Week 5
Hey guys, what's up? Hope you're having a great week! I've been working all day and right now I just want to sleep. Still, I promised myself I would keep writing these every Saturday, so here I am, although in a tired and unfocused mood.
I have been getting a lot of pennies for my songs, and I'm grateful for that. I have to say, I didn't expect the community to be this functional and helpful in bolstering small posters such as myself, I have to thank all the projects that have been giving me a push week after week, and especially the good @fedesox and his awesome token Mustakkio. It's really cool when you meet people who are really in love with this platform and do their best to create connections with people, not just numbers.
With that out of the way, today I'm going to follow my mood and post something slow, intimate, that I've felt especially close to me in a specific phase of my life. As always, I would love to see some of you reply with one or more songs that are meaningful to you, after all this is what this format is all about!
Relationship Status: It's Complicated
Whatever your taste in music might be, every now and then we all need to listen to something easy, familiar. At the same time, there are occasions in our lives when we just feel like wallowing with something intimate, romantic. Heartfelt. One of the few artists that have always done the trick, for me, is Damien Rice.
I've been listening to Damien Rice ever since his very first album, O (2002). It's kind of funny the way I got to know his music: I was one of those strange young dudes who dress in black tees and listen to metal all the time. I still hadn't grown a beard worthy of that name and I spent most of my time pretending to be a rebel and putting on a tough face for the world to see. For some reason, for the first time in my life, I found out that I had caught the attention of a strange, mostly unknown creature. A girl, they said it was called. So when things started to get serious, following a long tradition of strong and proud dudes before me, I panicked. I might have asked a, err, more experienced friend for some mentoring on good music to set the right mood. "You can't go wrong with Damien Rice" he said. Still, rather than using this groundbreaking discovery for licentious purposes, I ended up falling in love with his songs.
He is definitely the kind of artist that I would steer clear of, on paper. And yeah, he's just an Irish guy with a half-broken guitar who sings stuff about love and relationships. Yet, the way he's in touch with his feelings, his ability to write lyrics straight from the heart, with that special effect that only his metaphors are able to achieve...I don't know why, but I just feel his music and his words are right for me, most of the time. Maybe he just brings out my soft, cheesy side. I'm convinced we all have one of those.
The song I'm about to post is actually from his second album, 9. It's called Elephant. The whole first part of the album actually revolves around complicated feelings, routines, cheating. But this is definitely the song I'm most fond of, because when I first listened to it, it hit just the right spot. As it happens, I found myself madly in love with someone I was not supposed to be in love with. My reason told me to stay the course and ignore my feelings, and my heart, of course, told me the exact opposite. I went through some crazy months. In a way, this song is a counterpart to the very first song I posted, by Pain of Salvation. That song was about a strong, intimate desire for freedom, even when that freedom might end up destroying all we know; this one is about being pulled in two opposite directions. There's no freedom without choices.
I just have to post this version of the song, because I believe it's the most intimate, passionate rendition I've ever heard of it. I'm sorry for the guys talking before the song, and I just hate how the audience doesn't seem to give a shit about his singing.
My Weekly Addiction
As a little bonus, I'll just leave here the new single by Leprous. I've been waiting for this album for a long time. I just loved Malina and I hoped that they would follow the same direction with the new stuff. I was not disappointed, although the new song is not as effective as some of their old material. Even though during the song I thought it was kinda weak compared to my favorites, after the first listen I couldn't help but go AAaaaAaAAAAaaa for 10 minutes straight. It really doesn't get any more Leprous than that.
What about you, guys? Any songs that remind you of that one time you had that huge heartache? Any artists that you just love no matter what, even though they are really not that much up your alley? Let me know in the comments!
See ya next week!
Damn it, I should be learning French, you just reminded me of that. Hmm I love Damien Rice, but I think he only works in short bursts, you know? Otherwise you get too sad and wanna kill yourself :)) But he's a really great artist, good choice.
Man, the second one you posted is a real sad one too. Are you okay? <3
There's just so many good heartbreak songs out there, hard to say. First time I got my heart broken, I just listened to Disturbed's cover of The Sound of Silence and cried and cried, and so always associate it with that. Also, this song right here
Evanescence - My Immortal, such a good wallow song. A lot of good heartbreak songs out there. I guess any song can be a good heartbreak song, as long as your heart's broken :)
Seriously, man, you ok?
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Haha, thanks for worrying about me <3
But yeah, I'm fine. I'm just spent today, I'm not even sure what I'm still doing up, to be honest. At any rate, I loved your reply, so much that now I just have to make an effort and formulate something that makes sense, don't I?
Some of the stuff I share, by my own rules, has just been meaningful at some point in my life. Might be yesterday, or 10 years ago. I often find myself re-experiencing some sort of watered-down version of what I've been through when I listen to these songs, but that doesn't mean that I haven't moved on. Or at least, that I haven't learned to accept my scars, to use a word that you might appreciate.
About sadness, there's a lot of different sides to it. The thing about Damien Rice is that he's (not always, to be fair) sad in a very self-conscious way, and he's usually all about himself. You can just tell he's the one who messed up, and he's got a way about himself that reminds me very strongly of myself. I guess his songs never really get old for me, you know? I do have some actual heartbreak songs, but that's a story for another time I guess :) And you said it yourself, when you're actually heartbroken pretty much anything works. Except for reggaeton, that makes me want to kill myself even when I'm happy.
And Leprous, I shared that one because it came out yesterday and I just like it, musically speaking. It is a bit darker than their usual, granted. The truth is, the first time I listened to them I couldn't stand Einar's way of singing, and now I can't seem to live without his AaaAAaaAAaa. It's mostly like a real-life meme at this point.
The Sound of Silence by Disturbed gives me the goosebumps every time. It's a masterpiece. And I have mixed feelings about Evanescence, but I think that's because of the people who introduced me to them :)
Now, the song you posted. I didn't know it. You have no idea on how many levels I relate to that song. The part about trying to change my ways? Spot-on. Nice one, I'll keep this one close. Thank you for sharing it, I hope you're all better now :)
Sorry for the wall of text, I should really learn the art of cutting it short sometimes.
But why do I remind you of the French? O.o
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Awful when that happens, right? :P
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. And I am glad to hear you're okay. Thing is, everything passes, eventually, no matter how bad it may seem right now.
Something I like to do, when I'm feeling bad or like I've lost something is set a goal - a month from now, I tell myself, I'll be in quite a different place. And time passes and I remember it on the given night and I'm usually right - I'm doing something else, I've met new people, I've had some fun in the meantime. Because you just gotta keep living, don't you? :)
I so get that, about listening to old songs. I do that, too, and they bring out a lot of the original emotions, but also a sort of strength - this is awful. What happened was awful. But I've been through this, already. I'm not gonna cry now like I cried the first time, because I'm just not there anymore.
:)) He seems like a pretty good singer, so you could do a lot worse :P
Really? I am so glad. Shinedown are one of my favorite bands and I feel the same about a lot of their songs. There's this great acoustic show they did a few years back and that's always given me strength. Brent (the singer) is a really talented storyteller and the background he gives on some of the songs is just so touching.
Because the Damien Rice video was off a French show or something. Anyway, the lady was speaking French :D
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(I wrote this on sunday but then HF22 happenened)
Ugh, tell me about it. :D
Thank you for the thoughtful reply to my thoughtful reply.
I never really thought about setting goals for myself. I tend to close up a bit and find solace in my own space, if needed. I'm quite sure you can somehow relate, because I can tell you're passionate about a lot of different things. That has always helped me go through hard times, I guess, having a lot of interests and things I like to do. Maybe that's my way to "keep living".
About old songs, that's pretty much my process too. I remember this one song, I think it was Dreaming Light by Anathema, that would destroy my soul every time I listened to it, and this went on for like a year. The day I could finally listen to it without hurting I knew that I was healed. (I didn't really keep listening to it because I'm a masochist, it's just that I love that song and it pissed me off that it was ruined for me. Call me an idiot but I have priorities!)
I really appreciated the song and I really appreciate that you have posted that concert. Personally I rarely find someone I can trust with a song that lasts more than 4 minutes, let alone a 2-hour concert XD I will definitely try and find some time over the next few days to give it a careful listen and let you know what I think.
Did I mention I was very, very tired yesterday? :(
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Hey, as long as you've established a way to keep living and go on, that's all that matters :) True, it's really awful to have a really good song and not be able to appreciate it.
There are songs that from the first few notes, I get the same feeling of having the ground ripped from under my feet, just like I did the first time I heard it. I really hope you like the concert. A lot of the songs have messages and are really meaningful, so you know, they can help with a lot of different hard times in your life.
It's one of my favorite quotes from the concert, right at the beginning of Shed Some Light - it just always makes me feel like this too will pass, no matter how bad it is, you know?
Anyway, hope you enjoy :D
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I'm sure I will. I haven't had much time these days, but I'll just dedicate it a couple afternoons once I get back home :) I find it a bit hard to decide what to focus on when watching a live performance I don't know anything about, either the songs and the lyrics or the performance itself. I guess this time I'll go for songs & lyrics, even if I won't be watching much of the concert I imagine :D
The quote is really true, and something I've been thinking for a long time. You need to know what bad looks like if you want to really appreciate good in your life, and scars are just a reminder of that.
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My (recent) thoughts exactly. Everyone's creating problems where there are none and like to make it out worse than it actually is. Then you hit something truly bad and it doesn't impact the same and you don't complain, you just rewire your brain, in one instant, to focus on survival.
It's like those this is not a drill things, you know?
That's why I like the quote, too.
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Ok. I just finished listening to the concert you posted and I'm not quite sure where to start. You have no idea how grateful I am to you for sharing that. I don't know how this guys managed to slip under my radar, but I'm really, really happy that I got to know them.
I'll just share a couple random pieces of trivia. I started watching it planning on dividing it in blocks, so that I could listen to 3-4 songs at a time and not lose focus, and I ended up watching the whole thing for two hours straight. And while I was watching it, I was thinking, you know, about the things that I liked the most, the things I connected with the most or that I liked for some particular reason, so that I could come back here afterwards and politely let you know what I thought. So when Sound of Madness started, with his introduction, I thought "hey, this is definitely a highlight". And then they played Shed Some Light, with that quote that you mentioned earlier (and the lyrics to the song, which were ground-shaking for me), and I though "look at that, another highlight". Two hours and an endless amount of highlights later, I still don't know what my favorite moment from the concert was. I probably would have to write a book about it.
I can tell you that Burning Bright is a song I don't think I'll forget very easily, because it really spoke to me in an unexpected way. If I had to choose a single song, that would probably be it, although it's a hard choice between that one and...like, 5 or 6 others ahah
Seriously, thank you. I really liked their style, too. He has a hell of a voice, and their sound is so awesomely American, which is just one of those things that I am unequivocally attracted to, no matter what. And listening to musicians explaining their music is another thing I just LOVE.
Also, the cover of Simple Man is the best fucking version of that masterpiece I've ever heard.
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