"The Greatest" by Cat Power from the album The Greatest. 2006.
You know that miserable down-and-out feeling that sometimes creeps over your head like a shadow-blanket in winter and leaves you in the dark alone and helpless? Of course you do, you're reading our blog! Well for all those defeated times, "The Greatest" would play as your background soundtrack. The opening line reveals it all: "Once, I wanted to be the greatest..."
It captures the ambiance of that dejected mood expertly. The dreamy violin and pianissimo piano usher you to a solemn carnival ride through your defeatism. Don't confuse it with an emotional breakdown in the vein of Eric Carmen. I'd rather relate it to a somber bedtime tuck-in. One can essentially hear acceptance of shooting the moon then missing even the stars by lacking escape velocity. Not even the sky is the limit since it cannot be reached. Before, the desire to be 'greatest' overpowered everything, but now, after "the rush of the flood," it "leave[s] no trace of grace."
Sad though that may be, accepting a failed dream, I can pick out a waft of uplifting sensibility. I don't get a sense of any wallowing in "what could've been" through the lyrics, and the general dream-like atmosphere sounds just a bit hopeful. Perhaps a calloused apathy has developed, and upon tripping over life and dropping the tightly-clasped goals into a mosaic of shattered memories, The Not-So-Greatest simply signs, "Eh, whatever." Some comfort can emerge then, I think. The ability to remain unperturbed come hell and high water and keep trudging along says something about one's stoic character. Of course, utter acceptance of all things bad may appear the saddest action of all to those of you with more feisty personalities.
In an unintrusive gander, though, the song hits a key most people have heard even without locksmith training or piano lessons. The tune's poetic lyrics ensures a nice cavern to escape into for those aformentioned dark moments. Yet even a person donned in their happy suits shall just the same embrace its quality.
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