Play It Again

Hot damn, I love country music.

It never fails to blow my mind how incredibly well a country song can perfectly capture the emotion and mood of a single moment, event, or experience that almost everyone has had, or will have, at some point in their lives.

How do they do this? It's all in the lyrics.

Sure, just the sound of a catchy country tune can put almost anyone in an instant good mood, but have you ever really stopped to listen to the lyrics?

Of course you have, because you're country fans, and you probably wouldn't be half the country fan you are without appreciate such wonderful writing.

There is such precise detail found in country songs, so much so that a perfectly clear picture can be painted in the listener's head right away.  Country singers actually make the listener feel the emotion they're feeling; it's as if every word they sing pulls us into a different emotional state.

I for one think it's an incredible gift for an artist to accomplish this.  Because while the lyrics and imagery play a huge part in the emotional pull of a song, it's also the delivery of these elements, and that's how you distinguish the great artists from the not-as-great.

Of course, I'm definitely no pro when it comes to discussing country; I'm a fairly recent addition to the population of People Who Like Country Music.  However, I am musically inclined,  a passionate person, and a hopeless romantic, and I have to say that I think country music definitely encompasses these aspects of my personality.

Mostly the hopeless romantic part... Because who doesn't want to fall in love with a cowboy while dancing in a sundress on the tailgate during a warm summer night? Yeah.

Two of my favorites come from Luke Bryan, aka the love of my life (he just doesn't know yet).  "Play It Again" and "I Don't Want This Night To End" are perfect summer songs for dancing outside with your man.

I love how carefree and honest the lyrics are in "I Don't Want This Night To End".  The image of not having a single care in the world and riding down the highway blasting the radio in a hot guy's pick up truck is so vivid and appealing, it almost makes me want to physically be in the song, if such a thing was possible (That may or may not have something to do with the fact that my wonderful boyfriend does indeed drive a pick up...).

My favorite lines include "Do anything to make your smile land on my lips, get drunk on your kiss"; "I don't know what road we're on or where we've been... All I know is I don't want this night to end"; and "Gonna cuss the morning when it comes, [...] 'cause you'll have to leave".  It's so funny what a mysterious and almost magical power the darkness and nighttime have over us.  It makes us feel invincible, like nothing else matters outside of the moment we're currently living in.  Yet it also means that when the morning arrives, it brings with it a whole different world, a harsh reality.  Night carries almost a sort of sacredness with it, especially for young people and lovers.

*Listen to "I Don't Want This Night To End": https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=luke+bryan+i+don%27t+want+this+night+to+end


I have to say, after attending Stagecoach for the first time this past April, I have an even deeper appreciate for country music and the great effect it has on people.  There is honestly something so riveting and powerful about the pull the music has on you.

It could have been the warmth of the desert climate, or the beautifully clear starry sky, or the beer buzz, or the adrenaline and excitement, or my love for music, or being surrounded by my favorite people with the arms of my wonderful man around me.  It could have been any of those things, but it's the combination of all of them that produce the most pure happiness and bliss, and as I stood there singing along, swaying to the music and laughing, I became so utterly content that, in the words of Luke Bryan, I truly did not want that night, or any of those nights, to ever end.

Cheers to a warm, blissful, and carefree summer.


<3 Syd

WMG & Ghost Stories

Greetings friends!

Despite what may be popular belief, no, I did not drop off the face of the Earth; I have simply been incredibly negligent of my blog for about the past 3 months :( Shame on me.

Now...

I am currently typing this latest post from my new desk at my Internship with the Promotions department at Warner Bros. Records!!!

So. Freaking. Unreal. Even as I sit here, I can't believe I'm sitting here. Ya know?

Finally have my foot in the door (a rather BIG door, if I do say so myself) within the Music Industry, and I could not be happier or more grateful.  So thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far, I am beyond excited to see where this incredible opportunity takes me this summer!

Let's talk about some actual music, shall we?

Coldplay has a new album out, entitled Ghost Stories, and I have been absolutely dying to write about this for a while now because
a) helloooo Coldplay is my absolute favorite band of all time
b) fittingly enough, the album is produced by Parlophone, a branch label that falls under my new employer!

With the album having been available to the public for a month now (and me having rushed to Target to get the special edition copy with three exclusive songs the day it came out), I have had plenty of time to listen to the album all the way through at least 7 times at this point.  And let me just say... thank god for that, because otherwise I would have judged the entire album's quality solely off of "Midnight," the first single released a while back.

Lezbihonest.... We all sort of panicked when we heard "Midnight" for the first time. I mean, auto-tune?! Really?!?! Yikes. Yet this track has an almost Bon Iver-like quality to it, thus giving "Midnight" an eerie yet entrancing vibe.  You may have been confused by what you heard the first couple of times through, but you weren't able to stop listening either.

And then came the release of the album's second single, "Magic." My faith in Coldplay for a kickass album was restored upon hearing that there was a second single out; maybe "Midnight" was just the ugly duckling track of the album, I thought.  However, as with "Midnight," I was again disappointed by the first impression of this second release.  I felt as though Coldplay had betrayed me by creating such a typical-pop-song-sounding track; how could they stoop that low? It seemed like such a trite song, especially by Coldplay's standards.

Yet it was such a catchy song... Somehow I couldn't stop listening to it.  I still stand by my original impression of "Magic" being a lot lower on the Wow Factor scale than nearly all of Coldplay's previous tracks, but I respect them too much as an artist to not give their attempt at a new sound a chance.

So then the moment came to finally listen to the entire album, all the way through, with no bias or expectation.  And once again, Coldplay absolutely delivered.

Each of Coldplay's previously released albums, or at the very least, the latest 3 or even 4, have been more than just a bunch of artfully created music tracks.  They have all been stories, epic journeys or tales strung together piece by piece, chapter by chapter, song by song.  The albums are also often literally, as well as figuratively, fluid with their content, in the sense that every song on a given album connects smoothly to the next one, without a single break in the sound.

Thus, it almost doesn't make sense if you listen to the tracks out of order, at least not the first couple of times, because this would almost be the equivalent of opening a novel and choosing single chapters to read at a time; the story would make no sense.

While Coldplay has indeed taken somewhat of a different direction and incorporated a new sound with Ghost Stories, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they also seem to have returned to their roots a bit on certain tracks.  I personally heard this most in O, a simple piano & voice creation with that familiar melancholy and wistful aura that we all know and love from the old, vintage Coldplay.  The piano sequence is fluid and soothing, while Chris Martin's muted voice delivers bittersweet lyrics.

Coincidentally, the lyrics of this song are what move me the most. Martin sings of his lover, who sees love merely as "a flock of birds hovering above." Such an interesting metaphor, because it creates a transient image of love: coming and going at its leisure, feeling affection when it wants with no concern for its partner's feelings.  Martin sings that he continuously looks up to the sky and prays "before the dawn" in the hope that on any given day this metaphorical "flock of birds" might be present; the flock stays put only for a fleeting moment, so he hopes to see it as often as possible.

Listen to O here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA-Wj8h-a5A

"Fly on, ride through, maybe some day I'll fly next to you."

I believe this song carries a basic but universal message in it that all can relate to: the desire for love, and how difficult it can sometimes be to hold on to the love of the person we want it from most.  Such an exquisitely beautiful yet almost lonely way to describe perhaps the most elusive and sought after thing in life.


On the flip side, I hope everyone out there is enjoying their first few weeks (or days, God Bless the quarter system), of summer! Whether you're sitting in an office cubicle, binge-watching House of Cards on Netflix, or soaking up sun, remember: you're doing it right. Except you should probably go listen to some Coldplay right about now, if you haven't already heard the wonder that is Ghost Stories. ;)  They're a kick-ass band and they always will be.

Happy Summer!!!


<3 Syd