Nothin’ to do but frown/
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Mental health is no joke. Watch this performance of The Carpenters playing Rainy Days and Mondays and see what a beautiful, strong, fun, talented woman Karen Carpenter is. In less than ten years she would be dead. She didn’t see herself the way others did. We see her as the beautiful singer and talented drummer with the beautiful voice. And she didn’t see that beauty in herself. She died at 32 of Anorexia.

This song is an introduction to depression or “the blues”. You know how Mondays always make you feel down even when technically you could be having a really good day? Depression is like that too. Only worse. For someone with depression, most days are rainy and Mondays. Speaking openly about depression wasn’t really done back then.

Karen’s voice is at times deep and her vibrato is elongated and slow and used minimally. Every note she chooses is perfect. And she does it while drumming! She is simply a stud. This is a live performance! She has great range and control.

Richard and the band really show their chops in this song. The introduction of a background harmonica to simulate a lazy, rainy Monday is a brilliant choice. The other thing to notice is how amazing and layered their harmonies are. The Carpenter’s harmonies are A-level, but they use them judiciously-as they have the best lead singer in the world.

Karen has the most beautiful voice- male or female- that I have ever heard. The Carpenters are continually under-supported by the critical music press for reasons that are suspicious at best. They belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Keeping them out is just ignorant.

The Rock Hall has a lot of things it needs to fix before it is taken seriously but The Carpenters are the most egregious omission. If there is room in the Hall for Nina Simone and Joan Baez, (both deserving) and all the hip hop artists, there is a place for The Carpenters. Rainy Days and Mondays demonstrates this.

More by The Carpenters. And Here. Watch the live performance above if you have not seen it.

Rainy Days & Mondays Lyrics

Talkin’ to myself and feelin’ old
Sometimes I’d like to quit
Nothin’ ever seems to fit
Hangin’ around
Nothin’ to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

What I’ve got they used to call the blues
Nothin’ is really wrong
Feelin’ like I don’t belong
Walkin’ around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Funny, but it seems I always wind up here with you
Nice to know somebody loves me
Funny, but it seems that it’s the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me (the one who loves me)

What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out (talk it out)
We know what it’s all about
Hangin’ around (hangin’ around)
Nothin’ to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

Funny, but it seems that it’s the only thing to do (only thing to do)
Run and find the one who loves me (ooh)

What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out (to talk it out)
We know what it’s all about
Hangin’ around (hangin’ around)
Nothin’ to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down
Hangin’ around (hangin’ around)
Nothin’ to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get
Me down

Written by Paul Williams & Roger Nichols

Jesus Christ, I’m so blue all the time/
And that’s just how I feel.

Phoebe Bridger’s song “Funeral” is the setting for an in depth look at the life of someone experiencing depression. The narrator is going to a funeral for someone her own age, and she feels genuine sorrow for his/her family. However, the more immediate sensation she is having is of being overwhelmed by depression.

She realizes the absurdity of it. “How can I feel sad when these parents lost their kid?” But the realization that she is acting and thinking irrationally does not alleviate her symptoms—she is still down. Part of her blues may be brought on by her relationship with the kid who died, but overall, we get the impression that this just exasperated an already exhausted mind. It appears that she has suffered with depression (or “the blues”) for some time and she imagines she always will.

With “Funeral”, Bridgers’ stands in a strong tradition of women folk singers like Joan Baez, Karen Dalton, Bridget St. John, Janis Ian, and The Indigo Girls. Each of these women were great at singing the blues and their tradition rivals that of the men of folk music.

The sound in “Funeral” is straightforward—simple vocals with a picked guitar and fiddle. Bridgers’ voice sounds pleasantly clear. The only deviation from the traditional folk formula is the interesting introduction. It sounds like something you’d hear from a French avant-garde artist like Yann Tiersen. This adds a bit of color to an otherwise repetitive music genre.

Funeral Lyrics

I’m singing at a funeral tomorrow.
For a kid a year older than me.
And I’ve been talking to his dad, it makes me so sad.
When I think too much about it I can’t breathe.

And I have this dream where I’m screaming underwater.
While my friends are all waving from the shore
And I don’t need you to tell me what that means,
I don’t believe in that stuff anymore.

Jesus Christ, I’m so blue all the time.
And that’s just how I feel.
Always have and I always will,
I always have and always will.

I have a friend I call.
When I’ve bored myself to tears.
And we talk until we think we might just kill ourselves,
But then we laugh until it disappears.

And last night I blacked out in my car.
And I woke up in my childhood bed.
Wishing I was someone else, feeling sorry for myself,
When I remembered someone’s kid is dead.

Jesus Christ, I’m so blue all the time.
And that’s just how I feel.
Always have and I always will.
I always have and always will.

And it’s 4 A.M., again,
And I’m doing nothing.
Again.

Written by Phoebe Bridgers

I am covered in skin/
No one gets to come in/
Pull me out from inside.

Counting Crows “Colorblind” begins with the lyrics “I am colorblind”. This is an often-misunderstood lyric. If you interpret it in the context of the rest of the song, he is saying that he is numb to the world. That is, he is not seeing things in color. He is looking forward to someone looking below the surface and the walls he puts up–to pull him out of this rut and help him experience life again.

We don’t know why he is feeling this way; perhaps he is in a funk. Depression has been described in similar terms. He is looking to connect with another person. He is ready but at the same time he is tongue-tied and not sure about how to go about fixing the problem.

The music is dark featuring the brooding piano. I am not certain, but I think that is a recorder for the solo. Could that be right? Whatever it is, it is the perfect instrument for the mood of the song. The song also uses a xylophone, so there is a lot of experimentation to create the unique sound of the record.

Colorblind Lyrics

I am colorblind.
Coffee black and egg white.
Pull me out from inside.
I am ready, I am ready, I am ready,
I am taffy stuck and tongue tied.

Stutter shook and uptight.
Pull me out from inside.
I am ready, I am ready, I am ready,
I am fine.

I am covered in skin,
No one gets to come in.
Pull me out from inside.
I am folded and unfolded and unfolding,
I am colorblind.

Coffee black and egg white.
Pull me out from inside.
I am ready, I am ready, I am ready,
I am fine.
I am fine.

written by Adam Duritz