Oh The Profanity. January 26, 2012
Posted by admin in : Songs , 1 comment so farAfter the profanity-filled rant of my last post (I do apologise to those of a gentler disposition than myself), I’m afraid it’s necessary for me to profane againm with my second-ever post on the wonderful Startled Bunny, from Scotland.
Sorry, Frightened Rabbit.
I posted about Frightened Rabbit three years ago (three years? Jebus…), and on this special night in Scotland (Robbie Burns Night, for those of you who didn’t know – and if you didn’t, for shame! For shame! (No, I didn’t know until told today either…)), I give you one of Scotland’s greatest bands, accompanied by Tracyanne Campbell, from Camera Obscura.
“Fuck This Place” is from a recently-released Frightened Rabbit three-song EP sold on their most recent tour, and it a wonderful ballad of complete sadness – a male and female call-and-response lament of desperation that builds and builds over four-odd minutes of military-tattoo drums and electric guitars.
A ballad of being empty; of a life not fulfilled; of pleading another to fill a gap inside, when maybe it’s not their place to.
An itch
My eye
Twitched like a memory of forgotten bars
One of those cities
One of those nights
Everyone’s darling
Everyone’s sweetheartJust this drink to hold my hand
One glass of anything
Anything cheap
And I’m here just because
Everyone else has come just to be seenOh I don’t know these buildings
I think I’m lostIn the perfumed armpit of time
Develop a debt now, these people are bricks
Six feet stones, wrapped up in bow
Such disappointment when the paper is ripped
So I stand still boring and bored
Fetching my eye again
Against the wallAt the end
At the close
Would you be good enough to take me home
‘Cause I don’t know these buildings, I think I am lost
‘Cause I don’t know these buildings, I think I am lostWould you
Would you
Would you be good enough to take me home?
Would you
Would you
would you be good enough to take me home?
Would you
Would you
would you be good enough to take me home?
Would you
Would you
would you be good enough to take me home?
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Frightened Rabbit – Fuck This Place
www: Frightened Rabbit’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
One Listen And It’s Love. January 20, 2012
Posted by admin in : Songs , 3commentsAnd it’s happened again. A couple of weeks ago, I was at work, when one of my friends, Niall, decided to message me about an upcoming gig.
“Dude, have you heard Ben Howard? He’s AMAZING, and he’s playing in the Academy in March. Listen to this, and wanna go?”
Well, Niall isn’t an American surfer-type, so the conversation didn’t in fact go like the above. However, he did send me “Old Pine”, a song by an artist called Ben Howard, and asked about the upcoming gig.
So I played the song…
And fuck. Now, those of you who read the blog regularly (coming back again and again, hoping, praying I’ll update the damn thing) will know I don’t swear on here lightly. But fuck. FUCK.
My exact thoughts were:
Nice picked string start. Oh, nice vocal work. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Hmmm, his voice isn’t quite like I expected. Oh. Oh. Oh, that’s good. Those lyrics are excellent. And that’s a rather nice vocal twist.
This is good. Oh, really gorgeous entry of the drums.
This is building nicely. Very nicely. All he needs now is…and there’s the anthemic part. Wow, this is a little hair-raising.
Holy crap, this is stunning.
So, I give you Ben Howard, with “Old Pine”, from “Every Kingdom”, released last year. Ben is 23 years old, and making melodic rootsy folk music, with somewhat dark lyrics. (What? Wikipedia told me. I don’t produce any new material myself. Don’t you people know this yet? Soon, I’ll just be copy-pasting entire Wikipedia entries.)
But “Old Pine” isn’t dark – it’s a wonderful ode to getting older, and to the role good memories and friends play as you do so. And about, yes, being happy as time passes.
Hopefully your thoughts will follow mine, and like me, you’ll end up playing this song on repeat for days, and weeks, to come.
And say it with me, one last time.
FUCK.
Hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags,
I’ve come to know that memories
Were the best things you ever had
The summer shone beat down on bony backs
So far from home where the ocean stood
Down dust and pine cone tracksWe slept like dogs down by the fire side
Awoke to the fog where all around us
The bloom of summertimeWe stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang true inside these bones
As the old pine fell we sang
Just to bless the morningHot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags,
I’ve come to know the friends around you
Are all you’ll always have
Smoke in my lungs, the echoed stone
Careless and young, free as the birds that fly
With weightless souls nowWe stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang true inside these bones
We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang true inside these bones
As the old pine fell we sang
Just to bless the morningWe grow, grow, steady as the morning
We grow, grow, older still
We grow, grow, happy as a new dawn
We grow, grow, older still
We grow, grow, steady as the flowers
We grow, grow, older still
We grow, grow, happy as a new dawn
We grow, grow, older still
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www: Ben’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
Dichotomy. January 8, 2012
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentI came across a wonderful song recently – 5 people playing a song on a single guitar…
Once the novelty wore off (no, no it still hasn’t, to be honest…), I tracked down the original song to an artist called Gotye (pronounced “Gore-ti-yeah”). And found, to quote from a comment on YouTube on one of his videos, a modern day Peter Gabriel.
Gotye, or to give him his full name, Wouter “Wally” De Backer, is a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumental musician and singer-songwriter. And WHAT a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumental musician and singer-songwriter!
His 2011 album “Making Mirrors” is an utterly stunning piece of work, which is (stealing from his Facebook Page)…
pop at its most precise, but also electronic music at its most emotional. The record delves into dub, Detroit-era Motown soul, stadium-size politipop, synth-folk and world music on glorious, sprawling, huge-hearted songs.
And from that album, I give you two opposites. For the first time, I’ve also included the videos for both, as they are truly stunning pieces of work.
Firstly, “Somebody That I Used To Know”, a song of utter anger and frustration, about the breakup of a relationship which then deteriorates even further:
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I’ll admit that I was glad that it was overBut you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
You didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
With Gotye’s passionate voice, truly reminiscent of Peter Gabriel, a plucked guitar line, many instruments I can’t even name, and not one but two wonderful vocal changes – Gotye’s himself at 1:34, and the entrance of a female vocalist, Kimbra, at 2:33, with another change at 2:48, to counter Gotye for the remainder of the song, this song will crawl deeply under your skin and stay there for months if not years. A song of anger, of pain, of hatred, of passion gone so wrong.
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it’s an ache I still rememberYou can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end
Always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I’ll admit that I was glad that it was overBut you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
You didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to knowNow and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I’d done
And I don’t wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know…But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
You didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to knowSomebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you’re just somebody that I used to know)
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you’re just somebody that I used to know)I used to know
That I used to know
I used to know
Somebody
And it’s exact opposite is “Bronte”, a song of complete loss, but of staying with another even though you know you’re losing them. A song of pain as you lose someone (to death, as apparently the song was written by Gotye for the death of a family friend’s dog), and of being there with the other to the very end.
A heavy drum backing, an almost choral-like feel, a slowly building anthem, and THAT voice again – a wonderful falsetto balancing the pressure of the music itself. Turn this one loud and let those small hairs raise all over.
Now your bowl is empty
And your feet are cold
And your body cannot stop rocking
I know
It hurts to let goSince the day we found you
You have been our friend
And your voice still
Echoes in the hallway of this house
But now
It’s the endWe will be with you
When you’re leaving
We will be with you
When you go
We will be with you
And hold you till you’re quiet
It hurts to let you goWe will be with you
We will be with you
We will be with you
You will stay with us
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Gotye – Somebody I Used To Know (featuring Kimbra)
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www: Gotye’s official website, Facebook Page, MySpace, and Youtube channel.
And if you want more about the band playing the cover, check out Walk Off The Earth’s official website, Facebook Page and MySpace.
The Other Half Of Me. January 7, 2012
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentI’ve posted about Kina Grannis before, proposing marriage. Which she didn’t accept, sadly. I know you all want to know these things.
Tonight, it’s a simple post. I give you Kina’s “Stay Just A Little” . A little piano, a little plucked guitar, THAT voice, with just a hint of backing vocals, telling a tale of love ending, and the quiet desperation that goes with it – what do you say to the other half of you when they say they have to leave?
Do you beg for a moment more, knowing that the pain of losing is simply postponed?
Do you let them go, knowing you’ve already lost them?
I heard it in your voice
When your love died
On a telephone connection
Stretching miles and miles of wireYou said it was over
And then cried and cried
You were gone before I said, “Goodbye.”Would you stay just a little, my love?
Would you sway just a little, my love?
‘Cause the hole in the middle of my heart needs filling up
If you stay just a little that’s enoughIt kills me as I lay awake at night
Remembering the last kiss that we shared doesn’t feel right
Is it impossible for me to win this fight?
Keep you a little longer in my lifeWould you stay just a little, my love?
Would you sway just a little, my love?
‘Cause the hole in the middle of my heart needs filling up
If you stay just a little that’s enoughOh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh‘Cause the hole the hole in the middle of my heart needs filling up
If you stay just a little
If you stay just a little
That’s enough
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Kina Grannis – Stay Just A Little
www: Kina’s official website, Facebook Page, MySpace, and Youtube channel.
An Iontach December 2, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 1 comment so farJames Vincent McMorrow. There’s not a huge amount of else around, information-wise, about the Irishman with three names.
He’s Irish.
He released his first album, “Early In The Morning”, in 2010.
It’s fucking good.
From a man who utilises hushed tones and musical soundscapes reminiscent of Bon Iver, I give you “We Don’t Eat” – an absolutely stunning piano-led track built on JVM’s utterly haunting voice, and a slowly building intensity over the course of 5 minutes, introducing guitar and drums as it builds and builds to a hair-raising finale.
A song about being stuck in a set of beliefs, knowing it’s time to move on, but always feeling held back by the past. About finally moving on from those beliefs – or feeling that you have – but realising that that moving on has left you questioning your own value, your own worth.
Has that moving on really made you a better person?
If this is redemption, why do I bother at all?
There’s nothing to mention, and nothing has changed
Still I’d rather be working at something, than praying for the rain
So I wander on, until someone else is savedI moved to the coast, under a mountain
Swam in the ocean, slept on my own
At dawn I would watch the sun cut ribbons through the bay
I’d remember all the things my mother wroteThat we don’t eat until your father’s at the table
We don’t drink until the devil’s turned to dust
Never once has any man I’ve met been able to love
So if I were you, I’d have all this on trustTwo thousand years, I’ve been in that water
Two thousand years, sunk like a stone
Desperately reaching for nets
That the fishermen have thrown
Trying to find, a little bit of hopeMe, I was holding all of my secrets soft and hid
Pages were folded, then there was nothing at all
So if in the future I might need myself a savior
I’ll remember what was written on that wallThat we don’t eat until your father’s at the table
We don’t drink until the devil’s turned to dust
Never once has any man I’ve met been able to love
So if I were you, I’d have all this on trustAm I an honest man and true?
Have I been good to you at all?
Oh I’m so tired of playing these games
We’d just be running down
The same old lines, the same old stories of
Breathless trains and, worn down glories
Houses burning, worlds that turn on their ownSo we don’t eat until your father’s at the table
We don’t drink until the devil’s turned to dust
Never once has any man I’ve met been able to love
So if I were you my friend, I’d learn to have just a little bit of trust
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James Vincent McMorrow – We Don’t Eat
www: James Vincent McMorrow’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
1-Way Bromance. November 18, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentWilliam Fitzsimmons.
Three times in the last three and a half years, I’ve posted about William Fitzsimmons – from the folktronica, to the folk, and back to his using his tronic-making device again.
Last Monday, I had the absolute and utter pleasure of seeing William live here in Dublin, in a tiny venue of a couple of hundred people. Looking like a lumberjack who had taken a wrong turn somewhere, he played a couple of songs, showing himself to be one of those artists sounding better live than even on CD. And then he spoke, and my 1-way bromance began. Alongside Tom McRae, William Fitzsimmons is one of the genuine and funny singers I’ve seen. I’ve been lucky that it’s been a long time since I’ve gone to a gig where the band come, play what they need to play, and with a cursory “Hello” and “Goodbye”, disappear into the night. Obviously saying hello when they come out, and goodbye as they leave. Otherwise that would be a little odd. I digress.
Between the songs, William showed the most endearing self-deprecation and humour, having the audience in stitches – before moving into the music, leaving everyone near tears. With songs about his divorce and mental illness, it was almost too-tough going at times. Almost. And as a final emotional blow, his encore was his unplugging his guitar and stepping into the middle of the crowd to play two songs acoustically, with no microphone, just his backing players/singers (from a band called Slow Runner – soon to be featured here).
After the gig, he came out to meet everyone. I hung on until he was free (the first time I’ve done that in a long, long time), and was the last person left, chatting to him for a few minutes before heading off, and finding him the same as he was on stage – witty, genuine, and a truly wonderful person.
So, from William, I give you “Passion Play”, from his first album, 2005′s “Until When We Are Ghosts” – plucked and slide guitar, and THAT voice. The song meaning is yours to derive (by his own admission, he prefers people to bring their own meaning out of songs)…
But is essentially about wanting to be better. Wanting to be different…
I should not have hid where my heart can’t follow
‘Cause this grace gets so far and too hard to swallow
I’ve been running from Saul, he’s been giving chase
And I look in his eyes, all I see is my faceAre you still on my back after all these years?
Chasing me out of Hell and my nice veneers
I don’t know how you stand when you’ve got no floor
Or how you can breathe with your hands on boardI just want to be not what I am today
I just want to be better than my friends might say
I just want a small part in your passion playDo you hear when I call in the midst of wrong?
Do you hear these here words while I sing you this song?
Are you caught up in me like I heard you say?
Or just some big cashier that I’ll have to payI just want to be not what I am today
I just want to be better than my friends might say
I just want a small part in your passion play
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William Fitzsimmons – Passion Play
www: The Bearded One’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
Giving Great Chorus. October 16, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentRegular readers of this website know two things – firstly, my posting schedule is enough to drive anyone over the edge (sorry…), and secondly, I love me my Americana – a guy or gal, a guitar or two, some drums, and some plaintive singing about love, loss, and the loss of love.
Whether it’s Frank Turner (who’s not American, and who’s song is not about love), Peter Bradley Adams (American, songs about love and loss) or Griffin House (see Peter Bradley Adams), damn, I do love me some plaintive singing…
So, a couple of weeks back, I went to see the Revival Tour, with Chuck Ragan from hot Water Music, Dan Andriano from Alkaline Trio, Brian Fallon from the Gaslight Anthem, and one Dave Hause, from a band I’d never heard of (the Loved Ones).
And while Dave started as the opening act, his was one of the strongest vocal performances of the night, with him coming back out to play a number of times. And alongside the strong vocal performance was some of the most gorgeous songs of the night. Straight after the gig I bought his album from earlier this year, “Resolutions”. And wow. Just, wow. All I can do is urge you to go and buy it IMMEDIATELY.
There’s nothing massively different versus a number of other similar artists, except there just isn’t a bad song, a piece of filler, among the 10 tracks – and alongside this, Dave knows just when to rock out, and just when put in some absolutely killer vocal twists, turns and lyrics…
From the album, I give you three tracks (although, to be honest, it was difficult to choose three – any of them could have made it…)
Firstly, “C’mon Kid” – a song Dave wrote for a drug-addicted friend as they tried to recover. A simple tune, upbeat and hopeful, but never saccharin-sweet, with the perfect chorus – sing-along, head-nodding, and just plain touching.
Secondly, “Prague (Revive Me)” – a song that, on first lesson, I thought was a polka. And it kind of is – up until Dave’s wonderful lyrical turn and another sing-along chorus kicking in at 0:52… A song about taking time out from this world to realise exactly how good we do have it sometimes…
And finally, “Pray For Tucson” – a little less rock-y than “C’mon Kid”, a lot less polka-y than “Prague…”; a song with an underlying sadness, but tempered with a little hope; a song of how it’s so easy to rely on things that just aren’t good for us – drink, drugs, thoughts and addictions – and believe they’re what we need to get through…but to still know that there’s better out there for us; that we can, if we try, break away from the things that might end up destroying us – and find something that can be our salvation instead.
Dave Hause: he gives great chorus.
It seems like you’re doing better these days
Even though things are falling apart
I know it’s brutal working minimum wage
It’s like you’re finished before you start
Things got ugly for a while back there
I know I thought that you wouldn’t pull through
Late at night when the phone would ring
There’s no telling what you would doSometimes we’d yell and act mad as hell
Sometimes we’d act like we didn’t care
Some of our love was just suffocating
It left you turning blue and gasping for airC’mon kid, c’mon, it’s one foot and then the other
Everybody needs a hand sometimes, everybody needs a brother
Well c’mon kid, c’mon, I’m reaching out to you
Get out of bed kid, face the world, and show us what you can doI’m sorry I was always casting stones
Like my glass house couldn’t be smashed
I spent as many nights as wild as a lion
I was lucky that I never crashed
Look, I’ve never really been no angel,
I see a lot of myself in you
This little town can feel a lot like prison and angry young men
Angry young men always have something to prove
Always have something to proveC’mon kid, c’mon, it’s one foot and then the other
Everybody needs a hand sometimes, everybody needs a brother
Well c’mon kid, c’mon, I’m reaching out to you
Get out of bed kid, face the world, and show us what you can doI know you ended up with bills to pay
I know she promised you that she would stay
I know they told you he died for your sins and he’s the only wayI know it caught you by surprise
I got a call that you almost died
Second chances are a crime to waste,
So don’t let time decide
Don’t let time decideC’mon kid, c’mon, it’s one foot and then the other
Everybody needs a hand sometimes, everybody needs a brother
C’mon kid, c’mon, I’m reaching out to you
Get out of bed kid, face the world… show us what you can doC’mon kid, c’mon,
C’mon kid, c’mon,
C’mon kid, c’mon,
C’mon kid, c’mon
And show us what you can do
And show us what you can doC’mon kid, c’mon
Oh, bring me some more water, after that another glass of wine
No pretext for investments, borrowed eyes, borrowed world, borrowed time
I’m feeling jumpy like a salesman, waking up to trusty coffee I.V.
We’re crammed in like so much cattle, so little time, so very much to seeOh let it revive me, carry on carrying the fire
Oh let it revive me, finding peace for a little while
For a little whileThe twilight of our youthful gaze
Books and bridges burned and records smashed
I’m fat and drunk and dumb and lazy, digging deep way past the petty cash
But there’s not too many nights like these,
When you know you have it way too good
Naked bodies, twelve foot ceilings, laughing way more than I knew we couldOh let it revive me, carry on carrying the fire
Oh let it revive me, finding peace for a little while
Oh let it revive me, carry on carrying the fire
Oh let it revive me, finding peace for a little while
For a little while
I got peace for a little while
On a sunset I-10 mile lies a body beneath a sheet
The orange sky don’t seem to mind but I’m on the edge of my seat
There’s ten thousand auto lights dead stopped in dirty Tucson heat
We crane our necks to get a glimpse, and ride on by while I nurse defeat
Nurse defeatIt’s that same old sinking feeling, that blows on in from time to time
The only consolation comes tying despair to a rhyme
And knowing some are at home working, raising kids and saying prayers
Unaware of modern science, they may be wrong but I don’t careThey pray for Tucson, they pray for me
They pray these roads lead home and won’t take us too far
Take us too farWell we get these years to play with and I’ve been game to roll the dice
But lately staring in the mirror has been showing me the price
Of all the reckless toxic gambling; having my fate hang from a string
The lonesome nights with pills and powders, the fuel I pretend helps me singSo pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray these roads lead home and won’t take us too far
Pray for Tucson, pray for me
I hope your faith is what will carry me
If there’s something past those starsCause the spell breaks every time I see those funeral cars
Or when they throw the floodlights on and I’m left stranded at the bar
I spend so many nights tempting fate with this guitar but I’m coming homeSo pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray these roads lead home and won’t take us too far
Pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray these roads lead home and won’t take us too far
Pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray for Tucson
I hope your faith is what will carry me
If there’s something past those stars
Pray for me
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Dave Hause – Prague (Revive Me)
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www: Dave’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
Scott Speedman. September 24, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentScott Speedman. Scott Speedman is a shit actor whose crowning achievement was making the scenary look like a better actor in Underworld.
Skott Freedman, however is not a shit actor. Skott Freedman is a musician. And a pretty damn good one.
Skott reached out to me through Laura DiStasi, who I try to mention on this blog at least every 30 minutes (Laura DiStasi), and whom I may yet marry. I haven’t decided.
Skott I won’t marry, but almost, given the absolute gorgeousness of his music.
I’ll steal a chunk of Wikipedia to give you Skott’s background:
Freedman was born and raised in New Jersey. His music makes heavy use of the piano, which has led to regular comparisons with chanteuse Tori Amos. Similar to Amos, Freedman was a child piano prodigy and won statewide competitions while growing up. Freedman has said that repeated bouts of depression during his adolescence inspired him to write his first songs.He cites Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Paula Cole, and Beethoven as major influences. Freedman’s music blends pop and folk influences with a confessional lyrical style.
From Skott, I give you two piano-led gems. Firstly, “Until That Time”. Starting slowly, with just a piano and Skott’s voice, I dare you to try to stop your foot tapping at 1:02 as the tempo increases, but the subject matter – of breaking up; of helping another through pain; of sacrificing to let another survive – is absolutely heart-wrenching.
And after, “I’d Like To Think I Would”. Starting slowly, with just a piano and Skott’s voice (see the trend here?)… Slower than “Until That Time”, but treading similar roads – of almost breaking up; of not being sure and of breaking and running, with the other not far behind; of the self-realisation that love might not be enough, but that you feel you would miss the other should it all end (but yet… yet… just aren’t sure…).
Songs for a swiftly-approaching Winter; best enjoyed in a darkened room, with a drink in hand, and tears slipping out.
well i know that you’re hurting
and i know that you’re crying
but i also know that you’ve got more strength than you think you doand i know that you’re lonely
and i know you know you’re not the only one
but soon again my friend you’ll find your way back to the sunand until that time i’ll be the hand for you to hold
and until that time feel free to cry on my shoulder
and you’ll be alright
we’ll both be alrightwell i know it’s not easy being the last one to let go
but life’s not always fair that way it doesn’t give a damn what you say cause the world moves onand i know that he was the first
and i know that you know he won’t be the last
it’s all a matter of time time’s in a day in a week in a year
then your pain is pastand until that time i’ll be the hand for you to hold
and until that time feel free to cry on my shoulder
and you’ll be alrightwell i know that it’s 3 am
and i got a good guess that’s you calling
well i don’t need much sleep if it means i’ll keep you some companyand i know it’s never what we think that it will be
when we finally fall in love
but that’s the beauty you can never have enoughso i know that you’re hurting and i know that you’re crying
but i also know that you’ve got more strength than you think you do
i know we’ve never fought like this
i’ve never thought like this about the end
i wish you could be who i always thought you werewell i guess sometimes things don’t work out like we plan
and i know it’s not been easy
but will you be the one to last or become another piece of my pastand if you left tomorrow would i even care?
i’d like to think i wouldi know we were doing fine maybe spending too much time
as new lovers do
you moved in and i moved out couldn’t stand the crowd
and so i ranbut you went and chased me deep down into the woods
but that didn’t do any good i ran faster
what you never realized was it’s what i needed the whole timeand if i never felt your kiss again would i even care?
i’d like to think i wouldeveryone told me i wasn’t ready but i listened to myself
and now where did that get me
i know i love you but i don’t know if that’s enoughand if i had more chance to make this work would i take it?
i’d like to think i wouldi know we’ve never fought like this
i’ve never thought like this about the end
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Skott Freedman – Until That Time
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Skott Freedman – I’d Like To Think I Would
www: Skott’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
No Trace. September 17, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 3commentsThere I was, watching a pretty shit spoof film. I may have chuckled once or twice, but I can’t remember, as it would have been lost in the veil of my losing the will to live.
And then, and then… A single scene, some background music, some slighly heard words, and I found myself searching for another perfect match for this website. With the least information I’ve found for a band in a long, long time.
I got my hands on the soundtrack, and the song – “I Miss You”, by Arlaner. And the lyrics, albeit slightly wrong. And nothing else – no band information, no band website, no Facebook Page, nothing.
And so, I give you “I Miss You”. No idea who the band is or what else they’ve written. No idea if any of their other music sounds anything like this song. No idea of anything really. Except one very, very pretty song – all Measure / Laura DiStasi undertones; piano, echoey female vocals, a little organ towards the end.
And a wonderful song of yearning, hurt and sadness. Perfect for a Friday night.
When the wind is howling
And the rain is pouring down
And the tears are falling
But they never make a sound
My heart breaks in silence
’cause there’s no one else around
And I am lost in heartache
And I don’t wanna be foundNo
Please tell me why you had to go
And leave me out here all aloneI miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
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Unhorrible. September 10, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentAlmost three years ago, I posted about the Gaslight Anthem. At the time, I didn’t expand much on the band (it just wasn’t that type of website back then, y’know?), but it’s time to change that. Well, with the addition of a single line to set up this entry.
An American rock band from New Jersey, it’s interesting to hear lead singer Brian Fallon talk about his side project the Horrible Crowes (see? See how I did that?):
“As much as I have this fantasy in the Gaslight Anthem of being Bruce Springsteen , I also have this fantasy of being Tom Waits or Greg Dulli . These songs are very dark; they’re like hymns for lonely people, it’s really a trip through a breakdown and that dissent into madness and hopefully redemption.”
From the Horrible Crowe’s debut album, Elsie, I give you two stunning tracks – the more rock-oriented “Behold The Hurricane” and the acoustic “Black Betty & The Moon”.
The former, starting with a chorus of “Oh-oh-oh”s, a driving drum and guitar beat, but with a set of lyrics that are truly emotive (“I age by years at the mention of your name/You remember me my lover/I don’t recognise myself/I’m not the man you love/Behold the hurricane”) – a song of change and of loss, of longing, and, at 3:45, almost lost under a wall of noise, a song about realising that you’re not the person you once were, and through that, realising you’ve lost another (“At the door the leaves had fallen/Suddenly I realised that you were gone/Suddenly I realised that you were gone/Behold the hurricane”).
And the latter? One of the most haunting songs I’ve heard this year – a beautiful acoustic guitar-driven track, with little else than Brian’s voice, a couple of guitars and some background vocals, about watching someone you love, someone you’ve tried to help, ignore it all, and that feeling of helplessness as you watch, but can’t help (“You did the very thing, baby, that I asked you not to do/Now you got yourself caught in the silk spiderweb/I hope the money fills the holes, can see the roof is caving in”), with one of the most wonderful changes in song direction I’ve heard in some time at 1:40 – subtle, but so very powerful, adding another layer to the song – of being betrayed (“And better than described and deeper the descent/I never thought we’d have to learn to doubt our friends/And better than described, so much deeper the descent/I never thought we’d have to learn to doubt our friends”).
Don’t give up the day job? As much as I love the Gaslight Anthem, maybe Mister Fallon really should…
The Horrible Crowes are THAT good.
I remember everything we had
Every breath of this house creaking
I’m familiar with the cold and the windows and the doors
And the sound of my heart beating
Beating in and out of timeAnd it’s such a shame.
I heard the wind say this morning.
Be still my heart
I age by years at the mention of your name
What a pity this season
You remember me, my lover
I don’t recognise myself
I’m not the man you love
Behold the hurricane
Behold the hurricaneI walk around these empty rooms
We once moved like the morning.
Silhouettes they haunt this house like a memory haunts me now as if it were a dream
As if it were a dreamIt’s such a shame
I heard the wind say this morning
Be still my heart
I age by years at the mention of your name
What a pity this season
You remember me, my lover
I don’t recognise myself
I’m not the man you love
Behold the hurricane
Behold the hurricaneI heard the moon has visions of her nightly
I heard the mighty rivers cry out her name
And I saw the heavens and the earth
Yes I saw the heavens and the earth cry over youIt’s such a shame
I heard the wind say this morning
Be still my heart
I age by years at the mention of your name
What a pity this season
You remember me, my lover
I don’t recognise myself
I’m not the man you love
Behold the hurricane
Behold the hurricaneAt the door the leaves had fallen
Suddenly I realised that you were gone
Suddenly I realised that you were gone
Behold the hurricane
My love, my love, you’re the sting of the scorpion
Consider, now, the angels, a little lower than you
And they twist and they turn, and they hold their breath ’til it’s blue
And they can’t turn away like I can, when you’re lookin’ like you doLooky Black Betty, what they’re tying to you
You did the very thing, baby, that I asked you not to do
And now you got yourself caught in the silk spiderweb
I hope the money fills the holes, can see the roof is caving inMy heart, my heart, you’re the moon and her shining light
Darkness and void of form, like you were keeping me alive
And I’ve been dreaming of poisonings from the venom of my enemies
Clever as the viper, dear, but gentle as a stampede of stonesLooky Black Betty, what they’re tying to you
You did the very thing, baby, that I asked you not to do
Now you got yourself caught in the silk spiderweb
I hope the money fills the holes, can see the roof is caving inAnd they want you to doubt every trust that you’ve known
And they wanna find the holes in the armor exposed
And they come on whispering,
If you just do this for me…
And turn and show their teeth just before they’re sinking in
And better than described and deeper the descent
I never thought we’d have to learn to doubt our friends
And better than described, so much deeper the descent
I never thought we’d have to learn to doubt our friendsLooky Black Betty, what they’re tying to you
You did the very thing, baby, that I asked you not to do
Now you got yourself caught in the silk spiderweb
I hope the money fills the holes, can see the roof is caving inLooky Black Betty, what they’re tying to you
You did the very thing, baby, that I asked you not to do
Now you got yourself caught in the silk spiderweb
I hope the money fills the holes in the place I used to stand
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The Horrible Crowes – Behold The Hurricane
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The Horrible Crowes – Black Betty & The Moon
www: The Horrible Crowes’ official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
