I was afraid to be alone/
Now I’m scared thats how I’d like to be.

Last November Azure Ray lost someone special. It is not clear if it is a family member, friend or significant other; it doesn’t matter. It is not clear what type of loss it is either. Is it a break up? A death? We are not sure. What we know is that the narrator is deeply changed even one year later and she ponders how much she has changed. It seems like she is an entirely different person.

Once she was strong, now she is hoping to get up “the strength to give it one more shot” (love? Life?). She doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to pick herself out of her depression. In her suffering she starts to see a lot more suffering in other people too. She doesn’t see an end, but asks that her friends understand and be patient with her.

Azure’s “November” is one of the best songs depicting loss and depression. It is beautifully and tenderly sung as well. The only instruments are an acoustic guitar and a cello and the arrangement is perfect. The chorus is a fantastic fit and serves as a crescendo point: “I’m about to give this one more shot…” Azure Ray is a lesser known band and song and it is great to introduce it to a larger audience. It is a true gem.

November Lyrics

So I’m waiting for this test to end,
So these lighter days can soon begin.
I’ll be alone by maybe more carefree,
Like a kite that floats so effortlessly.

I was afraid to be alone.
Now I’m scared that’s how id like to be.
All the faces none the same,
How can there be so many personalities.

So many lifeless empty hands,
So many hearts in great demand.
And now my sorrow seems to far away,
Until I’m taken by these bolts of pain.

But I turn them off and tuck them away,
Till these rainy days that make them stay.
And then ill cry so hard to these sad songs,
And the words still ring, once here now gone.

And they echo through my head everyday.
And I don’t think they’ll ever go away.
Just like thinking of your childhood home,
But we can’t go back were on our own.

Oh…
But I’m about to give this one more shot.
And find it in myself,
I’ll find it in myself.

So were speeding towards that time of year,
To the day that marks your not here.
And I think ill want to be alone,
So please understand that I don’t answer the phone.

I’ll just sit and stare at my deep blue walls.
Until I can see nothing at all.
Only particles some fast some slow,
All my eyes can see is all I know.

Oh…
But I’m about to give this one more shot.
And find it in myself,
I’ll find it in myself.

Songwriters: John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine

Blue is the color of night/
When the red sound disappears from the sky.

Lucinda Williams’ “Blue” is about depression and how she uses is to cope. After long bouts of depression, you almost can’t imagine your life without it. Her sadness seems to be a part of her.

Williams describes that she and her companion  get along well enough, but there is not much intimacy between them. They are both somewhat down and out.

They look for escape—whether it be in the form of a song or religion. The only mindset that Williams can get into is a sense of depression, which she calls “blue”. It “feeds me when I’m hungry, quenches my thirst, loves me when I’m lonely and loves me first.”

Williams sad delivery really makes this song. When accompanied with the light instrumentation on the track, Williams voice really shines. The song is in the country-blues tradition but is good enough to appeal to anyone who enjoys good music. Lucinda William’s Blue is an underrated classic.

Blue Lyrics

Go find a jukebox
And see what a quarter will do
I don’t want to talk
I just want to go back to blue

Feeds me when I’m hungry
And quenches my thirst
Loves me when I’m lonely
And thinks of me first

Blue is the color of night
When the red sound disappears from the sky

Raven feathers shiny and black
A touch of blue glistening down her back

We don’t talk about heaven
And we don’t talk about hell
We’ve come to depend on
One another so damn well

So go to confession
Whatever gets you through
You can count your blessings
I’ll just count on blue

Songwriters: Nicholas Keith Whitecross / D. Jhingore / J. Williams / Stephen Rudden / Yinka Charles

I look inside myself and see my heart is black/
I see my red door I must have it painted black.

The Rolling Stones “Paint it Black” is about a man whose girlfriend dies and he falls into depression. He describes his depression as his heart turning black. His hurt is so deep inside that he wants to manifest it outside too. So every time he sees something like flowers or the sun, he thinks about painting it black.

This song is an interesting description of mourning. Depression is a little different in that it usually doesn’t have a direct cause…like losing your girlfriend. Though we use similar words to describe our feelings.

The lyric is sung angrily: Jagger is upset at the world and he wants to do something about it. The world should not be filled with colorful flowers when his love was taken from him. There is some experimentation in the use of instruments here…the sitar is featured prominently. The Stones, The Beatles and Beach Boys began a Cold War of sorts, trying to outdo each other by experimenting with the amount of sounds that could be produced on a rock record.

Paint it Black Lyrics

I see a red door and I want it painted black.
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes,
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.

I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black.
With flowers and my love, both never to come back.
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away,
Like a new born baby, it just happens every day.

I look inside myself and see my heart is black.
I see my red door, I must have it painted black.
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts,
It’s not easy facing up, when your whole world is black.

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue.
I could not foresee this thing happening to you.
If I look hard enough into the settin’ sun,
My love will laugh with me before the mornin’ comes.

I see a red door and I want it painted black.
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes,
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.

Hmm, hmm, hmm,
I wanna see it painted, painted black.
Black as night, black as coal,
I wanna see the sun, blotted out from the sky.
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black.
Yeah
Hmm, hmm, hmm

written by Jaggar/Richards