Music

No, Seriously.

Hey, now. Be careful with that axe, Eugene.

Before you attack me, have you listened to the album In the Wee Hours of the Morning by Frank Sinatra?

It is definitely a breakup album. Sinatra was going through a really rough relationship dissolution with Ava Gardner. Every track on the album talks about having a girl and losing her. And the way he sings on every track is so dang emotional.

For example, from the song “Deep in a Dream”, Sinatra describes lighting a cigarette and falling into a dream of rememberance of a past woman. Then later in the tune, he describes the heartbreak:

“My cigarette burns me, I wake with a start
My hand isn’t hurt, but there’s pain in my heart
Awake or asleep, ev’ry mem’ry I’ll keep
Deep in a dream of you.”

Or from “I’ll Never Be the Same”?

Once love was king
But kings can be wrong
I’ll never be the same
There is such an ache in my heart
Never be the same
Since we’re apart

Although I’m typing the lyrics here, the emotion is real in the songs. You can feel a man wrestling with his past love. The beautiful part is that it transcends sadness. You can sense that by singing about it, he is reaching catharsis.

The interesting thing…is that it’s familiar.

Taylor Swift’s “Red”

I know. How could I compare the great Sinatra to Taylor Swift?

Because they are singing the same genre of music.

Don’t forget. Sinatra was the pop of the ’50s. He was often categorized under “Easy Listening.” There’s a reason whenever you watch a movie from that era the music all sounds like Sinatra’s. It was the popular (POP) music of the time.

The only reason it feels “refined and classy” is because it has aged. We always look back at the long gone past with fondness and respect.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t treat Sinatra with those said feelings, but not at the expense of bashing Swift for doing similar things in her music.

We often think of Swift as the quintessential artist of writing the breakup song. Her only self-proclaimed “breakup album” though is Red.

And it definitely is. From “The Last Time”, we get:

“And right before your eyes
I’m breaking
No past, no reasons why
Just you and me”

Background music differences aside…isn’t T. Swift getting at the same ideas?

Or the title track, “Red”?

“Losing him was blue, like I’d never known
Missing him was dark gray, all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know
Somebody you never met
But loving him was red”

We can feel the same longing and equally, the same catharsis. Sure, it doesn’t feel like it’s in a smoke filled room like Sinatra. Because it’s not. It’s in a studio bedroom, an attic of a mother-in-law apartment. It’s 2012, not 1956.

The locations, the backgrounds, sure, they get remolded…but the conceit of both works?

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Everyone processes grief in different ways, and one of the best ways that artists do it is through their art.

Conclusion

It’s not a bad thing that Swift is emulating Sinatra on her album, intentionally or unintentionally. Side note: the album Blue by folk legend Joni Mitchell echoes remnants of both albums.

Music, like all art, style, and design, goes in cycles. What’s old eventually becomes repurposed and new.

The wonderful thing about art, and especially with music, is each artist can undertake the same concept, but do so in unique and interesting ways.

Lost love is a concept as old as time. But I’m glad artists find new ways of telling the same tale.

Hey, I’m Bill. When I’m not listening to 1001 Must Hear Albums in a year and talking about them on Youtube, I’m talking about spirituality, self-help, advice, and mental health.

Give me a follow if you like my vibe.