Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
13 Feb 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: dawes, hey lover
Dawes: “Hey Lover” (2013)
It doesn’t get much simpler than the sentiment (or the chorus) here:
Blue and white racing stripe pick-up truck
And when did I decide to grow this beard and gut?
Well, I may be white but I don’t like my people much
But I want to raise with you and watch our younglings hatch,
Fucking make the first letters of their first names match
Hey lover, hey lover
Hey lover, hey lover
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/02/21/recommended-albums-7/
13 Feb 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: badflower, daddy
Badflower: “Daddy” (2019)
Mumble rap, EDM, bro country…it’s a depressing popular music landscape these days for anyone who still prefers music to say something.
Fortunately the genre of rock still has its bright spots here and there, though it may be a bit ironic to use the term for subject matter this dark.
“Daddy”, from Badflower’s 2019 debut Ok, I’m Sick, is an unflinching and impactful vignette of familial abuse. The verses take you to a pretty messed up place. But the chorus has a cathartic clout.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2022/02/07/songs-you-may-have-missed-722/
10 Feb 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: steely dan, your gold teeth II
Steely Dan: “Your Gold Teeth II” (1975)
Donald Fagen is not an easy guy to impress. But when he hears Denny Dias’ guitar solo in a studio outtake run-through of “Your Gold Teeth II”, the song’s co-writer exclaims, “Holy fuck! That’s great!”
It is.
Casual rock fans and critics alike love Aja, Steely Dan’s 1977 jazz-rock fusion masterpiece. But two years and two albums earlier they produced another glossy, sophisticated jazzy rock classic brimming with the sort of great melodic hooks, cryptic lyrics and jaw-dropping performances the Dan are known for, that being the Katy Lied LP.
And no performance tops Dias’ adventurous solo here. “Your Gold Teeth II”–so-named because the band had already released a song called “Your Gold Teeth” two years earlier–neatly straddles the fence between accessible pop rock and real jazz.
1970’s Steely Dan were the open-minded pop rock fan’s gateway drug into jazz exploration.
Just as Gentle Giant knocked holes in the wall separating English progressive rock and jazz, Steely Dan at their best blurred the lines between the worlds of bop, pop, and what is now called Yacht Rock–except that term seems to do a disservice to the excellence of the Steely Dan catalog.
If this is Yacht Rock, I’m on board with it.
08 Feb 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: for real, tom petty
Tom Petty: “For Real” (2019)
Tom Petty’s posthumously released “For Real”, written and recorded in 2000, sounds eerily like a summation of the man’s mission and career–and the kind of song you’d release as your life’s coda if you knew you’d soon be passing.
Needless to say, it’s the perfect track to conclude the newly-released career overview The Best of Everything.
Petty’s daughter Adria, who has directed music videos for heavyweights like Coldplay and Beyonce, compiled and edited the clips that make up the video, and it indeed sums up the song’s lyric poignantly.
Oh brother, look what we’ve become
Oh brother, could we be so dumb?
They set us up like dominoes
I didn’t do it for no magazine
Didn’t do it for no video
Never did it for no CEO
But I did it for real
Would’ve done it for free
I did it for me
‘Cause it was all that rang true
I did it for real
And I did it for you
Might’ve done it for my sanity
Maybe done it for my vanity
Could be I did it for my big ego
But I did it for real
Would’ve done it for free
Yeah, I did it for me
‘Cause it was all that rang true
I did it for real
And I did it for you (true)
Oh brother, look what we’ve become
Oh brother, I’ve been overrun
Only did it for the way it made me feel
Yeah I did it for real
Would’ve done it for free
Yeah I did it for me
‘Cause it was all that rang true
I did it for real
And I did it for you
06 Feb 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: every single thing, homeshake
Homeshake: “Every Single Thing” (2017)
Montreal singer-songwriter Peter Sagar, who has been recording as Homeshake since 2012, creates a mostly spare, R&B-infused brand of indie pop.
“Every Single Thing” is lonesome, chilled-out, funky standout from 2017’s Fresh Air album.
31 Jan 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: hold on when you get love and let go when you give it, stars
Stars: “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It” (2012)
It’s 80’s style synth pop with a message from Canada’s Stars.
There’s been a lot of talk of love
But that don’t amount to nothing
You can evoke the stars above
But that doesn’t make it something
And the only way to last
And the only way to live it
Is to hold on when you get love
And let go when you give it… give it
It’s a pretty melody
It might help you through the night time
But it doesn’t make it easy
To leave the party at the right time
If I’m frightened, if I’m high
It’s my weakness please forgive it
At least I hold on when I get love
And I let go when I give it… give it… give it
What do I do when I get lonely?
What do I do?
Hold on when you get love
What do I do when I get lonely?
What do I do?
Hold on when you get love
What do I do when I get lonely?
What do I do?
And you let go when you give it
What do I do?
The world won’t listen to this song
And the radio won’t play it
But if you like it sing along
Sing cause you don’t know how to say it
Take the weakest thing in you
And then beat the bastards with it
And always hold on when you get love
So you can let go when you give it
Take the weakest thing in you
And then beat the bastards with it
And always hold on when you get love
So you can let go when you give it… give it… give it
What do I do when I get lonely?
What do I do?
Hold on when you get love
What do I do when I get lonely?
What do I do?
And you let go when you give it
What do I do when I get lonely?
What do I do?
Hold on when you get love
What do I do?
I know it’s true, please don’t think I do
Nothing that you say or do will make you love me
Forget the song, things will go on
I keep seeing you from the dark with you above me
I know it’s true, please don’t think I do
Nothing that you say or do will make you love me
Forget the song, things will go on
I keep seeing you from the dark with you above me
Take the weakest thing in you
And then beat the bastards with it
And always hold on when you get love
So you can let go when you give it
Give it… give it… give it… give it… give it… give it
Every Moment Has A Song 