Songs You May Have Missed #176

24 Sep 2012 1 Comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: , ,

ocean

Jennifer Cutting (with Grace Griffith): “My Grief On the Sea” (2005)

One of the loveliest voices in contemporary Celtic music belongs to Washington, D.C. area’s Grace Griffith.

If you’ve heard of Eva Cassidy, you have Griffith to thank. It was at her urging that Bill Straw of Bix Street Records signed Cassidy, whose career was cut short by melanoma in 1996. Griffith herself has yet to become a household name on the order of Cassidy despite having won multiple Washington Area Music Association awards (“Wammie Awards”).

Griffith was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1998 and has since become a speaker and educator on Parkinson’s.

“My Grief On the Sea” is actually from an album by Jennifer Cutting called Ocean: Songs for the Night Sea Journey, which won Cutting five Wammies in 2005. It’s a beautiful album which was the better part of a decade in the making.

See also:

https://edcyphers.com/2012/11/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-246/

Songs You May Have Missed #175

20 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

alber

Matt Alber: “End of the World” (2008)

Nice use of metaphor in this ballad of breakup heartache, in which Matt Alber sounds uncannily like Rufus Wainwright.

Alber’s voice is a fine emotive instrument–he’s almost overqualified as a singer of mainstream pop, considering he is a former member of Grammy-winning classical a capella vocal ensemble Chanticleer.

Songs You May Have Missed #174

20 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

belle

The Belle Brigade: “Rusted Wheel” (2011)

Led by harmonizing siblings Barbara and Ethan Gruska, The Belle Brigade debuted in 2011 with an album of self-penned pop songs that may make you think of 1970’s Fleetwood Mac. Or if you’re old enough, the Everly Brothers. Or if you’re young enough, the Avett Brothers–if one of them was a sister.

Songs You May Have Missed #173

16 Sep 2012 2 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: , ,

dream

Justin Hayward: “Broken Dream” (1996)

Angelic-voiced Moody Blues lead vocalist Hayward sets aside his trademark red Gibson electric for some nylon strings on this gorgeous ballad from a 1996 solo album.

The only thing that mars the performance is the apparent absence of a live drummer. Programmed tracks, assuming that’s what he used here, are inexcusable for such an established artist.

Having said that it’s a marvelous song, sung from a wizened perspective, about a midlife crossroads.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/11/06/songs-you-may-have-missed-500/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/11/21/songs-you-may-have-missed-253/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2015/02/17/songs-you-may-have-missed-523/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2025/10/22/songs-you-may-have-missed-800/

Songs You May Have Missed #172

15 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

jets

Mystery Jets: “Greatest Hits” (2012)

 

Breakups are always messy when there are records involved…

 

You can take ‘The Lexicon of Love’ away but I’m keeping Remain in Light’
You can take away ‘It’s a Shame About Ray’ but I’m holding on to ‘Country
Life’
You can keep ‘No Need to Argue’ and I’ll keep ‘The Aeroplane Over the Sea’
But hold on to ‘The Boy with the Arab Strap’ ’cause I’m holding on to ‘Village
Green’

I don’t know if the knot just needs untangling ’cause the tapes get stuck all the time
Either way I’m keeping ‘Double Nickels on the Dime’

These were our greatest hits (Shalalalalalalala Shalalalala)
The best of me and you(Shalalalalalalala Shalalalala)
These were our greatest hits (Shalalalalalalala Shalalalala)
The best of me and you

I still remember buying you ‘Band on the Run’ on the first day that we kissed
But you always did prefer ‘McCartney I’ because it reminded you of being a kid

No way your having ‘This Nation’s Saving Grace’ you only listen to it when your pissed
But when you sober up it’s always “why the fuck are you still listening to Mark E. Smith?”

I don’t know if the knot just needs untangling or if we forgot which way’s up and which way is down
But still the tape keeps going round and round

These were our greatest hits (Shalalalalalala lalalalala)
The best of me and you (Shalalalalalala Shalalalala)
The best of me and you
Of me and you

Still the tape keeps going round and round
The tape keeps going round

Songs You May Have Missed #171

14 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

james

James: “Waltzing Along” (1997)

Couldn’t decide between studio or live versions of this song–they’re both winners.

The video is from the same performance as their live album Getting Away With It, of which Amazon says:

Getting Away with It is a valedictory wave of the flower-petal handkerchief from James founder and singer Tim Booth, who announced his decision to leave the band late in 2001. Recorded at a celebratory hometown show (in
Manchester) on the band’s farewell tour, the crowd–clapping louder than hailstones hitting a corrugated roof–egg the group on all the way to the checkered flag.

Waltzing Along:

Help comes when you need it most
I’m cured by laughter
Mood swings not sure I can cope
My life’s in plaster

May your mind set you free
(chorus: opened by the wonderful)
May your heart lead you on
May your mind let you see through all disasters
(chorus: opened by the wonderful)
May your heart lead you on

These wounds are all self-imposed
Life’s no disaster, disaster
All roads lead unto death-row
Who knows what comes after

May your mind be wide open
May your heart beat strong
May your mind’s will be broken
By this heart-felt song

May your mind set you free
(Chorus: Be opened by the wonderful)
May your heart lead you on
May your eyes let you see through all disasters
May your heart lead you on, lead you on
(Chorus: May your eyes be opened by the wonderful)
Set you free
(Chorus: May your heart lead you on)
Lead you on

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