Disposable America: “What’s Your Favorite Sad Video?”

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There are far worse things in this world to be than sad.

Sad gets a bad rap. Some of the most important songs in my life are the ones that absolutely crushed me the first time I heard them and continue to do so every time I put them on.

Sadness is a familiar feeling, one we start to miss if we go a few days without it. Disposable America is a label that prides itself on being pro-sadness, especially when it can be masked by a laugh track or as an upbeat pop tune. Members of the Disposable America family were asked what video personally bums them out more than any others, their answers are below.

TYLER KERSHAW (Funeral Advantage)

It’s always hard to watch La Bamba. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time, but it is a very sad story. The ending scene is particularly difficult to watch due to the way it was put together. As an example: normally in overly dramatic studio movies you’d get this big soundtrack to the main character dying. Not in La Bamba.

It’s about two or three minutes of silence surrounding each supporting character hearing the news respectively. It doesn’t help that “Sleepwalk” by Santo & Johnny starts playing as the movie fades out into Ritchie’s brother Bob’s memory of them running up a hill in slow motion. Even though you know what’s going to happen in the end, it’s still so abrupt. We never hear from Ritchie again.

I lose it at this scene every time.

TRAVIS ALEXANDER (Ghost Thrower)

On February 14th, 1990, Voyager 1 took a monumental picture of Earth from more than 4 billion miles away. Carl Sagan’s lecture on this “Pale Blue Dot” is a poignant description of the absurdity behind humanity’s view of planetary domination. This video partners his thoughts with classic scenes from some of Hollywood’s greatest movies. Mogwai lends the audio. Gut wrenchingly awesome, this video makes me well up every time I watch it. When I die, press my ashes into a 7” and put this audio on the B side. Play it during my funeral. Limit it to 50, buy 5 of them, and put them on eBay.

“To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” – Carl Sagan

KEVIN KING (Loom / Maura)

The video for the song “Like Paper Cuts” by Mew makes me feel sad in a nostalgic way.  I remember being in my friend Dave’s basement in high school after band practice and my dear friend Steve showing me this video and feeling so creeped out.  It makes me miss being a kid just fucking around with my friends that I don’t get to see very often anymore.

DYLAN CONNOR (Caténine)

A very graphic depiction of the less than glamourous side of being a celebrity from the point-of-view of the biggest pop star in the world.

JOHN LUTKEVICH (Soft Fangs)


The interview is just so uncomfortable.  It shows the distance between the interviewer and the artist. Elliott is so polite, but you can tell he just can’t wait for it to be over. The inane questions, the fact that Carson Daly knows nothing about anything he is saying (through no fault of his own, he’s just looking for a job), and the way in which Elliott strums his guitar out of nervousness and boredom all kill me.  While Elliott Smith wasn’t exactly known for his cheerfulness, who can blame him for dreading interviews after having a thousand interactions like this one.

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