bombmaniac: So I can’t dislike Carlebach’s music simply because I just don’t like the style? As I wrote before, most of his songs sound the same (the 3 bar step-down is what I call one of the things he uses most). So if you don’t like one of them, you probably don’t like all of them. As you said, simple tunes. That’s correct. Most of them go nowhere, and have no real substance to them. Someone once asked one of my Rabbeim, “I heard Carlebach has a song that only has one word to it. Do you know it?” The Rebbe replied, “Yes. It’s kind of funny – the song is called Ruach, and it’s exactly what the song is missing!”
As I wrote earlier, R’ Mendel Kaplan zt”l told his students (one of which was a Rebbe of mine) that listening to Carlebach will make you depressed. That’s not my opinion, it’s the opinion of one of the biggest Rabbonim in America since WW2.
Some people will say, “But look at people singing Carlebach! They’re so happy and lively!” Well, it’s well documented that drinking alcohol actually causes you to be more depressed than you might already be. Yet when people are drunk, they get very lively too.