Sad Melancholy Thread

[JennyDaniella]

Hello everyone!

From what I've noticed and observed, introverted types (some at least) have a deep attraction towards things that are quite hauntingly sad, nostalgic, bittersweet, and dark---especially myself who I find darkness beautiful and calming, similarly to a moth to a flame.

I've noticed a pattern within myself on this forum that I have the tendency on posting some songs that are either sad or nostalgic---or pictures that are rainy, dark, and quite somber---especially autumn-like scenery. It's not that I am a sad person, quite the opposite really; it is just that I find the whole concept of darkness extremely calming and therapeutic; which sounds really odd, but it's true! I don't know how to really explain or conceptualize it.

There is something about sadness that has that enriching sense of "realness" that is incredibly intriguing and very human. Is it because us introverted types are so familiar with being alone and isolated that the feeling of melancholy and sadness is our familiar companion?

Or is it because INFJs like the connections of the unknown and unseen?

Do also share your perspectives if you'd like! I am very curious to what all of you think regarding this topic.

Anyways, this thread is for us folks that love anything dark, haunting, nostalgic, and sad. May it be songs, art, pictures, poetry, movie scenes, etc! Anything!

I will go first.

 

[Wyote]

There's a reason I listen to symphonic metal and happy hardcore all the time.

The darkness is calming, you're right.

 

[Rowan Tree]

I've noticed a pattern within myself on this forum that I have the tendency on posting some songs that are either sad or nostalgic---or pictures that are rainy, dark, and quite somber---especially autumn-like scenery. It's not that I am a sad person, quite the opposite really; it is just that I find the whole concept of darkness extremely calming and therapeutic; which sounds really odd, but it's true! I don't know how to really explain or conceptualize it.

I relate. I once made a playlist of the instrumental 'sad' songs in my iTunes library to put on while working: a piano and violin recital of Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang, Mozart's Requiem, a lot of anime, film and TV soundtrack pieces (Laputa, Naruto...) some ambient songs, etc.

You might enjoy the prose aphorisms of Emil Cioran. From my late teens to mid-twenties I read him obsessively—a wonderful writer with a depth of melancholy. I still sometimes revisit his better collections: Tears and Saints, A Short History of Decay, History and Utopia, Drawn and Quatered. Just from the Wikiquote page:

Haven't people learned yet that the time of superficial intellectual games is over, that agony is infinitely more important than syllogism, that a cry of despair is more revealing than the most subtle thought, and that tears always have deeper roots than smiles?

This world was created from God's fear of solitude. In other words, us, the creatures, have no other meaning but to distract the Creator. Poor clowns of the absolute, we forget that we live dramas for the boredom of a spectator, whose claps have never reached the ears of a mortal.

In every man sleeps a prophet, and when he wakes there is a little more evil in the world.

Except for music, everything is a lie, even solitude, even ecstasy. Music, in fact, is the one and the other, only better.

Truths begin by a conflict with the police — and end by calling them in.
​

Also the end of the anime Texhnolyze, the fiction of Kazuo Ishiguro, Tom Ford's two films—beautiful pathos. Oh, and this:

 

[Ren]

Guess what these five dark, melancholy movies are. They are among my all time favorites. It seems that when it comes to films, I like melancholy, moody, "dark" stuff. With music, it varies. My favorite album of all time remains the Cure's Disintegration, though...

What does Itachi evoke for you that is so powerful? I'm curious. I enjoyed him but I wasn't as struck by him as you seem to have been.

 

[Rowan Tree]

Dancers in the Dark, one of my wife's favourite films.

Santa Sangre. I've only recently started watching Jodorowsky, which is absurd.

The Seventh Seal. I've seen all of Ingmar Bergman's films, some of them over and over.

Not sure.

Looks familiar.

What does Itachi evoke for you that is so powerful? I'm curious. I enjoyed him but I wasn't as struck by him as you seem to have been.

I like anti-villains (Magneto, Jon Irenicus, Makishima, Dr. Hannibal Lecter), but Itachi has the most satisfying resolutions granted to any of the type; at least that I have been able to find. His bittersweet redemption arc adds to his pathos.

 

[Rowan Tree]

It seems that when it comes to films, I like melancholy, moody, "dark" stuff.

Have you seen the work of Béla Tarr? Forewarning, his films are usually three and a half to seven hours long and extraordinarily bleak, but they changed how I thought of the medium.

Also, my favourite film:

 

[Ren]

Have you seen the work of Béla Tarr? Forewarning, his films are usually three and a half to seven hours long and extraordinarily bleak, but they changed how I thought of the medium.

Also, my favourite film:

Okay, I really need to watch Stalker! I haven't seen it yet. Neither have I seen any Béla Tarr films. I kinda like the idea of watching a very long movie, but the "extraordinarily bleak" thing suggests that I better be in the mood! I have a few friends who really love Tarr's movies, though.

All of your guesses were correct, of course. The second before last with the burning house is actually a Tarskovsky film, The Mirror. The last one is a film by French director Robert Bresson, it's called Au hasard Balthazar - I cannot recommend it enough, it's an unforgettable experience.

 

[Rowan Tree]

Robert Bresson, it's called Au hasard Balthazar

Aha, it's been recommended to me before. I shall definitely watch it, thank you. And yes, The Mirror—I really need to rewatch all the Tarkovsky movies. Alongside Jodorowsky (and perhaps David Lynch) he is one of the few serious mystics amongst filmmakers.

 

[Ren]

Aha, it's been recommended to me before. I shall definitely watch it, thank you. And yes, The Mirror—I really need to rewatch all the Tarkovsky movies. Alongside Jodorowsky (and perhaps David Lynch) he is one of the few serious mystics amongst filmmakers.

"Serious mystics", that's a good expression

I like anti-villains (Magneto, Jon Irenicus, Makishima, Dr. Hannibal Lecter), but Itachi has the most satisfying resolutions granted to any of the type; at least that I have been able to find. His bittersweet redemption arc adds to his pathos.

I see what you mean now. Would you consider Nagato to be an anti-villain as well? I really liked Nagato.

I think my favorite anti-villain of all time is Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, though you're probably thinking: "What the heck, he's a proper villain!"

 

[Rowan Tree]

"What the heck, he's a proper villain!"

I did, in fact, think that!

Would you consider Nagato to be an anti-villain as well? I really liked Nagato.

Spoiler: Naruto Plot

Nagato is amazing and definitely an anti-villain, but ultimately I consider him more a victim of outside manipulation—whereas Itachi's choices are worked out internally, which resonates more for me. Itachi believes that he is always doing what is best for Sasuke, primarily, and the village, or peace as such, secondarily. That doesn't really change, but he comes to understand that his desire to take everything on himself was a type of hubris and that Sasuke cannot really be saved unless he has the village, otherwise Sasuke will repeat Itachi's error.

 

[David54]

 

[acd]

I don't love feeling melancholy. But there are certain things I can appreciate about it. Melancholy slows me down. It seems to open me up to others more and to seeing and feeling more. I feel more aware and interconnections are more apparent when in that frame of mind. There is something mystical about it.

 

[Asa]

Thank you for this thread, @JennyDaniella !! <3

I adore melancholy music, art, photography, films, and writing (novels, poetry, all of it) and even fashion. If I gave examples, we'd be here for eternity.

Somewhere in my cyberstacks of imagines I saved a quote about how loving sad music does not mean I am sad. I will share if I find it!
(I know which board it is on in Pinterest, but it is so far at the bottom it will take me time to scroll.)

In person I can be silly. I love to string seemingly unrelated things together to make absurd stories to entertain my friends, I love candy, cute animals, dancing, adventures, but I am a contemplative person, and I find such beauty in creating from pain, or just creating from the agony of the human condition. (I also appreciate finding the humor in this subject, but I'm not drawn to boisterous humor.)

Music with a bittersweet mood is supposed to be the most popular.

I am not drawn to nostalgia. At the same time, I listen to musicians I've listened to since the 80s, and I won't realize I'm being 'nostalgic'. I've just liked them since I was a kid and their music is still relevant to me. LOL.

Blah, blah, blah.... talking so much bout me, but I just wanted to say how strongly I relate.

 

[Wyote]

In person I can be silly. I love to string seemingly unrelated things together to make absurd stories to entertain my friends, I love candy, cute animals, dancing, adventures, but I am a contemplative person, and I find such beauty in creating from pain, or just creating from the agony of the human condition.

Same as heck. I particularly like how you put this: creating from the agony of the human condition

 

[Ren]

I did, in fact, think that!

In fairness, Salieri can't really be called an anti-villain ^^ But I think he's a very interesting villain, a very unique kind of antagonist in some respects. I've always been fascinated by the fact that the movie gives us insight into his emotional states, but not Mozart's. In a sense, we connect with him more than we do with Mozart, who is depicted as a genius but not a particularly interesting or profound person. His depth expresses itself only through his art. By contrast, we get to experience Salieri's emotional torture, to the point that he actually goes insane by the end of the movie. That's another fascinating trait to me: in the movie, he is actually the only one to recognize Mozart's genius. Through his terror and jealousy, he actually recognizes Mozart, whereas the other characters in the film just go with the flow, they have a much shallower understanding of Mozart's talent. So in a sense, Salieri is the only one who truly "loves" Mozart, though he seeks to destroy him. And when Mozart is destroyed, he goes insane.

I don't know, I just thought he was a really unique and mesmerizing kind of villain. Fred Murray Abraham rendered his conflicted emotions with incredible depth and subtlety on screen. I've always thought his Oscar was the most deserved of all Oscars that were ever awarded.

 

[Rowan Tree]

Through his terror and jealousy, he actually recognizes Mozart, whereas the other characters in the film just go with the flow, they have a much shallower understanding of Mozart's talent. So in a sense, Salieri is the only one who truly "loves" Mozart, though he seeks to destroy him. And when Mozart is destroyed, he goes insane.

Peter Shaffer has a genius for exploring this dynamic—Salieri is strangely similar to the character of Martin Dysart in Equus—that is, in his relationship with Alan Strang.

 

[JennyDaniella]

I once made a playlist of the instrumental 'sad' songs in my iTunes library to put on while working: a piano and violin recital of Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang, Mozart's Requiem, a lot of anime, film and TV soundtrack pieces (Laputa, Naruto...) some ambient songs, etc.

That's practically what I do too whenever I am working/studying! Especially ambient, piano and violin pieces. There is something about these particular genres that really help with concentration, and helps with my anxiety quite profoundly.

Lately I have been listening to this particular video from a talented composer named Peter Gundry from YouTube.

I don't know if you like a little bit of opera in there; usually it is not my cup of tea, but Peter somehow made opera quite beautiful and haunting lol. His work is quite varied and diverse, I appreciate his work a lot.

You might enjoy the prose aphorisms of Emil Cioran. From my late teens to mid-twenties I read him obsessively—a wonderful writer with a depth of melancholy. I still sometimes revisit his better collections: Tears and Saints, A Short History of Decay, History and Utopia, Drawn and Quatered. Just from the Wikiquote page:

Haven't people learned yet that the time of superficial intellectual games is over, that agony is infinitely more important than syllogism, that a cry of despair is more revealing than the most subtle thought, and that tears always have deeper roots than smiles?

This world was created from God's fear of solitude. In other words, us, the creatures, have no other meaning but to distract the Creator. Poor clowns of the absolute, we forget that we live dramas for the boredom of a spectator, whose claps have never reached the ears of a mortal.

In every man sleeps a prophet, and when he wakes there is a little more evil in the world.

Except for music, everything is a lie, even solitude, even ecstasy. Music, in fact, is the one and the other, only better.

Truths begin by a conflict with the police — and end by calling them in.

Wow, I HAVE to read more of Emil Cioran, he writes so beautifully. You can definitely feel those emotions in this prose, absolutely breathtaking. "In every man sleeps a prophet, and when he wakes there is a little more evil in the world."

That really got me, literally resonate with that. I am going to look up Emil after I log off! Thank you so much for the recommendation!!

Also the end of the anime Texhnolyze, the fiction of Kazuo Ishiguro, Tom Ford's two films—beautiful pathos. Oh, and this:

Yes!!! 100%!!

 

[JennyDaniella]

My favorite album of all time remains the Cure's Disintegration, though...

Ahhhhh yes! I love that album too. I honestly think their best work is in Disintegration.

 

[JennyDaniella]

Thank you for this thread, @JennyDaniella !! <3

I adore melancholy music, art, photography, films, and writing (novels, poetry, all of it) and even fashion. If I gave examples, we'd be here for eternity.

Somewhere in my cyberstacks of imagines I saved a quote about how loving sad music does not mean I am sad. I will share if I find it!
(I know which board it is on in Pinterest, but it is so far at the bottom it will take me time to scroll.)

In person I can be silly. I love to string seemingly unrelated things together to make absurd stories to entertain my friends, I love candy, cute animals, dancing, adventures, but I am a contemplative person, and I find such beauty in creating from pain, or just creating from the agony of the human condition. (I also appreciate finding the humor in this subject, but I'm not drawn to boisterous humor.)

Music with a bittersweet mood is supposed to be the most popular.

I am not drawn to nostalgia. At the same time, I listen to musicians I've listened to since the 80s, and I won't realize I'm being 'nostalgic'. I've just liked them since I was a kid and their music is still relevant to me. LOL.

Blah, blah, blah.... talking so much bout me, but I just wanted to say how strongly I relate.

You're very welcome @Asa!!! I'm really glad you relate to this! I was honestly a little hesitant on posting this thread because I wasn't too sure if anybody else had the same perspective regarding melancholy and darkness. It's awesome to see that isn't the case! I truly found my people, haha.

 

[JennyDaniella]

I think this is one of my favorite vampire films, if not my favorite. It definitely holds true to Bram Stoker's Dracula book's gothic theme in relevance to darkness, sexuality, passion, love, and tremendous sadness.

This scene is one of my favorites. Gary Oldman's performance took me away, especially when he spoke Romanian. You can literally feel the emotions when his character (Dracula) finds out his wife was dead. I didn't even realize Anthony Hopkins was the priest until years after I first watched the film.

Recommend the movie if some of you haven't watched it! I will warn you that some scenes are a bit gory and very sexual, but I suppose that is expected when it comes to vampire culture. Still a great movie.