This incredible song brings out more emotions than any song I have ever heard. It is a masterpiece in my opinion. I'm a 57-year-old guy and every time I hear this song along with seeing this brilliantly done animation video I am a complete mess. I'm practically swimming in my tears. Just today while seeing this video I finally noticed that a newspaper on the floor mentioned a father and two sons getting killed in a school shooting. It's enough to make anyone feel like an arrow just pierced their heart. Steven Wilson is a musical genius and all the musicians in his band are incredibly talented. I think that this song is the epitome of how music can connect with and affect peoples' emotions. Just brilliant!
It is so sad. Never fails to make me cry. But I really like how Steven Wilson ends these sad songs. They almost always end with hope. Some kind of hope within the darkness. I really appreciate that.
The song is from the album Hand.Cannot.Erase which is a concept album that focuses on human isolation from family, friends and colleagues. Steven Wilson was intrigued in the true story of Joyce Carrol Vincent. A lady that removed herself from society due to depression and anxiety and ended up dying in her own apartment from natural causes with no one noticing for 3 years. It was only when her landlord decided to evict her due to failed rent payments that her body was finally discovered. Steven wanted to address in his music that people in large metropolises with high population densities can easily go missing and be lost to family, friends and colleagues due to the business of life. With the song Routine, Steven also want to demonstrate this isolation to people who have suffered personal loss.
Steven Wilson is a true master. His videos are outstanding and his music? Man... seeing it live is something to behold! There is also the game called "last days of june" that uses his songs and is a lovely and heartbreaking story. PS: I knew this would be hard on you
Yep, that's Steven Wilson for you right there. If you want more positively depressing songs from him, try "Ride Home", "The Raven that refused to sing", or even "Heartattack in a Layby"
"Happy Returns" struck me the same way... I've been separated from my sister and from majority of my relatives for a long goddamn time, and I barely even know my niece. Steven Wilson just has a knack of founding my emotional weak spots.
I cried like a baby the first time I saw this, and I was too thick to realise she hadn't just lost one child, but her WHOLE family including her husband, but watching your reaction and then going back and reading the headlines on that newspaper cleared it up for me.. Thankyou for appreciating this masterpiece. 💜
That was really hard to watch. The song and the video are extremely sad, but your reaction made it even more real, Z. This songs is part of a concept album. Hand. Cannot. Erase. loosely based on the true story of a woman who died and no one in her life noticed it and they didn't find her body until three years later. It's heartbreaking. The album is really sad and emotional, but beautiful. You should check (reaction or not) Ancestral from the same album, it has some metal in there too.
"Amongst the hundreds of songs I have written over the years, 'Routine' has a very special place. It's a deeply sad story of loss and denial, but at its conclusion the clouds lift and there is acceptance at least. Having worked with her on 3 previous videos, I knew as soon as I wrote it that it was perfect for Jess to do something amazing with. Even then nothing prepared me for the organic beauty and power of the film she made, a painstaking labour of love that took her months to produce. When we play the song live I look out into the audience and see people swept away with emotion at the combination of music and animation. To find poetry and beauty in sadness is a wonderful thing I think" Directed by Jess Cope www.owlhousestudios.com
Steven Wilson songs are like a "hot pepper challenge" for emotional songs! How much can you take?! You should also check out "Drive Home" or "The Raven that Refused to Sing" both with videos created by Jess Cope for Steven. Very emotional, very beautiful!
Along with Gilbert O Sullivan singing Alone Again Naturally this is probably the saddest song ever. You got the full experience by watching the video. You know the lyrics are sad but they don't explain the whole story.
Please take care of your self mam.. I lost my father and grandfather with in 6 months it's very hard to believe.. There is a proverb in our region which says.. Living life is false truth and death is bitter truth..... Now I am having full responsibility on my shoulder at the age of 19
I have watched this about a dozen times, straight and as reactions. I have cried every time. Any time I watch it again, I will cry again. It is as brilliant as it heart-wrenching.
Almost? Hell, I'm a grown man and can't get through this without wiping tears away. I guess that makes you a decent human being. They seem to be in short supply these days.
