Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
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10 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: dawes, the game
Dawes: “The Game” (2024)
Dawes is the kind of band that, over the course of an album, can proverbially lull you to sleep with long, ponderous lyric phrases and melodies tending to be short on dynamics and originality.
Then like Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle they can wake you up with a quick jab of something so feel-osophical you’re not sure what hit you.
“The Game” is specific to itself as a story song, but in its summarizing title line it takes on metaphorical import.
Singer-songwriter Taylor Goldsmith and his brother, drummer Griffin Goldsmith have released the ninth Dawes album as a duo. Gone are a few bandmates. Still intact is their ability to create songs that show you your life through a new lens.
“The Game”
Millie came up playing in the boys’ clubs
But they made her play at midnight or at 8
Her friends all said the times were finally changing
It only felt a few centuries too late
Her eyes were always deep inside her notebook
Her hands were always tuning her guitar
And while some stayed busy waiting for permission
She was on her way to be a starBut if you asked her if anyone had held her back
She’d tеll you she forgot most of their names
Thе losers only think about the winners
The winners only think about the gameThen Millie fell in love with a civilian
Or at least we know he fell in love with her
He could see how bright her light was shining
He could feel how wild her fire burned
But love has its own kind of symmetries
You have to give as much as you receive
And once he realized he would never give her nothing
He decided it was time for him to leaveBut now he likes to criticize her privately
While she simply says that neither were to blame
The losers only think about the winners
The winners only think about the gameSo Millie kept on adding to the setlist
And working on her studio tan
And for the first time found it hard telling the difference
Between all her friends and all her fans
Which left her with a special brand of emptiness
She channeled right back into the songs
She wasn’t gonna ask herself the question
If this is what she wanted all alongSome people said she was a genius
Some people said she was insane
But those losers only think about the winners
The winners only think about the gameShe wouldn’t suffer any fools
She danced to her own rhythm
She wasn’t playing by the rules
She was playing with ’emMillie knew just when the dust was settled
When it’s time to put the pencil down
When the harmony is only just a shadow
Of the way it felt the first hundred times around
Which left her to the critics and the experts
To tell the world how Millie really felt
To somehow say she lost a competition
She was only ever having with herselfWell, some might look for meaning in the ashes
She just misses standing in the flame
The losers only think about the winners
The winners only think about the game
Oh, the losers only think about the winners
The winners only think about the game
09 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: joe walsh, life's been good
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03 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: julieta venegas, lento
Julieta Venegas: “Lento” (2003)
Imagine pulling a 20-year-old CD from your collection that somehow went in one ear and out the other on first listen but now completely blows your pop-leaning musical mind.
Imagine lamenting, at age 60, that all the music you love most was that which you discovered before you turned 16, and that you may never again be touched that deeply by something new–only to have a woman who sings in a language you don’t even know crash into the circle of your most revered and hallowed handful of artists.
Imagine falling in love with a voice, a melody, a clever confection of an arrangement, only to translate a Spanish lyric into English out of curiosity and fall ever deeper in love, over and over and over again, song after song after amazing song.
For me over the past year or so, the unimaginable happened.
Mexican singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas produces Spanish language pop rock that, while touching on traditional Latin and Mexican musical styles here and there, basically falls between categories.
This lack of genre identification seems to free up Venegas to let the lyric, message or mood of a song determine its sound. Sometimes the vibe is indie pop, sometimes it’s rap-infused and bass-heavy, and sometimes it’s pure sugary pop. At times it’s uptempo and bouncy, at others it’s spare and brooding.
But it’s always thoughtfully arranged with co-producers Cachorro López and Coti Sorokin deserving credit (Sorokin also has co-writing credits on many cuts).
The more of Julieta Venegas’ songs you hear, and the more times you hear them, the more her undeniable songwriting talent impresses. Her gifts are on par with far better-known songwriters, the kind whose songs have received millions of plays over four or five decades in this country.
The production adds another layer of listening bliss. Check out the subtle 4-chord progression on guitar at the 27-second mark. It’s the kind of musical frosting on the cake you may only hear on the tenth listen.
So many times I’ve thought “it wouldn’t have been as good if the bass didn’t come in right there” or “it’s just a bit tastier with the handclaps on top of the percussion” or “nice touch to kill the vocal reverb and go with drier vocals on that bit for emphasis”.
Venegas has won 9 Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, received a Master of Latin Music Award from Berklee College, and has been recognized as a major influence on a generation of Latino songwriters.
She’s proficient on 17 different instruments and is a bit of a badass on accordion.
“Lento” is hardly the last thing you’ll see or hear from her on this site. And although the above version of is definitive, it’s the MTV Unplugged version–with Venegas seated at the piano, a sympathetic string arrangement and backup vocals–that truly gets to the heart of the song.
(If the video below has been removed by the time you read this, do yourself the favor of finding it on YouTube.)
I actually choke up every time I hear the crowd burst into spontaneous applause after each chorus, as if to thank Venegas for the gift of the beautiful sentiment of the song.
It’s one of the most affecting musical moments I’ve ever witnessed.
Si quieres un poco de mí If you want a little of me
Me deberías esperar You should wait for me
Y caminar a paso lento And walk at a slow pace
Muy lento Very slow
Y poco a poco olvidar And little by little forget
El tiempo y su velocidad Time and its speed
Frenar el ritmo Slowing down the pace
Ir muy lento, más lento Go very slow, more slowly
Se delicado y espera Be gentle and wait
Dame tiempo para darte Give me time to give you
Todo lo que tengo Everything I’ve got
Si quieres un poco de mí If you want a little of me
Dame paciencia y verás Give me patience and you’ll see
Será mejor que andar corriendo It’ll be better than running
Levantar vuelo Taking flight
Y poco a poco olvidar And little by little forget
El tiempo y su velocidad Time and its speed
Frenar el ritmo Slowing down the pace
Ir muy lento, cada vez más lento Going very slow, slower and slower
Se delicado y espera Be gentle and wait
Dame tiempo para darte Give me time to give you
Todo lo que tengo Everything I’ve got
Si me hablas de amor If you talk to me about love
Si suavizas mi vida If you soften my life
No estaré más tiempo I won’t be around any longer
Sin saber que siento Without knowing what I feel
Se delicado y espera Be gentle and wait
Dame tiempo para darte Give me time to give you
Todo lo que tengo Everything I’ve got
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2025/11/15/recommended-albums-101/
Every Moment Has A Song 