For My Listening Pleasure

I listened to one CD and am listening to a second CD tonight that are among my favorites, period, any time or reason, but they are also intimately connected.
The first CD I listened to was "Interiors," by Rosanne Cash, and I am currently listening to "Tremolo," by Blue Rodeo. While "Interiors" came out in 1990, I didn't really sit down and listen to it until early 1997; "Tremolo" came out at about the same time in 1997, and being a major Blue Rodeo fan since about 1990, coincidentally, I was thrilled to receive a review CD of it.
Without going into great detail (those who know me well, and even those who know me some, can flesh out things), these CDs were basically the soundtrack to one of the most serious, disruptive, painful and finally redemptive events/periods of my life. Both CDs, in their ways, depict and represent relationships falling apart, people hurting, not understanding what or why things are happening, and just looking to survive.
In my experience with music listening, appreciation and criticism, it appears that music that moves me in painful, uncomfortable ways, making me think and feel things I wasn't aware of or tried to avoid, stays with me and means more to me than even the best of the happier music.
This may not exactly be a stop-the-presses moment, but these realizations sometimes need to be directly stated or written. And I and many others don't listen to these kinds of albums just to wallow in sadness, but to feel things and often remind ourselves of feelings and situations, and to be glad that we are not in them and are in better situations now.