weeks, non-consecutively, at #1 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It is an introspective ballad, starting with the singer telling of his plans to commit suicide after being left at the altar, and then telling about the death of his parents.

oh yeah: don't forget "Wildfire" / it's about a pony (lost, burning, or freezing to death / perhaps all three), which - in my economy - qualifies as more-sad than all of Mr Gilberto's mortal coil shuffling put together !

Re: Songs in the Key of Death ..

[dorothy_parka]

ah yes! wildfire! And Gilbert O'Sullivan! These days, MTV censors Sean Kingston singing "Beautiful girls/you make me suicidal" when obviously the ref is hyperbole. But we had the real thing.

[jkonrath]

I think Snoopy/The Red Baron also suffered from PTSD.

[dorothy_parka]

TOTES.