Grief is like a shipwreck
Kate McGill
Kate’s music gives me the impression that she is someone with great fortitude; her songs are a veritable emotional force. I have also found myself at times questioning whether or not empaths are real as I listen to her music and it seems the thoughts she is expressing mirror my own so perfectly. I feel that she is very in touch with her emotions as she expresses them in such an admirable way.
Find this magnificent album by clicking on the image above
Kate’s music gives me the impression that she is someone with great fortitude; her songs are a veritable emotional force. I have also found myself at times questioning whether or not empaths are real as I listen to her music and it seems the thoughts she is expressing mirror my own so perfectly. I feel that she is in touch with and expresses her emotions so admirably. Recently she released an album through Bandcamp entitled “Birthday Collection 2.0” and it presented me with a great opportunity to discuss a number of her recent releases that I have never talked about before much to my chagrin and regret. I have been admiring her music ever since I discovered her through Twitch and I am glad that I am finally taking the time to dive into a bit of it. Each and every track on this album is so powerful it feels like a Hulk powered emotional gut punch in the best way possible.
Blood Moon
From the first time I heard this track it made me think of a heavy loss I had suffered that I only recently felt like I was on the other end of processing my way through after nearly a decade. There is no timeline that can put on grief; as I have said before I don’t believe time heals all wounds. There are some emotional wounds which leave scars that will never go away but like all scars with time they do fade and you learn to live with them. The time in which that takes to happen is different for each person and different still based on the situation. You should never feel bad about how long it may be taking you to process loss. There are a number of lyrics in this track that I would like to highlight. I love how well it conveys the feelings of deep loss and the way you feel as you try to navigate what your life will be like. Everything feels so different and you know it will never be the same so you have to learn how to deal with that.
“I'm stuck in a blood moon
Somewhere between
The end of everything and the start of the unseen…
Been in the midst of this for 2 years straight
I try to feel it
I try to think
But nothing washes off the red from my skin…
And if I bathe in it
If i stay attuned
Will I see the end of this blood moon?”
In my experience grief is like a shipwreck; at first it feels as if you’re drowning. Much fear is present in these initial stages but if you can make it through that there are lessons to be learned as you make your way back to shore and those experiences can shape you if you will let them. While it doesn’t change what happened and the fact you learned something doesn’t make it any better, you can allow something positive to spring from a great tragedy.
It’s Different Now
This track speaks of another kind of loss which can bring about similar feelings to those mentioned in the last track along with some very different ones. It does signify a new chapter of your life and at least in my experience it always sucks on a supreme level. When someone has been a part of your life especially in a relationship capacity and suddenly, they are gone it feels as if you are missing a part of you like an emotional phantom limb.
“you left a mark on me
recovering slowly
a similar end, similar heart, different ache, different part…
it’s like time was all I needed to be fine without you
it’s different now
I heard you say sorry
and I made my peace with it
a similar word, similar heart, different pain, different part…”
In the end the reason why things ended doesn’t really matter, you have to make peace with it in order to get past what has happened. This song perfectly illustrates the cycle you go through as you process the ending of a relationship and the way it is conveyed through Kate’s voice makes it all so crystal clear. You can feel that she has gone through this experience before; many of her songs including this one have this air of emotional maturity and wisdom. I shed more than a few tears as I listened to this beautiful collection of songs. Which leads us perfectly into the next song I want to discuss.
Cry
This track is an ode to the magnificent power of crying. I feel like much of the negative connotations associated with crying are disappearing but it is still sometimes seen as a sign of weakness. Though I have never viewed it in this way. Sometimes it is really the only thing you can do and I always feel relieved afterwards. This may sound weird to say but crying isn’t always a sad experience if that makes any sense. There are times when I feel like I need to cry that I will put on a particular record or film and just get a good cry in and it is a positive experience. I feel like this is illustrated in the track as it is quite upbeat considering the subject of the song. I wholeheartedly agree with all the sentiments expressed in this heartwarming song.
These songs I mentioned are only a miniscule sample of what this album and Kate McGill as an artist has to offer. Her discography is jammed packed with tracks that will move you; not to mention the band Meadowlark which she is a part of they released an album last year entitled “Nightstorm” and it is remarkable, just unbelievably good.
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