A bit late, but worth the wait, Monday’s Top 5 Music Obsessions are songs that came to me, one after another, while I drove into work. The first track is due to seeing X live this past Friday with Chris. It was fantastic to see them together, a band we’d talked about early on in our relationship and a gig that he’d asked me to before we even had met in-person. Its one for the memory bank, especially because we got to dance together. For the first time. The rest just came to me in the way that music does often. I’m happy to listen to them now, together, and hear how great they sound as a mini-Monday-mix.
Top 5 Music Obsessions – July 23, 2018
1. “Come Back To Me” by X
“Please, please come back to me.
I cry and talk to you,
through the bathroom wall.
Oh, please come back to me.”
I tend to forget about this song when I think of X, but hearing them play it live last Friday reminded me. This is the song I woke up with in my head. I always thought it spoke so honestly about grief. And the juxtaposition of bebop/pop sensibilities and the lyrics about death and loss works so well.
2. “Never Far Behind” by Ryan Bingham
“How many times can I forgive you,
If you are always on my mind?
I’ve tried so hard to outrun you.
You are never far behind.“
Another song about loss and grief, and death too, I think. This has been my favorite Ryan Bingham song since I first heard the album Tomorrowland (in 2012), and my love for it just grew when I heard him play it live. Its one of those songs that always makes me cry.
3. “Recycled Air” by The Postal Service
“I watch the patchwork farms’ slow fade into the ocean’s arms.
Calm down,
release your cares.
The stale taste of recycled air.”
This song brings to life the feeling of flying, of being on a plane headed somewhere else. I’m not a good flier, but I am a great traveler, a lover of travel really, which means that I have to be at least OK with all that recycled air.
4. “I Dreamt We Spoke Again” by Death Cab For Cutie
“I dreamt we spoke,
I dreamt we spoke again.
It had been so long,
it had been so long,
my mind filled in the blanks.”
I had no idea that there was a new Death Cab album coming, or that a new song had been released. I stumbled on it last night, and have been listening ever since. Its a bit more pop than previous work, and the voice effect I’m still on the fence about, but not enough to not keep playing it over and over.
It belongs on a summer road trip playlist, I think.
5. “Pandora (For Cindy)” by Cocteau Twins
“And, it in no one.
And, I’ve looked.
And, it in no one.”
This song and this whole album is what is helping soothe a very sore back and headache this morning. Cocteau Twins and Elizabeth Fraser’s voice could be a musical substitute for painkillers and Valium. I mean that in the very best way.
