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
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Horrible Crowes – Behold The Hurricane
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Horrible Crowes – Black Betty & The Moon
www: The Horrible Crowes’ official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
Now. Now. Now. August 21, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 2commentsToday’s message is a simple one. Go to Laura DiStasi’s CDBaby page right now and buy her new EP. Now. Now. Now. I’ll wait while you do. Seriously – $4 or about €3 for one of the most affecting things you will ever, ever purchase
Okay. Now, you’re back, and you should have the EP downloading or downloaded. Or the CD en route, if you’re that way inclined. If not, seriously, go and buy the fucking EP.
Yes, I swore. And I did it for a reason – because the impact of a swear word unexpected is the same as the impact of Laura’s voice.
6 years after “Winters Never Quit”, from which I featured “No City Life” here at the end of last year, Laura has returned with her self-titled EP, containing 4 of the most beautiful songs you’ll hear this year, next year, or any other year, being honest.
About “Winters Never Quit”, I had said “the rest of the album, while quite good, is a little too jazz-oriented for me”. I can’t level the same accusation at her EP: piano-led beauty, all underpinning one of the most evocative voices I’ve ever heard.
From the EP, I give you “Colors And Shapes” – not only a stunning song in it’s own right, but almost a companion piece to “No City Life”.
While “No City Life” is, to me, a…
…sad, sorrowful song of longing, of missing, of being an outcast, of not knowing your place in this world, of failing…
“Colors And Shapes”, to me, can be read in two ways – depending on my mood… Either not being able to leave what you know, allowing yourself to be distracted and making excuses to not take the step you could; or making a decision which leads you along one road, a road which you learn to love, until you forget the original reasons you took it – following a lover to a destination, and finding the destination (and falling for it) but losing the lover… And my apologies to Laura if I’m completely misreading her song.
From the description of the EP:
There is beauty and truth in our lightest and darkest moments – feeling the affects of city life, and the changing of seasons
Something supported by “No City Life”, and now “Colors And Shapes”.
EDIT: Laura just provided me with the correct lyrics – so close… So very close…
I am not your girl
If you are like this town
That doesn’t hold you close
Just keeping you aroundWith it’s flashing lights
All the colors and shapes
There’s so much here wanting
I keep forgetting why I cameTo this town
I can move real fast
I can cover ground
The clank of subway tracks
A million shades of black and brownWe’re growing out of concrete
Out of tunnels to shade
Of something towering over
All the reasons that you cameTo this town
I would move real fast
But I can’t put you down
As if my arms attached
To the side it fits aroundI know the flashing lights
I know the colors and shapes
Of the things worth wanting
And the things that fade away
I know the flashing lights
I know the colors and sounds
Of the things worth wanting
There’s so much here wantingThere’s so much here wanting
I keep forgetting why I cameTo this town
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Laura DiStasi – Colors And Shapes
www: Laura’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
Out To Get Me. August 7, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 3commentsSome songs are just destined to find me. A few months back, a friend of mine sent me a song through Spotify – which I hadn’t logged into in months. There it sat, alone and sad, shivering in the cold, where it wondered why it wasn’t being listened to. Well, I assume that’s how the InterWebz works for songs.
Then, while away with work, I watched a film with a wonderful song in the background – jangly, happy, female and male vocals combining. Lyrics you could barely make out, but a tune which got your feet moving. Using SoundHound, I figured out it was “Young Bood” by The Naked And Famous, who, according to Wikipedia, are:
a New Zealand indie rock band from Auckland. Their single “Young Blood” debuted on the New Zealand chart at number one in 2010—the first New Zealand artist in three years to do so.
However, due to my phone deciding to have a mid-life crisis, I had to reset everything, including losing the artist and song name. Usually, and much to the behest of everyone I know, I carry around a small notepad, and when I hear an artist, a song, or even some lyrics that capture my attention, I scrawl it down in my handwriting (which, on another note, hasn’t changed in the last 15 to 20 years of my life, since school. Anyway…), to be checked at a future date. This time, I hadn’t…
So I returned, and thanks to the jigs and reels of life, forgot all but the melody of the song and little else, and even that faded. And then. And then. I finally logged into Spotify, and found Niall had sent me “Young Blood” by The Naked And Famous, as he figured I’d like it.
Months and months ago.
Niall – good work out of you.
Jangly. Happy. Foot-tapping. But with a wonderfully bittersweet set of lyrics about falling in, and out of, love. About hanging on. About letting go. About compromising. About forgiving.
We’re only young and naive still
We require certain skills
The mood it changes like the wind
Hard to control when it beginsThe bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-betweens
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeahCan’t help myself but count the flaws
Claw my way out through these walls
One temporary escape
Feel it start to permeateWe lie beneath the stars at night
Our hands gripping each other tight
You keep my secrets hope to die
Promises, swear them to the skyThe bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-betweens
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeahAs it withers
Brittle it shakes
Can you whisper
As it crumbles and breaks
As you shiver
Count up all your mistakes
Pair of forgivers
Let go before it’s too late
Can you whisper
Can you whisper
Can you whisper
Can you whisperThe bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-betweens
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
The bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-betweens
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Naked And Famous – Young Blood
www: The Naked And Famous’ official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
Opening Up. July 27, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 2commentsLife. It’s a son of a bitch at times.
Despite some friends protestations to the contrary, I don’t think I’ll ever post exactly how I feel, or how my life is going on this blog. But I will happily hint at it, which you might have noticed from the last couple of posts.
And today, a friend of mine exposed me to Bon Iver’s cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, combined with a little of her “Nick Of Time” – the entirety of the first song, a few lines of the second – which broke me.
“I Can’t Make You Love Me” has always been one of the most affecting songs I’ve ever heard – a testament to melancholy if ever one existed. And combined with Justin Vernon’s voice? “Overwhelming” just can’t do the impact justice.
For now, replace “because you don’t/won’t” with “you do, but…”, and replace “you” with “me”, and “me” with “you”. And ignore the last few lines of the song.
Life. I found out this week that the curse “May you live in interesting times” isn’t in fact Chinese. But I found out the last few months that it still rings true.
Turn down the lights
Turn down the bed
Turn down these voices
Inside my head
Lay down with me
Tell me no lies
Just hold me close
Don’t patronise
Don’t patronise meI can’t make you love me if you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel
Something it wont
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart
And I feel the power if you don’t
No you don’t
Cause I can’t make you love me
If you don’tI’ll close my eyes
Then I wont see
The love you don’t feel
When your holding me
Morning will come
And I’ll do whats right
Just give me till then
To give up this fight
And I will give up this fightI can’t make you love me if you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel
Something it wont
Here in the dark,in these final hours
I will lay down my heart
And feel the power if you won’t
No you won’t
Cause I can’t make you love me
If you don’tIf you don’t
No you, no you won’tI found love, darling
I found love, darling
I found love, darling
I found love, darling, yeah
I found love, darling, darling
Love in the nick of timeI found love, darling, yeah
Love in the nick of time
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Bon Iver – I Can’t Make You Love Me / Love In The Nick Of Time
www: Bon Iver’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
Is A Little Melancholy Too Much To Ask? July 25, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentApparently it is, when it comes to Jónsi. I’ve posted about his unfailingly happy music before, and he’s only gone and done it again.
Nearly every single Jónsi song embeds itself in my head – the pounding, swelling, heart-wrenching, utter sheer joyousness of the thing growing, unfolding, and shining a torch into every darker, melancholic corner of my mind – and “Sticks & Stones” is pure Jónsi.
Let the change from 2:01 to 2:08, from 2:50 onwards, and the drums at 3:11 propel you out of your seat, bouncing around your room in a whirling dervish of joy and happiness.
Normal melancholy will be resumed shortly. For now, go dance.
Eyes open wide, blinded by the sun now
Orange and white, dark red, green and yellow
Rainbow colors! Do not hide, see the view!
Step aside, go through!Against the light, too strong, blow a fuse now
Everything bright, new songs, burning shoes
The look in your eyes! Break our bones into half!
Scream and shout and do laugh!Let yourself… go (Oh Oh Oh)
Let yourself… go (Oh Oh Oh)Stay close to me
Count one, two and three
Up in through your sleeves
Bursting through the seams
Open your eyes and see – You seeInn um ermar, upp hryggjarsúluna
Yfir skóg, flæðir niður brekkuna
Allt upp í loft! Ég mun aldrei gleyma!
Því ég mun aldrei!Hleypur um, rífur, leysir flækjurnar
(Upp með rótum) með blik í augum!
Stórmerki, undur, brjótum bein í sundur!Let yourself… go (Oh Oh Oh)
Let yourself… go (Oh Oh Oh)Stay close to me
Count one, two and three
Up in through your sleeves
Bursting through the seams
Open your eyes and seeStay close to me
Count one, two and three
Up in through your sleeves
Right beyond the trees
Show you how you’ll beStay close to me
Count one, two and three
Up in through your sleeves
Bursting through the seams
Open your eyes and see – You seeStay close to me : Count one, two, three
Up in your sleeves : You’re right beyond trees
Stay close to me : Count one, two, three
Up in your sleeves : Burst through the seamsOpen your eyes and see
You see – You see
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
www: Jonsi’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
I Was Born With A Broken Heart. June 30, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 1 comment so farTough times in life again. More curveballs. And, as ever, my outlet is music, is this website.
Just over a year ago, I posted about counterpoints, using Ryan Adams, and I talked about the need to let someone or something go, despite the pain, and you need to trust things to work out… But what happens when you don’t let go, but realise that something needs to change?
I posted about Cary Brothers almost three years ago – an artist whose first EP, “All The Rage” I loved, but who’s first album, “Who You Are”, while nice, in my eyes failed to keep that momentum.
I got my hands on his second full-length, “Under Control”, released last year, but to be honest, never really took the time to listen to it. I skipped through it, and kept it for completeness sake. As ever, when I do that, I missed out.
From that album, I give you the utterly beautiful and absolutely heartbreaking “Belong”; initially sparse, piano-driven , but a song that builds and builds, introducing guitars and drums and more vocals over its 4 minutes, moving from something so utterly sad to a statement of honesty and the… strength?… that comes from that.
Let the catharsis from from 1:36 onwards utterly sweep over you…
This is one lover’s statement to another: I don’t belong to you; my dreams are my own and not yours; but I love you, I will be there for you, always. But I can’t lie to myself, or to you, about this.
Wake up lonely with you by my side
One more night it doesn’t feel
There are movies playing in your eyes
You dream of our fortunesBut you’re wrong
I don’t belong to youThe moon is the only friend I have outside
One more drink and I’ll be healed
I told you the words and then knew it was a lie
I wish I could offer an appealYou’re wrong
I don’t belong
You’re wrong
I don’t belong to youWhat I’d give for that first night when you were mine, you were mine
Tried with all that I have to keep you alive, aliveI wasn’t taught this way
With a thousand things to say
I was born with a broken heart
What I’d give for that first night when you were mine
Thought you were mineSo I’ll put this cigarette to bed
Pull some sheets from off your side
I put my arm around you safe in the night
Still dreaming of fortune
But you’re wrong
I don’t belong
You’re wrong
I don’t belong
I don’t belong
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
www: Cary’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away. June 23, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentIn 2001 I first started watching Scrubs, and fell in love. I lasted a few series before the shine waned, and the latest series really makes me think that about four years ago, they should have taken the series round the back of the studio and shot it. However, those first couple of years were not only great comedy, but were also the first time I truly paid attention to music in series.
From there, I’ve followed a number of series which I might not even watch, but whom I know have great music – Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, and pretty much any hour-long drama series from the U.S. with a cast of pretty 20/30/40-somethings. While it is a bit depressing at times that these series are now seen by musicians as the ultimate springboard to success, you can’t argue with some of the music’s quality.
And in 2001 Scrubs introduced me to Josh Joplin / Josh Joplin Group.
Wikipedia can, as ever, explain this man more than I. Here’s a whistle-stop tour. And what the Hell is a whistle-stop anyway?
His interest in guitar and music, especially folk music, outgrew his initial need for a passing grade. Though he made it through to the eighth grade, Joplin dropped out altogether after the ninth grade and began his career as a folk singer.
He spent the next couple of years traveling around the country, busking on the streets, taking odd jobs, and working in restaurants. It was while he was living in Denver for a short stint that he was given his first opportunity to perform in front of an attentive audience, opening for singer-songwriter Bill Staines at the Swallow Hill Folk Music Center.
Still heavily influenced by his heroes Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, and Woody Guthrie, Josh landed a regular gig at Sylivia’s Atomic Café.
In 1996, wanting to play with other people, Joplin was introduced to Geoff Melkonian, who played bass and viola, and Jason Beucker, who played drums. After playing a few shows together as Josh’s backing band, the three decided to continue to play together simply under the name Josh Joplin Band.
Camera One went on to become the first No. 1 hit on adult album alternative radio by an independent record label ever.
Josh Joplin Group disbanded in December 2003.
In 2008, Joplin started a new group with Nashville-based singer/songwriter Garrison Starr called Among The Oak & Ash.
Among The Oak & Ash is an ever-changing collection of musicians led by American songwriter Josh Joplin. The songs are born out of the musical tradition of the Appalachian Mountains and are either adapted from their folk conventions or are entirely original and are written to sound like old time songs.
Now, I haven’t listened to Among The… as of yet, but from Josh Joplin/Josh Joplin Group’s 2001 album “Useful Music”, I give you two utterly amazing tracks – the aforementioned “Camera One”, and “Gravity”.
Both tracks are two of the more rock-oriented tracks from the album, but both are truly the definition of melancholy – whether it’s “Gravity”, a guitar-led, drum-driven number about the disappointments of life, and the ways we deal with these, whether through alcohol or mistaken belief, and the eventual realisation that everybody does indeed fall; or “Camera One”, a, uhm guitar-led, drum-driven number about, uhm, the disappointments of life, and the ways we deal with these, whether through suicide, sad contemplation or simply the conscious decision not to care, and to realise you’re the only one who can star in your own life, and how much you star is up to you…
A decade on, both the album and especially “Camera One” have played a huge part in my life – and I know that in 10, 20 and 30 years time, they will still do so.
Maybe they might just do the same for you…
I will not be here forever
So I will not waste any time
Just pick my head up from off the bar dear
Buy the next round I’ll be fine
Spoken like a poet
Who’s just too drunk to know thatEverybody falls in small degrees
Everybody falls in small degrees
It’s gravity
It’s gravityHere within lies the king of Graceland
Which makes the point all too clear
We stand in long lines praying our peace
And we go home with a souvenir
And only fools rush in
To save a desperate manEverybody falls in small degrees
Everybody falls in small degrees
It’s gravity
It’s gravityPull me down, don’t pull me down
Pull me down, don’t pull me down
When I was little I used to dream that
I had a cape and I could fly
I rescued my friends from burning buildings
And no one would ever die
But costumes fade fast
And super powers passEverybody falls in small degrees
Everybody falls in small degrees
It’s gravity
It’s gravity
The sandy haired son of Hollywood
Lost his faith in all that’s good
Closed the curtain, unplugged the clock
Hung his clothes on the shower rod
But he never got undressed
And no, he never made a messIt’s funny how life turns out
The odds of faith in the face of doubt
Camera one closes in
The soundtrack starts
The scene beginsYou’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
Take a bow
Take a bowThe trophy wife from Palisades
Whose yearbook beauty never fades
Sits and watches the sea fold in
And wonders what might have been
If she could ever have the chance
Would she do it all again?It’s funny how life turns out
The odds of faith in the face of doubt
Camera one closes in
The soundtrack starts
The scene beginsYou’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
Take a bow
Take a bowOn the corner
By his streets
He sits in his lawnchair
In the heat
Sightseers see
What they want
They’re selling star-maps
To the sunThe sunny-haired son of hollywood
Lost his faith in all that’s good
Closed the curtain, unplugged the clock
Hung his clothes on the shower rod
But he didn’t get undressed
And no, he didn’t seem depressedIt’s funny how life turns out
The odds of faith in the face of doubt
Camera one closes in
The soundtrack starts
The scene beginsYou’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
You’re playing you now
Take a bow
Take a bow
Take a bow
Take a bow
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Josh Joplin Group – Camera One
www: Josh Joplin’s MySpace, and Among The Oak & Ash’s Facebook Page and MySpace.
The Tronic Is Back. May 30, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 2commentsNearly two and a half years ago, I posted about my first foray into folktronica through the amazing William Fitzsimmons. A few months later, I featured him again – but this time, minus the -tronica.
Happily, William has lost his hair, kept his beard, and found his tronic-making-device for his new album, “Gold in the Shadow”.
And from that album, I give you the tronically stunning “Psychastenia” (yes, that is not mispelt), with backing vocals by none other than Laura DiStasi. Whom I featured here. And her band here. BOOM! See how I did that?
I digress.
“Psychasthenia” is the definition of melancholy – the desperate seeking of wanting to feel; the pleading and praying for same – whether that feeling is something positive, or simply pain.
Quiet. Yearning. Resigned.
All set to an electric guitar, a simple drum loop, and nothing else.
Could you map this globe
With a torment slowly rose
To a fear resigned
Quiet room I hope I findCut me open please
Cut me open pleaseWith an alter robe
I have stumbled knife to lobe
In compulsion drown
Counting every phantom foundCut me open please
Cut me open please
Cut me open please
Cut me open pleaseWith a bridge I’ve killed
I will serotonin fill
To a fear resigned
Quiet room I hope I findCut me open please
Cut me open please
Cut me open please
Cut me open please
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
William Fitzsimmons – Psychasthenia
www: The Bearded One’s official website, Facebook Page, and MySpace.
70%. May 16, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a comment10 months ago, I posted about the utterly amazing Amy Heffernan. Her marketing/PR company, who I praised highly in the post, continued to keep me updated in some pretty cool and personal ways, and kept my interest.
However, none of the other artists they sent my way clicked as Amy did, until, finally, both Amy and her company realised I wanted a new album release by Amy, and subsequently obliged.
Okay, I admit I may not have had anything to do with Amy’s producing a new album.
Although…new is a strong word, as 3 of the songs appeared on her last long-player, “Being Awesome”. Interestingly, at the time of my last post, I said there were any number of other songs on that album which I could have posted about – and it’s the only song of the 3 appearing on both that I didn’t post about last time around which is the standout this time.
“Knowing” is a anthem, but one with a keen edge – an anthem about two people who promised the world to the other, but, just as importantly, promised to tell the other if that world changed, if things just weren’t quite the same. And only one kept that promise.
A song of knowing you’ll be okay, but not understanding. Of feeling betrayed. Of broken promises.
Guitars. Drums. And fifteen seconds, from 1:45 to 2:00, worthy of a clenched fist held aloft in a sold-out 200,000 person venue.
Listen to this one at full volume, and let everything go in a cathartic singalong.
Remember when we both swore we never drag this down
We’d keep our heads about us and our feet upon the ground
Remember how we talked about the precious and the pure
We’d know if it was over we promised to be sureHow could you let this go so far knowing
You lost your faith
And I’ve already been replaced
Some how, some way
I think I’ll be ok
But how could you let me go so far knowingWe’ve both been through the drama we both played all the games
Now that we have eachother we won’t make the same mistakes
And all those tragic endings let’s just leave them in the past
Hoping we discovered something that’ll lastHow could you let this go so far knowing
You lost your faith
And I’ve already been replaced
Some how, some way
I think I’ll be ok
But how could you let me go so farKnowing you’re moving on Knowing you’re so far gone
Knowing I’m not your last Knowing you’re never coming back
Couldn’t you tell me, couldn’t you tell me Couldn’t you tell me, couldn’t you tell me
Just tell meYou lost your faith
Some how, some way I think I’ll be okYou lost your faith
And I’ve already been replaced
Some how, some way
I think I’ll be ok
But how could you let me go so far knowing
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
www: Amy’s official website, Facebook Page, MySpace, and PR company’s microsite.
The Difference Two Years Make. April 6, 2011
Posted by admin in : Songs , 7commentsIreland’s greatest band, Bell X1, have just released their new album “Bloodless Coup”, and after listening to just two songs so far, and despite having a number of songs by other artists to post over the coming weeks, I just felt compelled to post “Nightwatchmen”.
But in doing so, I’m left pondering what a difference a year makes in a life – or two in my case.
Two years ago, I featured Bell X1 here, and posted about my life at the time – some very rough times personally; my feeling a little bit broken; about how I had to just keep on keeping on.
And now, two years later – well, I went through tougher times after that post; the peaks and troughs rose and fell; and even to this day, there are good days and bad days. But right now, right here, so many more good than bad.
Long it may continue – through experience, I know it’ll change, that every day, week, month or year brings challenges and opportunities in equal (and sometimes not-so-equal) measure.
But all we can really ever do is go on how things are now – and tonight, life is good.
Scratch that – life is great.
So, two years later, I give you Bell X1 (again) – a band who are proving to be a true soundtrack to my life. The best band in Ireland (and yes, far better than that other one), “Nightwatchmen” is a personification of epic – Paul Noonan’s falsetto; an absolute lyrical journey; the building of a wall of guitar, piano and drum…
I dare you not to get chills at the change from 2:16 onwards, and feel your chest constrict as you feel the pure, unadulterated, unconditional yearning…
To the girl among nightwatchmen
My other, my joy
With your oil-drum fire
You were my gentle unfolding
The wool and the dye
The needle and eye
These songs you sing
As you waltz her up the stairs
And the boy smiles at
The wheels of the chair
We are loved for these
Things that pass us by
All we’re good for
As the sand flows into the hourglass
You hold every grain
That it might remain
Part of me wants to see you crumble
Like those toys on a plinth
Pool of alabaster limbs
Into my arms, so that
I might have my place
Although the crutch may just
Serve to dull the only blade
That you brought to this fight
Let’s go another round
To the girl among nightwatchmen
The long fingers of morning
Will take you by the hand
Precious stones,
They’re all spoken for
You’ve chosen the tunes,
Everything is just so
And now birdsong,
Ice clinking in the sun
Dripfeed of gentle talk
And pleasantries
And I wait for a gap in the traffic
To tell her I’ll always
hold you close
It’s all I’m good for
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
www: Bell X1 official site, MySpace, and Facebook Page.
