Hey, Snow White.

So this blog is going to be pretty short and sweet since my last blog was pretty long, and I’m tired after going to see my Niece’s musical debut in Gypsy (which was absolutely wonderful, although the storyline was pretty depressing).

The song I’m featuring tonight is The New Pornographer’s cover of “Hey, Snow White” that was written for the album Dark Was the Night. This amazing compilation of songs was created to raise money and awareness for HIV and Aids, and it does not leave much to ask for. Let me just say that this is probably one of the best albums of the year, and if you take the time to by the album you will be supporting a great cause, and getting some very neat music.

Now that I have advertised the album I will get to the point for this simplistic song, which is to not be so hard on yourself, because once you learn to love yourself everything else will fall into place.

This simple point seems to be the hardest thing to grasp for everybody, and anyone who doesn’t struggle with it is simply a robot (yes Aynslee, I’m talking about you..). Self love is one of the things that has been drilled into our heads since birth, yet it is the one thing that we seem to forget first in a tough situation. This song is just a reminder for me to breathe and to not be so hard on myself, since in the end I’m the only one I’ve truly got, so I have to be comfortable with myself (it also doesn’t hurt that one of my nicknames is Snow White).

Hollow Notes

I know I’m a little behind with my blog posts, but sometimes I get a little scared of what I’ll write if I force myself to sit down and type my thoughts when I’m in certain moods. Unfortunately, My blog can’t suffer just because I am, (suffering is a pretty intense word.. I guess we can just say some things are making me sad) and I must get this show on the road, although I warn you.. My songs aren’t necessarily going to be very happy at the moment.

The song we’ll start with this weekend has been very dear to me over the past few weeks, because it takes into account my vacillating views of love. The Song is Hollow Notes, by Novi Split, and I discovered it on a One Tree Hill episode a few weeks ago. The show may have gone downhill, but at least the music is still fantastic.

When I listen to this song all I can think about is the final chorus:

“I know that you'd say
I can't commit to anything
I'm way too settled down
I can't let go of anything
that doesn't stick around

and I will pray
and I will sing
to be a part of anything
Then I'll give up
and you will too
but we do what we have to do”

These lyrics describe my part in all of my relationships thus far. I spend so much time looking for reasons to be unhappy that I completely ignore the wonderful things in front of me. Essentially I’m a chaser. I will climb mountains, cross valleys, and swim rivers (now I’m switching to a temptations song :P) as long as your still pushing me away, but the second you come running towards me I start to fear the commitment, and essentially the possibility of actually being happy with someone.

I am perfectly aware of this pattern, and I can promise you that I’ve done everything I can to try to stop it, but it doesn’t go away. I pray and sing “to be a part of anything” that will change my ways, but I have to come to terms that only I can fix the messes within me, and hopefully by the time I have accomplished this I won’t have burned every bridge to happiness..

Hollow Notes - Novi Split - Hush Records

P.s. Not all of my songs are available on youtube, so this clip from imeem will a have to suffice. For the sake of aesthetics I'll be posting a relevant postsecret card to connect with the song.

You Don't Know Me

It seems that the most serious accusation you could make towards a previous lover/partner/friend/or family member is the simplest phrase of all, “you don’t know me.” With these few words you strip off the protective film on all of your memories, and allow them to be scratched by persistent thoughts that make you question every day, and minute you’ve ever spent devoted to this person.

In reality, does anyone to know who anyone else is? Can we ever truly know someone so well that the soles in our shoes fit the same way from all those endless miles we’ve walked? I think not.

Don’t get me wrong.. I feel that if you’re lucky enough to meet someone who truly understands you, cares about you, and tolerates you on your bad days, you should hold on with all your might, because you’ve got yourself a soul mate, but even soul mates don’t share your body.

There is a fine line in “knowing” someone and being someone, and until you’ve been there and done that in that person’s body (don’t lose me, I know that takes a couple of seconds to reread) then you don’t really know them through and through. There are always going to be those cracks and crevices that you don’t even notice on a house, even if you’ve been living there for years.

This duet with Ben Folds and Regina Spektor takes the frustrated feelings of being misunderstood, and weaves them into a beautiful song. There are always going to be levels of miscommunication with these bonds, because you can’t just expect to fit two individual pieces together (innless you have a blow torch, and then I would suggest that your partner run away as fast as possible). The goal is to realize that there is no way to know everything, and to except that you never will. Too many times people blow situations up without realizing there are two sides to every story. You’ll never know how somebody feels completely, so try to give them the benefit of a doubt, and try to not to be so hard on yourself for not “knowing” everything.

Kick Drum Heart

Kick Drum Heart - The Avett Brothers


To glorify the Avett Brother’s new album “I and Love and You,” I would now like to introduce a very fun upbeat song to contrast the last blog, so that you are aware that this band is not a one trick pony, and neither is my musical taste.

The song “Kick Drum Heart” should have a warning label on it, because after you hear it one time you can’t help but be addicted. I have literally spent the entire weekend dancing like a fool in the car, in the gym, in the kitchen, and even on some tables, because this song just pumps me up to that level.

If you are a lucky enough person to experience love, or at the very least the feeling of your heart beating out of your chest for someone else, you will understand where this song is coming from. Sometimes the only things that matter, are the people who make you happy, and you should stop and enjoy the moment instead of thinking about the past and future. The lyric’s say the rest better than I could, so here they are:

“The footprints over the snow
the fabric of all the lonely
Covering only
the fables and hands
the rest is out in the cold
holding the last of the season
F-F-F freezzin'
My my my hearts like a kick drum
My hearts like a kick drum
My hearts like a kick drum
My loves like a foot.

We're walkin' in to the fields.
We're walkin in to the forest.
The moon is before us.
Up above
We're holdin' hands in the rain
Sayin words like I love you
Cha Cha do you love me?

My hearts like a kick drum
My hearts like a kick drum
My hearts like a kick drum
My loves like a foot

Mother Mary Heard us approaching her door
Though we didn't make a sound.

There's nothing like finding gold
within the rocks and the coal
I'm so surprised to find more
Always surprised to find more

I won't look back anymore
I left the people that do
It’s not the chase that I love
It’s me following you.”

This probably won’t be the last song I use from this album, but it is the perfect post to end the week.

I and Love and You

This week I have been getting a little behind on my blog, but for good reason. I have recently been declared ITunes best customer and I have been kicked out of my house for all the money I’ve spent on music, just Kidding.

In all seriousness though I do have a serious addiction to music and it kind of needs to stop. It seems like no matter how much music I have, there is always something new that I need to discover. I can’t sit back and enjoy what’s directly on my ITunes without longing for the unknown, and that is definitely a metaphor for life if I’ve ever seen it..

Anyways, now every time I spend money on music, and waste/dedicate hours of my time to looking up new artists and bands I have an excuse, this blog! So for anyone, who is reading this, realize that you are the reasons why my pockets are empty and my heart is full of really excellent music. Thanks for supporting my addiction.

For this blog, and the next blog, I plan to explore the new Avett Brother’s CD, “I and Love and You.” This CD is definitely my favorite Avett Brother’s CD, and is probably one of my top three CDs for 2009. In the past, I have found a lot of the Avett Brother’s music to be a little too “twangy” for my taste (although “Bella Donna” is probably one of my favorite songs ever), but this CD seems to balance out the twang for something a little more subtle and meaningful. There is not a single song on this CD that I could not listen to over and over again.

The song I’m using in this blog is “I and Love and You,” which is the title track for the album. It paints a beautiful picture of starting over, and getting away from your own words and problems, particularly the words that too easily slip away, “I and Love and You.”

This song to me embodies the want to run away, and start a new life. When I listen to it, I can’t help but think that “anywhere is better than here,” but the truth is running away from problems can do more harm than good. Each and every time I feel uninspired, get in a fight with someone I love, or even just feel lonely, the thought of leaving it all behind taunts me. Unfortunately I know that until I fight my own battles that I have within myself, I’ll always feel the need to run. The only thing that is holding me back is me, so instead of running I can just turn on this song and feel a little less lonely, knowing that someone else feels the way I do.

"Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.
Are you aware the shape I’m in?
My hands they shake, my head it spins.
Ahh Brooklyn, Brooklyn take me in.

Three words that became hard to say.
I and Love and You.
What you were than I am today.
Look at the things I do."

Roll the Dice

Mickey Avalon’s song “Roll the Dice” is probably a really offensive song for most people, but I’m not one of them. I find the song to have a whole lot of truth to it and one amazing beat. It goes out of the way to prove that everyone has a price for humility, and that any soul can get sucked into a bad situation depending on which path it goes in life.

I’m not exactly as pessimistic as the song, but it does point out the obvious. While we’re getting a great education at Carolina, there are thousands of people who are sabotaging their lives for a line of coke. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I think that in the whole scope of things.. we’re ultimately the ones who put ourselves where we are.., but sometimes it’s mind blowing to think about the other side of the spectrum, and where we would be if we were put in someone else’s shoes.
Either way.. the song is sad, ironic, and really fun to dance to.. so enjoy. You never know where your dice is going to roll next.

I'm a Lady

Let it be said that being a woman is the best thing in the world 95% of the time (at least in this decade). The only other five percent of the time it would be useful to not be a women is when you’re trying to pee in the woods, be elected for president (sorry Hillary), open a jar, eat like a pig, and sleep with 20 different individuals In a week, and since I can usually use my womanly charms to get the same kind of benefits.. I’m perfectly happy that I don’t have a penis. I am a lady, and proud of it.

What brings on this random announcement, you might ask? Well.. a kickass song is always good cause to embrace the positive aspects of being a woman.. the song I’m talking about is Santigold’s “I’m a Lady.” This song embraces everything I feel, every day of my life. Sometimes I like to wave my femininity around like a flag, and sometimes I just like to sit back and watch the wing blow around. Either way.. this song is fantastic, and it was one of the ten songs I really wanted to put on my mix tape project. It has good beats, lyrics, and meaning. Enjoy!

The Chairs

http://thechairs.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-aeroplane-over-the-sea


Most people are familiar with Neutral Milk Hotel’s song “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” but I would like to introduce a cover of the song that I personally believe trumps the original.

I came across The Chair’s cover of “In an Aeroplane Over the Sea” on the way home from the mountains last December, when my brothers blared it over and over again, while I was trying to fall asleep. At first I was annoyed by the fact that I couldn’t catch up on my beauty sleep, but after hearing the first chorus I started to really listen to the song, and was pleasantly surprised with the unique sound.

Unfortunately the cover does not have a video to go with it, but if you go to the link posted above, I promise that it will be worth your time, and you can download the song free (it’s perfectly legal).

Neutral Milk Hotel’s lyrics take on new form, and they put me in a very happy mood. This song is still a far cry from a Miley Cyrus song, but it is probably one of the happier songs that you will hear from me. The song probably means something different to each person who listens to it, but I feel like it captures the essence of life, and of being young in that particular moment.

"What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me, me

And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see
Love to be
In the arms of all I'm keeping here with me, me

What a curious life we have found here tonight
There is music that sounds from the street
There are lights in the clouds
Anne's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees, trees

Now how I remember you
How I would push my fingers through
Your mouth to make those muscles move
That made your voice so smooth and sweet
Now we keep where we don't know
All secrets sleep in winter clothes
With one you loved so long ago
Now he don't even know his name

What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round' the sun
And when we meet on a cloud
I'll be laughing out loud
I'll be laughing with everyone I see
Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all"

Skinny Love

“Skinny Love,” by Bon Iver, is probably one of the most heart clenching songs I have ever come across, and its haunting sound has followed me around for the past year. This masterpiece pretty much wraps up every feeling I have towards love and relationships, and therefore this blog/song may come across as a little more emotional than the others, but you’ll just have to deal with it.

The song captures the heartbreak involved with a love affair that slowly flickers out. It’s title, “Skinny Love,” is perfect because in essence the love that remains is painfully strained to hold on to something that just does not exists anymore, and essentially starves itself.

The thought behind the song is pretty sad, and I am sorry that a lot of the songs I have posted are not exactly the Lil Wayne or Katy Perry songs that you hear on the radio, but that’s just life, and in most instances it is not a “Party in the USA.”

Bon Iver, is getting more and more recognition for his album For Emma, Forever Ago, and I encourage everyone to listen to this song a couple of times, before dismissing his edgy voice. If you give him the chance his music will probably change your life ( and yes, I am aware of how absolutely cheesy that sounds).

"And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind
And now all your love is wasted
And then who the hell was I?
And I'm breaking at the britches
And at the end of all your lines

Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?"