One Half Buddhist, One Half Christian, One Half Pagan

"Norwegian Wood."

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I love this song, but I don't really see how it fits the theme.

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She furnished her apartment in Norwegian wood furniture, he thought it was going to be a drunken one-night stand, she laughed at him, she went to work the next morning, he lit her furniture on fire.

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Forgot about the setting on fire. :)

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Okay, so technically it's not a relationship, but it sure is fucked up.

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But hey, at least there's FIRE!

(No, GIR...that's bad...)

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I'm not going to tell you how old I was before I actually listened to the words I was merrily singing along with. John Lennon was a sick bastard sometimes.

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He really was.

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jarien.livejournal.com

Beth. I forget who does that one, especially since it was done recently as a cover. "Sorry Beth, I know that I'm neglecting you, suck it up and deal."

Brick, by Ben Folds Five. Relationship torn apart by an unplanned pregnancy

Freshmen, by Verve Pipe. "Oops, not my fault!"

Gives You Hell, All American Rejects "I hope you suffer now that we're broken up!"

My top 4 "relationships are seriously screwed up" songs.

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I'm not familiar with any of those. I'm sure I've heard them all, but I can't think of the lyrics.

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Oh, honey. You know I love you, but lame lame lame :)

Just off the top of my head, I'd say Dylan, Tangled Up in Blue
Steely Dan's entire ouevre, but especially My Old School and Deacon Blues
Bruce Springsteen, Tunnel of Love
The entire Elvis Costello/Burt Bacharach album
Jimmy Buffett, Coast of Marseilles
More Dylan, What Was It You Wanted? Also covered by Willie Nelson
And speaking of Willie Nelson, a little Whiskey River fits.
The Johnny Cash version of Hurt
Any version of Hallelujah by L Cohen, although I'm partial to the Rufus Wainwright interpretation
Guy Clark, Dublin Blues
Caetano Veloso, Eu te amo
and the piece de resistance, Harry Nilsson's unforgettable version of "fuck you" :)

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Bruce Springsteen, "Brilliant Disguise"

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Drat. I said "Tunnel of Love" but "Brillian Disguise" is actually the song I was thinking of.

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The last selection can be found here ;)

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dwarven-brewer.livejournal.com

I'm no sure how Hurt reallly fits the theme.. It's a song about Heroin addiction, the man's relationship with the needle and how his world's fallen apart (friends left, etc.).

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Like most great songs, Hurt can be interpreted in several ways.

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dwarven-brewer.livejournal.com

How do you relate the first verse to a relationship?

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Why lame?

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I just don't think the sample you offered indicates that you have truly plumbed the depths of self-destructive angst :)

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I don't really like super angsty music, so since I was just going by what played today... this was what came up. Actually, what inspired the whole idea was a run of amazingly good BB King songs yesterday that made me go "OMG I would so not want to be in that relationship!!" Of course, today I can't remember what any of them were.

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"You Oughta Know", Alanis Morissette :-)

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"Hands Clean" -- even better.

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dwarven-brewer.livejournal.com

Both.

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"More Fool Me" -- Genesis. Phil Collins' debut as a lead singer (tho' Peter was still the band's lead)

"All for Leyna" -- Billy Joel

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Billy also scores with "Stilleto."

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Thought about that one, but "All for Leyna" seemed more pathetic :-)

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siderea

Also "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant".

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Also "Laura" from "Nylon Curtain" (I think.) Its very High-School...

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I agree that many, many Steely Dan songs would go well. Just on one album, we've got "Gaslighting Abbie" (taking nude pictures of underage girl), "Janie Runaway" (pedophilia), and "Cousin Dupree" (incest).

Half of John's Beatles output would also work. Besides "Run for Your Life," we've got "You Can't Do That," which is catchy as hell even though it's about an abusive relationship.

Half of Aimee Mann's work is a go, too. "Driving Sideways" is a great song about a bad relationship seen from the outside. "Susan" is a bad relationship from the inside, as told to a friend. "Sugarcoated" -- great song about an ex-lover badmouthing an ex-lover in public. And so on.

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And I haven't even mentioned Liz Phair yet -- hoo boy. I could spend all day on her stuff.

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That was the other John Lennon one I was trying to think of.

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You know what'd be a great playlist? "John Lennon's Love/Hate Relationship With Women." You could alternate "love" songs and "hate" songs.

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That would be an interesting list. I don't know that it would be one I'd want to listen to very often, though.

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"Who Knew" -- Pink
"Please Don't Leave Me" -- Pink
"Just Like a Pill" -- Pink

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dulcinbradbury.livejournal.com

"Never There" by Cake (Neglect)
"Foundations" - Kate Nash (Picking fights with each other)
"Push" - Matchbox 20 (Abuse.)
"Possession" - Sarah McLachlan (Another stalker song)

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Oooh, I forgot about "Possession." Bonus points because it's a true story.

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Yeah, that makes it extra creepy.

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Yeah, rumor has she actually used the guys words to her for the song. Very creepy.

I've always had a very healthy dislike for "Push." It was a time when I was listening to the radio or watching videos on TV or something, and it came up a lot.

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purpura.livejournal.com

The Old Apartment - Barenaked Ladies
(Actually surprised Matt didn't put this one up)

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sunatrya.livejournal.com

The Police, Every little thing she does is magic.

A guy who is too scared to tell the woman he loves her.

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Good one, mostly because I can so easily picture it turning into "Every Breath You Take."

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siderea

"Don't Stand So Close to Me"
"Roxanne"

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siderea

"Troy" by Sinead O'Connor.[WARNING: Big dynamic range. Starts much quieter than it later gets. Abruptly and erratically.]
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonny Tyler.
"White Flag" by Dido.
Though, technically, we don't know from any of those songs' narrators that there is actually a relationship there, as opposed to their own one-sided obsessions.

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siderea

Probably everything Meatloaf ever recorded, but let's start with the immortal Two Out of Three Ain't Bad.
"Angel from Montgomery", covered by everybody and his sister. Probably much of the entire Country and Western ouevre.
Where have all the cowboys gone by Paula Cole.

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xoder.livejournal.com

The Cardigans - Lovefool (obsessive)
Almost the entirety of Stabbing Westward's output.
Same with NiN, and my favorite is "Perfect Drug" (obsession, again), but "Closer" is a classic (obsession, especially regarding sex).

I seem to best know obsessive bad relationship songs. I'm not sure why? Obsession leads to rhythm, perhaps?

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A few things leap to mind.

I'll get obscure, and pick two songs by the Scottish Band "Marillion," "Punch and Judy" (about a decaying marriage and possibly abuse,) and "Jigsaw" (about the end of a relationship, one of my favorite songs by them.)

Though its one of the mellowest breakup songs ever, "Don't Think Twice" by Bob Dylan. I love Eddie from Ohio's cover of it.

Nick Cave and PJ Harvey's "Henry Lee" (off of "Muder Ballads," so you can probably guess why,)

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