The sound of melancholy

What becomes of the broken-hearted? They put a record on. Clemency Burton-Hill spins some sad tunes

By Clemency Burton-Hill

"Besides that excellent power it hath to expel many other diseases, [music] is a sovereign remedy against despair and melancholy." So said Robert Burton in 1621. But if music is a tonic, it is also indispensable when we’d rather wallow in the weltschmerz. Like music, melancholy is a language beyond words. And when they get together, something happens. A truly melancholy tune glows with the possibility of redemption.

OTIS REDDING I've Been Loving You Too Long

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