Life's Disapointments

We all have gone through it before. Not getting the toys we want, not winning the first prize in the spelling bee contest (no I have never been in one though I must admit I am quite the beeeeeee…. :p ) amongst others. As we grow older, disappointments come in different forms.

Being turned down by a crush, finding the perfect pair of shoes but not in your size, friends who backed out last minute and the list goes on. And the pattern still continues into our adulthood. Not landing the perfect the perfect job, missing out on a promotion and realizing that you are just not good enough.

To me, disappointment is part and parcel of life. You go through it again and again until you build a coping mechanism that somehow helps you get through it. Whatever that mechanism is, be it resignation, the promise of a better tomorrow or even blaming others for your misfortunes, that feeling is still there and you cannot deny it no matter how hard you try to erase it.

Raised hopes and expectations are preludes to this heavy emotion. When I think of disappointments, one song comes to mind. It totally embodies this emotion and describes it well using minimal words and an interesting music arrangement.

Using words and music as paint and your imagination as a canvas, Radiohead's Let Down paints exactly that emotion in brilliant solid colours. You cannot help but dig into your innermost thoughts and relive those moments that you tried so hard to put behind.

The best part of it, is that it is not all about gloom and self pity … Ironically, it brings hope and optimism (though short lived… yet another irony) to probably a jaded and bitter listener (I am not talking about me… hahaha).

You know, you know where you are with,
you know where you are with,
floor collapsing, falling, bouncing back
and one day, I am gonna grow wings,
a chemical reaction, [You know where you are,]
hysterical and useless [you know where you are,]
hysterical and [you know where you are,]
let down and hanging around,
crushed like a bug in the ground.
Let down and hanging around.

Go listen. It is a great song.