2004-08-03 - 10:00 a.m. Do sad songs provide catharsis, or do they merely keep you stuck in your sorrow? Last night I was feeling a tetch blue and started writing a forlorn country ballad. While laboring over the lyrics, I had a sudden flash as to what the song really wanted to be about. It pivoted and became a kind of happy country song--celebratory, even. The lyrics (simple, true) wrote themselves and I felt like a bottle rocket o' good vibes afterwards. It reminds me of a study I read about when I was an intrepid psych major (no time to cite, but I will find something later) in a "theory of emotions" class, about the fallacy of getting anger "off your chest." OK, back to work, more later. thoughts? (41 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact