Emotional Bag Check

September 20, 2011 4:31 PM

Found via this comment by Concordia on this AskMe, I want to give a wider welcome to Emotional Bag Check - a site that pairs up those having a tough time, with those who are inclined to lend an ear - with the additional feature that with each piece of advice comes a song chosen by the advice-giver.
posted by greenish (16 comments total)

With only seven favourites, I thought it deserved a louder shout out, as I'm guessing it will really appeal to regular AskMe Answerers.

Recommendations so far: Morcheeba, Patrick Watson, Fleetwood Mac, and of course, R.E.S.P.E.C.T - twice.
posted by greenish at 4:34 PM on September 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I gotta say, it felt great unloading but I never got a response to the email I sent them last week. :\
posted by Space Kitty at 4:57 PM on September 20, 2011

I'm going to send Cat Stevens songs because it's impossible to be unhappy listening to Cat Stevens.
posted by tumid dahlia at 5:00 PM on September 20, 2011

Thank you.
posted by headnsouth at 5:07 PM on September 20, 2011

I find the top 25 intriguing.
posted by NoraReed at 5:56 PM on September 20, 2011

Huh. That makes me feel a lot better. When I was playing around with that website last week I ended up sending off a lot of "The Middle," and figured it seemed so applicable just because I'm on a massive Jimmy Eat World binge right now. But I guess about 260 other people agree with me: it is a really good song for tough times.
posted by lilac girl at 6:03 PM on September 20, 2011

God I hope my songs recommendations don't make people feel like shooting themselves.

I kept waiting for someone to have a problem that could be solved with TMBG.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:29 PM on September 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'm going to send Cat Stevens songs because it's impossible to be unhappy listening to Cat Stevens.
posted by tumid dahlia

You are joking, right?
posted by msali at 6:58 PM on September 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

i don't like that it's "secretly" a music site. It's also not that secret.
posted by sweetkid at 7:06 PM on September 20, 2011

yeah, I feel like it's viral marketing. But I feel GREAT for making someone's day a little bit better!
posted by rebent at 7:23 PM on September 20, 2011

I'd be in, 'ceptin' my onliest songs is ejected right straight out of my fatazz.

Sorry about that.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 9:53 PM on September 20, 2011

This is fun!
posted by memebake at 1:13 AM on September 21, 2011

I posted "Columbus" by Mary Black. Don't know if that will make someone feel like jumping in front of a bus, but the piano is so stinkin' lovely ... feels like it's feeding my soul while still respecting my melancholy. Doesn't solve anything though.
posted by theplotchickens at 5:04 AM on September 21, 2011

Thanks for drawing my attention to this site. I've sent 5 songs already. Helping people makes me feel better.
posted by cereselle at 9:42 AM on September 21, 2011

They had a bit of a backlog from August apparently, but now they're getting through it:

emobagcheck: "If you checked a bag last week, you should be getting a song in your email soon. We're plowing through the backlog."

I've been ploughing through quite a few of the backlog, and I've had a couple of really serious sounding ones - people considering suicide. I wonder if the site has anything in place to deal with really serious stuff? I note that when you check baggage in, it shows a link to some serious advice sites, so thats something I suppose.

I like the simple, lighthearted design of the site, just wondering if there are any mechanisms for dealing with really serious stuff.
posted by memebake at 7:44 AM on September 22, 2011

Ah, they've added a Resources page now, good.
posted by memebake at 3:01 AM on September 23, 2011