The lyrics used in the song “Between the Sheets” by Meiko draws an interesting parallel, in my view, of how ones internal voice or dialogue can take place and what sometimes takes hold of ones thoughts within the flicking lights of a pixel environment; like what can be created in a place like Second Life. Now I’m sure Ms Meiko didn’t give a thought at all to digital types of environments or online interactions when she wrote this song. The choices between what is real and touchable within a real life experience and what takes places within ones mind eye and a portal into a digital type of environment between distance strangers I find most interesting and how it relates to the lyrics in this song.
“Lights on? Why? What are you afraid of? A secret? Really?”
Secrets that get lost in the flow of the digital stream when the flicking lights of the screen gets turned off!
In 2010 A Silent Film released their album “The City That Sleeps” that have a number of good tracks worth listening to. I’ve included with this blog posting a Youtube video of “Driven by Their Beating Hearts” from “The City That Sleeps” album. Both their song, & the video that A Silent Film has produced to help visually represent their song, has an enjoyable whimsical type of beat to it. I love the fact, too that the two main actors chosen for the video don’t look at all like “Barbie & Ken”. Hope you enjoy this song & video as much as I do!
“…words don’t come easily when most I need them, I do not have a key I’m breaking in…”
Radiohead’s “House of Cards” doesn’t really need my take, because the lyrics and music speak for themselves. Really! I will say this however, I think it’s sublime in its delivery and way we have allowed ourselves to become more and more virtual as a race. I hope you enjoy the meaning behind this song in however you want to interpret it as it relates to your own life.
I have not been spending much time recently in Second Life, for a variety of reason, other than my regular DJ gig that I do on Thursday nights each week. As such when I recently got a notice via the BURN2 Performers group that I’m a member of, that they were holding a community event on December 17th called “SantaCon” and needed live performers and/or live DJ’s for, I jumped at the chance and send a message off to the organizers that I was interested. I ended up getting booked to DJ from 9pm to 11pm, which was perfect as it fit nicely into my demanding real life schedule of events.
I’ve had the pleasure to have been able to perform as a DJ on several different occasions now for the BURN2 community in Second Life over the last couple of years. Each occasion has been an important step for me, as both a DJ, and as a community member of Second Life, on learning more about what it means to be a volunteer within this unique metaverse environment. BURN2, for me at least, has become one of those center points in Second Life that helps to keep bringing me back to Second Life and believing still in the creative aspect of what can be accomplished within a digital virtual world structure. Life to me, be it “real” or “second”, at its basic structural components, is this constantly evolving “work in progress”, where goal setting, reaching for goals and achieving goals, is important, but not as important as being in the moment of life’s constant stream of activities that makes one realize that all aspects of our life’s are a “work in progress”.
So DJ for the SantaCon event this last Saturday night, was a time for me to be in the “moment” and allowing myself to enjoy this never-ending “work in progress”!
I typically don’t publish my set list of the songs I play from my DJ gigs, not because I don’t want to share them, but more out of the fact that I don’t have the time to rewrite them down again! I will however share one of the songs I played last night, that is a favorite of mine now; “What the Water Gave Me” by Florence and the Machine from their 2011 album “Ceremonials”. It’s just such a powerful song and Florence is at her Celtic best as she pours her feminine emotions into the delivery of this song. I hope your enjoy it as much as I do!
I’ll share a couple of pictures I snapped quickly too from the end part of my gig at SantaCon last night. I’m not much of a photographer, but I still like to record a few memories now and then for post reflections!
“…Come close, Lay next to me. I need to tell you something important…”
Oh to uncover those “Diamonds in the Rough” when listening to music! Every time I get to listen to another song off of the new album “Little Hell” by “City and Colour” it’s like finding another precious jewel; wonderful! The strength, quality and delivery of the songs written and performed by Dallas Green shows itself in the “Little Hell” Album. In the song “Weightless” Dallas Green explores the theme of those conflicting emotions of what happens when one is falling in and/or out of love. The “wanting” and the “not wanting”. The lines in the song “…Holding all the weight in my life. Now you turn and walk away from me…” point to the song title “Weightless” and what it feels like when the floor falls out beneath your feet in a relationship. Your emotional connection with someone who you have trusted is now falling away and the conflicts of wanting that intimate connection back, but knowing it’s crumbling away beneath your feet is very well presented in the song.
The paradoxical lines,”…Needing all the strength in my life. Now you turn and run away from me. Needing all the strength in my life. Now you turn and run away from me…” are interesting in that they show that even the person in a relationship who is “walking away” is still close to the person they are leaving in the emotion damage that is felt. The person in question who is leaving the relationship may have moved on, but in the heart of the person left they are still there; especially in the pain of what has fallen away.
The front end lyrics of the song, “…Stay close, Lay next to me, I need to feel important…” set the right mood in not only the way the words were chosen, but in the way Dallas Green delivers them in the presentation of his song. The structure of the words, conjure up the loss of what once felt like a balance in a very intimate relationship (or what one might have perceived as being in balance); that fine balance between two intimate lovers where both people need to feel appreciated and important. There is an extreme level of vulnerability within all intimate relationships, so of course when the bond or “balance” is broken the weightlessness of the lost is magnified.
In any event, I’ll leave it up to you to listen and interpret the song “Weightless” as you like; that’s the beauty of music the sense of discovery and making a song part of your life in what it says.!
I’ve included the lyrics to “Weightless” too for your review and analysis. Please leave a comment or two if you have a moment and tell me what you think this song means to you?
“Come close,
Lay next to me
Come close,
Lay next to me
I need to tell you something important
Because it’s your eyes I don’t believe
And my heart, I know, you will deceive
Do you know the consequence that comes with such confidence?
Holding all the weight in my life
Now you turn and walk away from me
So what is this now, you ask of me?
What’s makes your pain such an urgency?
Now I want out, so plain to see
Once again my dear, a new tragedy
Holding all the weight in my life
Now you turn and walk away from me
Holding all the weight in my life
Now you turn and walk away from me
Needing all the strength in my life
Now you turn and run away from me
Needing all the strength in my life
Now you turn and run away from me”
This is such a great, well composed song by the Canadian indie rock band City and Color; “Fragile Bird”. Strong, masculine, tight presentation with a hypnotic delivery of the lyrics by Dallas Green to boot. The YouTube video feed doesn’t have a live video of the band playing sadly but the music quality is good and you get the lyrics on the video feed.
You can watch the official video for “Fragile Bird” at the bands official website if you like: City and Colour Web Site
The song was used for Hockey Night in Canada’s intro for game seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins. Hope you enjoy this song as much as I do. Leave a comment if you’re so inclined and let me know your feelings on this song! I’ll be including this tune in the next set I DJ with a contemporary rock, alt rock and indie rock theme! Oh and for the American’s reading the post “Colour” is the correct English Commonwealth spelling of the word, not “Color”! 😛
I’ve always enjoy the straight ahead, high masculine energy of the Foo Fighters style on the alternative rock dial. Great song selections, vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, base guitar and of course superb drumming via ex Nirvana drummer David Grohl.
I’ve added in for this post the official video release of the second single, “Walk”, off of the Foo Fighters current Album Wasting Light that was released in April of this year. I interpret “Walk” differently in my head when I listen to it, than in the video presentation, but that’s the cool thing about music is the personal interpretation we can all put to it. Nevertheless the video is a fun/playful approach to the song. “Walk” is a perfect song for my set list during my next alternative/contemporary rock DJ gig. Hope you enjoy the song!
Amy was unique, when she was at the top of her game she had such an incredible intoxicating, raspy, sexy voice that could get deep inside of you if you let it. Amy, for someone so young, could sing songs that were way beyond her tender years. For those in the know you could see that her grasp of that thin silk rope we call life was sliding away and sadly yes the grasp of life for her is no more. R.I.P. Amy Winehouse; thank your for body of music work you left behind.
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