30 Days of Music (#4) - A Song That Makes You Sad (Simone White)

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
go the horns in the cars in the street
we walked away from the lover's leap
opposite directions
synchronised feet
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait
for the time it takes a heart to mend a break
how many moons are reflected in the lake
can you wait forever if time is all it take? 
despite all the warnings
I landed like, a fallen star, in your arms
beat beat beat beat beat beat beat
goes my heart on the side of my sleeve
whispering something I can hardly believe
"let me take the lead
cos love is all we need   

Continuing my voyage through the 30 Days of Music challenge we arrive at Simone White's little gem 'The Beep Beep Beep Song'. Apparently it was on an ad for a car (what song isn't these days?) but a friend first introduced me to it a few years back and every now and again it appears via the auld iPod shuffle, leaving me floored. Lyrically, it's actually quite romantic, digressing the tentative first leap of two fledgling lovers but somewhere between that irrepressibly simple riff and the lingering melancholic vocals, a tone of sadness attached itself to my grey matter, rendering these isolated two minutes to be forever drenched in sadness. This song could be saying anything, it could be selling car insurance for what it's worth but those vocals, the key changes, the pauses...it now all adds up to a rainy day, when things fall apart; the broader picture escaping your grasp amid today's seemingly mountainous but realistically minute problems. Weep weep weep.



Check out: 

Day #1 - Favourite Song (David Kitt)
Day #2 - Least Favourite Song (Sham Rock)
Day #3 - A Song That Makes You Happy (MillionYoung)

30 Days of Music: (# 3) A Song That Makes You Happy - MillionYoung

After a long hiatus, I'm back into this 30 Days of Music malarky. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow... it may not even be by 2013 but I will finish this list eventually!

Having already assessed my favourite ever song and my least (this recent video on Coppers only reinforced my decision!), it's time to crank up the positivity levels, with 3 minutes of endorphin releasing goodness.




I've been listening to MillionYoung's latest album Reflections quite a bit recently and though it's a blinder, all the way through I couldn't help but think "Yeah, but he'll never top Hammock" and to be honest, it's true. 

This is a supreme slice of joyous, synth-pop, which is infused with the cheeriest of acoustic guitar riffs and a melody as refreshing and care free as the loved-up lyrics suggest. I've no particular memories with this song, but I wish I did. It's the kind of song to which you equate an intangible experience; like drinking till sunrise with your best friends and then explaining the feeling to someone with: "Ah, you just had to be there...".

// Myspace //

 

Oh there once was an island
Lost in the sea,

Once were two lovers
You smile under me,

But we laid out in heaven
The sun in our eyes,

I told her I love her
And there'd be too fine

30 Days of Music: (#2 Your Least Favourite Song) [Sham Rock - Tell Me Ma]

Sweet mother of God, this brings back some horrible memories. It's 3am and you're stuck in Coppers (Copper Face Jacks Niteclub), unable to move amid a sea of tangled limbs and surrounded by a range of hammered creatures, all swaying in unison and knocking over everyone's drinks as they cling to each others GAA jerseys and lurch at the next generation of nurses who in turn are holding each others hair back in the corners. 



You remind yourself that it will all be over soon, that life does indeed exist elsewhere, you can almost taste the freedom of Harcourt Street (as well as the slop from the BurgerMax next door) and then, just as you begin to see the light at the end of the most arduous of tunnels, this monstrosity comes on and like some pre-historic mating call the whole place erupts and you're swept away, possibly never to be seen again.

Embodying every annoying Irish cliché in a single song/video is quite a feat but not an admirable one and I'd be quite happy if I never heard this song ever again...NEXT!

30 Days of Music: (#1 Your Favourite Song) - David Kitt - Step Outside...

Whoever designed this list clearly never thought to start it off on an easy note anyways, as I'm sure most would struggle to come up with a definite answer for this one. 

Scanning through the list however, there was one song which could have been used for up to a dozen different days and to me, this is as good an indication as necessary of it's rightful position. 

David Kitt is a singer songwriter from Dublin whose career has spanned the entire decade; from the more acoustic, humble romanticism of his early work, through to his most recent dance infused output in the form of The Nightsaver via the rockier, love lorn anthems of Not Fade Away. Along the way Kitt has come under criticism for never replicating the dizzying heights set by 2001's The Big Romance, and though I'd dispute this (The Nightsaver in particular was one of the best albums of 2009) there is no denying the wonder of his earlier output and Step Outside In The Morning Light is a perfect example of this.

Present on both Small Moments and The Big Romance, Step Outside...is a blissful ode to that intangible feeling of optimism which washes over us on occasions as we dream of better times ahead, with nothing to tend to other than one's current setting. Kittser (as he's more commonly known) delivers a soothing and ultimately uplifting tale of love and hope which is earnest without being overbearing and romantic without ever bordering on soppy or trite. If ever a song embodied Summer and happiness, this to me, is it. This is the musical representation of that feeling as the sun pours over us after months of dreary 7am starts and the first glance in new lovers eyes amid the smell of freshly cut grass. 

One of Kittser's greatest strength's is his ability to write effective lyrics which can be personally applied by the masses and the line, "and the thought of the summer clears my head" surely represented the national mood as wind, rain and snow pelted us for months on end earlier this year. 

A true classic from one of Ireland's greatest singer song-writers and one of the decades best albums.

Come Along in secrecy

          You said I could

But I wont 

Filling up with promises 

Our bodies lie 

But we're immune 

And the thought of summer 

Clears my head 

And the thought of summer 

Clears my head, my head 

You stand alone 

So delicate 

I said "thats fine 

It seems right" 

Filling up 

The day again 

Our bodies tied 

To the fading moon 

And the thought of summer 

Clears my head 

And the thought of summer 

Clears my head, my head 

On your belly 

In the sun 

Looking up 

To the sky 

And the sky 

Clears my head 

So step outside in the morning light 

And feel the breeze 

And hold her tight 

So step outside in the morning light 

And feel the breeze 

And hold her tight 

Time to get the ball rolling once more...30 Days of Music

Right, it's been a while. Final college exams and casual blogging clearly don't mix and in the end the prospect of shoddy exam results grasped my attention over this endeavour. 

I'm going to get back into the swing of things via this 30 Days of Music idea which I stumbled on this a while back, where essentially the idea is to post a particular song for a particular day according to the stated criteria. Sure everyone likes an ol' list and this will fill the gap as I set about digesting the new releases from Gorillaz, The National and Villagers amongst others. Decisions, decisions...

day 01 – your favorite song
day 02 – your least favorite song
day 03 – a song that makes you happy
day 04 – a song that makes you sad
day 05 – a song that reminds you of someone
day 06 – a song that reminds of you of somewhere
day 07 – a song that reminds you of a certain event
day 08 – a song that you know all the words to
day 09 – a song that you can dance to
day 10 – a song that makes you fall asleep
day 11 – a song from your favorite band
day 12 – a song from a band you hate
day 13 – a song that is a guilty pleasure
day 14 – a song that no one would expect you to love
day 15 – a song that describes you
day 16 – a song that you used to love but now hate
day 17 – a song that you hear often on the radio
day 18 – a song that you wish you heard on the radio
day 19 – a song from your favorite album
day 20 – a song that you listen to when you’re angry
day 21 – a song that you listen to when you’re happy
day 22 – a song that you listen to when you’re sad
day 23 – a song that you want to play at your wedding
day 24 – a song that you want to play at your funeral
day 25 – a song that makes you laugh
day 26 – a song that you can play on an instrument
day 27 – a song that you wish you could play
day 28 – a song that makes you feel guilty
day 29 – a song from your childhood
day 30 – your favorite song at this time last year