Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
25 Dec 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: save me a place, velvet crush
Velvet Crush: “Save Me a Place” (2002)
On their aptly-titled fifth album Soft Sounds, Velvet Crush strip down their usual power pop bluster to reveal a more mature side with a collection of thoughtfully-produced originals and well-chosen covers.
“Save Me a Place”, in this writer’s opinion at least, actually betters Lindsey Buckingham’s original Tusk album track.
See also: Songs You May Have Missed #220 | Every Moment Has A Song (edcyphers.com)
25 Dec 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: birds, the submarines
The Submarines: “Birds” (2011)
John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard began their career as musical and romantic partners. Dragonetti produced Hazard’s solo debut, and the two played in each other’s bands.
But post-breakup the two began sharing the songs each had written about the dissolution of their relationship.
Fast forward a few years and the couple reconciled, married, and continued to work together as Submarines, finding success placing songs on TV shows and iPhone commercials.
“Birds” is a highlight from their third full-length album.
30 Oct 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: fool's garden, lemon tree
Fool’s Garden: “Lemon Tree” (1995)
Released in 1995, Fool’s Garden’s “Lemon Tree” hit number one not only in the band’s native Germany but in Austria, Ireland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway.
Although it also peaked at #26 in the UK pop charts, it was never a hit in the U.S.
This song is familiar enough around the world to have spawned several cover versions and even a Christmas parody (“Christmas Tree”) but if you’re American you’re likely hearing it for the first time.
And that’s what Songs You May Have Missed is all about.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2022/02/07/songs-you-may-have-missed-723/
28 Oct 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: abba, slipping through my fingers
Abba: “Slipping Through My Fingers” (1981)
When we last featured Abba in this series of posts, we were wiping a tear away as we listened to the tale of marital disintegration “My Love, My Life” from their aptly-named 1977 stateside breakthrough album Arrival.
Despite the bright, poppy, polyester image these Swedes are sadly saddled with, they could serve up heartache like few bands of any era, perhaps because too often the heartache in the writing was of the autobiographical sort.
So here’s a fresh serving of musical misery–a tune about a mother’s regret in watching her daughter grow up too soon, inspired by band members Bjorn and Agnetha’s (at the time) seven-year-old daughter Linda Ulvaeus.
Vocalists Agnetha and Frida’s ability to render a sad song as if they’d written it themselves is key to the listener’s buy-in on songs like “SOS”, “The Winner Takes it All” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You”, as well as “My Love, My Life” and her performance is devastating here.
The song was released as a single only in Japan, as a promo single for the Coca-Cola company. The Visitors, from which it came, was their eighth and–unbeknownst to them at the time–final album.
Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I’m losing her forever
And without really entering her world
I’m glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl
Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what’s in her mind
Each time I think I’m close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sleep in our eyes
Her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when she’s gone
There’s that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I can’t deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(Slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didn’t
And why, I just don’t know
Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what’s in her mind
Each time I think I’m close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/05/01/songs-you-may-have-missed-94/
See Also: https://edcyphers.com/2021/11/12/songs-you-may-have-missed-717/
25 Sep 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: 10000 emerald pools, BØRNS
While fans of MGMT and Lana Del Rey will probably take to the trippy, falsetto-driven psych pop sound, those old enough to know who T. Rex is might hear enough glam touches to pique interest too.
That said, an appreciation of melodic pop wrapped in glittery production is your only pre-qualification to take this musical plunge.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2025/10/09/songs-you-may-have-missed-796/
25 Sep 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: anthem, deep purple
Deep Purple: “Anthem” (1968)
From their 1968 sophomore LP The Book of Taliesyn. On later albums Ritchie Blackmore and company would certainly rock harder. But they were arguably most interesting in their progressive rock infancy, as this track attests.
To any fan of classic-era Moody Blues, this one will sound like musical comfort food.
Every Moment Has A Song 