“Feel So Sad” is the shining moment of the Spaceman’s career. Over the course of its thirteen transcendental minutes, Jason Pierce moves the listener from the dark depths of sorrow and suffering to the spiritual heights of a sublime bliss-out. The effect verges upon a near-death experience.

A disembodied voice, drifting in the void, mournfully intones a blues-gospel lament in the chambers of cathedral reverb:

“Sweet Lord I know
I hate this lonely life so
Lord I know
Time goes slow
I feel so alone
Sweet Lord
Sweet Lord is this my fate
To live my life in this state
Lord I pray
I long for a change
But it still remains
Sweet Lord
Sweet Lord it’s a sin
To live this life suffering
I feel so sad
Sweet Lord”

The pain is healed by the floating tones of a Farfisa organ and soothing woodwinds. A flute solo delicately enters like a soft spring or summer breeze. A bright and golden brass section floods down glowing sunlight through the gray and stormy clouds. The clouds part as the soaring strings lift the listener. The blues-gospel prayer is repeated once more which is then followed by an even more triumphant ascension as distant percussion announces the music of the spheres. The keyboards, woodwinds, brass, and strings now send the listener past shimmering stars, spinning planets, spiral galaxies, and supernovas. The voyage quietly returns to the realm of the nebula, of the womb.

“Feel So Sad” is one of the greatest songs of all time.

*Side Note: There are several versions of “Feel So Sad”–this review refers to the version “Feel So Sad (Rhapsodies)”.