Songs that evoke a specific emotion or impression in you or in general that you like?
Based on the hype song thread recently posted here.
Particular to me:
Rakim: The saga begins (Instrumental): Maybe it's just me but this instrumental has always given a very sad, 'navigating a crisis' vibe, which I find really compelling now.
Vaporwave rickroll: A Mashup of the vaporwave song and never gonna give you up; which thanks to this random video I now associate with broken expectations and melancholy.
Twisted by Kevin Macleod: The march in the song kinda feels like marching into the unknown, regardless if what you find.
Less specific to me however:
Eminem: It's OK (instrumental): kind of the same thing as the saga begins, except the full song is kinda like that too.
Jazz liberatorz -Speak the language
MF - Doom: Great day: 2 songs that give me a somewhat chill/day-to-day vibe most lo-fi songs aim to capture.
Gran Turismo 4 OST: An old Bassman...: This either is or should be the anthem of existential dread.
Diário de um detento (instrumental): This is less a song that feels like navigating a crisis but just kinda living through it without much thought other than a mild irritation.
NIN: Downward spiral: Very aptly named.
respite. - blackdeku: The word 'resignation' comes to mind.
TW: Suicide
Death Grips - On GP might be sort of 'basic' in this regard, but it really nails the sense of empowerment and transcendent euphoria that comes from surviving a suicide attempt (or even 'just' coming close). Every nerve is on fire, and your head is full of static, but you grabbed that bull by the horns, rode it, and got off. You are in control, in the end. You might not be happy about it, but you remain, and that is beautiful in itself.
There was a Tumblr post forever ago titled "All known uniquely human experiences" with these four songs:
Hozier - Arsonist's lullaby
https://youtu.be/-eJbxI-jZbA
NIN - Closer
https://youtu.be/ccY25Cb3im0
The b-52s - Love Shack
https://youtu.be/Tzo4NHFKu9Q
Kate Bush - Running up that hill
https://youtu.be/zxqZYe90--c
Burial - Raver evokes melancholia for me. I have a specific mental image I associate with this song: when you're walking home from a night out, alone, the sun is coming up, and you had fun, so you're happy, but you're also kind of disappointed that you don't have anyone to share it with. A kind of melancholic happiness, or happy sadness.
A lot of Burial's music has this quality. It's got elements of the club sound, mixed with a dark ambient style, that always makes me think either of the tail end of a party or perhaps yearning for a party you never got invited to (the artist has described regret at how he was just barely too young to really participate in early 90s UK rave culture, which is what the title of the song references).
I could go on about Burial but it would bore you. He's my favorite artist.
Completely different style of music, but Trace Bundy's Dueling Ninjas has also struck me as an excellent sonic metaphor for, well, dueling ninjas. Not so much an emotion as a mental image.
My Brightest Diamond - I Have Never Loved Someone just makes me feel a concentrated dose of bittersweet happiness for this mother's love for her soon-to-be child.
There aren't too many songs that truly calm me down, but there are exceptions, specifically 3.
Close to the Edge
This whole album made me realize my passion for music and how powerful it can be. Before getting into Yes and prog rock in general I never had much of an emotional connection to music, I liked 80's rock and that was about it but on my first listen of And You And I that changed. I realized that music, and just music, could tell a story (the lyrics were complete nonsense) and that threw me down a rabbit hole to keep on finding music that made me feel things. Now my musical palette is about the size of an oil tanker. The album isn't for everyone, it's still prog rock after all but I highly recommend at least trying out a couple songs to get a feel. Maybe don't start with the title track though, 20 minutes is quite a long time, just stick with And You And I or Siberian Khatru.
This is going to be an interesting thread for me :)
Due to a condition called Maladaptive Daydreaming the Idea that songs making any significant mood change is so foreign and at the same time fascinating to me. I am excited to read you people's experience. :)