if I ever wrote anything as good as

if it makes you happy

it can't be that bad

if it makes you happy

then why the hell are you so sad?

Sheryl Crow absolutely destroying me using the simplest words and the simplest structure. I don't know there's certain songs that if I let myself listen to them I'll just dwell on them all day and 'If It Makes You Happy' is one of them. 

The words are pointing to something. They're a perfect example of cognitive dissonance. It's a koan. It's a catchy earworm that also makes you feel uncomfortable. I would go so far to say that if you could crystallize art into a single nugget or gem, you'd be hard pressed to surpass the chorus of 'If It Makes You Happy'. Anyone can understand the lyrics and the words but when you hear it sung, especially by Marissa Paternoster, you don't think--oh what a trite--what a--what a vapid statement. Maybe you do. I don't know. Maybe you're thinking--why's this guy so sad? Is he really sad or something?

No. I'm not sad. And I'm not happy either. I'm some other third thing. The thing that I am when I listen to 'If It Makes You Happy' all day. 

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Actually I had a really good day. My family came over and I started the year with my mom and dad and sister and showed them camp and ate good sandwiches and lemon tart! Hooray!

I don't think 'If It Makes You Happy' is about being happy or sad. It's probably about how Sheryl Crow was feeling when she finally had success and achieved a thing she'd been wanting for so long but then it didn't feel like how she thought it would feel but I ALSO think it's about how cool feelings are in general. Like sometimes you might think, oh feelings are stupid and annoying. No. The fact that you can feel feelings is crazy and actually really cool. So just sit and be in awe of that for about 5 minutes.

Imagine the first time someone put red and blue together and made purple. That's what the chorus to If It Makes You Happy Is. 

In case you're curious, the other song that destroys me is 'You Are My Sunshine'. Ohmygosh. I don't even know why I brought it up. Devastated. I'm not even kidding. 

Anyway, tune in tomorrow where I'll be talking about one of my other weaknesses: my conditioned taste aversion to cold pasta salad with feta cheese.