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SUPPORT ME ON PATREON\n\nWATCH MUSIC is not a GENRE VIDEOS and MORE\n\nLife ain\u2019t black and white. That\u2019s not a revelation, and yet we constantly have to be reminded of it, because our brains WANT IT TO BE. It\u2019s much more comfortable to slot things into categories. WELL if there\u2019s one thing you know about me, it\u2019s that I prefer artists who defy categorization. In most cases \u2013 like Prince or The Beatles or Bowie \u2013 those artists genre hop at will. They don\u2019t let walls or rules contain them. In other cases \u2013 like this week\u2019s band, The Smiths \u2013 they don\u2019t so much genre hop as they create their own brand new genre.\n\nThere are so many reasons to love The Smiths. Morrissey\u2019s incomparable voice. Johnny Marr\u2019s genius guitar. The surprising (though it shouldn\u2019t be to anyone who knows them) number of catchy pop hooks. Their not giving a shit about trends. But the thing I\u2019ve always liked best about them is they lived in the grey. They melded happy-ish or lush & mellow-ish songs, with straight up sad and often harrowing lyrics. Like reveling in mud. All good music comes from a place of joy. Even the hardest, bleakest dirge metal is written and performed with joy. Joy is not happiness. It\u2019s the pumping blood and breathing air of life. The Smith\u2019s ability to revel in the joy of sadness was an instant heart-drug to me. \xa0Still is.\n\nFrom Strangeways, \u201cGirlfriend in a Coma\u201d is the perfect example of a happy sounding song with bleak lyrics. But really the entire album is exemplary and amazing. It would be unwieldy for me to list the numerous songs I\u2019ve written that juxtapose happy music with sad lyrics. Dozens easily. Really there\u2019s not even one definitive one. So here\u2019s one of the latest:\n\nREC - \u201cLost Found\u201d (from the album Sympathy for the Weird)\n\nWhat do you think of The Smiths? What other artists can you name who have happy music with sad lyrics, OR sad music with happy lyrics (like The Cure\u2019s \u201cLove Song\u201d or Irving Berlin\u2019s \u201cBlue Skies\u201d)? Do you prefer black and white music, or do you swim in the grey too? Discuss dammit!\n\n\n--- \n\nThis episode is sponsored by \n\xb7 Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app\n\nSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicisnotagenre/support\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices