Everything you need could be right in front of you / It doesn’t take much to see what is true / They say we are going to die if we go on like this / Who do you believe? Every story has a twist / Take a look around, tell me what you see / People in the world just trying to be free
Today is a good day four years in the making. Here’s hoping the next four years are much better — for all of us. Happy Inauguration Day to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
As with most new-to-me music these days, I first heard this song by The Neighbourhood on Sirius XM. I was entranced by singer Jesse Rutherford’s smooth-as-velvet voice and the overall British sound (to me, anyway) of the song. From start to finish, it feels almost hypnotic to me. Add in a noir-esque black-and-white video, and I’m completely sold on this L.A. band. Why exactly would I label this moody, dark song as “My Happy for the Day”? Because it really does make me happy to hear it: It’s unlike most new music these days and really stands out to me. It also excites me to think about hearing more music from The Neighbourhood, which most definitely makes me happy.
I think I found help / I think I found something / I think I found something in my TV screen / I think I found out, that I have nothing / That I have nothing in this place for me
I watched it all in my head / Perfect sense / They’ll take me from my bed / Leave everything that is worth a single cent and just take me instead / That TV show that I saw as I fell asleep / Had me on both knees / Praying to whatever is in heaven / Please send me felon / And don’t let the police know …
I think I can tell / I think I can tell them / Tell them they were made for me / I’m thinking they’ll know / Know it already / I’m thinking they’ll know just about everything.
I bet they planned it all out / Like the shows / Went everywhere I go / Walked in the store right behind me / Stood in line right beside me and followed me to my home / I’m sure they figured it out / Early on / That I would never run / That they could shoot but that’s no fun / ‘Cause then they’re killing their stolen son
I still can’t believe this week marks the 15th anniversary of Jeff Buckley‘s death. I had heard “Last Goodbye” a few times and liked it, but it wasn’t until after he died that I discovered how amazing his first and only complete studio album, Grace, truly was. And as much as I love the album as a whole and so many of the songs on it, “Last Goodbye” is one of my all-time favorites. It’s such a beautiful, heartbreaking song about the end of a relationship, perfectly describing what it’s like when love dies, the regrets, the doubts, the gratefulness for all of it. Listening to Grace this week for the first time in too long is a bittersweet experience. The album is so amazing to listen to, but it serves as a sad reminder of what could’ve been had Jeff lived past the young age of 30. I’m grateful, though, that at least his music lives on.
Things have been pretty stressful of late, for reasons I’ll try to go into sometime in the next few days. But as stressful as things have been for me, they’ve been so much worse for some people close to me, and I want them to know they are always in my thoughts and prayers.
As an avid Linkin Park fan, I’ve always loved their lyrics, and these last few weeks I’ve found myself listening to “Waiting for the End” over and over. I’ve read online where some people interpret this song as being about a soldier heading off to war or about a relationship ending. However, for me, its meaning is more about not letting pain, fear, doubt, and uncertainty take hold of you, about letting go of the bad in order to make room for the good. So it’s with that in mind that I hope these people close to me listen to this song — really listen to it — and embrace even a bit of what it’s about. Because these bad times will come to an end, for all of us. The stress, the uncertainty over which direction life is heading, the fear of what lies ahead, the second-guessing of every decision, the wait for opportunities that have yet to materialize — all of these things will come to an end. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
[Mike:] This is not the end, this is not the beginning / Just a voice like a riot rocking every revision / But you listen to the tone and the violent rhythm / And though the words sound steady something empty’s within them / We say yeah with fists flying up in the air / Like we’re holding onto something that’s invisible there / Cause we’re living at the mercy of the pain and the fear / Until we dead it, forget it, let it all disappear
[Chester:] Waiting for the end to come / Wishing I had strength to stand / This is not what I had planned / It’s out of my control / Flying at the speed of light / Thoughts were spinning in my head / So many things were left unsaid / It’s hard to let you go
I know what it takes to move on / I know how it feels to lie /All I want to do / Is trade this life for something new / Holding on to what I haven’t got
Sitting in an empty room / Trying to forget the past / This was never meant to last / I wish it wasn’t so
I know what it takes to move on / I know how it feels to lie / All I want to do / Is trade this life for something new / Holding on to what I haven’t got
[Mike:] What was left when that fire was gone / I thought it felt right but that right was wrong / All caught up in the eye of the storm / And trying to figure out what it’s like moving on / And I don’t even know what kind of things I said / My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead / So I’m picking up the pieces, now where to begin / The hardest part of ending is starting again
[Chester (till end):] All I want to do / Is trade this life for something new / Holding on to what I haven’t got
[Mike:] This is not the end, this is not the beginning / Just a voice like a riot rocking every revision (I’m holding on to what I haven’t got)
But you listen to the tone and the violent rhythm / Though the words sound steady something empty’s within them / We say yeah with fists flying up in the air / Like we’re holding onto something that’s invisible there (Holding on …) / Cause we’re living at the mercy of the pain and the fear / Until we dead it, forget it let it all disappear (… to what I haven’t got)
*I bolded some of the lyrics that really resonate with me.
The first time I heard “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap, I was mesmerized. Listening to singer Dougy Mandagi’s angelic voice, I fell in love with the song; it didn’t hurt that his voice reminds me a bit of the late, great Jeff Buckley‘s. Dougy’s voice, the lyrics, the beautiful music — they all add up to this wonderfully sweet, deceptively simple song that thrills me each time I hear it. The lyrics are barebones and straightforward, yet they manage to convey so much about the moments we cherish and are impacted by throughout our lives, making it instantly relatable — an impressive songwriting feat. Listening to this beautiful song simply makes my heart sing.
Lyrics: Sweet disposition / Never too soon / Oh, reckless abandon / Like no one’s watching you
A moment, a love / A dream aloud / A kiss, a cry / Our rights, our wrongs / A moment, a love / A dream aloud / A moment, a love / A dream aloud
So stay there / Because I’ll be coming over / And while our blood’s still young / It’s so young / It runs / And we won’t stop until it’s over / Won’t stop to surrender
Songs of desperation / I played them for you / A moment, a love / A dream aloud / A kiss, a cry / Our rights, our wrongs / A moment, a love / A dream, aloud / A moment, a love / A dream aloud
I can’t remember the first time I heard Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros‘ “Home,” but it was fairly recently. I’m pretty sure it was on a TV show or a commercial — I’d heard it and liked it but had no idea who sang the song. It was catchy — complete with whistling — and had this comforting, almost retro feel, like the best way to do the song justice would be to listen to it on vinyl. And how could I forget the way the song began, with the drawling “Alabama, Arkansas / I do love my ma and pa …”? Then the other day my sis-in-law, K, told us we just had to hear this CD her friend gave her: “I’m skipping right to my favorite track, number six.” Mystery solved! And thus my fascination with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros was born. The video is pitch-perfect in that its home-movie feel perfectly complements the folksiness of the song. And, like the song, it leaves me feeling happy.
Lyrics: [Her:] Alabama, Arkansas / I do love my ma and pa / Not the way that I do love you.
[Him:] Holy, Moley, me, oh my / You’re the apple of my eye / Girl I’ve never loved one like you.
[Her:] Man oh man you’re my best friend / I scream it to the nothingness / There ain’t nothing that I need.
[Him:] Well, hot and heavy, pumpkin pie / Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ / Ain’t nothing please me more than you.
[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me come home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is wherever I’m with you / La, la, la, la, take me home / Mother, I’m coming home.
[Him:] I’ll follow you into the park / Through the jungle through the dark / Girl I never loved one like you.
[Her:] Moats and boats and waterfalls / Alley-ways and pay phone calls / I’ve been everywhere with you.
[Him:] We laugh until we think we’ll die / Barefoot on a summer night / Nothin’ new is sweeter than with you
[Her:] And in the streets you run afree / Like it’s only you and me / Geeze, you’re something to see.
[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me go home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is wherever I’m with you / La, la, la, la, take me home / Daddy, I’m coming home.
(Talking) Him: Jade Her: Alexander Him: Do you remember that day you fell outta my window? Her: I sure do, you came jumping out after me. Him: Well, you fell on the concrete, nearly broke your ass, you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you out to the hospital, you remember that? Her: Yes I do. Him: Well there’s something I never told you about that night. Her: What didn’t you tell me? Him: While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was gonna be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you, and I never told you til just now.
[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me go home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is where I’m alone with you.
[Him:] Home. Let me come home / Home is wherever I’m with you.
[Her:] Ahh home. Yes I am ho-oh-ome / Home is when I’m alone with you.
[Her:] Alabama, Arkansas / I do love my ma and pa … / Moats and boats and waterfalls / Alley-ways and pay phone calls …
[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me go home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is where I’m alone with you …
The first time I saw the video for La Roux‘s “Bulletproof,” I was mesmerized. It looked and sounded like the result of an ’80s music video doing it with a ’90s music video, with this fascinating, entertaining, and catchy gem having popped out nine months later. Add a dash of ’80s videogame-worthy sound effects — courtesy of La Roux’s electro/synthpop sound — and you can see why this is one of my favorite new songs and videos. The awesome Annie Lennox-ish eye makeup and slo-mo, bouncing pompadour only add to the awesomeness. As does my theory that singer Elly Jackson just might be the love child of Conan O’Brien and Tilda Swinton. See? Oh, and the song itself is fun and catchy, too. Behold:
Lyrics: Been there done that messed around / I’m having fun don’t put me down / I’ll never let you / Sweep me off my feet / I won’t let you in again / The messages I’ve tried to send / My information’s just not going in
Burning bridges shore to shore / I’ll break away from something more / I’m not to not to love / Until it’s cheap / Been there done that messed around / I’m having fun don’t put me down / I’ll never let you sweep me off my feet
This time baby I’ll be bulletproof / This time baby I’ll be bulletproof
I won’t let you turn around / And tell me now I’m much too proud / To walk away from something when it’s dead / Do do do your dirty words / Come out to play when you are heard / There’s certain things that should be left unsaid
Tick tick tick tick on the watch / And life’s too short for me to stop / Oh baby, your time is running out / I won’t let you turn around / And tell me now I’m much too proud / All you do is fill me up with doubt
This time baby I’ll be bulletproof / This time baby I’ll be bulletproof / This time baby I’ll be bulletproof / This time baby I’ll be bulletproof
This time I’ll be bulletproof / This time I’ll be bulletproof / This time I’ll be bulletproof
(Instrumental)
This time baby I’ll be bulletproof / This time baby I’ll be bulletproof / This time baby I’ll be bulletproof / This time baby I’ll be bulletproof
