Folk Lore
I have been on a folk music kick lately and I thought I would talk about a few of the bands that I have been enjoying the most. There is something so remarkably captivating about well executed harmonies. A song could sound beautiful sung solo but it is exquisitely so when sung by multiple artists whose voices compliment each other. This isn’t something exclusive to folk music of course but I have come across many folk bands that have this but I consider The Wailin’ Jennys & Roswell to be the best of the new discoveries while I have been on this folk journey.
Beautiful Dawn
I thoroughly enjoy the story telling present in The Wailin’ Jennys music. The magnificent harmonies really help to enforce the deep emotion present across their music. I have dove into their Spotify Discography over the past few weeks and I didn’t come across anything that didn’t completely astound me. This is one of the greatest folk groups I have ever come across.
“Teach me how to see when I close my eyes
Teach me to forgive and to apologize
Show me how to love in the darkest dark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart
Take me to the place where I feel no shame
Take me where courage doesn't need a name
Learning how to cry is the hardest part
There's only one way to mend a broken heart”
The imagery in this song is so incredibly evocative and brilliant. It really pulls you in and puts you in the shoes of the subject. You can feel the emotional anguish that is being experienced as they travel down the agonizing road that is heartbreak and loss. What I also see present here is a potent desire for something better. I feel like the journey they are on is a synchronous one. As they are learning to cope with heartbreak they are also discovering what comes next and figuring out how to move past the pain they are experiencing. I always enjoy when a track manages to dance between feelings of melancholy and happiness. This track strikes that balance perfectly.
You Are Here
“You are here
And yet you dream of being there
Of being where you think the good life has begun
And there’s no making cases
For getting out or trading places
And there’s no turning back
No you are here
Who can say who made the choice
In the matter of your birth
Who brought about that fateful day
Well you are here and born with fire and desire
You’re the only one can stand in your own way
And every sign of love
Every seed that’s growing
Every sweet surrender
To that silent knowing”
I find this song to be immaculate. From the very first listen it pulled on my heart strings in a very particular way. Regardless of the way you choose to interpret it, the story that is told is so exquisitely poetic. What I get from this track at this moment in time is as follows. I see it as a reminder to have times where you shut out all the outside noise and distractions from your life. Keep stock of any obstacles impeding your progress especially if you are one of those obstacles. There are certain things that you cannot change about your circumstances or have a direct effect on. So you must acknowledge that and spend your time focusing on what things you can change however small they might be.
It is about so much more than just what I’ve mentioned. I think it has this really broad application as it pertains to what its like to live; dealing with doubt, pain and making mistakes it’s all part of the human condition. Ultimately that is what I get from this track its to help you realize that you aren’t alone in what you deal with, each individuals experience is unique of course but we are all here struggling at times and thriving at others.
You can find more outstanding tracks by The Wailin’ Jennys here
Comfortable Lies
As with any tale of love lost there are always scars left behind and there seems to be some of that here. There is an acknowledgement that something painful happened and also a realization that both parties were in some way responsible for the damage done.
You and I, maybe in another life
Maybe if the stars aligned in a different way
We’re worlds apart and we have been from the start
Just to wish with all your heart is not enough to stay
Though the days turn into years
The pain won’t seem to flow away
There’s nothing I can do to change
The paths we took, the words we said
I get this sense that perhaps what happened was not necessarily anyone’s fault. It was doomed from the start and just wasn't fated to work out. Sometimes people just drift apart. They were worlds apart from the start and it would have taken something drastic to change that “maybe if the stars aligned…” As great as things can sometimes be in your head no matter how hard you try you cannot will what you've imagined into existence. I have tried and failed at this as I am sure many others have.
Love, love is blind
When you know inside
That the dream has to end someday
I, I am tired
Of these comfortable lies
Don’t pretend that you can stay
This is an oft expressed sentiment but it's expressed differently here, I found it very moving and it has really caused me to think. This idea of comfortable lies within the context of a relationship is an interesting one. These things that you tell yourself because they are easier to acknowledge than the truth or because you just aren't ready to accept the reality of the situation. Or perhaps you just tell yourself its really not that big of a deal. There is a laundry list of possible justifications. Life is difficult and love has the ability to make that journey phenomenally more difficult or exceptionally better; it is something which can be both arduous to explain and to experience. These ideas are conveyed so marvelously and succulently in this track.
She took her coat and took her hat
It's a lonesome journey
She kept on walking and she didn't look back
Down a lonely road
Through the doubt and slamming doors
Through the wind and rain
Though she'd left them miles behind
She could hear the voices say
Both an acknowledgement of the good you had at home as well as the realization that you must leave it in order to continue on your journey of life. The grass only seems greener until you get there and realize that everywhere and everyone has problems to deal with. Learning how to deal with those problems is something we all have to learn.
Whenever I am speaking on a title track for an album or EP I always try to spend some real time contemplating why. I cannot believe that such a track is picked at random. Of course I am trying to discern what the personal reasons may be for choosing a particular track. It is more that I want to really dive in and discover all the insights I possibly can as I know the track is special to the artists.
This makes me think that there is this desire to remember your roots and this could be both a good thing or bad thing. Perhaps you want to remember your past and where you're from because you don't want to repeat history so even if you don't plan on going back you cannot forget where you came from. Also it could be that you do want to remember while you venture out on your own that you do have somewhere you called home. A place that you can return to when you need a boost.
I apologize I am a bit scattered here. I have many ideas that aren't all that connected. Speaking of which, I've got one more. Another thought I've had while pondering on this track has to with this part:
She could hear the voices say
Won't you come home
Won't you come home
The grass seems greener on the other side
But the trees are bare and the river's dry
Whenever we face new choices, new situations and the like there are two basic choices that can be made. First we can choose to scale the wall that is this new chapter we are venturing into or we can return to the familiar, the known, retreating back to what is easier. I know that hearing those voices calling me back to the safer choice have certainly creeped their way into my head many times.
More breathtaking tracks by Roswell located here also if you are a Bandcamp person like me you can also find their music here
I think it quite possible that the artists had none of these things I've discussed in mind when writing these track and that is the truly amazing thing about music. I'm not here to write about the “right” answers as I don't think there are any. It's about the way a song speaks to you at a given point in time. There have been a few times where I have gone back and discussed a track multiple times and what I glean from it is always different, sometimes completely so. That's what I love so much about music; it has this miraculous ability to speak to you in just the way that you need at the time you are listening.
