Website that categorizes songs by genre and keyword?

May 9, 2009 2:55 PM

Is there a website that lets you search for songs by emotion? i.e. I want to find songs in [genre] that relate to [emotion].

Googling hasn't turned up anything good, not even mixtape communities or anything like that. Do you know of any mixtape communities that let you search by keyword, or databases that categorize by emotion?

I am specifically looking for songs relating to guilt, of the rock/indie/punk/etc ilk.

Thanks!

posted by rachaelfaith to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Best answer: All Music Guide categorizes songs by mood. I don't see "guilt" there, but you might be able to find something similar.
posted by Midnight Rambler at 3:03 PM on May 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

Last.fm tracks tagged with "guilt".
posted by afx237vi at 3:22 PM on May 9, 2009

Response by poster: Two very cool resources, though the first track listed on that Last.fm list is a tad... odd. Thanks, both. Looking forward to more websites!
posted by rachaelfaith at 3:32 PM on May 9, 2009

I don't have a site to help you, but searching the word [lyrics] + any guilt-related words like [guilt, guilty, sorry, apologize, apologies, hangdog, blame, betray, betrayal, betrayed, etc.] might yield some useful responses.

Nirvana's All Apologies and Nine Inch Nails' Hurt come to mind.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 6:53 PM on May 9, 2009

You need the Green Book of Songs. I've only used the dead tree version, but it looks like you can search the database online for a small yearly fee. I use it at work to find songs on all sorts of themes, and it's never failed me yet.
posted by embrangled at 8:49 PM on May 9, 2009

Best answer: http://www.artofthemix.org has a search function where you can look at mixes by theme, but not really by emotional content. I have found it particularly useful to look at people's "breakup" mixes though, for things like this.
posted by so_gracefully at 11:26 PM on May 9, 2009

Musicovery also offers a mood / genre search. I am not sure how to place "guilt" on their mood map, though.
posted by Henrik at 5:29 AM on May 10, 2009

The iTunes store has iTunes Essentials that have some mood music.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:29 PM on May 10, 2009

Response by poster: Ah ha, Art of the Mix was the mixtape website I was thinking of.

Thanks, all! I have lots to explore.
posted by rachaelfaith at 6:28 PM on May 10, 2009