Silver Jews - "How Can I Love You (If You Won't Lie Down)"
Songs like this light up my day. It's like finding a park after all you could see was parked cars and garbage cans. The sweetness gets better with every listen, until eventually, it turns into an urgency, the feeling that maybe the greatness of this song will go unnoticed as it gets filed under "joke song" in people's minds. I have the same fear often about Magnetic Fields songs (this could be a MF song, no?). That the beauty and majesty of thought put into the creation of this thing will die under the weight of its own funny chorus. It's so important, I think, that people appreciate how true it is that love has such an undeniable practicality, you can touch love, you can hear it; and how lovely it is that Berman lives so independent of the "independent", he fearlessly [wrong word...try "obviously" -ed.] makes a song (an entire album, in fact) about getting old. But then, I think, you're a snob, Dan, people can take what they want from it. This song is a wrinkled grin, and maybe that's all.
[Tanglewood Numbers will be released in the fall, until then, Buy]
*******
Viva Voce - "Alive With Pleasure"
My best friend Karin is here to talk with me about this song. This is our talk:
Karin: Doo doo doo doo
Me: Are you trying to predict what's coming next?
Karin: Yeah.
Me: Did you predict that break in the middle?
Karin: No. that's impossible.
Me: I know, it's like two songs grafted together. Like two pieces of soap.
Karin: No, not like that. This song has too many "ingredients" to be merely soap.
Me: Right. Like what? (starts clapping hands, playing theremin, tambourine, and shaker)
Karin: Enough.
Me: Yeah, it gets kind of tiring, right?
Karin: No, you're not understanding me, listening means closed mouth. The best ingredients make the best food so-
Me: -as long as it's there the kid in me will always like it?
Karin: Exactly. Play it again.
The End.
(note: this was not our talk. Karin is much nicer than this.)
[sent to us by PDX Pop Now festival, support Portland music! buy!]
Posted by Dan at July 18, 2005 3:02 AMBoth of these came at such a good time for me - they just light up my day. Thanks, Sean. Plus, check the wicked banjo work in the Silver Jews song. Fantastic.
Posted by: Lindsay at July 18, 2005 12:21 PMack! this is a post by dan but i forgot to do the authorship properly! fixed!
(and for those of you paying attention, it was probably obvious.)
Posted by: Sean at July 18, 2005 12:51 PMWell in that case, no thanks to YOU, Sean!
Wicked songs, Dan.
Really enjoyed the Silver Jews' track. For what it's worth, I consider "Tennessee" to be one of the sweetest love songs I've ever heard. He does it like no one else.
Posted by: Liz at July 18, 2005 3:09 PMHi, there!
I found this fabulous blog yesterday because of John Rae Fletcher's song[Prayer to god]. One of my friends gave me the song's mp3 and I was immediately addicted to his voice(& the weird lyrics as well) and wanted to find more info about this singer.
That's the story how I finally reached here. Wow...it's such a treasure island to me. Furthermore, the lovely stories about music and friends around here. I think I'll be a regular(or an addict) of this webpage.
Anyway, I hope I can find the CDs I want more easily because in my country, it's not very easy to buy good indie rock albums(I'm Korean, BTW).
Hope you enjoy a great music life and introduce
even greater songs on and on. Cheers.
Ok, it's days later and I cannot stop listening to this Viva Voce song.
Posted by: Lindsay at July 20, 2005 10:06 PM