On first viewing, I thought the story was a kind of time travel thing, where the older man in the video was present day… and the couple was from an earlier time. When I realized they were different people, I thought “Oh, you bastards.”
“So long to my ocean home
So long to my dear sea, I’m going home
Wash my face in the salty water
I’ve got a date with the captain’s daughter”
I was working on the house recently, and when I was looking for music to play… ended up looking at my Spotify collection by Album (sorting only by album name).
This was a fun thing, as I ended up remembering a ton of albums I haven’t listened to in… well, in ages. A lot of digging into old favorites, songs from a bygone era.
Interesting side fact: I also follow a talented photographer named Jarrad Seng, who ended up touring a lot with Passenger and has directed a lot of videos for him.
“And I have this dream where I’m screaming underwater
While my friends are all waving from the shore
And I don’t need you to tell me what that means
I don’t believe in that stuff anymore”
Weirdly, the first song I had ever heard from Bridgers was a Christmas song. It was “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. And there was such a melancholic twinge to it (a twinge that seems to lurk just underneath almost every popular Christmas song).
I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with the fact that I inhabit essentially the same two rooms for 90% of my days. But I’ll wake up some mornings, and this song is instantly playing in my head. AS in: I barely have both feet on the ground and this song is already starting up.
“Afternoon vanilla sun crawls away across the lawn
Through the phone I pull you and drag your voice around
Afternoon vanilla sun crawls away without a sound
Through the phone I pull you and drag your voice around”
It’s odd – there are these little moments where I got flashes of other artists: Janis briefly, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, and even a snippet of Shudder to Think.
It’s been a long while since I’ve played “The Last of Us Part 2,” but I’ve found myself returning to this cover of “Take On Me” that exists in the game. I grew up with the song as a kid, but I’m finding that the slow covers of this song are really my thing.
Lately, I found myself returning to Elle King – and in particular, her song Kocaine Karolina. I know I featured a video of this song before, but this is a better version… and a song worth revisiting.
In addition to the song, I found myself pulling up this video more than once over the last few days. I was just mesmerized by Morissette’s interactions with her daughter. As someone who is a terrible multi-tasker, as someone who is not a parent… I was just in awe of her.
As I was watching this video and feeling like I was kneeling on the carpet in my parents’ living room, something struck me as kind of odd. I was looking at the background, at where the band was recording this video.
“I have never held a hand so soft and sacred
When I hear you laugh, I know heaven’s key
And when I grow to be a poppy in the graveyard
I will send you all my love upon the breeze”
D’Amato’s song is a breath of fresh air, and a lovely positive note in a time that seems dominated by dark clouds. It will be some time, I think, before I feel great again. But hearing this song makes me feel just a little bit better.