MUSIC POST! OMGYES!!!!!!!
Well, there's a definite theme to this week's music download. These songs are mostly slow, bitter and folksy. In fact, three of them would probably fall into the folk-rock category, while the other two are actually mid-ninties pop songs. But the good kind, I promise. XD
Gin - Drew Bunting
This song is all bittersweet, folksy elegance. Acoustic guitar and two voices, intertwining melody telling a story about... brothers. Getting drunk. And lots of weird allegorical stuff that makes for some incredibly haunting and beautiful lyrics.
'He bled dirty red whine as the years grew thick between us
And I read my Shakespeare, dug my grave
And he swan the horizon, his new friend
Lovely, lovely stuff. I love the way the voices work on this track as well. The main melody is carried by Drew Bunting, a youthful, clear voice while the counter melody is this sort of monotone, older voice that dips between singing along with the main tune and bouncing back counterpoints. And all it is is guitar, voice and a whole lot of pretty. Even if you don't think you did folksy music, I urge you to download this. I promise you won't regret it. XD
And Then You Kissed Me - The Cardigans
Wow, I've been meaning to upload this one for a while. There's a bit of a story behind it. Caily and I slept over at Ashley's, and she had this on her playlist. It repeated several times and I was all like: "ZOMG, THIS SONG IS GORGEOUS!" at about five in the morning, Caily actually started listening to it and noticed something a little... off about the lyrics.
That's right, folks. This right here is hands down the most beautiful song about domestic abuse ever written. You may all remember The Cardigans and their cute, peppy pop hit in the mid nineties entitled "Do You Love Me?' This song is a whole different can of worms. It's soft and rolling, the tune is so simple that it almost reminds you of a nursery rhyme. There's something achingly powerful in the melody itself, the way it builds and sways with this soft, repetative verse that croons: "blue. blue, black and blue, red blood sticks like glue..." before hitting it's climax and just dropping. The tone is suitably bitter and very, hmm... inevitable. That's probably what it is that just gets me about this song. It's a resigned and tamed creature, it speaks of abuse without any real intention to do anything about it, which more or less makes it utterly depressing and utterly realistic.
Motocycle Drive By - Third Eye Blind
So, after finally finishing Wolf's Rain, Dawn and I went and downloaded Croik's Hubb/Cher AMV. Which just happened to be set to this song. I've actually always liked Third Eye Blind. I haven't listened to them for years, but I do recall being absolutely obsessed with all those #1 hits they had back in the ninties. Of every Third Eye Blind song I've heard, however, this has to be the best. Why? Well, there is simply so much POWER in this song. Like, wtf POWER. It's soft for the first few verses, gentle almost. And then it just EXPLODES. As if in the first few verses, the band was straining to hold in their emotion, but by the time they hit the midpoint of the song it just became too much and they just had to let it out in the most dramatic way possible. And then the emotional outburst ends and everything doesn't so much slow down as it dies down, as if the middle section of the song burnt everything out and left it hollow and spent.
And then the song makes me think of the ending of Wolf's Rain and I just lose the will to live and refuse to listen to the rest of it. -____-;;
Strange Waters - Bruce Cockburn
So, I totally haven't forced any Bruce Cockburn (pronounced 'Coh-burn' before any of you make immature jokes) down your throats, which is a shame because Bruce Cockburn is a musical GOD. This is by far my favorite song by him. It's all ambient and distant and detatched and filled with this dark sense of wonder that is very difficult to place because this man has totally been places and seen things that I can only imagine. And that's the feeling that you get from this song- you're taking some not-quite-mystical journey through a dispondent land where you don't belong. It's eerie and beautiful all at once. Musically, it's a low rumbling sort of rock song that's halfway between a dark ballad and a hardcore folk song. Oh, and there's this raw quality to the acoustic in this song that almost sounds like a harp or a... sitar. Something strange and foreign. And... yeah. This song kicks so much ass, I'm finding it difficult to put it into coherent words. If you only download one song from me this week, download THIS one. ^___^
Highway Kind - Cowboy Junkies
This song is.... well, I don't want to say it's country because I freaking hate country music. This is... old, romantic western music. It moves slow and drunk and is completely based around that sort of crawling guitar beat and a dusty, wailing harmonica. It's a song about someone wandering. The narrator is the wanderlust sort who is apparently desperately in love (the sort of love that's a curse), but who continues to, y'know, travel aimlessly as is in their nature. Or something. The lyrics are heartwrenching and the tune drags itself along like a half dead horse. This song is the clouds rolling slowly overhead into the horizon, it's the tumbleweed drifting across a barren landscape, it's the lone cowboy staring out at the vast, empty expanse in front of him and knowing that he is the only one around for miles and miles and miles.
See, when it's not being exploited for mindless patriotism, there is something undeniably appealing about the old west. This song captures just a little bit of that. ^__^
As usual, please try to leave me a comment if you download any of these. XD They'll be up until I make my next music post!
Gin - Drew Bunting
This song is all bittersweet, folksy elegance. Acoustic guitar and two voices, intertwining melody telling a story about... brothers. Getting drunk. And lots of weird allegorical stuff that makes for some incredibly haunting and beautiful lyrics.
'He bled dirty red whine as the years grew thick between us
And I read my Shakespeare, dug my grave
And he swan the horizon, his new friend
Lovely, lovely stuff. I love the way the voices work on this track as well. The main melody is carried by Drew Bunting, a youthful, clear voice while the counter melody is this sort of monotone, older voice that dips between singing along with the main tune and bouncing back counterpoints. And all it is is guitar, voice and a whole lot of pretty. Even if you don't think you did folksy music, I urge you to download this. I promise you won't regret it. XD
And Then You Kissed Me - The Cardigans
Wow, I've been meaning to upload this one for a while. There's a bit of a story behind it. Caily and I slept over at Ashley's, and she had this on her playlist. It repeated several times and I was all like: "ZOMG, THIS SONG IS GORGEOUS!" at about five in the morning, Caily actually started listening to it and noticed something a little... off about the lyrics.
That's right, folks. This right here is hands down the most beautiful song about domestic abuse ever written. You may all remember The Cardigans and their cute, peppy pop hit in the mid nineties entitled "Do You Love Me?' This song is a whole different can of worms. It's soft and rolling, the tune is so simple that it almost reminds you of a nursery rhyme. There's something achingly powerful in the melody itself, the way it builds and sways with this soft, repetative verse that croons: "blue. blue, black and blue, red blood sticks like glue..." before hitting it's climax and just dropping. The tone is suitably bitter and very, hmm... inevitable. That's probably what it is that just gets me about this song. It's a resigned and tamed creature, it speaks of abuse without any real intention to do anything about it, which more or less makes it utterly depressing and utterly realistic.
Motocycle Drive By - Third Eye Blind
So, after finally finishing Wolf's Rain, Dawn and I went and downloaded Croik's Hubb/Cher AMV. Which just happened to be set to this song. I've actually always liked Third Eye Blind. I haven't listened to them for years, but I do recall being absolutely obsessed with all those #1 hits they had back in the ninties. Of every Third Eye Blind song I've heard, however, this has to be the best. Why? Well, there is simply so much POWER in this song. Like, wtf POWER. It's soft for the first few verses, gentle almost. And then it just EXPLODES. As if in the first few verses, the band was straining to hold in their emotion, but by the time they hit the midpoint of the song it just became too much and they just had to let it out in the most dramatic way possible. And then the emotional outburst ends and everything doesn't so much slow down as it dies down, as if the middle section of the song burnt everything out and left it hollow and spent.
And then the song makes me think of the ending of Wolf's Rain and I just lose the will to live and refuse to listen to the rest of it. -____-;;
Strange Waters - Bruce Cockburn
So, I totally haven't forced any Bruce Cockburn (pronounced 'Coh-burn' before any of you make immature jokes) down your throats, which is a shame because Bruce Cockburn is a musical GOD. This is by far my favorite song by him. It's all ambient and distant and detatched and filled with this dark sense of wonder that is very difficult to place because this man has totally been places and seen things that I can only imagine. And that's the feeling that you get from this song- you're taking some not-quite-mystical journey through a dispondent land where you don't belong. It's eerie and beautiful all at once. Musically, it's a low rumbling sort of rock song that's halfway between a dark ballad and a hardcore folk song. Oh, and there's this raw quality to the acoustic in this song that almost sounds like a harp or a... sitar. Something strange and foreign. And... yeah. This song kicks so much ass, I'm finding it difficult to put it into coherent words. If you only download one song from me this week, download THIS one. ^___^
Highway Kind - Cowboy Junkies
This song is.... well, I don't want to say it's country because I freaking hate country music. This is... old, romantic western music. It moves slow and drunk and is completely based around that sort of crawling guitar beat and a dusty, wailing harmonica. It's a song about someone wandering. The narrator is the wanderlust sort who is apparently desperately in love (the sort of love that's a curse), but who continues to, y'know, travel aimlessly as is in their nature. Or something. The lyrics are heartwrenching and the tune drags itself along like a half dead horse. This song is the clouds rolling slowly overhead into the horizon, it's the tumbleweed drifting across a barren landscape, it's the lone cowboy staring out at the vast, empty expanse in front of him and knowing that he is the only one around for miles and miles and miles.
See, when it's not being exploited for mindless patriotism, there is something undeniably appealing about the old west. This song captures just a little bit of that. ^__^
As usual, please try to leave me a comment if you download any of these. XD They'll be up until I make my next music post!