The Small Bow

Soundtrack for the Doomed: These Songs Feel Like Slips

Remember those songs that told you it's time to get home before the birds start chirping? So do we. It's either a fun exercise in gratitude or a slippery slope down memory lane so be careful. But if you'd like to participate in our next round-up please email us here: editors@thesmallbow.com

The Small Bow

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Illustrated by Edith Zimmerman

Last week’s Inverse Pitching newsletter offered up this query: songs you can no longer listen to without activating that wounded part of your past life as an addict. Luckily, four readers who also happen to be writers gave us some of their haunted tunes.  If you’d like to sign up for Inverse Pitching, please do so here!

Coked up, Fabulous and Terrified Forever

Before I got sober a million years ago, I had this 1968 Buick Skylark convertible named “Monty” after Montgomery Clift. I installed a cassette player, which was fantastic. What wasn’t fantastic was a cassette got stuck in it for… I don’t know… a year? The cassette tape was of “Punch The Clock” by Elvis Costello. I can’t hear the opening of that album without feeling a combination of coked up, fabulous and terrified.  – Claudia L.

“Cherub Rock” still owns

Today’s Not the Greatest

“Hummer” by Smashing Pumpkins.  An all time favorite that I now avoid like fingernails on a chalkboard – because of the happy, carefree memories of drunken, drug-fueled college days.  Hearing it creates a longing in my soul for experiences that are no longer a available to me. Life’s a bummer… when you’re a Hummer. — Cornell P. 

When I’m Straight

I used to live in what was basically a hovel in Montreal with three guys, and after we’d stayed up until seven or eight ingesting substances, someone would put the “Some Velvet Morning” video on to help us come down. It was totally dread-inducing, even then: Nancy Sinatra all in white, with those gloves, like a sinister angel. The overlapping vocals make you feel a little insane. It still makes me shiver. — Diana K. 

So Pretty Yet So Dark

For a couple months back in 2015 I played “Candles in the Rain” by Melanie close to ten times per day. The chorus promises uplift, but this juncture of my life was so bleak. I was so delusional I had thought this song snapped me out of whatever I needed to snap out of every single day. Nope. It’s repetition was a cruel reminder that I was trapped in a tomorrow loop. — Albert D.

The Hawk

When we think of bottom stories, we usually think of car crashes or jail time, maybe a fist fight in a bar or a job or marriage loss. But sometimes they're less dramatic and only reveal themselves once our brains return to normal and involve dumb birds falling from the sky.

I’ll Ask Joe: Are Some Treatment Methods Total Bullshit?

Here’s a monthly recovery-related question we pose to our resident advocacy professional, Joe Schrank. Joe’s been a social worker for 25 years, plus run several rehabs, sober living facilities, been a sober coach and an interventionist. So he's seen plenty. We asked Joe this month about recovery charlatans, and who to watch out for. He named some names, but don't these people really just want to help? The gurus are multiplying.

I Peed Myself Again

This Inverse Pitching is for all those who have lost control of their bodily functions and pissed their pants. It's okay. It (used to) happen.