The Blues isn't meant to bring you down, it is meant to be soothing. It is a healing thing. It draws attention to the problem exposing it. This is sort of like gazing into the eyes of death until you don't fear it anymore. What this does is keeps us from denying our pain and fighting it. Thus this allows us to release this pain and turn to better things.

Through the songs you hear of all kinds of bad things that happened but the song is really about surviving. The guitar parts are the parts that are basically saying well this may have been but I am going to have a good time anyway.

Great question - I am the same and been meaning to ask as well. I just finish crying to a great song, and after a session of such music, know what I know about LOA I try to finish it with an upbeat happy ridiculously innocent love song , sometimes even resort to 50's music when times were more innocent. It helps me leave feeling better.

And I have had many depressing songs in the past, when I go back to them they are not as painful as I once remember them. It is as if I graduated from those feelings to the next level. I think it is therapeutic to work it out, but leave off in a good tone. That's my rule of thumb now.

to anser your 1st question.What is melancholy? It is a sad thoughtful state of mind, unhappy, depression. To anser your 2nd question. How do you feel when you listen to sad music ? Well, I feel.. sad :) , I always fall into the song that I'm listing to. Giving into the emotion{SADNESS}. It is usually when something has taken place in my life that whether small or GINORMOUS. A sad song comes to mind , then I play the song. Wolloing in my sadness. To anser your 3rd question. Do you feel better or worse ? For me personally , aslong as I'm listing to the song I'm in a state of sadness. My feelings at that time are like the famous songstris Cindy Loper " It's my party and I'll cry if I want to . LOL . This is all sad , but true.

I have had my fair share of such music. I do not gravitate to this music as often as I used to. I agree it makes you feel better/good in the moment. What makes it so for me is it makes me feel 'Right' in my melancholy, if it makes sense! What I mean is, if I am upset about something someone did to me or if I fail to achieve what I wanted and listen to sad music it makes my feeling low justified. It iterates the limiting beliefs in my head and that in the moment makes me feel good (stupid, I know!). I am yet to have an experience where 'better' feeling upon listening to a melancholy piece gave me the same 'better' feeling as an upbeat piece. There was never a feeling of relief that would help me come out of the low mood. So I would say, yes it makes one feel better in the sense of helping one justify the limits hence reinforcing limiting beliefs.

Well sad things sometime remember us that they are better things.Or sometime it can bring us back in the past to some good things that are not anny more like they used to,giving us a bitter sweet feeling.That is also why sometime they put sad music in movie,and sometime in song the singer put is heart in is music.

example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hJ-KUM4wlk

if you did not see this movie it is about Gerry Boulet french singer from Quebec that die from cancer. here is some of is song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6sJwTU-r-I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px9F8--AMKs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZaimPMOzdk

He add is up and down in life,like every one else.And hoped for the best.

Here is another song that you might like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo_0UXRY_rY

there are four temperaments
defining basic blood types,
of which by heredity
is connected, a rhythm