poptimists | Theme Songs #3: Melotrauma

I've decided on the cheery theme of reaction to trauma. What I'm looking for are songs that detail the ways in which a person copes (or fails to cope) with traumas that originate in childhood or adolescence. There's a lot of this stuff in teenpop, but I'd like to broaden the scope as well.

Some examples:

Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You" -- her mother never stood up to her abusive father, and now Kelly blames mom for her inability to trust others in meaningful relationships.

P!nk's "Family Portrait" -- Basically, "my parents got a divorce and now I am effed up." (Note: bonus points for nuance in the general argument of the song -- not sure how many I'd give to this one, say).

Fefe Dobson's "Unforgiven" -- I'll never forgive you for leaving us, dad, but I won't let you forget about me, either. (As I said during revenge week, Fefe's revenge here is refusing to abandon him.)

This would also be the thread to keep talking about Ashlee Simpson's "Shadow," I suppose.

There are lots of song about pain following a break-up, say, but what I'm looking for are lasting wounds, perhaps from childhood, that have healed over, opened up, healed over again. And the most points will go to the most unexpected expression of how this trauma has manifested itself. As I said once of Margaret Berger's "Robot Song," I'd like to be blindsided by pathos if possible.

You have NO limitations on the number of nominations.

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Oh man. Amanda Palmer. Amanda Palmer. Amanda fucking Palmer.

Let's start with Girl Anachronism, in which the protagonist suggests she's so fucked up because she was born by Cesarean section a few days premature, which I guess is as early as formative trauma gets:

I'd say that the Sex Pistols' "Bodies" beats this as far as the earliness of the trauma goes, given that the chorus is narrated by the aborted fetus. The reaction probably is too immediate to fit Dave's theme as expanded upon in his examples, and anyway I'm sure he's already heard it.

But here it is anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1GKG01TraI

Edited 2022-03-20 16:34 (UTC)

Here's Amanda again, solo this time, playing the role of a teenage girl who deals with the trauma of having an abortion by - well - ignoring it entirely, essentially.

I assume you want these to be songs YOU HAVEN'T HEARD BEFORE.

Gene Watson "Flowers," except so far I've not been able to find it streamed anywhere online. [EDIT: Have now; here it is.] Anyhow, it starts out with the reaction to the loved one's departure like so:

Oh I should have took you dancin'
A little candlelight romancin'
With roses
But I was high upon the barstool
I was such a blind fool
Now I know it
You won't believe how much I've changed since you've left
It took losin' you for me to find myself

Oh I wish that you could see me
Steady hands without the whiskey
You'd be so proud
Got that job down at the factory
A brand new suit for Sunday
I'm in church now
It's been one year since I sat behind the bar
I went by the junkyard...

And if I quote it further I will SPOILERATE it, since it'd got a twist, so I'll hold off for a while and keep looking for a stream.

Edited 2022-03-20 16:48 (UTC)

John Conlee finds a nuanced, complex response to trauma through AMNESIA. "I Don't Remember Loving You":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHEiv0q_26I

Anyway, this really doesn't count, and neither does the previous one I nominated, since the trauma didn't originate in childhood or adolescence, but the ones I can think of with traumas that did are all ones you've heard.

Edited 2022-03-20 16:50 (UTC)

Everclear "Father Of Mine," which is well-written and well-played though not conceptually very interesting.

Naughty By Nature "Ghetto Bastard," samples Boney M, well-arranged and well-written, "positive ain't where I live," well-rhymed (skillet and will it), but again not conceptually interesting (see how rough my life is now, you wouldn't understand the ghetto, etc.).

Edited 2022-03-20 17:02 (UTC)

Yes, a few edits to the initial post, ideally I won't have heard the song before (though if I re-hear something I know and find something new in it that's great), and obvs. I didn't mention any other genres aside from teenpop, but both hip-hop and country come to mind as places where I probably haven't heard as much as I should, and I'm guessing there's a ton of material there.

OK, here's a real nominee, Midi, Maxi & Efti "Sisterhood of Africa," three girls born in the midst of a civil war, Eritrea's separation from Ethiopia, then moving to Sweden as children and recording this at age 16. I can't say that this is a response to trauma, just a sadness because of the war that devastated their homeland, and a call for war to end. But the story is told straightforwardly, with beauty, the song credited to the three girls and to Alexander Bard from Army Of Lovers and Anders Wollbeck and Per Adebratt, who'd done production work for Army of Lovers and other pop acts.

Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa

I was born in Eritrea
The land with the big mountain
I remember every morning
When I woke up I had to hide
Down to the underground
Because of enemies
I've been told
This was when the war was going on
You, you my beautiful country
I left you with memories
Let her shine, let her shine
If you fear(?) a country of 30 months of sunshine

Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa

I grew up in the country with love
People stand for one another
And everybody depend on each other
I'll be tried(?)
When I see my country on the TV
All the pain, heartbreak, miseries, so sorrows
Sometimes I wonder
Whose fault is that
Whose fault is that?

Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa

Africa, the land unite
Come along, stop the fight
Africa, the land unite
Come along, stop the fight

Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa
Sisterhood of Africa

Edited 2022-03-20 17:00 (UTC)

Fairly sure you've heard all of these, but: Lindsay Lohan, "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZZvA8k_hMg)" and Everclear, "Wonderful (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQiBop5ns8k)," plus if you want to count dealing with someone else's trauma, Fefe Dobson, "Man Meets Boy." And, depending on what you define as traumatic, Platinum Weird, "Avalanche," Ashley Tisdale, "How Do You Love Someone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYNZOUp4ouE)," and Reba McEntire / Bobbie Gentry / whoever else, "Fancy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zplc4Ienkws)."

Fell free to ignore these if they're too late now (or also because neither quite fit the theme right or yo've already heard them or whatever else) but I thought I'dd add some more Amanda Palmer to the pile:

"Runs In tHe Family" doesn;t seem to be about a specific trauma as such - it's more like Amanda's character's life is one long trauma - but it's certainly a great depiction fo what trauma looks like, and how it feels. The sheer velocity of the thing is incredible, much as it is for Girl Anachronism further up.

The Dresden Dolls - "Missed Me" conversely, is definitely about child abuse.

Here it is properly I hope:

Also don;t forget to pick a winner! :)

S'okay, I'm extending the competition for a bit to (1) finish up some work and (2) hopefully troll others for nominations (particularly people who don't usually contribute to Poptimists...)

*koff* *koff*

Theme Songs #3: Melotrauma

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Die little baby in a lavatory

The most cheerful song about abortion ever:

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I'm afraid there is no father, sir

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You, you my beautiful country I left you with memories

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More Amanda Palmer for luck

AGH SCREWED UP THE MISSED ME EMBED

Re: More Amanda Palmer for luck

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