Sleep has been a distant friend, or maybe a nearby enemy. Insomnia coupled up with anxiety is not my favorite kind of love story. My neck is stiff and sore from strange positions I contort myself into trying to find that perfect position that will send me off into a dream. These are my sleepless songs, the ones I listened to while I tried so hard to fall last night.
GIVE ME FIVE…OCTOBER 2, 2022
listen on Spotify and YouTube
SONG 1: “CRUSH” BY ETHEL CAIN
“I owe you a black eye and two kisses.
Tell me when you wanna come and get ’em.”
Ethel Cain is new to me, discovered in the suggestions area for a playlist I was making yesterday. There is something haunting in this song, and something dark in the lyrics. Not dark like ghosts or monsters, but dark like the stories we hide in family trees and skeleton filled closets. There is something beautiful here, too. The sound of surviving. Or maybe that’s just how I hear it.
“Crush”, and the rest of the Inbred EP, was recorded in a church in Indiana. The acoustics add to the etherealness, the cold and the warm light.
To hear more Ethel Cain, and catch her on tour, swirl around and land right here.
SONG 2: “I”LL GO RUNNING” BY SQUIRREL FLOWER
“I’ll tell you everything.
Give away every part.
And when I get worn out,
I’ll dive into the ground.”
I discovered Squirrel Flower on a walk one morning, a few months ago. Her voice is hypnotic, her songs the kind I cannot stop playing, again and again. This song in particular – “I’ll Go Running” – has landed in a writing soundtrack playlist of mine for my story in the desert, in a town called Neon.
Discover more Squirrel Flower, too, if you click right here.
SONG 3: “HIGHWAY 6″ BY THE BEACHES
“Isn’t it so funny,
how beautiful you are,
when you’re walking out the door?”
Another song for my writing soundtrack playlist. I see a long highway with nothing but desert on both sides, until up ahead, in the distance, a gas station and diner, a last stop kind of place. Do you stop? Do you stay? Do you keep driving? Do you keep leaving?
The Beaches are another new discovery. When I came across this song I thought it was Beaches, but this is a different band all together. I’m going to dig in to the rest of the Late Show album today. I want to hear more.
If you want to hear more of The Beaches, follow me here.
SONG 4: “NEW LOVE CASSETTE (MARK RONSON REMIX)” BY ANGEL OLSEN
“Love free.
Take me.”
This remix is electro dreamy. A come down from a chemical buzz after an all night of dancing, or something that leaves your skin glowing and spent. The sun is starting to pink up the sky and your eyes are still open, stinging slightly from lack of sleep. These are the nights, the early days, you will remember forever.
To hear more of Angel (she’s wonderful, you should hear more), go here.
SONG 5: “BETWEEN THE BARS” BY MARIKA HACKMAN
“Drink up, baby,
look at the stars.
I’ll kiss you again,
between the bars.
Where I’m seeing you there,
with your hands in the air,
waiting to finally be caught.”
One of my favorite Elliott Smith songs covered by the lovely Marika Hackman. This is my most loved today of the Give Me Five.
This cover album came around during lockdown 2020, and is another album that kept me going.
To hear more of Marika Hackman find yourself over here.
