Society Always Wins

I was torn between Mark Sandman's "My Cocoon" from his box set rarities collection, and Pulp's "Sunrise" for my pick. As an introvert, I do have the tendency to retreat, and I have a helluva place to retreat, surrounded by literally hundreds of CDs, an XBox 360, some choice vinyl, a decent book collection await me when I get home. And until late last year, I had an amazing companion who was always vegging on the couch when I got home.

However, as much as the alternative usually burns you...for every great concert you go to or every amazing night out at the pub you have with a few friends, discussing the state of things, there's more instances of disappointment - those times where the places are too loud, too obnoxious, and honestly, too expensive, where you drive home, kicking yourself saying "I just spent $30 I didn't have, when I could have easily had a better time at home with a book."

Jarvis Cocker seems to have been in a similar situation when he penned the closing song of Pulp's final album (at least up to this point). After a beautiful beginning, where Mark Webber's guitar sounds like a literal sunrise, Jarvis bemoans:

I used to hide from the sun, tried to live my whole life underground.
Why'd you have to rise & ruin all my fun?

The answer, of course, is that the sunrise is inevitable. As much as you try to hide from it and pull the shades close, it will eventually shine on you sometime during he day. So the only logical response is to continue to go out. Continue to risk rejection, continue to endure those horrible movies that burn a hole in your wallet, and continue to put up with the occasional moron who reduces your faith in humanity, because as the protagonist in the song says...

Yeah, here's your sunrise when you've been awake
all night long & you feel like crashing out at dawn.
But you've been awake all night, so why should you crash out at dawn?

Side note...the guitar solo on this is absolutely bitchin'...

Seems like you've done this before?

This song doesn't have anything to do with a current situation that I may or may not be dealing with but a past one. That part is positive. Or it could just be a ruse I'm using. You'll never know because you're not inside my head... But what is really running in my head is this great track by Anberlin. I know this song has been around for quite some time and it's just getting better with time. "Breaking" is clearly the song about a guy who meets a girl who is just posing as the good girl to use the guy. It's the simple but apparent current modern day love story. It used to be the knight had to rescue the damsel in distress from a dragon/ogre/monster/evil step-sisters/midget but now the current trend is the knight in shining armor gets massacred by the facade of the damsel in distress. 

Such poetry in the lines like: 

Do you collect the souls you've lost

In the top of your dresser drawer

Count the number of tears displaced

On lonely bedroom floors

A machine where your heart once was

Slowly takes the place of you

Only hold the memories now

Of a love I thought I knew.

Also, the great use of instrumentals are like a pulse. The first part builds up with a piano  Such an epic song... 

A Friend In Need - A Social Media Case Study

Sunday morning -

Said writer checks a few news sites for daily headlines. He loads up Google and clicks the 'YouTube' link. Within the YouTube link, there's a inexplicable link to a 7-second link to a scene from Batman: The Animated Series.

The links to similar Batman comics display on the right side. One of them features Tim Drake shooting The Joker. I watch that clip. Another link has a brief retrospect of Tim Drake's appearances. I click on that link. And a song by Placebo pops up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLXpllnERlE

Said band has been passed onto me a few times by another writer on this site. Said song can't get out of my head for the rest of the day.

When Criticism Just Doesn't Matter

I know I'm in a state of at least mild depression when Aimee Mann becomes a recurring fixture on my 5-disc CD changer. She has always been well liked by critics, and reached her critically-adorned peak with the Magnolia soundtrack, which did feature some of her best work. However, the song that routinely gets me is "Video" from her Forgotten Arm album.

I would love to tell you it's the chorus, or the expert placement of mandolin that makes the song so memorable. But honestly, it just always hits the bullseye emotion-wise. It's sort of like if you have a shoulder injury, and there's that one exercise that will always feel like a cut going straight for the bone.

For music, that's when you know you have your personal favorite. When no amount of critical feedback, either pro or con will sway your opinion of the track in the slightest. It's your song.

RELAUNCHING!

Yes, we're relaunching. Keep posted!

It's been tough...

These last couple months haven't been easy. 2010 ended on some sad notes and some good notes. It was pretty much that was well, a pretty bittersweet victory. Somedays you're in the clouds and somedays you have one foot in the grave. 

Well, with that all sad, let's go with The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony as a our comeback post. 

England

Yesterday, I put my weimaraner down. Words can't come close to describing the joy he brought into my life.


For a good amount of the day, I was playing The Beatles' "Blackbird" - mainly for the lyrics "Take these broken wings and learn to fly" and "All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free."


Then, a stronger feeling gripped me. I remember hearing the second to the last song on The National's High Velvet album. I remember feeling drained when I listened to it, but in a good way - like a purging.


Matt Berninger's vocals may be more articulate than most indie lead vocalists, but his baritone can sometimes send you to a lyrical website to decipher some of the lyrics. Little did I know the first refrain pretty much summed up this entire day:


"Someone send a runner through the weather I am under for the feeling that I've lost today" -


To say that I've lost a feeling is an understatement. But honestly, what better way to phrase up this day than that statement? Feelings are one of the most important elements in being human, and the thought of one of those feelings that are part of your makeup being lost - perhaps never to be found again - is like losing a part of your self.


The song's focus is someone who has moved (fled?) from a previous area. The song's protagonist flatly observes "You must be somewhere in London / You must be loving your life in the rain."
As someone who has routinely thought about moving/fleeing my home state, I can readily identify with lines like " You put an ocean and a river between everybody / Between everything, yourself and home."


Though this has little to do with the opening refrain, the final refrain is staring me in the face for the next few days : "afraid of the house / stay the night with the sinners"
I'm not looking forward to the next few days - going home not to see a dog on the couch. Feeling that "I need to get home and let Jake out - I've been gone for almost six hours" - and then realizing you no longer have a need to go home.


"England" doesn't sum up what I'm feeling right now. But it shows that sometimes, and entire song isn't necessary to sum up your feelings. Sometimes a simple refrain is all that's needed.































R.I.P. Jake