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Thread: Why the appeal of dark music?

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    Why the appeal of dark music?

    I must admit that I am guilty of enjoying dark music myself and I often wonder why. After all don't we have enough experiences of sadness and dismay in our lives? Why would we want to sudject ourselves to the dark emotional style of music also? We listen to music for many reasons but mostly for enjoyment. Does it ease the pain in some way when we listen to dreary music? Shouldn't we want to listen to nothing but music that makes us happy? Or maybe in some ways it helps us cope with the sorrow that we feel at times. Dark somber music has been around for centuries.

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    Member lak611's Avatar
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    What exactly constitutes "dark music"? Did you have any specific examples in mind?

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    Laura

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    Quote Originally Posted by lak611 View Post
    What exactly constitutes "dark music"? Did you have any specific examples in mind?

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    I was going to ask the same question, but then thought that it had the potential to derail the thread with a side-discussion that constituted what dark music is. I think that this can be avoided, given what appears to be the purpose of the thread: why a person chooses to listen to music that he perceives as being dreary, dark, sinister, foreboding, etc. Whether this music is Univers Zero, Peter Gabriel or The Beatles, is not important.

    My personal answer to this question is that I don't often listen to music that I consider to be dark and dreary. But I do listen to plenty of music that I do not consider to be dark or dreary (at least, those are not what I perceive to be their primary characteristics) but which others might (Univers Zero, for example).

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    Quote Originally Posted by lak611 View Post
    What exactly constitutes "dark music"? Did you have any specific examples in mind?

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    A valid question. Let me give a few examples of what I would consider dark music and being both popular and music that I enjoy a lot.

    Pink Floyd - The Wall
    Richard Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen
    Gustav Mahler - Kindertotenlieder "Songs on the death of Children"

    Maybe these pieces of music in some ways give us hope but are still dark in nature.

  5. #5
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    In some part it depends upon how the music effects you.
    Dark is relative.
    I have found my mood darkening while listening to happy pop music with lyrics that brought up unpleasant memories .
    I'm sure the musicians were not counting on that.
    Or maybe they were.

    Anyhow many artists have issues that drive their art. Many dark issues.
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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Good topic! I think it's similar to why we like to watch scary movies. It's practice for actual scary or dark times in our lives. Sometimes it's just therapeutic to wallow in trepidation, fear, or depression (if it's not true depression, which thankfully I never experience but I know many do).

    Also, Poesque purple prose and macabre stylings can just be plain fun!

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    Member lak611's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markwoll View Post
    In some part it depends upon how the music effects you.
    Dark is relative.
    I have found my mood darkening while listening to happy pop music with lyrics that brought up unpleasant memories .
    I'm sure the musicians were not counting on that.
    Or maybe they were.

    Anyhow many artists have issues that drive their art. Many dark issues.
    I agree with you.

    In the case of Pink Floyd, Roger Waters' father's death was an influence on the lyrics. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/art...tar-to-the-ex/
    Laura

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    Member jake's Avatar
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    I have listened to the string quartets of Shostakovich for many years and find them very dark, as is the case with a great deal of his later works - his 14th Symphony is a song cycle meditating on the notion of death - is that dark enough? I am also drawn to the music of Alban Berg whose music I find intellectually demanding, emotionally draining and somewhat oppressive - but I love it.
    Also a big fan of Throbbing Gristle and Coil - again very dark subject matter with a generally depressive ambience.
    I don't know why I am drawn to this, but it does match my mood when listening alone - I don't find myself listening to this kind of music with others - which may be something else worth discussing. Despite all this I would not consider myself a depressed type - in fact quite the opposite - maybe this music takes care of all that and I can just get on with being the life and soul of the party.

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    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    I think we generally use music to enhance the mood we're already in, rather than using it to change our mood. When we're feeling carefree, happy and gay we listen to The Monkees and The Beatles and Lovin' Spoonful. When we just had a shitty day and want to kill our boss or our spouse we listen to Univers Zero or Magma. You know, serial killer music.

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    Estimated Prophet notallwhowander's Avatar
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    Sometimes you need a good cry, or a good brood. Also, sometimes is nice to have a good scare.

    If you want all three, Leonard Cohen's last album, You Want It Darker delivers.
    Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.

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    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    It's cathartic.

    It's mysterious, and an escape from the norm.

    It has an air of danger, or at least foreboding.

    It usually has depth that the happy, frothy fluff does not.

  12. #12
    Kind of like getting in touch with your feminine side
    Still alive and well...

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    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    i personally favor melancholy music, which ususlly tends to be 'dark'...the feel is 'thick' so its easy to lock into and lose myself into....bonus when the songs just turn out that way by proxy: a lot of The Byrds music tethers a fine line between pop and melancholy and the two opposing forces meet in a really cool place...early REM is similar

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    Quote Originally Posted by markwoll View Post
    (...)



    Dark is relative.





    (...)
    +1

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    Member hippypants's Avatar
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    Misery loves company? But we all have light and dark sides, guess it's just whatever you're in the mood for. A lot of it has an atmospheric quality to it, which appeals to me at times.

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    Love me some Joy Division... they pretty much invented modern goth music

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    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markwoll View Post
    In some part it depends upon how the music effects you.
    Dark is relative.
    I have found my mood darkening while listening to happy pop music with lyrics that brought up unpleasant memories .
    I'm sure the musicians were not counting on that.
    Or maybe they were.

    Anyhow many artists have issues that drive their art. Many dark issues.
    Quote Originally Posted by Svetonio View Post
    +1
    is it, though??

    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  18. #18
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Recently we had a similar discussion in this thread

    http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...rding-to-study

  19. #19
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
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    If the intent is Dark, then the artist has a goal in mind.
    Sometimes they fall short.
    I have heard more than a couple "Extreme Thrash/Death" metal pieces that made me laugh out loud.
    Their attempt failed ( IMHO ) and veered to the other extreme of parody. I am pretty sure that was not the intent.
    And then there is the idea that examination of darkness leads to enlightenment and resolution of some inner conflict.
    Confronting the darkness gives you power over it.

    ( perhaps it is still too early for this sort of thing )

    NP Henry Cow - Western Culture
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
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    Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
    “A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain

  20. #20
    I think the question should include ALL art, not just music but film, sculture, painting, etc. Life isn't all light. Art is a reflection, reaction, rebellion to that.

  21. #21
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Dark music makes me happy, it lifts my spirits, happy music often irritates and annoys me.
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  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by jake View Post
    I have listened to the string quartets of Shostakovich for many years and find them very dark, as is the case with a great deal of his later works - his 14th Symphony is a song cycle meditating on the notion of death - is that dark enough? I am also drawn to the music of Alban Berg whose music I find intellectually demanding, emotionally draining and somewhat oppressive - but I love it.
    I love Berg too. Speaking of Shostakovich, I just discovered a dark and beautiful piece yesterday. Sinfonia for Viola and Strings featuring Yuri Bashmet. Cathartic and moving! Some of Shosty's chamber music can be unrelenting and tiresome in its anguish, but there is some great stuff as well.

  23. #23
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad View Post
    Dark music makes me happy, it lifts my spirits, happy music often irritates and annoys me.
    Exactly

  24. #24
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    If the devil himself played guitar he'd play a Gibson SG and he'd look like Tony Iommi. There's just something about those doomy riffs that really attract me. I had a very strict, Evangelical upbringing, but those heavy riffs just have a hold on my soul.
    Last edited by Vic2012; 02-05-2017 at 04:41 PM.

  25. #25
    I don't personally agree that the music I listen to necessarily has to correlate with my frame of mind at that point. Sometimes I can simply appreciate a piece of music for the "work of art" that it is, irrespective of the mood inherent in the music itself. This is especially true for most instrumental music.

    Some vocal songs will resonate with me, but unless I am already in a bad/down/dark mood the experience doesn't necessarily linger after the song ends. You mention 'The Wall' which I do love, and I saw the tour twice. It was lovely and powerful, and I left feeling absolutely thrilled and energized by the experience, despite the dour tone in the work itself.

    Of course you also have bands like Steely Dan or Passion Pit, who dress some exceptionally dark lyrics in some incredibly upbeat, toe-tappingly fun music...how to account for those if there's a direct correlation between a song and the mood of the listener?

    As an aside: I think there's a perception that dark = meaningful. It's harder to write a happy/upbeat song that doesn't end up feeling cliched in both subject material and feel. IMHO.
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