Shearwater - Home Life

Today's song is Home Life by the band Shearwater. It is from their 2008 album Rook. The band started out in 2001 as a side project of Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff of Okkervil River. Starting in 2005 Will Sheff lessened his role with the band, focusing mostly on Okkervil River, with Jonathan Meiburg taking over Shearwater as his main band. Since then they have released 3 new albums. If you enjoy the song, be sure to check them out live at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS on April 8.

The song is in a triple meter; I'm not sure of the exact time signature but it definitely has a waltz-feel. I really love the instrumentation in the song. The addition of the clarinet, strings, and piano to the traditional rock setup works really well for this song. The song builds up to a nice climax at 3:45, which is my favorite part of the song. I absolutely love the drums during the climax, and I think using the snare drum with the snare off was definitely the right choice.

When it comes to the lyrics of this song I am absolutely clueless on the meaning. I have been listening and staring at the lyrics for a good 30 minutes, and can't make any progress. What do you think the song is about?

Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine

Today's song is an instrumental song by the band Explosions in the Sky. It's titled Your Hand in Mine and is from their 2003 album The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place. They are a post-rock band, playing almost exclusively instrumental music, from Austin, TX. For most of their songs they use 3 guitars and a drum set.

This song is probably one of the band's more famous songs. A shortened version of it was featured in the film Friday Night Lights, following the inspirational half-time speech. It starts out with a single guitar, and throughout the song the two additional guitars and drums come in and fade out. I've always had a thing for songs with good vocal harmony, and after listening to this song quite a few times I think I may just have a thing for songs with good harmony in general. Most of the band's songs have harmonizing guitars, and I think this song especially is a good example of it.

There are no lyrics in this song, but I think there is still a lot of meaning to the song. In my mind the song conjures up a very strong feeling of hopefulness. I think this was probably their intention, as that is how the song was used in Friday Night Lights. I think the song title, Your Hand in Mine, is the idea of two people who care for each other, hand in hand, saying "we can do this." No matter what "this" is, they know they can accomplish it, and that is the great sense of hopefulness that I think this song brings about. For me, the biggest realization of this hope is between 6:09 and 7:48.

Ours - Live Again

Today's song is Live Again by the band Ours from their 2008 album Mercy (Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy). They are led by singer Jimmy Gnecco, who has a singing voice reminiscent of Jeff Buckley. My friend Matt introduced me to this band several years ago, and I have since had the chance to see them live a couple of times.

The song starts out pretty intense with the drums and guitar followed by Jimmy's singing a bit later as the intensity dies down shortly, before building back up. This is a very good example of Jimmy's vocal capabilities and the power he puts into his singing. You can hear him doing all sorts of things on this song, as he is harmonizing with himself by doing multiple takes of his vocals and layering them. This harmonizing is especially apparent around 2:20. My favorite part is probably the intensely powerful scream at 3:26 following the musical buildup. It's simply spectacular, and even more so when heard live.

I'm having a bit of trouble analyzing the lyrics for this song; though maybe I'm just terrible at analyzing lyrics in general. I think it's supposed to be a hopeful song. It's about someone that has had a past full of depression and who is unable to feel. They have been stuck in a cycle of cutting, in an attempt to help, but it has only led to the cycle repeating itself. The lyrics suggest instead "forgive yourself and then you're gonna heal" and then this person can "live again".

Deer Tick - Smith Hill

Today's song is Smith Hill from the album Born on Flag Day, released in 2009 by Deer Tick. Deer Tick is a folk/blues/alt-country band from Providence, Rhode Island. They are led by singer-songwriter John McCauley who sings with a very growly/rough-sounding voice. I discovered this band while investigating the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup, and was able to see them perform live at the show. They will also be playing at the Jackpot Saloon in Lawrence, KS on April 11, so if you like this song be sure to check them out.

This song is in a 12/8 time signature with the hi-hat on the drums really pushing the waltz triplet feel. It starts out simple with a single guitar and vocals, and slowly adds additional instruments, with tambourine and bass guitar coming in second. Eventually the full band comes in with so many instruments blending together wonderfully. They have the traditional bass guitar, drums, and electric guitar, but there is also at least one violin during certain parts, and an acoustic guitar. One of my favorite things about this song are the sections of two-part vocal harmony between 1:21-1:52 and 2:22-3:18. The combination of the vocal harmony and all of the instruments give this song a very full sound.

Listening to the lyrics, I think the song is about someone that feels trapped in a small town. While he's been there he's "seen so many grow and die". Indicating to me that he has watched, as many friends have been able to escape the town; others not able to escape ultimately dying there. The lines "Or I could stand and give a toast / to those who made it out alive / It's you I'll miss the most" show that he is envious of those that were able to escape. It sounds to me like the person in this song had found his true love, but she was one of the people that was able to escape the town. He wants to leave the town to be with her, but he is too afraid, and it's much easier for him to hide.

Denali - Run Through

Today's song is Run Through by Denali. This indie band from Richmond, VA, led with the haunting vocals of Maura Davis, released two albums (Denali and The Instinct) in 2002 and 2003 respectively. It was Maura's vocals that originally drew me to this band, but I love how all of the parts work together. Listen to the song below.

This song has somewhat of a trip-hop feel to it. The drumming in particular stands out as fairly unique. There's both a drum track (kicking in at 0:05) and a real drum set (starting at 1:12). It's not extremely complicated, but the combination gives a good backing to the song. The real drummer is playing with the snare off, so the snare drum sound is provided by the drum track. This is especially obvious between 2:48 and 3:28 when the drum track snare is cut out for this quieter section of the song.

The main focus of this song is Maura's singing. Her voice is so full and soothing, and her style reminds me somewhat of a female version of Jeff Buckley; some of the best singing out there. The lyrics, on the other hand, are very minimalistic--which is intentionally the case with most Denali songs. The stripped-down nature of the lyrics makes analysis difficult, but the following lines indicate to me that the song is about someone staying in a bad relationship--even though they want to get out, it's tough:

"I've had enough

Movement is hard in this game

How can I explain another daylight

Nothing's right in these arms

This cannot explain another daylight"

What are your thoughts? Do you think that is an accurate interpretation of the lyrics? You can view the whole lyrics at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858493230/.

Queen - '39

I decided to go with a more upbeat song for this post, after the total downer on Sunday. Today's song is '39 by Queen from the album A Night at the Opera. I bet most people are at least aware of the band Queen, but I suspect not many are familiar with this song. My goal with this blog is to introduce readers to new (new to you, at least) music; even though Queen is a well-known band, I think this song is still an excellent choice.

You can hear it on grooveshark (http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/+39/lM8rl). It's quite a bit different from what you would expect from Queen, but still contains their amazing vocal harmony. It has more of a skiffle feel than their rock/prog-rock sound, and I love the use of the upright bass to provide a sort-of walking bassline. Alongside the vocal harmony they have included multiple acoustic guitars harmonizing with each other and playing the percussive part of the song. The only real drums heard in the song is a bass drum -- sometimes playing along with the upright bass -- and a tambourine. It turns out to be such a catchy song that I'm left with a grin -- no matter what mood I was in beforehand.

'39 was written by Queen's guitarist Brian May. May was working on a PhD in Astrophysics when Queen become popular in the mid 1970's, and ended up putting off completing his PhD until 2008. His background with astrophysics comes out in this song though. The song references the theory of special relativity, and in a round about way the twin paradox. It tells the story of someone setting sail, in the year '39, on a spaceship to discover a new inhabitable planet. With the spaceship moving near the speed of light, the travelers aboard the ship experience time differently than their relatives back on earth. They finally return in the year '39, likely 100 years later for those on earth. The following lyrics seem to indicate that upon returning to earth, the traveler is only a year older, but many years have passed on earth. Presumably the space traveler's wife has died, but he is able to see his wife's eyes in his grandchildren's (or great grandchildren's) crying eyes:

"But my love this cannot be

For so many years have gone, though I'm older but a year

Your mother's eyes, from your eyes cry to me"

What is your favorite space travel / space song?

Dan Mangan - Tragic Turn of Events / Move Pen Move

Short preamble since this is my first post: My friend Nic (www.quagmus.com) suggested that I start a blog about songs that I enjoy. He and I have gotten into discussions about different songs and I guess he thought it would be cool to share my thoughts with a larger audience, so here is my first post. Hopefully some people will be introduced to some new music as I do more of these posts.

The first song I have picked is a collaboration between Dan Mangan and Shane Koyczan titled Tragic Turn of Events / Move Pen Move. The song can be heard on Dan Mangan's website (http://www.danmanganmusic.com/site/chameleonplayer_pop_up.html) track 14. Shane Koyczan's poem tells the story of a son and his dying mother. Combined with the music from Dan Mangan, I think it provides a very authentic emotionalism; not overdone, but still very affecting.

My favorite bit from the poem; an amazing analogy of the feelings of losing a loved one. (3:56ish):

"But my mother just motions to a bottle full of answers and says 'Help me go'

And now I know something of how a piano must feel

When it looks at the fireplace to see sheet music being used for kindling

Smoke signaling the end of some song that I thought it would take too long to learn

So I just sit here watching you burn away

All those notes I never had a chance to play to hear the music of what you had to say"

Below is the full text of the poem:

"

'Stay…'

That’s what Mothers say when their sons and daughters go away they say stay

My Mother said go

So I wasn't there

The night she fell out of her chair, so frustrated that she amputated her own legs or rather tried to

With a steak knife

Her life leaking onto the white floor blossoming like

Roses in the snow.

Our relationship was an anthem composed of words like

'Gotta go'

So we went

And sent our regards on postcards from the places we’ve been

With stories about all the things we've seen that’s how it was with you and I

Why say goodbye when we could still write

And then it took your hands

We should have practiced our goodbyes

Because then it took your eyes

And I was somewhere in the middle of nowhere watching the sun rise over a stop sign placed down the center line of a highway filled with sudden turns for the worse

Running back home cause I gotta play nurse

Gotta figure out which pill alleviates which pain

Which part of your brain is being used for a boxing bag as your body became a never ending game of freeze tag taking place in an empty playground I was left looking for your limbs in a lost and found and I couldn't set you free

So we just sat there

Our heads bent towards each other like flowers in the small hours of the morning while light wandered in like a warning that time is passing, and you right along with it, bit by bit everyday

And all I could say is 'If I could I would write you someway out of this, but my gift is useless…' And you said 'No…

Write me a poem to make me happy'

I wrote 'Move Pen Move.'

'Write me a bedroom where cures make love to our cancers'

But my mother just motions to a bottle full of answers and says 'Help me go'

And now I know something of how a piano must feel

When it looks at the fireplace to see sheet music being used for kindling

Smoke signaling the end of some song that I thought it would take too long to learn

So I just sit here watching you burn away

All those notes I never had a chance to play to hear the music of what you had to say

But I count out the pills

Just to see if I can do it

And I can’t even get half way through it before I turn back into your son and say 'Stay'

I could hook up my heart to your ears and let my tears be your morphine drip

And maybe its easier to let you slip away than it is to say 'good bye' So I

Hold my breath

Because in the countdown to death the question of why melts into when

How much time do we have left because if I knew what I know now then - Move Pen Move write me a mountain

Because headstones are not big enough

And my mother says 'Stop it…

Write me a poem to make me happy'

So I write this

'Stay…'

She smiles and says

'Gotta go'

'I know… Goodbye…'"