In Continuum.

Melancholia in A Minor

You said I'm gonna buy this place and burn it down
I'm gonna put it six feet underground
You said I'm gonna buy this place and watch it fall
Stand here beside me baby in the crumbling walls

You know how they say that laughter is the best medicine to all diseases.I've heard that one before.Today in the papers,i read about a guy who claims that food is the best medicine other than drugs,drugs being the ones they sell in Pharmacies of course,not in dark corners of the nearest pub or secretly passed from hand to hand.Well,i think music as a way to heal a soul is greatly under-rated.Think about it,the melody of a music can either bring somebody up from the grounds,or bring them down from the sky and then bury them deep in the dust of memories.Yes,music has the power to do a lot of things,and the best part is that it is capable of doing so with you feeling completely sober.

Oh,I'm gonna buy this place and start a fire
Stand here until I fill all your heart's desires
'Cause I'm gonna buy this place and see it burn
Do back the things it did to you in return

You see,everything in this world has a balance.There is an equilibrium one can never fully upset.So,when there is such a balance in this world,with music being able to cheer somebody up,in contrast it is also able to bring somebody down into the depths of despair.Let's face it,we are now talking about quality music,not some trash rap some you hear on the radio,or the crap flowing out of your television's speakers when you switch to Channel 51 on Starhub's cable TV.We are talking about the kind of music made from the heart,sang from the heart,played from the the heart,and then reaches into the hearts.We are talking about true music,that ones that matters.

You said I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war
If you can tell me something worth fighting for
Oh,I'm gonna buy this place is what I said
Blame it upon the rush of blood to the head

Allow me to introduce - before i go on to the other sadder chords - the happier tunes that you can try out yourself at home,if you have a guitar at hand,or if you already know it,even better.Try looking online for the chords C,G and D.Play those three chords in the order i mentioned,playing each in four beats except D which you play for eight,and you get a cheery tune right out of your guitar.Keep doing so and you find yourself thinking about happier thoughts,believe me.Even if it doesnt get to your emotions,you got to admit that it does have a very wistful,hopeful quality to the way the strings vibrate under your fingertips.

And honey,
All the movements you're starting to make
See me crumble and fall on my face
And I know the mistakes that I've made
See it all disappear without a trace
And they call us they beckon you on
They said start as you mean to go on
Start as you mean to go on

Now,we go on to the chords of melancholy.This time - like the last - try to find the fingering online yourself.They are rather basic ones,so i dont imagine it to be very difficult to find.But anyway,grab a guitar or even play it on your piano.Play the progression Am,C,F,Am.Go on and on and on and you find yourself thinking about the saddest stuff in your life,or even the ones happening in the world right now.Poverty and famine,wars and death.You name it,the melody that emerges from the chord progressions,is undeniably,moving.Of course like i said,even if it doesnt get to your bones,you cannot disagree that A Minor - if you are a musician already- is almost synonymous with all sad songs out there.

You said I'm gonna buy this place and see it go
Stand here beside me baby watch the orange glow
Some will laugh and some just sit and cry
You just sit down there and you wonder why

The song that i have posted in this blog is called A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay.It is one of their many politically themed song,and as you can see,it takes on a rather bleak and hopeless feel to the lyrics.If you listen carefully to the verses,the progression of the chords are exactly the same as the one i mentioned.Anyway,i think it ties in very well with the way the writer viewed the world in the future under political corruptions.The crumbling of buildings and then comes the worthlessness of wars,all be blamed upon the sudden surge of rage and ideas to a person's mind.

So I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war
If you can tell me something worth fighting for
And I'm gonna buy this place is what I said
Blame it upon the rush of blood to the head

I find myself playing random chord progressions at times.They dont usually belong to any song out there.Even if they do,i never meant for them to be part of it,because i do so in front of the television,late at night in the wee hours when the rest of the family is asleep.I play them out of impulse,without much control over my fingers,and acting on my instincts as to which chords should come next.At times i just play on and on into the night,forgetting the aching fingertips and the volumes at which i play.I just go on and on,and then afterwards,log on to Blogspot and type a sad post.I dont know,i guess that particular progression gets to me at times,especially in times of vulnerability and loneliness,which happens all the time,not everytime.

Anyway,here is the rest of the song in it's full glory.I cant possibly provide a sample of the song here but,i am more than happy to send it to you over MSN.

And honey,
All the movements you're starting to make
See me crumble and fall on my face
And I know the mistakes that I've made
See it all disappear without a trace
And they call us they beckon you on
They said start as you mean to go on
Start as you mean to go on...

So meet me by the bridge,meet me by the lane
When am I gonna see that pretty face again?
Meet me on the road,meet me where i say
Blame it all upon a rush of blood to the head