The best songs are the sad songs
I had a debate with Michelle the other day that started with me making the statement above. My argument was that artists are going to spend a long time composing and brooding over a work of sadness because they have nothing better to do; they’re sad. A happy song, however, will be written quickly; the artist has better things to be getting on with.
Now, I know there will be many who disagree with this assessment (or the conclusion), so allow me to seal the deal by offering up a concrete example grounded in objectivity that will surely convince even the most fervorous of dissenters: Elliott Smith v. The Village People.
As long as nobody brings up Belle and Sebastian, I think we’ve got that all settled.
I think that the entire “Pet Sounds” album is a great counterexample. Not only are most of the songs undeniably happy and undeniably great, they also represent a labor of love by the primary author, Brian Wilson.
On the other hand, I don’t know if I would call Brian Wilson an “happy” person; a pysche shattered by a pathological drive for greatness. I’m not sure i’m conviced (and I don’t think I want to be), but perhaps the best songs, while not all being sad, all derive from a place of sadness…