I'm so glad @erindorney.bsky.social dug into what I hadn't been able to put my finger on FOR YEARS about that Paula Cole song--it's performing heteronormativity and THE SADNESS FOR THE LIFE SHE SINGS ABOUT "WANTING" is also performative, therefore, which is so damn brilliant

Well @jamcharlesworth.bsky.social's @marchxness.bsky.social essay has persuaded me into not only tolerance but grudging affection for this damn Collective Soul song, which I had not thought possible. And that's not even among the top ten things this essay accomplishes. Do not miss it.

Hey! If you are also going to the AWP Conference in Baltimore, come say hi to @martinseay.bsky.social & me! We'll be at the @rosemetalpress.bsky.social table at the Book Fair most of the time, #639! I also have a panel on reviewing on Thursday at 9:00 am! Yay books, yay writers, yay small presses!

Hey folks! It's Round 1 of @marchxness.bsky.social & Collective Soul's "The World I Know" & I have tipped off! Check out my essay about this redemptive song & its memorable music video, last chances to change, and why the best sad songs sometimes aren't the saddest songs at all. READ & VOTE!! 👇

That's the buzzer! MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION DAY 2 FINAL SCORES Bonnie Raitt, 99, Portishead 64 Sade 122, Third Eye Blind 49 Tom Waits 121, Backstreet Boys 81 Billie Myers 108, Bob Dylan 96 Great finish for Myers holding off a charging Dylan. Day 3 games just tipped off at marchxness.com

Myers up 99-95 with 3 minutes to play: marchxness.com/1stround-mye...

3EB - get hooked by the do do dos… stay for The Background, Motorcycle Drive By and God of Wine.

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION DAY 2 SCORES, 97' to go: Billie Myers 91, Bob Dylan 88 Bonnie Raitt, 94, Portishead 50 Sade 117, Third Eye Blind 46 Tom Waits 118, Backstreet Boys 73 Every vote matters! Read, listen, vote by 9am 3/3 at marchxness.com

This is such a strong matchup. It's one of those times where the combo of revisiting a song and some surprising and revelatory writing convinced me to vote against my bracket.

Fans of Mensch's Dylan Sadness essay should get on this

Raitt's song achieves medical-grade pathos, & Casey's @marchxness.bsky.social essay is excellent on the ethical tangles of desire & disappointment, but do not miss @dellegeller.bsky.social's affecting forensic take on "Roads"—great song—which is like a mini Modiano novel or something? But funnier!

Digging Danielle's neuroscience-informed take, & "Ordinary" is a banger—but I've been snoozing on this 3rd Eye Blind song, & I'm compelled by @brianzitzelman.bsky.social on the aesthetic experience of MISSING (or avoiding?) a song's darkness. 2-ish hours to go in this @marchxness.bsky.social match!

I feel like this sums up a lot of the Sadness issue: "The veracity of any such declaration depends on the complex interplay of factors including, but not limited to, the song, listener, and medium of sound." from Danielle Geller's essay. marchxness.com/1stround-rai...

MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION HALFTIME SCORES Bonnie Raitt 80, Portishead 38 Sade 101, Third Eye Blind 41 Tom Waits 103, Backstreet Boys 58 Billie Myers 84, Bob Dylan 72 Read, listen, vote by 9am 3/3 at marchxness.com

Don't let either of these @marchxness.bsky.social essays pass you by! Lydia on "Show Me" is just gem after gem—"putting a song called 'Backstreet’s Back' on your debut album is some legendary shit"—& moving too, esp on how the song accrues meaning for performers & audience. Maybe despite itself?

I don't wanna be all "tough one!" about all these @marchxness.bsky.social matches but: tough one! I'm a massive Dylan fan, and @leahmensch.bsky.social's essay—very sharp on the embodied experience of memory & of art—takes some great & surprising turns...

What I’m learning reading these essays is that we were ALL in band, and so I have to propose that we one day tackle March Marchness, wherein the catalog of John Philip Sousa would simply eat itself.

DOING THE WORK

FINAL SCORES DAY 1: Celine Dion 178, Silver Jews 83 Neutral Milk Hotel 164, Annie Lennox 61 Bush 158, Fiona Apple 77 Ani Difranco 153, Wallflowers 79 Congrats to the winners, and we salute the defeated. Shout out to Samuel Rafael Barber, @ronhogan.bsky.social, Drew Krewer, and Kimberly Nelson

With imminent defeats for Fiona/Wallflowers, I have to say that I LOVED Krewer's essay on Fiona and faith, and Kimberly's was like a direct feed on my hs years. I'm too staggered by the putative winners to speak on them now; glad they'll make it another round so when I stop crying I can praise 'em

Another great @marchxness.bsky.social pairing here, not least b/c both essays describe lost friendships. I went w/ Ani b/c the song is, y’know, sadder. @susannadonato.bsky.social is particularly strong on the untrained piano intro! Get those votes in, y’all!

March Sadness 90s DAY 1 SCORES, 80' to go: Celine Dion 167, Silver Jews 77 Neutral Milk Hotel 152, Annie Lennox 55 Bush 141, Fiona Apple 71 Ani Difranco 143, Wallflowers 69 Read, listen, vote by 9am at marchxness.com 3/2 games will tip off in a bit!

A great @marchxness.bsky.social pairing: both essays note a correlation between sadness and, um, coercive doctrinaire religiosity. Lots of good stuff here—I'm esp digging @thejasonthayer.bsky.social's "a song about instability, clearly written by a stable person" & Drew's use of Amos' "Mr. Zebra."

Tough call! Both essays do that great @marchxness.bsky.social thing: showing how songs change by remaining the same through a listener's shifting emotional circumstances. @mfitejohnson.bsky.social's reference to "Secondhand emotions, so satisfying and safe" will be helpful throughout the tournament.

I voted NMH in Round 1 of @marchxness.bsky.social & barring a big overnight swing we'll have more chances to talk about @awolfson.bsky.social's extremely good essay later... but don't miss @ronhogan.bsky.social on Lennox (& The Lover Speaks)!

March Sadness 90s DAY 1 HALFTIME SCORES: Celine Dion 146, Silver Jews 68 Neutral Milk Hotel 125, Annie Lennox 46 Bush 103, Fiona Apple 59 Ani Difranco 123, Wallflowers 54 Read, listen, vote by 9am 3/2 at marchxness.com

ALSO if you are new to @marchxness.bsky.social we have a brand spanking new collection of essays from our first 10 years, available from @splitlippress.com

3/1 games are live at marchxness.com. To be notified each day in March, join the substack! open.substack.com/pub/marchxne...

Reminder that while we'll try to update the bsky and IG periodically during the tournament, the Xness Substack is THE Official Comms Channel of March Sadness 90s Edition. It's free to subscribe, and you'll receive emails each day with links to the day's games: open.substack.com/pub/marchxne...

Do you enjoy books? Free things? Talking sea creatures? Then today is your lucky day, because the Goodreads Giveaway for MAN OVERBOARD! starts right....now! Get in there and win! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

important TV narratology query!

Join me today in my Villain Era, y'all... 4 Subject Lines right here, right now 👇

"Half a Decade" a typewriter poem by yours truly from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra: poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8087128...

Drawing is my passion

It's so hard to get a collection of poetry accepted for publication! Which is why it's a dream to say my latest manuscript, O, WESTERN WIND, won the New Measure Poetry Prize from Parlor Press & Free Verse Editions, as selected by Rodney Jones!

Oshkosh B'gosh sounds like a bad guy from some nerd book. and yet it is overalls for babies

"History" a typewriter poem by yours truly from the Chicago History Museum's MLK Day celebration: poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8068102...

For Christmas @martinseay.bsky.social got me SALVAGE by Hedgie Choi & it’s funny & great.

Drawing is my passion.

Tomorrow at the Chicago History Museum as part of their Martin Luther King Junior Day celebration! Get a poem while you wait from 12 noon to 2 pm! Peace. Justice. Love. Hope. www.chicagohistory.org/event/martin...

It's a dreary day. I needed to feel something good. Then mail came. This gorgeous collection of @marchxness.bsky.social essays from all the tournaments, including my first-round loss in March Faxness, my very first time playing.

NEW @martinseay.bsky.social ESSAY DROPPED, scrambling to rebook my whole morning so I can give this the attention Martin's essays always deserve!!!

Just finished & my lord, what an essay, @martinseay.bsky.social ! I can picture that Bookstop, tho 95 would have been my last summer in Austin. & definitely long for good old KGSR sometimes. Not many radio stations like it now.

Actually lol’d when I got to the jump in the email, because of course: “Seay writes long, so this post is too long to reproduce here in its entirety.” Give it a read and contemplate the Lorca directive re: your own rooted place.

Rejoice, @marchxness.bsky.social fans! The annual can't miss @martinseay.bsky.social essay has dropped! His # didn't come up this year but he's still bringin' it with this extracurricular to help you get ya game face on for March 1!

Thanks to @gregzimmerman.bsky.social at the New Dork Review of Books for including Man Overboard! among his Most Anticipated Books of 2026! "Quirky and fun! " www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.com/2026/01/new-...

🚨 🚨 Martin Seay! Writing about music! Turn it up! 🚨 🚨

old school analog time we like it

Just 7 weeks till March Sadness starts, y'all! To get pumped, I wrote a piece for @marchxness.bsky.social about history, epistolary narratives & "Tell Mary," the saddest song you've probably never heard:

"Funny, heartfelt, and always charming, Kathleen Rooney’s writing is like a warm hug. [...] The perfect summer read!" Thanks to the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social for including MAN OVERBOARD!--forthcoming in July--in their list of Most Anticipated Books of 2026! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...