Today's song is by Vetiver and the song is called Been So Long. This is once again a song choice made by it randomizing on and being perfect for the part of the day during which it was playing. (This song came on as I was leaving Devil's Lake to drive back to Madison and I listened to it many many times while driving the highway home through the hills.)
I first heard of Vetiver several years ago, a little before the release of 2006's To Find Me Gone. One thing interesting about Vetiver in that they don't claim anywhere as home because they've moved around so much, they just say they're from America because they're all from different places in the US. They set their tour around each of them getting to return "home" as often as feasible while still hitting the markets they have for their songs. The singer-songwriter currently lives in California, just outside of San Fransisco.
Luckily for me, Madison is a good market and they come here a couple of times a year. I haven't seen them live since March when they last played in Madison, but they're VERY good, and well worth hearing.
Like a surprisingly large number of their eventual fans, I discovered the band while looking up some information on the grass vetiver as an herb in medical uses/aromatherapy/perfumes since I found it listed on some of my Aveda hair care products. It's actually a really interesting grass with a wide variety of uses beyond the medicinal -- but I won't bore people interested in music trivia by obsessing about cool naturopathic things. (Have I mentioned lately I'm a dork?)
The band does a lot of aural layering in their songs to build complementary harmonies which create a setting for the lyrics. In this particular song, the drum kicks in reminiscent of the actual heartbeat referred to in the lyrics; if you listen to it closely, you can hear both the systolic and diastolic heartbeat in the song.
I love the ending of the song, the way the layers end one by one into the faintly haunting memory of the melody. I also like the way the beginning is built, like a symphony tuning. I have a fondness for the quiet moments in music, especially the beginning and the ending. I'm not the person who will be shouting into the silence or the solo to be noticed -- I like to listen until the echo of the last note fades before clapping and cheering. I guess I'm of the opinion that if the musician/composer/songwriter wanted it to end early, they would have just done so -- and if you have any respect for the song or the musicians, yo should hear it to the end of the expression. Vetiver is a band to see with a respectful audience, one that doesn't have the obnoxious Freebird man, or you'll miss out on a large part of the songs because you won't be able to hear the intricacy and delicacy of the harmonies across the instruments being used.
They have a sound that is always evolving depending on the places from which the band members find their inspiration. The newest album has a lot more of a soul or funk twist to it than the work they were doing in 2006 but it's still a good album, despite sounding like it's a different band!
"I can't believe that you're knocking,
knocking on my door
Oh, it's been so long, been so long
I can't believe that you're knocking,
knocking on my door
Oh, it's been so long, been so long
Fate has a way of showing
on where you belong
Oh, it's been so long, been so long
Sound of my heart's stopping
A surprising stop
It's been so long, been so long
Time has a way of knowing
what we have is strong
Oh, it's been so long, been so long"
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink.
Song of the day: The Beatles I'm So Tired.
'Nough said.
If'n you don't know The Beatles an' if'n you don't know the White Album.... get off my blog and go edumacate yourself!
"I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink.
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink.
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink --
No, no, no.
I'm so tired and I don't know what to do.
I'm so tired, my mind is set on you.
I wonder should I call you but I know what you would do.
You'd say I'm putting you on.
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm.
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain.
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane.
You know I'd give you everything I've got
For a little peace of mind.
I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset.
Although I'm so tired I'll have another cigarette.
And curse Sir Walter Raleigh,
He was such a stupid git.
You'd say I'm putting you on.
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm.
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain.
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane.
You know I'd give you everything I've got,
For a little peace of mind."
'Nough said.
If'n you don't know The Beatles an' if'n you don't know the White Album.... get off my blog and go edumacate yourself!
"I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink.
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink.
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink --
No, no, no.
I'm so tired and I don't know what to do.
I'm so tired, my mind is set on you.
I wonder should I call you but I know what you would do.
You'd say I'm putting you on.
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm.
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain.
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane.
You know I'd give you everything I've got
For a little peace of mind.
I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset.
Although I'm so tired I'll have another cigarette.
And curse Sir Walter Raleigh,
He was such a stupid git.
You'd say I'm putting you on.
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm.
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain.
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane.
You know I'd give you everything I've got,
For a little peace of mind."
With blushing brilliance alive Because it's time to arrive.
For tonight's song, I picked To Sheila off the Smashing Pumpkins' 1998 album Adore. I re-discovered the album Adore tonight and fell in love with it all over again.
Anyone who grew up in the 90s or who listens to alternative music is familiar with the work of The Smashing Pumpkins -- they need about as much introduction as Radiohead. That said, Adore is a huge departure from their earlier work and it's an album that was made about ten years before its time.
The album is primarily piano driven, though it still has many of the strings elements of earlier Smashing Pumpkins albums. Billy Corgan's vocals are softer, he loses the nasal whine for which he's so famous. There's a softness to it which you find in a few tracks on Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness -- but in this album the closest relief into the angst-driven more punk songs on Melon Collie to be found on Adore is a layered energy that comes close to Radiohead's buildup of the wall of sound technique.
Adore sold 1.1 million copies and is the lowest grossing Smashing Pumpkins album to date. It received critical acclaim and many indie artists claim it as one of their earliest and greatest musical influences -- but the very innovations in delicate layering which fit right into today's indie music scene are what made it an impossible sell in 1998. As I said earlier in this post, it was an album before its time.
This album is completely fantastic, for all the faults in it due to band member tension. I would recommend this album to almost anyone's music collection.
To Sheila was a release off the album that didn't get much radio play as it didn't fit the mold of what was going on in the music industry at the time.
"Twilight fades
Through blistered Avalon.
The sky's cruel torch
An arching autobahn
Into the uncertain divine.
We scream into the last divine.
You make me real.
You make me real.
Strong as I feel,
You make me real.
Sheila rides on crashing nightingale
Intake eyes leave passing vapor trails
With blushing brilliance alive
Because it's time to arrive.
You make me real.
You make me real.
Strong as I feel,
You make me real.
Lately I just can't seem to believe,
Discard my friends to change the scenery.
It meant the world to hold a bruising faith
But now it's just a matter of grace.
A summer storm graces all of me,
Highway warm sing silent poetry.
I could bring you the light,
And take you home into the night.
You make me real
Lately I just can't seem to believe.
You make me real.
Discard my friends to change the scenery.
Strong as I feel.
It meant the world to hold a bruising faith.
You make me real.
But now it's just a matter of grace."
Anyone who grew up in the 90s or who listens to alternative music is familiar with the work of The Smashing Pumpkins -- they need about as much introduction as Radiohead. That said, Adore is a huge departure from their earlier work and it's an album that was made about ten years before its time.
The album is primarily piano driven, though it still has many of the strings elements of earlier Smashing Pumpkins albums. Billy Corgan's vocals are softer, he loses the nasal whine for which he's so famous. There's a softness to it which you find in a few tracks on Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness -- but in this album the closest relief into the angst-driven more punk songs on Melon Collie to be found on Adore is a layered energy that comes close to Radiohead's buildup of the wall of sound technique.
Adore sold 1.1 million copies and is the lowest grossing Smashing Pumpkins album to date. It received critical acclaim and many indie artists claim it as one of their earliest and greatest musical influences -- but the very innovations in delicate layering which fit right into today's indie music scene are what made it an impossible sell in 1998. As I said earlier in this post, it was an album before its time.
This album is completely fantastic, for all the faults in it due to band member tension. I would recommend this album to almost anyone's music collection.
To Sheila was a release off the album that didn't get much radio play as it didn't fit the mold of what was going on in the music industry at the time.
"Twilight fades
Through blistered Avalon.
The sky's cruel torch
An arching autobahn
Into the uncertain divine.
We scream into the last divine.
You make me real.
You make me real.
Strong as I feel,
You make me real.
Sheila rides on crashing nightingale
Intake eyes leave passing vapor trails
With blushing brilliance alive
Because it's time to arrive.
You make me real.
You make me real.
Strong as I feel,
You make me real.
Lately I just can't seem to believe,
Discard my friends to change the scenery.
It meant the world to hold a bruising faith
But now it's just a matter of grace.
A summer storm graces all of me,
Highway warm sing silent poetry.
I could bring you the light,
And take you home into the night.
You make me real
Lately I just can't seem to believe.
You make me real.
Discard my friends to change the scenery.
Strong as I feel.
It meant the world to hold a bruising faith.
You make me real.
But now it's just a matter of grace."
Monday, June 28, 2010
Cold Cave (continued)
Have you ever driven the highway late at night? There's a certain peace to it, generally and sometimes there are certain songs that fill the space of that particular drive. No two night drives are identical... Personally, I'm very fond of the night drive on the highway -- I actually always love going on a roadtrip, whether I drive or someone else does, and I have definitely driven more than twenty hours straight through with only a couple hours of someone else driving. Somehow, i always feel more centered and at peace while driving... it gives my brain a chance to relax and think in a way that makes the words flow. I'm always most productive at writing, real writing, when I'm traveling.
That said, last night's drive back from Milwaukee was far from calming because of the road construction coupled with post-Brewers and post-Summerfest (i.e. drunk) drivers. Oy.
What was really cool about that portion of the drive, however, is that the Cold Cave song Life Magazine (Pantha du prince Remix) came on and it perfectly suited everything that was happening on the drive and the very look of the road as the orange barrels popped up on the horizon line of the highway or flashing lights came on. It was very cool.
Now, about the song itself.
If you couldn't tell by listening to the song, Cold Cave is a synthpop group from Pennsylvania by way of Manhattan. One thing that really sets them apart is the fact their vocalist used to sing for hardcore metal bands. Like most synthpop groups, much of their music is available online for free -- including this version of Life Magazine. Of course if you are interested in purchasing this song, the record label just released the vinyl of Life Magazine which contains many remixes including this one.
Much of their music is only available for sale on vinyl or cassette, for reasons best known to the band. If you really like their music, I recommend (and I rarely recommend this) going on an internet hunt for what you want if you can't get a good copy of it.
Here's a (legal) link to acquire this track.
(And there are no readily discernible lyrics in this remix...)
That said, last night's drive back from Milwaukee was far from calming because of the road construction coupled with post-Brewers and post-Summerfest (i.e. drunk) drivers. Oy.
What was really cool about that portion of the drive, however, is that the Cold Cave song Life Magazine (Pantha du prince Remix) came on and it perfectly suited everything that was happening on the drive and the very look of the road as the orange barrels popped up on the horizon line of the highway or flashing lights came on. It was very cool.
Now, about the song itself.
If you couldn't tell by listening to the song, Cold Cave is a synthpop group from Pennsylvania by way of Manhattan. One thing that really sets them apart is the fact their vocalist used to sing for hardcore metal bands. Like most synthpop groups, much of their music is available online for free -- including this version of Life Magazine. Of course if you are interested in purchasing this song, the record label just released the vinyl of Life Magazine which contains many remixes including this one.
Much of their music is only available for sale on vinyl or cassette, for reasons best known to the band. If you really like their music, I recommend (and I rarely recommend this) going on an internet hunt for what you want if you can't get a good copy of it.
Here's a (legal) link to acquire this track.
(And there are no readily discernible lyrics in this remix...)
Temporary Interim Apology Post because me and schedules/have-tos don't get along...
Just got home from Summerfest and then talking to Shauna for a while... exhausted and it's late and there's a soccer match at 9a I wish to be mentally alert to watch (though the afternoon one is the one I'm more stoked to see.) Will post the song in the morning. (It's the Cold Cave song Life Magazine (Pantha du Prince First Flash Remix), if you're curious. I'll explain why in the morning.)
And if you ever get a chance to see either Civil Twilight or Neon Trees live -- DO IT!!!!!!!!! Civil Twilight even covered Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song which was sick as hell!!!!!! Camera Can't Lie was good for the half a set I saw, BB King was good for his age but he'd get tired easily and he talked a lot. Caught the encore for Nonpoint who was good in a "wannabe Rage Against the Machine" sort of way... Though I just about DIED laughing because there was a young tween at the Nonpoint show in a bright pink Justin Bieber shirt with his face on it.... (Her brother, about 12, had his hair in a mohawk and the two groups were reuniting post-Bieber fever concert.... I forgot how nuts and stupid 8-18 year old teenybopper girls are... Holy fuck, I could have done without the reminder!!!)
Anyway, more about the Cold Cave song in the morning... for now, to sleep with me!!!
And if you ever get a chance to see either Civil Twilight or Neon Trees live -- DO IT!!!!!!!!! Civil Twilight even covered Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song which was sick as hell!!!!!! Camera Can't Lie was good for the half a set I saw, BB King was good for his age but he'd get tired easily and he talked a lot. Caught the encore for Nonpoint who was good in a "wannabe Rage Against the Machine" sort of way... Though I just about DIED laughing because there was a young tween at the Nonpoint show in a bright pink Justin Bieber shirt with his face on it.... (Her brother, about 12, had his hair in a mohawk and the two groups were reuniting post-Bieber fever concert.... I forgot how nuts and stupid 8-18 year old teenybopper girls are... Holy fuck, I could have done without the reminder!!!)
Anyway, more about the Cold Cave song in the morning... for now, to sleep with me!!!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.
So, despite the rain right now (I love a good Midwestern thunderstorm -- did you know that for all the rain Seattle gets, they only get thunder or lightning once every year or two?!), the day was full of sunshine and bright happy things. (Even if the US DID lose -- but c'mon they did NOT bring it today, Ghana played a better game.) Today I was a happy flower child playing in the sunshine with a couple of my favorite friends who are out of town most of this summer (quite literally a flower child, I'm an inveterate flower thief and I stick them in my hair. If you come across me by accident and I've been outside, I generally have flowers in my hair -- especially if I'm lucky enough to have found sweet-smelling roses.)
That said, I'm going to pick another chill song. It came on in the car this morning and I've kept repeating it. It soothes and suits something inside of me. It's not really pertinent at all to the day other than the fact I played it so many times. It may not be the theme song for my day, but it was the song I couldn't stop playing and it resonates with some of the things in my head.
So the song I've chosen for today is Sonya Kitchell's Running. (I had a hard time finding a copy of this song online for free listen -- the closest on youtube was a low quality live version. If you follow the rhapsody link, you can click on the audio for the track (it's the last one) and listen to it. You only get 25 songs per month without being a member.)
I first heard Sonya Kitchell when I was invited to her Live from Studio M performance. Prior to that, I had never come across her -- but I figured, "Free music, free beer, free pizza -- is no really even an option here?!" I was completely blown away by her at that performance.
She's originally from Massachusetts and daughter to a painter. Most of her songs have a low-key bluesy or jazzy feel to them. She's a real chill and laid-back person -- incredibly down to earth. She's also an artist in words who writes songs that are incredibly visually evocative without sacrificing the caliber of the writing.
My favorite thing about listening to her is her voice -- there's something warm and comforting about it. After I first saw her and bought her albums, I felt like I had uncovered a treasure trove of Joni Mitchell songs I never knew. She has a very soothing alto whose strength and power feels like the aural equivalent of being wrapped up in a big soft blanket while you watch the snow fall outside the window. (I know it's summer time so snow falling is the last thing people want to think about, but it's part of the feeling I get from her music.
Her personal blog is really awesome and well worth following. Right now, she's posting daily (or almost daily) pictures that are snapshots of her life and the things of beauty she finds which inspire her. There are also free song downloads and snippets of songs, just the words which read like poems, as she writes them. This is probably one of my favorite images, but there are many she has shared which I love.
She is a soul worth knowing and a musician worth listening to.
"I'm not ready to paint my face
And cover all that lies beneath.
If that disappoints you I'm sorry to say,
I won't be no accomplice to a thief.
Just like this river that flows in between,
All the wrecks and the brambles in the waves,
You can build a dam, you can force it upstream --
But the water, always gets away.
I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become.
And I don't wanna be under the gun.
Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.
My mama told me, "Child," she said
"You're beautiful you're beautiful to me."
I said, "Mama, wish I was in your head
Cuz despite your words I really do not see."
I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become.
And I don't wanna be under the gun,
Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.
I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become
And I don't wanna be under the gun
Please give me the strength to find I'm not the only one
Please give me the strength to fine I don't have to run."
That said, I'm going to pick another chill song. It came on in the car this morning and I've kept repeating it. It soothes and suits something inside of me. It's not really pertinent at all to the day other than the fact I played it so many times. It may not be the theme song for my day, but it was the song I couldn't stop playing and it resonates with some of the things in my head.
So the song I've chosen for today is Sonya Kitchell's Running. (I had a hard time finding a copy of this song online for free listen -- the closest on youtube was a low quality live version. If you follow the rhapsody link, you can click on the audio for the track (it's the last one) and listen to it. You only get 25 songs per month without being a member.)
I first heard Sonya Kitchell when I was invited to her Live from Studio M performance. Prior to that, I had never come across her -- but I figured, "Free music, free beer, free pizza -- is no really even an option here?!" I was completely blown away by her at that performance.
She's originally from Massachusetts and daughter to a painter. Most of her songs have a low-key bluesy or jazzy feel to them. She's a real chill and laid-back person -- incredibly down to earth. She's also an artist in words who writes songs that are incredibly visually evocative without sacrificing the caliber of the writing.
My favorite thing about listening to her is her voice -- there's something warm and comforting about it. After I first saw her and bought her albums, I felt like I had uncovered a treasure trove of Joni Mitchell songs I never knew. She has a very soothing alto whose strength and power feels like the aural equivalent of being wrapped up in a big soft blanket while you watch the snow fall outside the window. (I know it's summer time so snow falling is the last thing people want to think about, but it's part of the feeling I get from her music.
Her personal blog is really awesome and well worth following. Right now, she's posting daily (or almost daily) pictures that are snapshots of her life and the things of beauty she finds which inspire her. There are also free song downloads and snippets of songs, just the words which read like poems, as she writes them. This is probably one of my favorite images, but there are many she has shared which I love.
She is a soul worth knowing and a musician worth listening to.
"I'm not ready to paint my face
And cover all that lies beneath.
If that disappoints you I'm sorry to say,
I won't be no accomplice to a thief.
Just like this river that flows in between,
All the wrecks and the brambles in the waves,
You can build a dam, you can force it upstream --
But the water, always gets away.
I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become.
And I don't wanna be under the gun.
Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.
My mama told me, "Child," she said
"You're beautiful you're beautiful to me."
I said, "Mama, wish I was in your head
Cuz despite your words I really do not see."
I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become.
And I don't wanna be under the gun,
Please give me the strength to find I don't have to run.
I been runnin' from, I'm runnin' from
The fear I'll lose myself in what I've become
And I don't wanna be under the gun
Please give me the strength to find I'm not the only one
Please give me the strength to fine I don't have to run."
Friday, June 25, 2010
Don't close your eyes, they may not open. What if they open? WOuld you be alive?
Today was a hard day to pick a song...I had a great start to my morning and then things went progressively downhill until I went to watch the Chile v. Spain game with one of my close friends (who also happens to be fanatical about soccer, like me -- we've already made plans we WILL go to the next World Cup. In Brazil.) And then all the things that I'd gotten so riled up over (as in thinking my cat who lives with my parents, Plato Puss, had parasites) turned out to be nothing and I was back to happy...but a different sort of happy.
I also fell in love with a striped little baby kitten fluffball with the bluest eyes!! Not that I need a kitten right now... but this one was QUITE adorable!!!
I think depending on when you heard from me today, you would have gotten completely different versions of me. The funny part is all the wound up stressy moments were really nothing and my overall memory of the day is of how blue the sky and how bright the sun and how good it is to be alive inside.
And that's actually how I ended up choosing Maren Ord's Perfect. This song is one she wrote in high school when she found out a friend was suicidal to try to remind her how much life there is, even in this imperfect world. For me, I didn't pick this song for anything remotely close to suicidal -- I chose it more for the expression of hope in the song, the idea to keep pushing forward and to keep your eyes open to life because there's so much in it if you'd only see what's right in front of your face.
Maren is a Canadian born Mormon singer-songwriter, eighth of ten children. The song Perfect is off her first album, 2001's Waiting which is my personal favorite of her albums. After she got married she got a bit preachy evangelical in her music. Personally, I wasn't a fan of this. Now, I understand that for many people faith is a big part of a person's life and that songwriting is really an expression of something in the soul that needs out to share with the world. That said, I have yet to hear a song about a person's relationship with Christ that has any originality and doesn't sound the same as all the others. I'm sure, for those who like listening to worship music, it was a great album.
For me, what I liked about her songs was the optimism in them, and the idea of seeing the light and beauty in the world in spite of (and along side of) all the ugliness. This is a truth that resonates deeply with me. But when you try and connect this image, this message, to a religious tone, it doesn't become "see the beauty and light in the world" but rather becomes "see the hand of Jesus in the world and turn to him in thanks." There is a fundamental difference in this message, and it makes for stale songwriting when you're expressing someone else's platitudes rather than your own inner fire.
Even if you don't find a difference in these messages, something about the music on Pretty Things just seems stale and worn out in comparison to her earlier songs, as if all the vibrant sparkle of it had gone out. For me, this is a tragedy, whenever I see a person's fire go out -- even if I only see it from a distance secondhand. In interviews she claimed she had a hard time writing songs after she found happiness in her faith, her family, her husband and her children. The fact the songs are forced so she doesn't connect to them is evident in songs like American Loser which lacks passion and conviction. Ostensibly, she's singing about how no matter how big your pity fest, somebody has it worse off than you. That may have been her inspiration writing it, but it doesn't come through in the song or the performance on the album.
She's currently busy with her married life and raising two children in Alberta Canada and hasn't released any music since her Christmas songs EP.
Apparently, at twenty-five with two kids, she ran out of things to say to the world and has had nothing to say since then. But, at least she's happy in her life.
And songs like Beautiful and Perfect are still incredible. This is especially true on a day where you began it in love with the beauty you see in the world and then let the inconsequential dramas of this world make you lose that for a time. But only for a time. You can never lose sight of the things you love for more than a short time -- eventually you'll remember.
"Don't close your eyes
They may not open,
What if they open?
Would you be alive?
Everyone falls,
But not everyone rises.
Why don't you get up,
And rise again for me?
What if the world were
A little more perfect?
Would you stop crying or
Would you take the leap?
What if the world
Were a little more perfect?
Would you open your eyes
And blink again for me?
What about friendship?
What about friends?
You said the whole world
Was against you,
And it all had to end.
What about love?
What about family?
What about all that
You have to live for?
What if the world were
A little more perfect?
Would you stop crying or
Would you take the leap?
What if the world
Were a little more perfect?
Would you open your eyes
And blink again for me?
It isn't easy here without you
Why did you leave me?
What am I supposed to do?
(without you)
What if the world were
A little more perfect?
Would you stop crying or
Would you take the leap?
What if the world
Were a little more perfect?
Would you open your eyes
And blink again for me?"
I also fell in love with a striped little baby kitten fluffball with the bluest eyes!! Not that I need a kitten right now... but this one was QUITE adorable!!!
I think depending on when you heard from me today, you would have gotten completely different versions of me. The funny part is all the wound up stressy moments were really nothing and my overall memory of the day is of how blue the sky and how bright the sun and how good it is to be alive inside.
And that's actually how I ended up choosing Maren Ord's Perfect. This song is one she wrote in high school when she found out a friend was suicidal to try to remind her how much life there is, even in this imperfect world. For me, I didn't pick this song for anything remotely close to suicidal -- I chose it more for the expression of hope in the song, the idea to keep pushing forward and to keep your eyes open to life because there's so much in it if you'd only see what's right in front of your face.
Maren is a Canadian born Mormon singer-songwriter, eighth of ten children. The song Perfect is off her first album, 2001's Waiting which is my personal favorite of her albums. After she got married she got a bit preachy evangelical in her music. Personally, I wasn't a fan of this. Now, I understand that for many people faith is a big part of a person's life and that songwriting is really an expression of something in the soul that needs out to share with the world. That said, I have yet to hear a song about a person's relationship with Christ that has any originality and doesn't sound the same as all the others. I'm sure, for those who like listening to worship music, it was a great album.
For me, what I liked about her songs was the optimism in them, and the idea of seeing the light and beauty in the world in spite of (and along side of) all the ugliness. This is a truth that resonates deeply with me. But when you try and connect this image, this message, to a religious tone, it doesn't become "see the beauty and light in the world" but rather becomes "see the hand of Jesus in the world and turn to him in thanks." There is a fundamental difference in this message, and it makes for stale songwriting when you're expressing someone else's platitudes rather than your own inner fire.
Even if you don't find a difference in these messages, something about the music on Pretty Things just seems stale and worn out in comparison to her earlier songs, as if all the vibrant sparkle of it had gone out. For me, this is a tragedy, whenever I see a person's fire go out -- even if I only see it from a distance secondhand. In interviews she claimed she had a hard time writing songs after she found happiness in her faith, her family, her husband and her children. The fact the songs are forced so she doesn't connect to them is evident in songs like American Loser which lacks passion and conviction. Ostensibly, she's singing about how no matter how big your pity fest, somebody has it worse off than you. That may have been her inspiration writing it, but it doesn't come through in the song or the performance on the album.
She's currently busy with her married life and raising two children in Alberta Canada and hasn't released any music since her Christmas songs EP.
Apparently, at twenty-five with two kids, she ran out of things to say to the world and has had nothing to say since then. But, at least she's happy in her life.
And songs like Beautiful and Perfect are still incredible. This is especially true on a day where you began it in love with the beauty you see in the world and then let the inconsequential dramas of this world make you lose that for a time. But only for a time. You can never lose sight of the things you love for more than a short time -- eventually you'll remember.
"Don't close your eyes
They may not open,
What if they open?
Would you be alive?
Everyone falls,
But not everyone rises.
Why don't you get up,
And rise again for me?
What if the world were
A little more perfect?
Would you stop crying or
Would you take the leap?
What if the world
Were a little more perfect?
Would you open your eyes
And blink again for me?
What about friendship?
What about friends?
You said the whole world
Was against you,
And it all had to end.
What about love?
What about family?
What about all that
You have to live for?
What if the world were
A little more perfect?
Would you stop crying or
Would you take the leap?
What if the world
Were a little more perfect?
Would you open your eyes
And blink again for me?
It isn't easy here without you
Why did you leave me?
What am I supposed to do?
(without you)
What if the world were
A little more perfect?
Would you stop crying or
Would you take the leap?
What if the world
Were a little more perfect?
Would you open your eyes
And blink again for me?"
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)