Comments on: The Coping Power of Music

By: amanda and trina conkin

amanda and trina conkin — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:03:25 +0000

I love the song because it, to me ,is about my papaw who died of cancer only learning about it 8 months ago.We were told he had 6 months but he was gone in 4 weeks.The song made me cry, because it made me think of him.Just like your dad, my papaw was a strong, hardworking man who was never sick.We watched him decline as his illness progressed, it was heartbreaking.We to had to go through a hardship, and we also told papaw it was ok to let go we were ready.

By: Russ Berman

Russ Berman — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:07:38 +0000

To me Patty Loveless’ “How Can I Help you To Say Goodbye” is a gem among emotional songs about loss.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:10:27 +0000

For me, that song is Suzy Bogguss’ “Saying Goodbye to a Friend” from the Give Me Some Wheels album …

if I lose my concentration
disappear from the conversation
don’t mind me
i’m saying goodbye to a friend
i try to start each day out cheerful
but if my eyes get blue and tearful
please understand
i’m saying goodbye to a friend

I entirely realize it’s indulgent, there is no catharsis and I suppose sometimes that’s what I’m looking for, a sad song that I can just wallow in. Just the fact that I’m sure we all predicted where Shawanda’s song was going proves its manipulative intent; but again, sometimes we want that.

By: Chris N.

Chris N. — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:52:25 +0000

I’ve had experiences like this, and I still think the song is cloying and manipulative.

By: Felipe

Felipe — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:21:21 +0000

Beautiful article.

Fortunately, the only time I passed through a death experience, I was just 6, that’s about 11 years ago, so I wasn’t able to comprehend this kind of thing. But now, by seeing my mom and others, I know how it hurts, and every time I think about losing someone, God, I’m helpless…

But, coming back to the topic purpose, there’s a lot of songs that I can relate to, for good or for bad… But they are so much, that I can really think of them right now. I’ll take one specific case and talk about the songs I relate to in the moment.

One year ago, I moved to a small town. That’s about 600 km (something like 370 miles, not that far) from home, and I didn’t know anybody for here, but I was believing that it would be a good experience. So Underwood’s “Starts With Goodbye” made a lot of sense to me (excepting the fist verse, obviously hehe). I was ready to say goodbye to all my friends, all my life, waiting for something fresh, and it had to be great. But then I got here, and… it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I don’t know why for, but all my family got disappointed and everything. And was at this time that I started to discover country music more “deeply” (I’m still a newbie hehe), and I found “Heartbreak Town” from Dixies Chicks, and I loved it so much. I love this song untill today, when all this thing has kinda pass. As I said, it took some time, but now I’m living good here, and don’t even think about returning anymore! hehe Just a few weeks ago, I found a really good song, “Humble Town”, by Joanna Cotten, and I really liked it! That’s great, and I can relate to it too, but no so deeply as I could before.

Well, that’s it. I’m sorry for making these enormous post, but it just happened…hehehe
One more time, sorry for my bad English, but I hope everybody understand everything I said!

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:07:36 +0000

Kent, I also ask myself that question, and for me, it goes more for those songs that I listened to last year, and for some reason, now I don’t like listening to them, not because I’m sick of them or that they’re bad, but because that was a time in my life that that was a song I could relate to more.

Also, on a side note, after rereading the article, I think a topic outside of the music part of the article, is that I think our society hasn’t yet been able to talk about death, it’s a hush hush type of thing that not many will talk about, mostly those who haven’t gone through it. But on another note, it’s hard to talk about with other’s who have lost someone at the same time because coping is different for everyone.

By: Kent

Kent — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:56:46 +0000

I’ll start off by saying what a great and powerful article that was. But I’ll also pose a question: do some of these songs not unleash some of the emotions that you may not necessarily want to feel?

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:10:02 +0000

Great article Kevin. “You Can Let Go” is a great song, but I will admit that I can’t relate to it(at least not yet) as I lost my father young, and am still a teen coping, but I think that’s the beauty of music, not all of us are going to relate to every single song, but there’s always that one person or couple of people that can truly relate to it, and that’s what makes the music world keep spinning IMO.

BTW, Lynn, I love that you used “Love Without End, Amen” for the picture frame, that is a truly amazing idea. :D

By: Chris D.

Chris D. — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:28:01 +0000

Very touching article, and it’s nice to know that one song could do all of this for people.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 09:19:00 +0000

“you can let go” is a musically pleasant and lyrically totally predictable song by a fine new artist.

that doesn’t sound like very much on first glimpse, but somewhere beneath, this little song sends out such a strong message, capable of touching even casual listeners and evoke emotions strong enough that it made someone stopping on the roadside with watery eyes (quote from one post).

quite powerful music.