If there can be said to be any upside to physical and emotional pain - including the intergenerational variety - it’s the opportunity for sufferers to remake themselves as creators.
Jazz, blues and rock - the three great musical idioms of the 20th century - were black in origin with their roots in gospel, which in turn drew from ancestral African music. Church was the one place a Christianized slave class was able to channel raw pain into rousing songs of hope and longing.
Mahalia Jackson, Trouble Of The World
Born in 1911, the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson performed in concert halls across the world and sold an estimated 22 million records in her half-century recording career. She performed this number in the 1959 film, Imitation of Life.
R.E.M. “Everybody Hurts”
When your day is long / And the night, the night is yours alone / When you're sure you've had enough / Of this life, well hang on. The band’s legendary 1993 ballad reminds the listener they aren’t alone in their pain, however terrible, and that everybody hurts. “The reason the lyrics are so atypically straightforward is because it was aimed at teenagers,” observed guitarist Peter Buck, adding, "I've never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the idea that high school is a portal to hell seems pretty realistic to me.”
I’ve had one person tell me this ballad gave them great comfort during their own dark night of the soul. With chronic depression at an all-time high among the young, it’s amazing to think ”Everybody Hurts” may continue to help people turn away from the brink.
Peter Wolf, “Growin’ Pain”
Some things you just can't explain / Look at Cain and Abel Same blood in their veins / Envy always finds its mark / Hate can see clear in the dark. Peter Wolf’s star turn in popular music came during his tenure with the J. Geils Band in the seventies and eighties. Since then he’s had a string of stellar solo albums that deserve wider recognition.
Margo Price, “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)”
I know what you’re saying: ‘Geoff, the song above is all very rootsy and nice, but what about some real hard-core hurting songs by white people? How about a tune where the singer loses their partner, their job and their mobile home, plus their dog gets flattened by a truck, all in the space of one song?
Well, can’t say I’m much of a fan of country-western, but I will say this: in many CW songs, there’s a whiny little fiddle intro that alerts the listener, giving them just enough time to plug their ears, turn off the radio, kick the jukebox, or exit the door. I think that’s highly considerate of the songwriters. They don’t call it ‘hurtin music’ for nothing, folks.
That said, here’s one country-western tune I DO sort of like. Don’t judge. And enjoy the punch-up in the bar’s parking lot at the end of the video.
Johnny Cash, “Hurt”
Sorry, this is also technically country-western too, but I must include it - after all, it’s “The Man in Black” reworking a bleak little ditty by Nine Inch Nails singer Trent Reznor. And you could have it all / My empire of dirt / I will let you down / I will make you hurt. This is a song about someone who’s paying it foward with their own personal apocalypse.
The Pretenders, “I Hurt You”
There wouldn’t be near as much popular music without broken relationships. Again, pain into art. Some of the best songs out there are about love lost, spurned, or betrayed.
I been crying like a woman / Because I'm mad, mad, mad like a man / If you'd been in the S.S. in '43 / You'd have been kicked out for cruelty. A lyrically savage song about reciprocating hurt, from The Pretender’s epic 1983 album, Learning To Crawl.
Randy Newman, “I Want You To Hurt Like I Do”
In a way this is both the bravest and scariest song in this collection, because the character inhabited by Randy Newman is so unsympathetic yet so recognizable. There’s no artifice, no self-deception, no false pride. Putting his shadow up front and centre, the character proclaims exactly what he wants: for “you to hurt like I do.”
The Neville Brothers, “Audience For My Pain”
A mournful ballad written by The Band’s Levon Helm, performed by New Orleans’ greatest soul band. It sounds like a noble refusal to share one’s pain with someone “too good” to hear it. But is this out of compassion…or fear of vulnerability?
Sarabeth Tucek, “Get Well Soon”
SBT’s nakedly personal song about her battle with depression, with a clarion call to help someone else in similar straits. The studio version is here.
Antony and the Johnsons, “Cripple And The Starfish”
A heartbreaking confession of the damage done to the singer at a young age, woven into a beautiful melody.
More on Antony. For those, like Jordan Peterson, who can't put themselves in the shoes of those who have suffered the most. You can hear it in Antony's voice and music.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/antony-hegarty-first-transgender-person-to-be-nominated-for-an-oscar-in-30-years-a6833096.html