*Cover is different from that shown....

This one had me snickering with laughter and cringing with some adolescent memories. Great music lives forever, bad music creates earworms - and boy did I have some earworms after reading this one!

I'm reserving this one for a bookray if there's any interest in it.... we'll see....

Synopsis
"The book that EVERY music fan will want this Christmas: an unforgettable examination of the songs we all cry along to. What is it about depressing songs that make such a lasting impression on people's minds - the lyrical tugging of the heartstrings? The melancholy melody? If you're a true connoisseur, these elements are just the beginning, as Tom Reynolds illustrates brilliantly in this addictive book. With a heavy heart and a tear in his beer, Reynolds painstakingly analyses the mysterious allure of songs that crush our spirits by looking at 52 depressing songs - from top-10 hits to cultish dirges - that have earned our slavish devotion over the years. Breaking up his list into 10 categories of gloom and doom - from Teenage Car Crash anthems to She-Hates-Me-I-Hate-Her ditties - the author pines away over musical elements before digging in to reveal the suicidal heart of each and every song - a list that includes artists as diverse as Joy Division, Bobby Darin, Counting Crows, Evanescence, Bruce Springsteen and Barry Manilow. Complete with a ranked countdown from 52 to 1 and wonderfully dreary black and white line drawings throughout, I Hate Myself and Want to Die is a must-have compilation of melodic misery - and a perfect Christmas gift."

Wow! I am completely overwhelmed by the response for this bookray. Hopefully this one will make it all around the world to AgnesXNitt - who was the inspiration for me moving this book from Mt TBR to the wonderful world of international travel!!!

BookRay Instructions:
1. When you receive the book, please make a journal entry so everyone knows it has safely arrived.
2. When you finish the book, please make another journal entry to share some of your thoughts - enjoyed the book, or hated it?
3. Continue the BookRay by checking this journal entry for the latest list, and sending a PM to the person after you on the list requesting their postal address.
4. Please try to send on the book and CD as soon as you can, preferably within 4-6 weeks. I know that Real Life has a way of intruding on our reading time, so if you need more time, that's not a problem at all. Either send me a PM to let me know or write a journal entry that the book is safe with you. Thanks! :)

Participants and shipping order are....

Australia
extreme-reader
RockDg9
goodthinkingmax
hunnyb
catsalive

Canada
lauraloo29

United States
Erishkigal
RalieghDog
doveilibri
genielady
twinkpuddin
Adia415

EU
kizmiaz Portugal
marko167 Portugal
veleta- Spain
Trelk Switzerland
allbookedup Austria
eimer42 Germany
deadendmind Greece
pepita-di-corfu Greece
em64 Finland
vicar-of-dibley Scotland*book is here!
farawayvoices Scotland
Hellie England
abrokenstarr England
YowlYY England
Xanthe-pup Wales
AgnesXNitt England

Posted to extreme-reader yesterday. Here we go!!!!!!!!!!

This is great. It's really funny and brings back lots of memories. The Cd is also good - but I wish we'd had a few more songs on it. I really enjoyed the way Tom Reynolds used language and his humourous style is clever - it's witty with a bit of good natured malice. This is not a book one sits down and "reads" but rather on that you dip into and share with whoever is there.

Arrived here safely - thanks Extreme-Reade. I much prefer this cover - I think I had that stuffed animal when I was little! I have a couple of other bookrings at the moment, but I think I'll be able to read this one in between as it's in smaller sections.

Thanks for sharing Imn60.

I thought this was a great book! Very funny! It made me laugh out loud in many places.

I orignally thought that all the songs should have been on the CD, but after listening to that CD, I could imagine why they limited it to 16! I put it on in the car on the drive out to work, which was not a particularly good idea, especially seeing as these have been the coldest days so far this year. There's one song I'd never heard before (quite a few actually, these aren't the kind of songs they play on Top-40 radio) called DOA by Bloodrock - it's so graphically depressing it made me laugh out loud! (Does that make me a sociopath?!)

The only part I was disappointed with was the description of Brick by Ben Folds Five. I've always wanted to read a 'correct' analysis of this song, and this book didn't provide it (I mean, come on, who doesn't know what that song is about).

Apart from that, I found the book to be excellent. The author really knows his music.

Onto goodthinkingmax!

Thanks. Arrived today. I will try to finish this before next week so that I can pass it on to hunnyb at the meetup.

I am a sucker for any wallowing songs and songs of angst so should enjoy this!

A very witty book and I enjoyed the way Reynolds injected his personal reactions into the writing. His research is also evident I didn't know all the songs but loved the way they were categorised into various depressing groups.

Off to put The Cure on now...

I will pass to hunnyb tonight. What a long bookring this is!

Received from goodthinkingmax at meetup. I'm listening to the accompanying CD and it is truly depressing! :)

This was great! I found that I just had to keep reading on to see how bad/ depressing it could get. I'll never listen to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in the same way. And he's so spot on with the "Brain Concussion Modulations" - it's the mark of every tragic, over the top love ballad.

Thanks for sharing this lmn60 and for the CD too. "Christmas Shoes" is really, really depressing. I'll pass both of them onto catsalive now!

One of 5 bookrings received today. Argh! Thanks, hunnyb.

What a laugh! His section on "Honey" had me laughing hysterically. I felt extra silly because I was on my own laughing my head off. This is what set me off:

"We got to hear a lot about who Honey was, like how she once slipped on some ice and fell, almost injuring herself. 'I laughed 'til I almost cried', Goldsboro tells us. (That's nice. How about helping her up, you prick?)

"The Shortest Story" is real downer I'd not heard before & "The Christmas Shoes" is just gruesome. I'm glad there were only 16 on the CD to sit through, I had to pig out on chips'n'dip afterwards to recover - imagine what I'd have to eat after all 52. There were a few songs to slit your wrists by that I hadn't heard before but I mostly just enjoyed Reynolds' writing. He made it fun to read about "the 52 most depressing songs you've ever heard".

I agree with him about the Big Three: Dion, Carey and Houston; and the BCMs.

Thanks, lmn60. I see it's off to Canada next. I'll give lauraloo29 a PM. Posted surface mail 10/7/6.

A couple of my friends dipped into this book & thought it was a CACK as well.

Arrived safe and sound today. Looks like an interesting read. I have a few rings here at the moment, but this one I can sneak in. :) Thank you!

Certainly interesting. I don't know all the songs. I do remember singing "Seasons in the Sun" in elementary school choir. So it couldn't have been that bad. :)
I'll be sending this book on its way to the US next week. Thank you for sharing!

this actually arrived about 5 days ago, and I've been working such hours--well, sorry I didn't journal right away. The PO wasn't kind to the cd, I'm afraid: the box is cracked, and there's a small star ?(crack?) in the surface of the cd. I popped it in to play on my way to work, and I think only about half of the songs will play :( Not including two I really wanted to hear :( Oh well....I've started the book, and will expect to get it read over the Thanksgiving days off.

PS--a note at first glance-- I'm very surprised "Patches" isn't among the 52

such a list of people this is going to, and I've kept it way too long....my apologies. I did read and "enjoy" the book right away, but I was waiting for my son-in-law to see if there was any hope of retrieving the lost section of the cd. Then, then our own tragedy hit, and all thoughts of anything else were gone. I'm going to package this up and get to the PO as soon as possible after xmas.

I have to share a few "bits," as I try to regain some sense of normalcy (try to focus on anything besides the pain).....

a couple of days ago, my Mum came into the kitchen to read a "wonderful true story" in a newsletter she'd just received....about a girl saving her pennies to buy shoes for her Daddy...etc, etc....mom was quite offended when I laughed...I'll have to play Christmas Shoes for her before I package it up!

I'd never listened to the words of any Metallica song, so I was fascinated to find that One was the story of one of the most important books I've ever read, Johnny Got His Gun.

Lastly, one of the songs i really wanted to hear and couldn't was DOA.....a million years ago, when this was blasting from radios, I was involved in a minor car crash (not minor to the cars, but no one injured), when a car made a left turn into my path....anyway, my then toddler bit her lip and the police insisted we be checked out at the ER....a local radio station was playing thru thru the hospital system, and as we were waiting our turn, the victims of a real wreck was rushed in with horrible bloody mangled people speeding by on the ambulance carrts. You can guess which sick and twisted was blasting thru the speakers at that moment.

omygoddess, here it is almost Candlemas, and I realize I still have this book! I never did get the cd to my sil to try with--so will just send on as is.
I apologize again for keeping this so long....

in early Dec, my baby sister died. The pain meds she was taking for fybromyalgia depressed her breathing to the point she stopped. I went back to work the first of the year, throwing myself into the current show....beyond work, tho, I just haven't been able to get myself together yet. I'm trying...wee bit by wee bit... anyway, I hope you will understand and forgive me for taking soooooo long...

finally on it's way--mailed yesterday.

Arrived today.

When the CD arrived it was tatally not functioning would only play the first song, the odius Christmas Shoes. My sixteen year old cousin Justin made another copy sans the Harry Chapin song the Shortest Story which he was unable to find anywhere. He subsituted another song but since he did not have the book, only the old CD it is not amongst those mentioned. I have actually not listened to it so hope it is all good. I am sending the defunct one along as well.

As for the book it was well worth the wait. I have always had full knowledge that I possed horrible taste in music, so getting this book in hand and seeing several of my favorite songs memtioned was black and white, in print confirmation of that. I thought this book was very funny and spot on with all of its commentary. I especially enjoyed the chapter on the Nine Inch Nails song Hurt and the very favorable mention given to the remake by Johnny Cash. I loved the way the book was structured to talk about the music and the lyrics and then give an explanation of why he felt it was depressing. It was a fun book to read and Mr. Reynolds has me believing it was a fun book to write as well.

Finally able to mail of to Dove today. Hope the new CD works well.

Arrived today, with both CDs ... It looks like a lot of fun! Libretto #1 wants to read it, too ... We both can't wait to get to it! It should be on its way to GenieLady soon!

Added later that day: Oh, yes ... perfect storms and brain concussion modulations (BCMs)!!!! Sooooo gotta love this book! Will I be able to put it down? I don't THINK so! Not til I've read right through to the Depressing Song hall of Fame: I Mope, Therefore I Am.

PS ... Bobby Goldsboro's Honey was my own personal favorite "angst" song ... I knew all the words and sang it to myself in the hallway all the time when I was seven or eight so I could hear the echoes. *sigh* Memories ....

And ... Added even LATER the same night: Finished the book, enjoyed laughing over all of the songs I remember from growing up, and agreeing with most of Mr Reynold's opinions! Had to read a lot of passages out loud to my family when they asked why I was chuckling while I was reading ... so we all enjoyed the book! Now just waiting for GenieLady's address and the book and the 2 CDs will be off in the mail!

March 2, 2007: Got GenieLady's address at www.RABCK.com and will be sending the package tomorrow with Delivery Confirmation.

On its way to West Virginia!
Delivery Confirmation # 0302 2940 0001 8798 3064

The book and 2 CDs arrived safely yesterday. Wow, I think I can sing along with most of these. What a neat book! Thanks for sharing.I have one other book to finish and then I can enjoy this one.

This was a fantastic book. My hubby caught me laughing out loud so much, he wanted to know all about the book. Mailed off to twinkpuddin today. Enjoy!

Got home from vacation to find this waiting for me! I'm just about to finish up another book and will get started on this one. Can't wait!

I thought this was a pretty entertaining book. It was a great occasional break from the more serious book I was also reading. I found it mostly humorous and a lot of the songs I agreed with ("One" by Metallica was so obvious to me). I think what didn't do it for me with this book was that.. A. for some songs his reasoning for them being depressing just didn't make all that much sense to me (i.e. The Counting Crows song) & B. every now and then I couldn't take the metaphors he kept using.

Thanks lmn60 for offering up the book and everyone that helped the book make it to me! I have Adia415's address and will be sending the book out this week.

Dropped into the mailbox! Enjoy!

The book and CDs arrived safe and sound today. I'm so excited and looking forward to some good laughs!

I finished the book last night and have to say that although I enjoyed it, it wasn't quite what I expected. I laughed a lot at his creative ways of inflicting self-pain and injury, but I didn't expect so much technical talk about the music and engineering. That made it feel a bit inaccessible to me because I had no idea what he was talking about most of the time. That said, I loved a lot of his choices, and the accompanying CD was great. I'm finding it difficult to listen to the songs now without laughing at them.

I've PMed kizmiaz, and I'll journal again when it's in the mail.

It's on its way to kizmiaz! Enjoy!

Just arrived from a short vacation to find this book waiting for me, thanks for sending.
I'll get to it soon.

I want to start by saying that I like depressing songs, in the sense that when they’re done right they really make you feel down and art should be like that, it should reach you and stir up emotions, and not just waste your time.
So, depressing songs are not bad. Some of the songs mentioned in this book I like, including Metallica’s One (and if you think that’s depressive go and listen to Fade To Black, from their Ride The Lightning album), the Boss’s The River (although Point Blank, from the same album, is way more depressive) and even Sylvia’s Mother and others I think are pure genius like Hurt, which works great in both NIN and Johnny Cash’s interpretations, so even though I get that this is not a serious book (how could it be? When some songs get branded by their lyrics and others by their instrumental bits) I think the author throws a lot of different things in the mix and labels them all the same, which is as bad as it gets for someone writing about music.
The author refers a lot of depressing songs and it seems to me that he should refer to some of them as annoying and not depressive, I mean Phil Collins and the screaming banshee ladies (yep, the BCM ones) are not depressive they’re boring as hell and annoying, for sure.
The book is not all bad, it does have some poignant remarks and a lot of puns intended but it reflects so much personal taste (or should I say distaste) that it ends up bordering on the raving egomaniac music critic that never made it as a musician and thinks he’s funny.
The subtitle shouldn’t be “The 52 most depressing songs you’ve ever heard” (we learn from reading this book that using the second person is baaad) it should read “The 52 most annoying and crappy songs I’ve felt like writing about” since the book reflects only the author’s view on the subject (the subject being songs he dislikes because depression is baaaad and happiness is gooood).
Seriously now, it was a nice break from real books and the cd was most helpful (yes Keane is worthy of being labelled crappy, but not depressing), I’ll be sending the book on when I get an address.
Now if you want to listen to some real downers try some of these:
- The Ship Song by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
- 1959 by The Sisters of Mercy
- My Boy by Elvis Presley
- Hurricane by Bob Dylan
- Blood and Tears by Danzig
- Susanne by Leonard Cohen
- Dead Souls by Joy Division
- Crowds by Bauhaus
- This Is a Lie by The Cure

Sent to Switzerland today (31.07.2007)

Received a couple of days back. I will read ASAP but am on holiday for two weeks and plan on taking only books to read a release so this will probably have to wait until I return.

I am such a bad bookcrosser. I have had this book ages and let it slide and slide until I have had it far longer than is reasonable. I apologise profusely and without reservation. As a little way of apology I have managed to collect all 52 of the songs in the book and have burned them onto disks for the listening 'pleasure' of those yet to receive the book.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book and laughed out loud at some of his reviews. I'm sure many more songs could be added to these but think these are a good starting point.

RELEASE NOTES:

Off it flies to the land of churros con chocolate, tapas and loud... oh so loud family dinners.

Wow! This book has gone through so many hands, and it has arrived to me safely! This must be the most successful bookring so far! Anyway, I was a bit late to get out of home, and the post lady was a bit early, so I've just got the packet and opened it while taking the bus downtown.

The book and 3 CD's have arrived to my hands! Thanks to all previous readers!

Asking Trelk for the address.

Trelk asked to be skipped, beause he had already read (and listened) to the book.

Asking the next in line (allbookedup).

I created a theory of my own while reading this book and listening to the CD’s. To put it to the test, I read aloud to my sister two pieces out of the 52 available ones. She enjoyed Reynolds’ renditon on My Immortal, but she complained a great deal when I translated fragments of the “I Will Always Love you” comment. My conclusion is the following: depending on what kind of music you like, you’ll agree with some statements or disagree with them.

So why does he find Whitney Houston’s version more depressing than Dolly Parton’s? It beats me. Ok, Whitney Houston has always sung like an opera singer, but it seems that this talent has always gone against her. If she were a La Scala diva, everybody would be praising her for what it’s criticised here. I found insulting some of the comments on Joy Division’s lead singer, Ian Curtis. I also think that his comments on Barry Manilow are pointless and clueless. (Reynolds himself admits that he completely misunderstood Brick, to name a particular song)

Having said this, Reynolds’ comments on Teen Angel, Total Eclipse of the Heart or Artificial Flowers are a bit short of cruelty. In my humble opinion, they should be criticized much more stronger.

Most of the songs come from the USA or UK, with some Canadian songs thrown in. Coming from an altogether different culture I’ve realised that:
- I’ve been skipped from hearing some of these songs before now. Many of the groups and singers I’d not even heard of them before, which I guess it has been a luck of some sort. I haven’t heard about them until I decided to join this ring, oh dear me, what was I thinking about?…
-Said sister and me made a contest about naming Spanish, Italian and Portuguese songs which are much MORE depressing than the ones offered in this book. Edith Piaf beats Marianne Faithful’s broken singing – and tortured life - any day. Amalia Rodrigues has taken the fado and the depressing song to a much higher quality, and Spanish group Duncan Dhu released around 1990s “No puedo evitar pensar en it” –which translates as I Can’t Help Thinking About You- a kind of roccabilly / jazzy song which Mikel Erentxun sings as if he were feeling kinda lazy (you know, the way Toni Braxton sings) and has a terrible sound quality. Also, Laura Pausini’s “Se fue” is much more repetitive and depressing than “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and the same Pausini’s first album in Spanish included the song “Por qué no volverán” which belongs to the I Was a Teenage Car Crash section completely, with two sisters dying in a stupid way. Mecano (they used to be Spanish most sold singing act)’s songs were full of people who would stab their beloved one after a hard day’s night, or a gypsy man who killed his wife because their first child was born an albino, oh, well….

Just an anecdote completely true (I’m going to talk about Spanish 2005’s summer) If Tom Reynolds thinks that Tell Laura I Love her is depressing, he should have heard this summer anthem, MTV’s “I Love Laura (but I’ll wait until Marriage.”) Basically, it began as a 20-second tune for an advertisement in the USA, addressed to young Latin American teens in order to convince them of not having any sex before marriage. From here, it became a whole 3-minute song sung by completely unknown singers (3 boys and 3 girls) which dressed Grease-style with huge blond wigs. And the song became that year’s summer anthem, which is an institution in my country. It seemed that the song succeeded** in transmitting its message, because there were surveys which claimed it was the number-one hit heard in pubs when complete strangers decided to hit it off at one-night stands. The song was EVERYWHERE that summer, and there were even sociological studies of this song.

It seems that people who only listen to songs in English have been skipped some tortures as well.

So in a sense the songs sellected in this book just share a common feature: Reynolds trashes down some of his personal dislikes, and that’s it. Take it or leave it. He uses his witticism to put songwriters and singers to shame, although some of his self-important opinions are a bit far-fetched. Being cynical myself, I found it entertaining, even if I didn’t agree with everything. My favourite songs are “Mandy”, "Love will Tear us Apart", “Strange Fruit” and “In the Air Tonight”.

10 out of 10 to this book

Arrived today safe & sound. I am very much looking forward to it!

Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed it and thanks for putting together the CDs with all the songs, that was a brilliant idea!
I was really glad that those CDs were included, because there were quite a lot of songs that I didn't know.

I sent it on to Eimer42 last week.

Arrived today - thankx a lot! I'm really looking forward to reading it!

04/21/2008:
... and enjoyed it very much. Very funny and entertaining!

The book is already on its way to deadendmind.

Received today! Looks great, I'll be taking it with me to read it during Easter break.

Thanks!!!

I'm really sorry I kept the book so long, and I didn't even manage to read it. I had a very busy month.
I have sent it on to pepita-di-corfu today. I hope she will have more time than me.

Thank you lmn60 and sorry for the delay!

i cannot understand why i always end up with more than two bookrings on my hands at the same time... :p
I'm not in the mood for "Shiny Happy People" these days, so i think this is the best book to occupy myself with! Maybe i can cut my wrists afterwards!!! (just joking!)
Thanks lmn60 for the bookray, it's amazing that it set off more than two years ago and still goes on!
Thank you also deadendmind for sending it over!

it was quite interesting to read this book even though i have to admit i barely knew 15 songs out of the 52 mentioned. I got excited when reading about "Last Kiss", a song that Pearl Jam - my most favourite band of all - also performed some years ago and it's included in No Boundaries, a collection of songs as a benefit for the Kosovar refugees.
I've already PMed the next bookcrosser in line and wait for an address.

RELEASE NOTES:

on it's way to the next reader in Finland. Enjoy both reading and listening! :)

The book arrived yesterday and I just had to start reading it. So far it has been a great read, I have burst out laughing many a times...

I truly enjoyed reading the book, it was very entertaining and funny. I agree with the BCM's and will never be able to listen to Celine Dion without giggling after having read Reynolds' comments on All By Myself.

Will be pm'ing vicar-of-dibley for her address.

The book was mailed to vicar-of-dibley on July 8th. Hope it will get there soon.

arrived in the office to much laughter and other mental health colleauges wanting a sqwizz at it

aargh want to send it on it's way but i put the CD in a safe place

This book has washed ashore at the Lost Book Island after not being heard from for many months. This new arrival will be shown to a room and be allowed a bit of rest before being introduced to the many fun things to do here at the island.



All around there are books sipping cool drinks under shady palms while other books participate in a wide variety of beach sports. There is plenty of sand, surf and sun here for all of the lost and wayward books to enjoy.



It is hoped that very soon a new journal entry will come to rescue this book from the island and send it back out into the BookCrossing world so that it may continue on its journey. It is hoped that the new journal entry will tell all the interested parties where this book has been this long time and where it will be traveling to next.