@marchxness
The premiere yearly tournament of music and memory. 2026's tournament is Sad Songs of the 90s. Lottery for tourney spots in July 25. Selection committee: @meganc.bsky.social & @angermonsoon.bsky.social
Needa get the dust out of this room, already! This, in @cherylgraham.bsky.social ‘s @marchxness.bsky.social piece on Kate Bush, “we can only hope we give others “moments of pleasure” that keep us alive in their memories just as they have done for us.”
“It does hum. It does have this visual and auditory drone. Like blood through a body, in a sense, the hum.” I like how Cooper Dart’s @marchxness.bsky.social essay is as much about neon itself as the song “Neon Moon” (which I almost picked to write about myself)
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“If you could choose how to spend your last year, would you pick falling in love?” Chelsea Biondolillo’s @marchxness.bsky.social essay is gorgeous & so sad.
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Wow. @cooperdart.bsky.social ‘s @marchxness.bsky.social piece on B&D is fantastic. “And it's not about happiness right there. It's about salvation. It's about, you know, loss in a way.”
“Do core memories mean what you thought they meant, and did the events you remember ever happen, or happen in that way, at that time, in that place?” Good questions in Ryan Carter’s @marchxness.bsky.social essay on “Hey Jealousy”
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I loved the Crowes even though my friends snubbed them for months. @levin.bsky.social ‘s @marchxness.bsky.social really nails how the band was more than just a derivative bridge between metal & grunge. However, I’m also repping my own ghost story, so this vote’s KHersh & @anniezaleski.bsky.social
hello I called dozens of neon and neon repair shops across the country to see what they had to say about sadness, the moon, and how to encounter the memories of what we once had but no longer have
NEON MOON IS SAD! VOTE NOW! KATE BUSH IS FORMIDABLE!
Your Ghost was my (reluctant) 2nd choice to write about this @marchxness.bsky.social for just the reason @anniezaleski.bsky.social puts so aptly: “it’s comforting to think that someone we love is just a phone call away, even in the afterlife, and that we can summon them at will to come visit” 💜💜
Something about this @marchxness.bsky.social match makes me want the Girl Talk-style mash-up of these two songs
Can I tell a funny story? Last spring when I added my name to the lottery, when my @marchxness.bsky.social sadness was still months away, I’d talked through essay/song ideas with Chris. Hey Jealousy was a contender for a funny essay about a dumb bf from college who thought it was “Hey Chelsea.”
“What makes a song sad is that you can’t vanish into it, while it promises you that you can.”
I think the below needed @marchxness.bsky.social for visibility. But the app wouldn’t let me repost it. :/
Love this framework for an essay: "In fairness, this isn’t speaking. It’s not a conversation, not even a letter. It’s me talking to an idea of a you." and the description of clipping the walkman to the pants - something I haven't thought about in so long!
Love Alanis no matter what, especially because "Sometimes she has to unhinge her jaw to let the full sound out." And WOW, this essay is a sadness I didn't expect (meant as a complete, because whoa it packed a punch!)
"One reason stories about heartbreak can be hard to sell is because, in love, while the specifics are the story, too many specifics don't leave room for the reader..."
If you read just one thing today, please make it my friend @cbiondolillo.bsky.social's beautiful & heartbreaking essay on Mazzy Star
Today, @cbiondolillo.bsky.social's essay is the one that made me cry. "I was just another guest at his celebration of life, and our relationship didn’t even merit mention in his obituary."
Despite my best intentions, I've fallen behind on @marchxness.bsky.social essays. So I will be skeeting (?) about them all day. Megan Campbell cracked me up with: "Then one day in 1991 my friend April asked me, “Have you heard of this band Nirvana?” Exeunt the 1980s."
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"The friend had gotten it from a guy in England who sent it to him via dial-up, a transmission that took all night to complete." Is that 90s or is that 90s?
I also love the description of opening a CD, even if it "cannot be cradled in your arms on the way home from the record store."
I strongly dislike the Black Crowes because of an ex, but @levin.bsky.social 's goth cover? Hell yes!
I describe Rich Robinson & Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes as being a Reverse Davies Brothers Situation. As 60s obsessives I'm sure the brothers would appreciate the comparison. + "They weren’t like the LA bands: they were time travelers, just like I wanted to be." Vote @marchxness.bsky.social
I love how Annie Zaleski’s @marchxness.bsky.social essay on “Your Ghost” lets Hersh have the last word “My life experience plays a huge part in these songs, but I don’t think they’re stories about me. Everybody I’ve ever lost is in that song.” So sad!
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We both love your essay & appreciate you writing it for March Sadness so much ❤️
My @marchxness.bsky.social essay was not easy to write, but I’m hoping there’s some beauty to be found in it, along with the sadness. Chris was generally terrible at selfies. Here are some failed attempts that still make me laugh.
“It’s said that in US culture men aren’t allowed to express sadness, only anger. Music, country and blues especially, is one of the vanishingly rare places where men are celebrated for doing both.” Always fun to see @marchxness.bsky.social stalwart @levin.bsky.social
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I knew the Skid Row song that time forgot would be a tough sell, but I'm glad I put it back out there a little bit. Congrats to Cicily and "Brick"!
Rough loss for the surprisingly tiny March Sadness 90s rock contingent.
What a fun and interesting approach to the essay by @amygcb.bsky.social for @marchxness.bsky.social - the song as soundtrack, the reminiscing, the odd mom-behavior. Also, Amy is basically modeling my church wardrobe from that time. Never again will I wear a peach-colored garment.
The REAL TRUTH behind The Black Crowes breakout 1990’s hit She Talk to Angels revealed in my essay @marchxness.bsky.social! Why She Talks to Angels was always goth (I even recorded a goth cover).
We also revisit my 1st rock concert—the Crowes in 1992.
Vote for my essay!
My @marchxness.bsky.social essay about Mazzy Star and The Little Prince and a particle physicist is live, y’all. It’s not really something I feel like I should hype up? I’ll probably just be posting some pics… Thank you for reading it and voting your heart! marchxness.com#/1stround-gi...
My @marchxness.bsky.social essay on Kristin Hersh's "Your Ghost" is up! Not only do I share copious details about the song (come for the guitar treasure hunt, stay for the record label anger) but I reminisce about growing up in the 1990s and discovering Throwing Muses. marchxness.com/1stround-bla...