“And I’ve come to know the wishlist of my father
I’ve come to know the shipwrecks where he wished
I’ve come to wish aloud, among the overdressed crowd
Come to witness now the sinking of the ship
Throwing pennies from the seatop next to it”
“Of course the only part that I want to read
Is about her time spent with me
Wouldn’t you die to know how you’re seen
Are you getting away with who you’re trying to be?”
I was surfing around and chanced across the Mahogany Sessions YouTube channel. For their main showreel, they had a montage of performances/videos running over a song called “Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man.
Today was a pretty exceptional day for me, at work. I found this song, and it just so happened that a lot of folks were out of the office. So I had a lot of music on, head down, coding time. I worked pretty solidly, stopping briefly for lunch, and just cranked. It felt pretty great.
I don’t know that I consider myself that religious or spiritual. Though I guess a lot of the poems I write seem to suggest otherwise. I guess this song just caught me at the right time.
I’m introducing things in a kind of non-linear way here. Mostly because I want you to experience the same process I experienced, earlier today. So first up, I’d say watch the video below. It’ll give you a bit of context about the song, and after it dives into the specifics… give a pause. And then keep on reading.
“So call and I’ll get right back
If your intentions are pure
I’m seeking a friend for the end of the world”
I went over to Postmodern Jukebox’s page on YouTube, and they just have a TON of videos at this point. I got lost for a long while, just jumping from song to song.
“Is it too late to live in your heart, too late to burn all your civilian clothes?”
“Who’s that by your front door
We all thought he died
Who’s that man knee deep in sand
Waiting on the tide
With an atlas and a ladder
Undaunted by the height”
I came across this song by The Avett Brothers a week ago, and have had it looping incessantly for a few days. More than just a catchy tune, it’s really been all-consuming. And I can’t help but feel happy/good whenever I hear it.
Debussy Dots: The Snow is Dancing is a fantastic visualization by Alexander Chen. It’s mesmerizing, and absolutely a lovely experience. I’m reminded of one of my favorite musical visualizations: Sonar. As I was looking over other musical visualizations I liked, I realized that I’ve mentioned Chen’s work on here a number of times. He’s also the author of Conductor and…
“My love, you’re the one I want to watch the ship go down with
The future can’t be real, I barely know how long a moment is
Unless we’re naked, getting high on the mattress
While the global market crashes”
The more I listen, the more impressed I am at the range of the song. It spans two-plus octaves, but never really feels like it’s moving that far or fast, as the song is so melodic you don’t really notice the distance being travelled.
I happened across Laura Marling recently on Spotify, and got taken in by her voice. I got hooked first by the bass on Soothing. But it was the above track, Wild Fire, that made me realize I needed to spend some time with this album.