Mannerist film antiquarian Guy Maddin takes a bold step forward with this 2003 feature, a comic/melodramatic musical enhanced by his flair for expressionist studio shooting (in grainy black and white, ...

Sadness is generally seen as a negative emotion, but we tend to find it pleasurable in an aesthetic context. What is the nature of pleasure that people experience from listening to sad music?

The 1990s just might be the definitive era of sad country music. For starters, some of the genre's all-time best storytellers and vocalists were at the top of their game during this period. Acts like ...

This article is authored by Tara Venkatesan, honorary fellow, School of Advanced Studies, University of London.

For as long as I can remember, I have always preferred sad music. As a child, I used to force my mom to listen to me belting along to karaoke tracks of “My Heart Will Go On” and “I Will Always Love ...

In the 2010s, country music revamped the definition of what a sad country song could be. Sure, there were still quite a few traditional heartbreak ballads about the end of a relationship, like Tim ...