As I wrote a year and a half ago in Fighting the Darkness, there are a whole slew of songs and albums I couldn’t listen to after the friendship breakup with Richard, because they were too painful, reminded me too much of him.
Pretty much my entire Goth collection was included. I listened to steampunk and rock/metal mostly, to get away from it for a while.
I can tell it’s getting better, though, because several months ago, I began listening to my Goth station on Pandora.com again, began listening to my collection again.
It’s still far too painful to listen to certain bands/songs, though: “Headhunter,” certain New Order songs, Sisters of Mercy, Dead Can Dance, and the Siouxsie and Birthday Massacre CDs which arrived and got “stuck” in the CD player while Richard lived with us.
But as for the rest–Going without my Goth music is like being in a desert for nearly two years, even with the new wonders of steampunk and the old familiarity of rock/metal.
I was starving, I was parched; I couldn’t go without it anymore. I listen to my Wolfsheim MP3s as if I had been deprived of them for years.
The power of music to bring back memories, and the way music is filled with various associations from your own life–where you were when you listened to it, the friend who introduced it to you, what you were doing–this is well known and documented.
Unfortunately, it also means that old favorites start reminding you of things you can’t stand to remember, at least for now.
The most amazing part is discovering that losing a best friend is far more painful, with far longer-lasting pain, than breaking up with someone you were dating. Maybe it’s because–even if you thought that person was the “One”–you soon realize that dating relationships usually end eventually.
A best friend is supposed to be forever. They’re supposed to have your back no matter what; even if you move away, you can still friend them on Facebook or send them e-mails. They’re supposed to be there to mend your heart when it’s broken.
They’re not supposed to turn into Judas, betraying you, throwing you to the dogs, and letting you get punished for a crime you did not commit, when they know d**n well that you’re innocent. (I feel kinship with Ben-Hur on this as well.) They’re not supposed to be convicted of strangling one of their kids.
While with ex-boyfriends etc., you eventually realize that couples just aren’t always meant to stay together forever, and you get past it. It’s not a betrayal to break up with a boyfriend/girlfriend, and one day you may even be friends again.
But breaking up with a friend–that’s it. You can’t “just be friends” because you already were friends and that ended.
I have to face the truth about Richard’s character, that it is not what I thought it was, that he is a terrible, horrible, abusive, malicious narcissist.
There’s no way to go back to this “friend” because of his lack of remorse for what he did to Jeff and me and (from what he wrote to me) for what he did to his kid…
…no hope anymore that he will change his ways…
…nothing but recollections so painful that I can’t listen to music that reminds me of him anymore. Not even old favorites.
[Update 9/13/12: I always associated the song “Wings of a Butterfly” by HIM with Richard because it came out around the time we were becoming friends online/on the phone, and I downloaded and played it all the time then. Right after it on my MP3 list was “Speed of Sound” by Coldplay, so the two became linked in my mind as well. Today, “Speed of Sound” came on the radio, and I had to squeeze away the tears.]
As it turns out, music and religion both bring such powerful associations. For many months, I could barely get through a church service without tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. The word “mysteries” was just as painful as listening to one of the songs above….
Another blog post, Still, My Soul Be Still, also expresses the pain of songs associated with abusers.
Songs that express my feelings lately:
Godsmack–Whatever
And I don’t need your
Sh*t today
You’re pathetic
In your own way
I feel for you
Better fuckin’ go away
I will be here
Better fuckin’ go away
And I’m doing the best I ever did
I’m doing the best that I can
And I’m doing the best I ever did
Morrissey–Suedehead
Why do you come here
When you know it makes things hard for me?
When you know, oh
Why do you come?
It was because
Everything that I did
I wrote it down
On the wall
You had to sneak into my room
‘just’ to read my diary
Oh, it was just to see, just to see
(all the things you knew I’d written about you…)
And oh so many illustrations
Oh, but
I’m so very sickened
Oh, I am so sickened now
Mary J. Blige–No More Drama
NO MORE DRAMA
No more drama in my life
So tired, tired of this drama
Steve Taylor–Svengali
Oh, Svengali
Wide eyes mesmerize
Ain’t he clever
Cry out oh Svengali
Whiteheart–Dr. Jekyll Mr. Christian
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian,
It’s a mask you wear to hide,
You got a notion God’s a potion, and it works most every time,
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian.
Experimented with your eyes just to get a bigger piece of pie,
I really think you do believe, yet you use religion to deceive,
So when it’s time for you-know-who you feel the change come over you.
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian,
It’s a mask you wear to hide,
You got a notion God’s your potion, and it works most every time,
Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Christian,
What is faith?
What is a lie?
Don’t you know that, can’t you see that God is not your alibi?
Wolfsheim–Find You’re Gone
It seems I’m glad… I find you’re gone
I find you’re gone…
I find you’re gone…
Peter Heppner (of Wolfsheim)–I Hate You
You may think I will forget,
and that time will wash away all the things
you should regret.
But I will find a way:
do not think I can’t wait.
I hate you from the bottom of my heart.
I hate you.
I hate you from the bottom of my heart.
I hate you–
I’ll kick and I’ll break you,
and I won’t tear myself apart.
I hate you.
I hate you from the bottom of my heart,
of my heart.
You can’t make your words unsaid,
and no matter how much you ever try to make
me forget,
Shinedown–Bully
It’s 8 AM, this hell I’m in
Seems I’ve crossed a line again
For being nothing more than who I am
So break my bones and throw your stones
We all know that life ain’t fair
But there’s more of us we’re everywhere
We don’t have to take this back against the wall
We don’t have to take this we can end it all
All you’ll ever be is a faded memory of a bully
Make another joke while they hang another rope so lonely
Push them to the dirt till the words don’t hurt can you hear me
No one’s gonna cry on the very day you die you’re a bully
Sick Puppies–You’re Going Down
If it’s a fight I’m ready to go
I wouldn’t put my money on the other guy
If you know what I know that I know
It’s been a long time coming
And the tables’ turned around
Cause one of us is goin’
One of us is goin’ down
I’m not running, it’s a little different now
Cause one of us is goin’
One of us is goin’ down
[Please comment on original post. I opened it for people who want to discuss their own painful music associations.]
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