9/20/12

For whatever reason, I've been on a huge The Starting Line kick lately. Whenever they come up on the iPod, I'm like "Sure, OK, let's go with this."

Interesting to me I haven't blogged on them before? Because "Say It Like You Mean It" is such a fantastic mainstay, but ya know, I only get around to this every so often. But I've been a huge kick lately, every TSL song on shuffle has made me stop (And yes, OK, I jam out to "Island." You caught me. It's the only track of "Direction" that makes the cut, though).

This one, though, particularly I love, short and sweet as it is:


Love the beat, love the phrasing, love the concept. Straight-the-fuck-up. Love that goodbyes can be so upbeat.

It gets it all in one. Loved. Unloved. Circumstance, Inspired. And so it goes.

"Lead on,
to keep our feelings strong,
and make me still believe
our page is one and the same
Our ways will separate tonight.

You say if we were to wait.
Some things just might be changed.
I say that I dont have the strength
to fuel a burning flame.
Speak to me,
What can I say, we just live too far away.
That's a shame that love can't make you stay.
Sweet thing,
I hope that you know I'm wondering where you are.
You say this could work someday,
When you and I both know this is the end.

Leave me the way it has to be,
excuse my poor excuse.
Tell me that insecurities
are what drove me to you.
And everyday I compare your face
from sweet beginnings to your bitter end...
Sweet thing,
I hope that you know I'm wondering where you are.
You say this could work someday,
when you and I both know this is the end.
Let me let go...

Sweet thing,
I hope that you know I'm wondering where you are
You say this could work someday,
When you and I both know this is the end."
~Hello Houston

The Starting Line, Say It Like You Mean It

9/18/12

One thing about recklessness, it's not always aggressive. Sometimes it's quiet. Despondent. A little hopeless.



"Gonna burn the town
if you lie to me.
Gonna set it off,
oh baby, I was blind to see.
Talk me down,
I'll find my wings,
a big bad soul,
Some say that it's the end of me.

And I tell myself, it's not following me,
Break me out of here, cause it's blinding me.
Lie to me baby, don't you lie to me
Nothing's gonna change if you wait to save me.

When the world is down
And fast asleep,
They can't break us now,
Nobody's here for you or me.
I'm half way gone,
Don't want to be alone,
I'll burn the town,
I'll find you if you want to be found.

And I tell myself thye're not following me,
Break me out of here, cause it's blinding me.Lie to me baby, don't you lie to me,
Nothing's gonna change if you wait to save me.

And I tell myself, it's not following me,
Break me out of here, cause it's blinding me.
Lie to me baby, don't you lie to me,
Nothing's gonna change if you can't, can't save me."

~Burn This Town 

Battleme

9/17/12

You know that feeling you get when you think you have a great idea, only to find it's been done? Not only that, but been done well? It's that mix of feeling disappointed and unoriginal, embarrassed by your own foolishness in thinking maybe you got something cool going on after all. But, after, there's also a wave of self-satisfaction, a bit of a kudos to the instinct.

That's how I felt after I heard this...:



...at the store the other day, and thought "Man, it would so rad to to make this into a sad acoustic cover!" only to hear this...:



...on a Pandora station today. Fun little arpeggio motif, West-Coast-cool vocals, and an unidentifiable instrument and/or pedal holding down a simple and effective rhythmic line. It thoroughly modernizes a classic, a little more depth and a little less pep, though it doesn't completely sacrifice the innocent charm of the original.

Secretly wish I was around for the Ed Sullivan days. Back when even the bad-side-of-tracks-greaser-rock-n-roll boys wore suits and ties and had clean hair, it seems. I have to believe everyone used to have better manners than they do today, where most people treat everyone else like yesterday's trash and think nothing of it. Still, I bet some people were still jerks. Jerks are as timeless as a crush-inspired love song.

Whatever. I still could figure out my own (sadder) version of this tune, maybe. But now I'm just YouTubing a bunch of Buddy Holly videos and making my cat hang out with me. What kind of life am I trying to lead, anyway? Really thought I'd have that worked out by now.

"Everyday it's a-gettin' closer
Goin' faster than a rollercoaster
Love like yours will surely come my way
Hey, hey-hey"

~Everyday 

Buddy Holly and the Crickets, B-Side on "Peggy Sue"

9/13/12

Pretty obsessed with this one off "Handwritten." Nice contrast in the early guitar parts, then some really resounding but subtle delay, just the way it should be used. There's something circular, almost merry-go-round about it, maybe it's in the way he manipulates the vocal line on the chorus.  There's only so much build until the end, it is steady.

Don't call it a sleeper track -- I think it's one of the most mature perspectives we've heard from Gaslight yet. It's completely and utterly patient, but none the less heartfelt for it. This is a song that recognizes the sweeter side to the gravity, if not the tragedy, of waiting for someone to come around, waiting for life's tides to turn. At such times, usually, there is nothing to do but wait.

I listened to this song at least two dozen times this week, spurred by a flood of memories and kisses that made me beg for a rewind button to appear, because so much can change so fast. Some moments, some people, can rewrite the soul in an instant without any sound intention. Just like that, the world is different, even though everything around you is the same.

It's kind of like taking a walk down the streets you drive by all the time. The vantage point is different, off-kilter, and you wonder how you've missed so much all this time. Like ornate window trimmings on an otherwise ordinary house, or a flowering tree littering petals along the sidewalk, or a brass nameplate on a mailbox, or a sad, yellowed front yard that must've been abandoned for years. You know you've seen these things before, in passing, but from this point of view, you use a whole other set of eyes. And then, in a way, it  makes you appreciate the whole scene that much more. 

"Stay the same, don’t ever change,
Cause I’d miss your ways.
With your Bette Davis eyes,
And your mama's party dress.

While this city pumps its aching heart
For one more drop of blood,
We work our fingers down to dust
And we wait for kingdom come
With the radio on.

I wanna see you tonight
Would you come for a drive?
You can lean into me
If you ain't been in love for a while.

I was born beside a river
That flows to a raging sea
That will one day serve to quell,
Or one day be the death of me.

In my faded jeans and far away eyes,
And salty carnival kiss,
That all my former lovers say
Was once magnificent.

I wanna see you tonight,
Would you come for a drive?
You can lean into me
And if you ain't, oh if you ain't...
I wanna see you tonight,
Would you come for a drive?
You can lean into me
If you ain't been in love for a while

And still this city pumps its aching heart
For one more drop of blood.
We work our fingers down to dust
While we wait for kingdom come
With the radio on...

It's been so long Mae, so long
It's been so long Mae, so long
But since the radio's on..."

~Mae 

The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten

9/9/12

Tiny Desk Concerts are a good way to kick off bound-to-be-adventurous Sundays.