In Genesis 28, when Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob and that Isaac was displeased he had taken Canaanite wives, Esau went and took a wife from the family of Ishmael, thinking he might earn his father’s favor back.
His wife’s name is מַחֲלַת (Mahalath), which is linked to music and singing. But the word is actually rooted in “sickness.”
Perhaps this desperate attempt at earning his father’s love is like that; it’s a sickness that cannot be cured by our efforts.