"Can't we give ourselves one more chance?"

"Under Pressure" -Queen & David Bowie

Such a classic song. Undeniably awesome. I mean, it was written by some of the greatest musicians of the time. I'd say that I'm much more of a Queen than Bowie fan: Freddie Mercury is my current obsession. (This often happens. I fall in love with a certain artist for a while, and then add them to my collection.)

The snaps and claps are infectious.

It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming 'Let me out'
Pray tomorrow - gets me higher
Pressure on people - people on streets

Pressure. Inescapable. No matter what is happening in the world, there is always someone hurting or lost or desperate because of the innumerable pressures that exist.

Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance
Why can't we give love that one more chance
Why can't we give love give love give love give love
give love give love give love give love give love
'Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves

Perhaps the solution, and our refuge, from all of the pressure of today, is love. And not just receiving it, but giving. Give love. Care about others. For as hard as your own life may seem, someone else is under more pressure. Someone else is living closer to the brink of breaking than you are.

This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure.

 

"Talk to me, let me shed some light on your dark ."

"The City" -Patrick Wolf

After a couple posts about somewhat melancholy songs, I believe it's time for a tune that makes for some foot-tapping.

Patrick Wolf is a relatively recent find of mine, and I adore him. Every single song on his newest album, "Lupercalia", relates to my life in some way, which is incredible. I'm using this music as the soundtrack to my senior year, and "The City", is one of my anthems.

I was lost
Until that night we kissed
Give it up
A life oh darling not this
You want more
Than the hell this city lets you down
When I see you top, top, top, top of the morning

It's all about wanting more. We all want more. I know I do: this little bubble of suburbia isn't enough for me. This song is about not letting "the city", or perhaps society and reality, get in your way.

No no no no
Not about the debts you made
The car we never had
The house we never owned
Darling don't look so sad
It's about that day we kissed
Down by Niagara Falls
It's about the keys the keys the keys to my heart you hold And money doesn't matter. It's happiness. This is something I live by.

This song is powerful: powerful lyrics, a powerful voice, and a powerful melody. It brightens my mood. I love the drum beats and the piano hits: percussion epitomized.

Won't let the city destroy our love
Won't let the city destroy my love
Won't let no mistake take the roof from off our heads
No I
Won't let this city destroy us
Won't let the city destroy our love

"Pain on pain on play, repeating..."

"Wait It Out" -Imogen Heap

...with the backup makeshift life in waiting.

We learn about the Renaissance, and how Humanism was such a strong element in everything that was created during that period. How everything was about living life to its full potential, and exploring all the great capabilities of humankind.
...where did that go? Nowadays it seems as though our goal in life is being safe and secure, not exploring.

And sit here cold?
Look, you'll be long gone by then.
And lackluster in dust we lay
'round old magazines.
Fluorescent lighting sets the scene
For all we could and should be being
In the one life that we've got.

Why? Why don't we strive to be all that we can be?

And when we do try, why do people hold us back?

I'm stuck.

Everybody says that time heals everything.
But what of the wretched hollow?
The endless in-between?
Are we just going to wait it out?

We are alive. Here and now. What are we waiting for? 

"The story of my life, I can't quite comprehend."

"Walls" -The Rocket Summer

And that's exactly how I feel right now.

The Rocket Summer, a one-man-band of the outstandingly talented Bryce Avary, has been my heart's musical true love all throughout high school. And in my senior year, I love him just as much as I did freshman year.

Songs like this, are the reason why.

And you got nowhere else to go

And you’re lost within your own home
And you’re trying so hard to win
You keep trying its embarrassing

We try. We always try to win. I know I am, and lately I'm losing. All of the heart that Bryce put into this song, I can feel.

I’ll help you break the walls down.
I’ll help you break the walls down.
And bust you out, and take you home.
Believe in me you are not alone.
I’ll help you break the walls down.

Sometimes, we're trapped inside of ourselves: inside our worries, our hate, our sorrow. Sometimes, we need someone to break the walls down.

And all the weight will carry
Will disappear and I will willingly
Embrace your soul
Lay your head
So come on home
Come on home
Come on home

I can't say it any better than that.

"The waves are crashing, scary but inviting."

"Parrots In The Tropical Trees" -Breathe Owl Breathe

As I reviewed Incubus after I saw them in concert, I'm reviewing a song by this little indie folk band by the name of Breathe Owl Breathe.

There's parrots in the tropical trees,
And the ocean, the ocean breeze.

This song is incredible in the fact that with nothing more than a banjo, a synth keyboard, and simple percussion, they can create music that makes you feel like you're in a hammock that's swaying in the jungle breeze in the tropical trees on a rocky ocean cliff with the waves crashy beneath you. The lyrics are perfect imagery as well:

The giraffe stretches out its long neck
To the leaves it has not reached yet.
And I am no giraffe,
that's why I swing in a hammock.

It's quirky, and it's catchy. But there's an underlying meaning in some of the lyrics:

I was ok when I first moved away,
but now I'm in too deep.
I wear my pain like a lion wears its mane,
I wish you were here with me.

And:

I've lost somebody, I've lost somebody too.
There's always a storm ready to wash away everything you knew.
This is how long my love lives on.

It's ironic. With a plucky banjo and a lively melody, the sadness in the lyrics doesn't seem to fit and can be overlooked by the way the song sounds.

There's nothing like being alone in a beautiful place, being without someone to share it with.

Tidal wave, what give you the entitlement to wash me away?
That's my love in the flood, this is how long I can hold on.

"I lean against the wind, pretend that I am weightless."

In honor of seeing Incubus in the flesh this past Wednesday, I'm creating my first post about one of their songs. I also named my blog from this song, and chose a picture of Brandon Boyd for the background. I'm in love, at the moment.

"Wish You Were Here" -Incubus
From a band that has been playing music for over twenty years, this song remains a classic. It's simple: two verses and a chorus. The verses are full of graceful imagery...

I dig my toes into the sand
The ocean looks like a thousand diamonds
strewn across a blue blanket
I lean against the wind
pretending I am weightless
and in this moment I am happy, happy...

And Brandon lets you see and feel exactly what he's experiencing. And then the chorus is a simple repetition of  the line: "I wish you were here." He is not lonely, but he is alone. And he wants someone there, to share this moment with.

I lay my head unto the sand
the sky resembles a backlit canopy
with holes punched in it...

I admire Brandon's ability to write songs that look at the things we all look at, but through such a different lens. And so my friends, here is my blog. A place to view music as something more than just a melody and some lyrics. This is the birth of Backlit Canopy.