I feel like an artist needn’t worry about toning it down or watering it down with some cheesy cliche. The fact of the matter is, when a person feels depressed, they usually write a piece about that depression, and the hope comes back later, usually not in the same piece. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but that is one reason why I feel like certain songs may leave you with that feeling of hopelessness and leave it at just that.

When he says “Because of you, I’ll never write another love song.” That is relative truth, meaning at the time that he wrote it, he really believes it to be true. But what we write doesn’t define us for eternity. The truth is, he will probably get over it in time, find some other girl and write her love songs all the same. It doesn’t mean what he originally wrote “isn’t true”, it’s just that people experience different things at different stages in life. That’s the hopeless half of it, someday he’ll write something like “I love you so much I wrote another love song even though I’d never thought I’d have the inspiration for one again.” and that will be the hopeful side of it. They don’t need to be encased in one song. or even one album.

Once again in the kelly clarkson song, it’s like… you really can’t judge someone on the expression of one feeling or emotion. What she says is what she’s feeling at a certain point in time, but by putting it into song it makes it immortal, forever associating her with those feelings. but people change and grow and mature. There is a season for everything, and I believe there are seasons for true utter hopelessness in music.

I know you’ve spoken before about TDAGARIM by Brand New, saying that you can’t get past the fact that it’s one of the most depressing albums you’ve ever heard. But where you see that as hopeless, I find that to be one of the most hopeful albums I’ve ever heard in my life. Maybe because when it came out I was in one of the most hopeless times of my life, and there was a peacefulness in knowing that other people hurt and struggle from the same life pains. There was a joy in knowing that I understood what he was saying and knew what he was feeling and that he lived through it long enough to write about and get past it. There is a season for everything, and God used that hopelessness I felt, and that desire to shake things up I got from listening to that album to bring me back to Him.

~ C.H.
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