Sundays are my favorite days. I don’t know why exactly, but they always have been. I didn’t grow up going to church regularly, though I did head that way in junior high, mostly to be with my friends in youth group and spy on whomever we had crushes on at the time. No, I’m pretty sure it isn’t a religious thing that has my heart beating faster for Sundays.
Maybe its the late 80’s/early 90’s Sunday nights at 1970, my best friend and my favorite underground club in Hollywood to hangout, and dance at. As the name suggests, they played all 70’s music, all the time – disco, glam, rock, pop, you name it. My obsession with 70’s music came more from that then my 70’s childhood, I do believe. Probably from all the memories the music triggers.
Perhaps it is because when I first lived on my own (with my then boyfriend and eventually our baby daughter) I worked a six-day-a-week job, and Sundays were my one and only day off. I used to cook all day, while I changed CD’s, or let mixtapes play. Sometimes we’d invite people over. Eventually, our friends picked up on the Sunday routine. Head over to Laura and John’s place and there will be lots of good food to eat, music to listen to, and always conversations to be had.
Years later, when I was married and had two other children, Sundays were often when I’d throw a potluck (usually with the hosting help of my best friend). It was a carry-over of those past Sundays, with food, music, and conversation. They started so all of us with kids could still gather. The kids would all converge upstairs, playing video games, watching movies, or other shenanigans. And us parents – as well as some of our adult friends who did not have kids – would hangout downstairs – eat, drink, listen to music, talk, and have a “night out” without having to really go out. We used to do themes, too. I miss the potlucks. I miss the pre-pandemic life when friends could gather, and be close.
Hopefully there will be a Sunday potluck return in the future.
Anyways, today is Sunday. My favorite day of the week. I’m doing a little writing, listening to music, and later, I’m going to go visit my best friend. Yep. A good Sunday, indeed.
So, how about some Sunday music?
Give Me Five – May 2, 2021
You can listen and follow along with May’s Give Me Five at Spotify and YouTube
Song 1: “I’m Not In Love” by Kelsey Lu
“I keep your picture up on the wall.
It hides a nasty stain that’s lying there.
So don’t you ask me to give it back.
I know you know it doesn’t mean that much to me.”
How about we start Sunday with a cover song?
I dig how much of a tribute this is, how similar to the original, yet unique, at the same time. I’m really enjoying the ethereal feel this morning – early, sun just saying hello, cup of coffee nearby. I like the echo/vocal effects, too.
Kelsey Lu is a Angeleno, transplanted from North Carolina. She honed her voice in church. My daughter Veronica introduced me to this cover, and to Kelsey’s album Blood. Kelsey, and this cover, were one of Veronica’s car intros (I always give her DJ rights when we drive together).
To hear more of Kelsey Lu, and to help support her music, float on over here.
Song 2: “Strange” by Celeste
“Isn’t it strange,
how people can change,
from strangers to friends,
friends into lovers,
and strangers again?“
When I first heard this song I thought it was a cover. There is such a retro/jazz/vocals/soul vibe to the song. I’m reminded of Ella, Dinah, and Etta.
Celeste is a British singer-songwriter who got her musical start via Lily Allen’s label, Bank Holiday Records. (source: Wikipedia)
Celeste was in Los Angeles when she wrote “Strange” as an ode to a broken relationship. It was in the midst of the 2018 California wildfires that she penned it. She’s said, of the song, that she began to think of all the destruction the fires caused with people finding themselves isolated without a home anymore. Celeste said she also reflected on the loss of her father, who died in California from lung cancer, when she was sixteen. (source: Songfacts)
I appreciate these different kinds of loss that are a part of this song. I think it gives it more depth, and maybe it is what is adding to the timeless feeling the song brings (one of the reasons I first thought it was a cover).
If you’d like to hear more of Celeste, and if you’d like to help support her music, reach on over here.
Song 3: “Big Jet Plane” by Angus And Julia Stone
“I wanna kiss her.
She smelled of daisies.”
It’s been awhile since I listened to Angus And Julia Stone, and awhile since I heard “Big Jet Plane”. It used to be a go-to song for song lists, and playlists. There are quite a few memories tucked into the melodies and chords.
I guess I took a “Big Jet Plane” break, but this morning I woke up with the lyrical lines above in my head. So, with that, I thought it was about time to reunite with this album, and song.
Angus and Julia are a brother and sister duo from Australia. They have put out music on their own, as well.
If you want to hear more from Angus and Julia, and if you’d like to support their music, you don’t need a big jet plane, or a ticket. All you have to do is go here.
Song 4: “This Is How It Goes” by Aimee Mann
“‘Cause it’s all about drugs.
It’s all about shame.
And whatever they want,
don’t tell them your name.”
It’s been a long while for this song, too.
This one has pages and pages of memories. Ghosts and ouchie-bits that are triggered when I hit play and sing-a-long. That said, it is the kind of emotional triggering that makes me feel understood, and less alone.
I relate a bit differently to this song right now. I think I’m taking it in a little more personally now, and not just as a reflection of someone I love.
I love Aimee Mann. So much. So so much.
Aimee is originally from Virginia, but is a Los Angeles resident nowadays, with her husband, Michael Penn.
If you want to hear more of Aimee Mann, and if you want to support her music, please go here.
Song 5: “Every Woman” by Vagabon
“Morning starts with a pill,
and didn’t reach it’s peak.
All the women I meet are tired.
They just kick up their feet prior,
to my sittin’ down –
sittin’ down, yeah.”
This is definitely my favorite song today.
Oh my stars, do I feel those lyrics up there. I wake up and take meds, and feel so tired from yet another badly slept night.
I love how cinematic this song feels, how the emotions in the song sneak in, just under my skin, and take over.
Vagabon is a Cameroonian-American self-taught multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and music producer based in New York City. (source: Wikipedia)
If you want to hear more of Vagabon, and help to support her music, take your morning pill (if you need one), and head on over here.
How do you feel about Sundays? What songs are you playing, and singing-a-long to, on this first May-Sunday?
For May’s Give Me Five I’m featuring Kelly Vivanco’s piece “Creekside” as the Cover Art.
Go now go and check out here art – I think you’ll love it as much as I do.
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