The rain is coming down outside. I’m in the kitchen, working, writing, and the side door is part way open. The sound of rain hitting the pavement, the windows, and falling off the eaves, is dreamy to me. I feel like its making everything a little better.
The music is helping, too.
Especially today’s Give Me Five songs.
Give Me Five – March, 10, 2021
Listen (and follow along for March’s GM5) on Spotify and YouTube
Song 1: “Strange Girl” by Laura Marling
“I love you, my strange girl.
My lonely girl.
My angry girl.
My brave.”
This song resonates with me a lot today. My first thoughts are of my daughters, my girls, and all the things they are. How much I love them.
It also reminds me of what I’m trying to work though, and feel. How hard I’m trying to like, much less love, myself.
Laura Marling is a favorite singer-songwriter of mine. I’ve been loving her music for a long time – and expect to be loving her music for a whole lot longer.
To hear more of Laura, and help support her music, go here.
Because I’m obsessing over live music this week (and missing live music so much), here is some live Laura singing “Strange Girl”:
Song 2: “More Than This” by Pete Yorn
“As free as the wind,
hopefully learning,
why the sea on the tide,
has no way of turning.”
Leaning against the window where the rain is marking the panes with droplets of water from the grey sky is a CD of this covers album. I love cover songs. I love Pete Yorn’s music. And honestly, I can never really say which of these covers I prefer – but today, it’s his version of Roxy Music’s “More Than This” – a forever song favorite of mine.
I’ve heard Pete do many covers live (always a treasured moment at his shows), but I’ve never heard him do this one. I hope I get to hear him sing “More Than This” live someday soon.
In the meantime, thanks, Pete, for this covers collection. It is the perfect cure for the soul during these tough times.
To hear more of Pete, and help support his music, please go here. And to get your own copy of this collection of classics, go here.
Song 3: “The Good That Won’t Come Out” by Rilo Kiley
“Let’s talk about all of our friends who lost the war,
and all of the novels that had yet to be written about them.”
All the stories from my life, of me, and those I’ve loved, lost, kept in my life, kept in my heart, and kept under my skin, they all come to life on the pages that I write.
Someday I’ll finish something big. Someday I will tell all our stories, in one way, or another.
I love love love Rilo Kiley
Some early live Rilo Kiley for today:
Song 4: “And Then She Kissed Me” by St. Vincent
“Well, she walked up to me and sshe asked me if I wanted to dance.
She looked kinda nice and so I said I might take a chance.
When she danced she held me tight,
and when she walked me home that night,
all the stars were shining bright –
and then she kissed me.”
I love this remake of the Phil Spector/Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry song, that The Crystals made famous. I love the he-to-she switch. And I love the idea, and the songs, on this album collection.
To hear more St. Vincent, and help support her music, throw us a kiss and then click here.
Song 5: “Carry Me Home” by The Murmurs
“I still want to know what it’s like to be a butterfly.”
This song immediately transports me back to the mid-90’s. To handwritten postcards, and carefully curated mixtapes. To first experiences on the internet, to the community I found there, to the people I met, to the ones I gave my heart (and postcards, and mixtapes) to.
To Lilith Fair, sitting on the grass with friends and my young daughter. To the way the sun felt on my skin, while the music swirled around us.
To my twenties. To all the changes, choices, mistakes, and miracles. And music.
To dreams of flying free, like a butterfly. And of finding a place to call home.
What are you listening to today?
Which of the five above do you like best?
Any of them new discoveries, or old favorites?
