“Round of Blues”- Shawn Colvin and My Fetish

Ah Halloween. The day marked by cute costumes when we were younger and now marked by the sexiest costume you can find. I am sorry to say that I perpetuated this fact by re-wearing my Lady Gaga costume (Leotard, tights, and rhinestones everywhere). Thankfully, there are no pictures of the debauchery that went down. But let me inform that it was full of fun.

Anyways, at my school we also have a party in a few weeks that is entitled “Fetish.” Yes, imagine what you want. This party is even more sloppy than Halloween on my lovely liberal arts campus. And I have a great costume too that entailed me wearing dark Gothic clothing, placing fake piercing on my eyebrow and ears, and having a giant dragon tattoo on my back. Can you guess?

Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo!!

Noomi Rapace, the actor that plays Lisbeth in the Swedish version of the film, is probably one of the best actors I know. If you haven’t seen the Swedish version, watch it! It is amazing. Much better than the English version that is coming out, mainly because no one can be Lisbeth other than Noomi. Oh, and they changed the ending in the English version since Steig Larsson’s ending was just too amazing for them.

Okay, sorry. I got a little caught up in my fetish. I promise there is music coming. Today’s song features a women that I love almost as much as Noomi–Shawn Colvin. “Round of Blues” is probably one of her better known songs, and the music video is interesting. I love her dress in the video and how she can just nonchalantly  play the guitar on the floor while still looking great.

Favorite actor? Or your fetish if you are feeling adventerous? 😉

ll

Homesick: “84,000 Different Delusions”- Shawn Colvin and “Fields of Gold”- Sting

I love college. It is the one place I have ever felt accepted for just being myself. While high school was horrible, and I was ostrizisted for being weird, not having the right clothes, not being attractive enough, or (my favorite) “too smart,” my friends here love me for who I am. Thus, my college is my home. I feel comfortable, happy (for the most part), and embraced. But recently I have felt “homesick” for the first time since coming to college three plus years ago. It is just a fleeting feeling, normally when I am listening to music late at night while studying. But it is strong. This desire to be curled up in my family’s living room listening to music with my father with a crackling blaze in the fireplace. To have nothing to do besides talk and laugh and reconnect.

I know I should probably stop listening to music that makes me miss my family so much, but I am really enjoying re-listening to some of my childhood favorites. Here are two that I have recently fell in love with all over again, even though they make me yearn to curl up in a blanket surrounded by my family.

Sorry for the downer post. In happier news, my parents will hopefully be visiting me in a few weeks.

Do you ever feel “homesick” for your family? Please say it is not only me.

ll

“Sophia”- Laura Marling

Thank you Pandora. You are basically like Match.com for music. You  find me music that is perfect for me. Any mood, any situation, any time of day. Plus, you are free! What more could a poor college student ask for. Your only bad attribute is that you only give me 40 hours a month. Those always are used up by the second week. FIX THIS AND YOU WILL BE PERFECT!

Okay, you are probably wondering what, or rather who, Pandora.com has “set me up with” today. Her name is Laura Marling and she is beautiful.

As a brunette...

And as a blonde.

But more importantly, her music is amazing. Fresh, beautifully crafted lyrics, haunting chords, and so pure. Maybe now I will be able to stop listening to Mumford and Sons over and over again. Or at least mix it up a bit.

I love how she seamlessly merges so many different genres of music: folk, a bit of rock, a little country, and some gospel thrown in. And the lyrics are dense, in a good way. I have listened to this song over a dozen times and am still thinking of different meanings or different literary sources she brings into the song.

Be forewarned, I might be featuring another one of her song shortly as I listen to more of her breathtaking music and fall more hopelessly in love.

Has Pandora ever “matched” you with a great artist/group?

ll

“White Blank Page”-Mumford and Sons

I haven’t updated in awhile and I have a little time before my caffeine runs out of power. But I must warn you, I really haven’t listened to anything other than Mumford and Sons in…well the past week. Well, just have a look at my iTunes …

These Plays were all at zero about five days ago.

New favorite song= “White Blank Page.” To be honest, I cry sometimes when I listen to this song. Or sometimes I just sing along angrily. Especially during this part:

White blank page & a swelling rage, rage
You did not think when you sent me to the brink, the brink
You desired my attention but denied my affections, affections

Just listen to the song, preferably loudly so you can be taken by the music. Marcus Mumford puts so much emotion into his song, you just have to respond emotionally in kind.

Also, there is an acusitic version of the song from the Bookshop Sessions. I would give anything to see them live in a bookshop. Heck, I would give anything to see them live anywhere.

Ever have a group you just have to listen to over and over again?

 

“The Cave”-Mumford and Sons

I always find it interesting how a group becomes “mainstream.” How do people go from being everyday people playing at bars, coffee shops, or on the streets to having a record deal and their songs being played on the radio every hour. No, I am not talking about the child pop stars that get their parents to pay for an auto-tuner and a record deal for their 15th birthday. I am talking about eclectic bands that start as friends just playing in their local scene and then gather a following based on their amazing music. Mumford and Sons fits this rise of fame to a ‘T.’ They started in West London in 2007, released an album in 2009, got big in Australia, and finally are becoming known and popular in the States.

Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Winston Marshall

What I love most about Mumford and Sons’ music is their lyrics. Unlike many (pop) artists, their lyrics draw from so many literary, philosophical, and religious sources. For example, “The Cave” includes references to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Homer’s The Odyssey. Additionally, the group first album Sigh No More got its name from the Shakespearian play, Much Ado About Nothing. So on top of great music, beautiful voices, and a wide range of instruments, Mumford and Sons’s songs are deep, well written, and have various, layered meanings.

This video is interesting since it adds another layer of meaning. Upon first listening without the video, I thought the song was about getting the courage to come out of one’s “cave” and do something you have been afraid to do. But after seeing the video, I thought it was a statement on Indian independence from Britain with Mumford and Sons (playing the British) handing over the reins to the Indians in the video but promising them that the British will help them “not choke on the noose around [their] neck.” For a better analysis of the meaning(s), see SongMeanings, a great website to get others opinions on your favorite songs. I am not an english major like Alenka so my ability to actually write about meaning, allegory, metaphors etc is lacking.

Have you heard of Mumford and Sons? Or know any other bands that have seemingly risen out of nowhere? 

ll

“Love is a Good Thing”- Sheryl Crow and Song Classifications

Since starting this blog, I have become hyper aware of how people classify songs. I don’t know if you noticed but every blog post has “categories, which is my attempt at organizing my post by song genre. But it is really hard. For example, I had a difficult time thinking of a category for MGMT. After some deliberation and a visit to allmusic.com  I classified them as “psychedelic, alternative rock.” So when I decided to do a post on Sheryl Crow, I knew I was going to have trouble classifying her. To me, I always thought of her as country but really she embodies a lot more. She draws inspiration from folk, rock, and even a little hip-hop in some of her songs. Maybe I am over-analyzing this classification system (that is the scientist in me), so I am just going to get on with the post and classify her as whatever the hell I feel like at the moment.

Sheryl Crow and I have been close for a while. She was another artist my father introduced me to and I have continued to listen to her. My favorite album is her self-titled Sheryl Crow and have listened to it so much I can pretty much sing along to every song.

Crow showing her darker side on the cover for her self-titled album

I actually analyzed “Love Is A Good Thing” for an english class in high school but I will not bore you with the details about how she uses parallel structure, a unique rhyme scheme, or anything like that. Basically, I love this song for its message and the catchy rhythm. Oh, and her scream at the end. I remember sitting in the car with my dad and having him turn up the music as we neared the end of the song just to hear the scream in all of its glory.

Also, fun fact. This album got banned from Walmart since “Love is a Good Thing” contains the poignant line,
“Watch out sister, watch out brother,
Watch our children while they kill each other
With a gun they bought at Wal-mart discount stores.”

Yep, good old Walmart. May I never have to shop there again after I graduate college. And on a happy note, here are some gorgeous pictures of Sheryl Crow. How could Lance leave her?

Do you have a hard time classifying songs? Do you even think about “genres” of music when picking out what to listen to?

ll

“Suicide Alley”-Shawn Colvin

Shawn Colvin is one of the artists my father introduced me to when I was very young. I didn’t really know what the songs were about but I fell in love with her beautiful voice. As an young adult now, those songs not only remind me of my childhood but also have meaning behind the alluring vocals.

As Stunning As Her Voice

“Suicide Alley” is one of her songs that seems to be based on my life, or at least my struggles. Shawn Colvin, like me, struggles with depression. To me, this songs speaks of her battle against this devastating illness. She talks about feeling like a “loose cannon” and having damage running loose in her head, feelings I shared intimately. But she overcomes these feelings, or at least the impulse to walk down suicide alley. She has a “place in this world of mine”. When I have a truly bad day, I listen to this song on occasion to just remind myself that yes, other people do feel the same why as I do sometimes. Sometimes,the world seems too much for you. But there is always tomorrow. There is always people to help. There is always something to look forward to.

Sorry for the weird music video, it was the only one that I found on you tube with this song.

As a side note, I was/am obsessed with Shawn Colvin’s album covers. Check these out.

Loved the Locket

My Favorite

Do you have any music that you listen to cheer up after a bad day?

ll