The beauty of optimistic melancholy

I just got back from a short trip to San Diego to help my sister find and move in to some new digs and I was fortunate to catch one of my favorite San Diego performers, Gregory Page, at one of my favorite San Diego Haunts, LeStat's Coffee house.

He played about 3 years ago at my graduation party and pretty much blew everyone away. He is one of those brilliant small-time performers who doesn't seem to want to get into the mainstream. To the discerning ear his music has a strong tinge of melancholy, which can be something that can be hard to listen to.

while sitting and listening to him I thought a little bit about the importance of melancholy in music and in our lives.

I have been accused of liking "depressing music" more times than one so I guess I would like to defend my side of the issue.

Life is not easy, and it is not static, we are all at sometimes low, at sometimes high and often in that strange space in-between. Sometimes music is used a catalyst to overcome these states. But as Jeff Tweedy puts it, "The feeling is already there, the music just reinforces it." I feel like that lower space on the human spectrum ins often looked down upon, but it is just as real as all of the other places. It needs to be celebrated and examined, and who better to do that then our poets and musicians.

I feel that truer, deeper emotions come from melancholy than they do from anywhere else. The interesting thing is I am not a huge fan of Emo (emotional music) because I feel that the sensibilities in that music are forced and sometimes false.

But I still Say Long Live Melancholy. And give Gregory page a listen: