Mixtapemotions

  • "Higher Power" by Coldplay, Tuesday, January 31, 2023 (repost)

     

    Back in 2010, we learned that yes, a pickle can get more likes than Nickelback, a band that had become the most hated “butt rock” band in the mid-’00s. In fact, the conclusions of the social media study found that a pickle had more likes than Oprah Winfrey or other beloved figures. It turns out that internet users’ hate outweighs Internet love, or the terrible outweighs the good. In 2014, the most hated rock band would become U2 after their release of Songs of Innocence was forced into every iTunes user’s library. People tried everything to scrub the songs from their shuffle. Today, people have mostly forgotten about Nickelback, and Apple Music no longer comes standard with that U2 album, so people have other musical axes to grind. Justin Bieber has grown up and is no longer blaring in our cultural continuousness. So who is the most hated band these days? After the 2019 Super Bowl, Maroon 5, for taking to the stage when the NFL was in the middle of racial controversy around Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee during the National Anthem, and many other musical acts refused to play that year. Or is it the “rock groups” who take the name of rock ‘n’ roll in vain? Imagine Dragons or Coldplay, who has garnered a lot of hate due to their pop sound and supposed generic sound?  

    THIS JOY IS ELECTRIC. “There’s not much to hate about Coldplay. But every time I hear one of their songs I kind of don’t realize I’m listening to anything,” my coworker once said. Many listeners have also come to this conclusion. In the video “Where Coldplay Went Wrong,” critic Frank Furtado, of the YouTube channel Middle 8, argues that Coldplay is the commercialized version of more talented, authentic bands more hidden in the scene. He also argues that lead vocalist Chris Martin’s avoidance of personal details in his lyrics makes their songs mediocre at best. Finally, he argues that by singing Viva La Vida, Or Death and All His Friends, the band has been virtually producing the same record over and over again, watering down their lyrical and musical depth in the process with the exception of 2019’s Everyday Life. One thing Furtado doesn’t talk about, though, is the danger of working with the same producers’ album after album. Perhaps Coldplay’s relationship with producers Brian Eno and Rik Simpson is to blame. Essentially, Coldplay is using the same ingredients and mixing them differently. 

    GOT ME SINGIN’ EVERY SECOND, DANCIN’ EVERY HOUR. Still, I admire Coldplay for their use of the recording studio as a musical instrument. Bigger than Coldplay is the production of Brian Eno, the producer who created three of U2’s most iconic albums The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, and All That You Can’t Leave Behind,  worked with Genesis, Devo, Toto, and David Bowie, and scored The Lovely Bones—the soundtrack making the movie watchable. But for their latest single, Coldplay turns to a producer with a  “Higher Power,” Max Martin, the producer with the second most Hot 100 number 1 hits under his belt, second to The Beatles’ producer George Martin. Starting with Ace of Base in the early ’90s and then writing and producing for the Backstreet Boys, Martin would score his first number-one hit with Britney Spears in 1998 and then again with “It’s Gonna Be May,” I meant, “It’s Gonna Be Me” for *NSYNC. He cultivated Katy Perry to become a hit producer, then took P!nk to the top of the charts. He replaced the banjos for EDM with Taylor Swift taking her from the top of the country charts to the top of the pop charts. He introduced the pop charts to dark R&B singer The Weeknd. However, Martin’s production doesn’t always mean success these days. Carly Rae Jepsen‘s Max Martin production on E-MO-TION and
    Dedicated and J-Lo’s “First Love” were minor hits. “Higher Power” was a moderate comeback hit for Coldplay, but it was the other Max Martin track featuring BTS, “My Universe” that would take Coldplay to the top of the charts again. 
    Performance Video:
    Official Dance Video:
    Official Music Video:


    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • "Silver Horizon" by Trey Pearson, Monday, January 30, 2023 (partial repost)

    Everyday Sunday was a Christian Rock band from Ohio that grew in popularity thanks to RadioU and TVU, which aired their played their independent music alongside other major Christian rock acts. The band signed to Flicker Records in 2002 before the label folded and then signed to Peter Furler‘s Inpop Records before going independent in 2013. The band was mostly forgotten with the countless Christian Rock bands of the early ’00s, until lead singer Trey Pearson made headlines in May 2016. Pearson had recently divorced his wife of seven and half years. The couple had two children and the divorce was amicable, but Pearson came out to his wife and his family as gay.

    I MADE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE/ AND I SAW YOU. In May 2016, Trey Pearson came out publicly–career suicide for almost everyone hoping to stay in the Christian music industry. But with a changing music climate in which independent artists have a larger platform and with a broader LGBTQ community and allies both in and out of the church and in and out of the ex-vengelical movement, Pearson makes music authentic to himself, with or without the Everyday Sunday folks. Following his coming out, Pearson released an EP titled Love Is Love. The EP produced three singles, including the song “Silver Horizon,” for which he filmed a video. Musically, Pearson strays from the post-grunge Christian Rock sounds of Everyday Sunday in favor of ’80s-inspired synth-based music. Thematically, Pearson draws on his coming out experience as well as his faith on Love Is Love. Faith is still important to Trey, which can be seen in the lyrics of Love Is Love and in the single “Silver Horizon.” Without the context of Pearson’s life story, the song is vague and could be about a number of struggles, and the person whom Trey finds could be God or a partner. However, the music video interprets the song. 

    TRYING TO BREAK THAT CHAIN/ PULLING ALL THAT WEIGHT/ WELL, IT JUST MAKES YOU STRONGER. At the beginning of the video for “Silver Horizon,” Trey Pearson walks into a large, traditional-looking church to watch a young man lip-syncing to “Silver Horizon.” As the song goes on, the young man starts dancing more confidently, and the camera focuses on another young man smiling at him. The video flashes back to Pearson singing the song in his room. The climax of the video is when the boy in the congregation runs to the front of the sanctuary to kiss the singer. The congregation is shocked, but then erupts into applause, including the pastor. Pearson watches proudly from the back of the church. Of course, not all of the LGBTQ community will embrace this message. It was, after all, oppressive Evangelical Christian rock scene that kept Pearson in the closet, had him deny his sexuality, and marry a woman he could not truly love. But as churches become more and more divided on LGBTQ affirmation, Trey Pearson’s video shows that churches can be places where gay people belong. The video for “Silver Horizon” credits Martin Rodahl and 13 Reasons Why author Jay Asher as the executive producers. Last year, Pearson revealed that he was working with Asher on a film project telling his story that viewers should see very soon. While things may seem dark, the horizon is silver. 


  • "Love Dive" by IVE (아이브), Sunday, January 29, 2023

     

    The two biggest upcoming Korean girl groups these days are NewJeans and IVE. The two groups follow in a long line of girl K-pop traditions following a reign of male K-pop bands. Of course there’s BLACKPINK who is headlining a night at Coachella later this year. G(i)dle and Twice are still making music. But the omnipresence of NewJeans’ “Ditto” and IVE’s “Love Dive” on Instagram, in the Korean grocery stores, cafes,  clubs and bars in Korea, K-pop clubs in WEHO–practically everywhere. 


    I’M REALLY CURIOUS ABOUT YOU.  “Love Dive” has the musical a bas for an electric dance track–a marching beat, musical change ups between verse, bridge, and chorus creating multiple hooks, with sound waves expanding and diffracting at key moments to keep listeners interested. In addition to the song itself, the school girl uniforms  the members of IVE wear  in a few of the scenes are reminiscent of Britney Spears‘ classic “…Baby One More Time.” The effects in the video further the expensive videos of electro teen pop in the ’00s, with IVE flying on a fantastical birdlike aircraft. All the while video stays grounded with the dance sequences taking place in what looks like a mansion fit for cupid–the girls even donning heart arrows at one point before the first chorus.  Lyrically the song draws upon the myth of Narcissus, a man who loved his own image so much that when he looked upon himself in a pool of water he falls in and drowns. The comparison between this song and the myth, though, falls flat as the word narcissist apparently besets the meaning of the song. The lyrics seem to not deal with narcissism, but rather falling in love with someone else so much that the speaker must dive into it.

    IT’S SO BAD, IT’S GOOD. Diving in head-first to a relationship can be scary. You don’t know the other person and ultimately, in most cases, you will have more love for yourself than the attraction for the other person will allow you to commit to them. Your first relationship is with you, the narcissist, if we’re going to make sense of this song. But ultimately, you have to put aside that self-love in a chance that you will fall in love and it will be reciprocated. It’s a love dive. It’s a leap of faith. It’s risky and sometimes you dive into the wrong pool. But if you wade in, you’ll feel cold and leave the pool. That’s why we dive in. As I’ve been having many insightful conversations about my past as I’ve been home in North Carolina, I’ve realized that I jumped into the wrong pool in my past. But it wasn’t love; it was religion. It felt cold when I stuck my toe in high school. But something told me that if I just dove in, everything would make sense and it would become true for me. But I had dove into the wrong pool and I was not happy.  

    Lyric video:

    Music video:

  • “The Path” by Lorde, Saturday, January 28, 2023

     

    My blog hasn’t been properly introduced to Lorde. Ella Yelich-O’Connor became a superstar at the age of sixteen when her hit “Royals” became a global success.  Her sophomore record Melodrama, recorded with Jack Antonoff, explored the artist’s growing up in the midst of partying and becoming an adult. And in 2021, Lorde and Antonoff produced another record, Solar Power. Unlike her previous works, Solar Power wasn’t as well received.

    CAUGHT IN THE COMPLEX DIVORCE OF THE SEASONS. One of the reasons I think that Solar Power wasn’t well received was for its unconventional, often experimental song structures. Both the first and second tracks on Solar Power, today’s song “The Path” and the eponymous track follow a pattern of getting to the chorus at the end of the song. It’s the diametric opposition to the “don’t bore us, get to the chorus” typical in radio pop music. However, there is another reason why Solar Power failed to resonate with listeners. Besides taking on the timbre of a folk record, Solar Power sets a simultaneous vibe of trying to be social but feeling lonely inside. Also, there seems to be a clear “divorce” between how New Zealand and the United States handled the pandemic. New Zealand fared much better than the United States as far as infections and deaths.  The music videos of for both “The Path” and “Solar Power” depict Lorde with a group of people near the beach. In other tracks like “Leader of a New Regime” and “Mood Ring” feel like Lorde is part of a commune or a cult. In today’s song, the speaker seeks answers for life’s questions with “I hope the sun will show us the path.”

    I HOPE THE SUN WILL SHOW US THE PATH. “The Path” reminds us that a celebrity cannot molly her fans. Lorde doesn’t claim to have the answers or a formula that her fans should follow. We’re offered glimpses into incidents in her past; in today’s song it’s images from the Met Gala. It’s almost as if these images from her past are distant memories as the speaker seeks reprogramming in the natural world where the “sun show[s] us the path.” But with so many voices competing for pop stardom during the pandemic, Lorde’s underwhelming utopian visions fell between the cracks. But while Solar Power may not have resonated with 2021 audiences, that’s not to say that the record won’t be relevant later. Many of us are looking for direction and looking new solutions. Maybe we’re not looking to find a nature commune or looking for nature to show us the path, but maybe looking for different solutions. As the year is starting out, we’re looking for a new path. What’s your solar power?

  • "Without You" by Tyler Ward ft. Alyson Stoner, Friday, January 27, 2023 (repost)

    In 2012, Tyler Ward released Hello. Love. Heartbreak, an EP that would shift his music back to originals rather than covers. Before YouTube, the singer-songwriter struggled to find a following, playing local gigs and recording his music at home, practicing his production on himself. He had uploaded covers of popular songs, but didn’t get a following until he had heard that famous singers were going to record a new version of “We Are the World.” So before the new version of ‘We Are the World” was uploaded to YouTube, Ward covered the song, and for a short time, his version was the first video that appeared when viewers searched for the song! Viewers then started subscribing to Tyler’s YouTube channel, discovering his cover songs, and today the singer has 2 million subscribers.


    I COULD HEAR MY SONG PLAYING ON THE RADIO. Thanks to YouTube and Patreon, Tyler Ward has built a successful YouTube music model. Like fellow YouTubers Kurt Hugo Schneider, Sam Tsui, and Boyce Avenue, Ward has done world tours. The YouTube musicians formed a community, often collaborating in each other’s songs. “Without You” features Disney Channel actress-turned singer-songwriter Alyson Stoner, offering harmonies on the track. When Tyler started releasing mostly original music, I wasn’t as interested in him. His 2007 record Vol. 1 was an example of him experimenting with genre–rock, pop, storytelling, but it took him a while to get into the groove of writing music as a pop singer. However, from time to time I find myself listening to a song or two of his. In May, I talked about his 2017 song “Teenage Summer.” Today’s song has beautiful harmonies together with Alyson. “Without You” was released in 2014 and in 2018, Ward released a 24-track compilation of his covers and originals in a record called Covers & Co-writes, featuring songs by Adele, Taylor Swift, Drake, and others, and collaborations with featuring artists like Tiffany Alvord, Chris Collins, Madilyn, and others.

    FACE ON THE COVER OF TIME TIME MAGAZINE. In a performance of “Without You,” Ward says that the song is about a special person, whether a parent, sibling, lover, or friend. Becoming famous and losing the ones you love isn’t worth the fame. On the Podcast Tommy2.net, Ward talks about how he felt that he mishandled his early fame, drinking too much and trying to fill the void with money and girls. He wanted to quit music until he “had a conversation with the maker of the universe” and found a new purpose in his music. Since that time, Ward has become evangelistic at times on social media, talking about a pornography addiction and sharing Bible verses. He has also covered several worship songs. Whatever happened during this dark time or after, the Reddit has a discussion about this. I hope that allegations of YouTuber and former collaborator Alex G are false. I hope that Tyler Ward has truly found a reason to make music, and I hope that he can be satisfied in his faith. However, it is disturbing how many people fall back on Christianity, turning to God to ease their consciences and never having to confess their sins to their fellow man, woman, or person. It makes me think of when Alec in Tess of the d’Urbervilles comes back as a minister, downplaying that he raped her and telling her that she just needs to believe in God. No, I’m not personally calling out Tyler Ward, but please religious people, let’s do better. 

  • “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac, Thursday, January 26, 2023 (partial repost)

     Fleetwood Mac‘s best known record is Rumors, their 1977 album featuring the vocals of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. However, these members had been recent additions. Formed in 1967 in the UK with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John “Mac” McVie, the band went through numerous iterations before arriving on the pop charts with their most well-known line up. The subject matter of the hit album is the relationship drama behind the scenes with the band. It’s truly a fascinating story of change and rock ‘n’ roll development that saw the band change from a ’60s blues rock band to a late ’70s hitmaker, with a guitarist who left due to schizophrenia, another guitarist abandoning the group while on tour to join a California sex-evangelism cult, a turbulent marriage between the keyboardist Christine McVie and bass player, and then there’s Stevie Nicks.

    WE CAN CALL IT ANOTHER LONELY DAY. I don’t have much memory of “Go Your Own Way” when I was growing up. Released 10 years before I was born, it would have been played on classic rock stations, but even when my mom started listening to classic rock in the car, I don’t remember hearing this song. However, I do remember both my mom and dad changed the channel whenever Fleetwood Mac came on the radio. They said they heard too much of this album back in the late ’70s. My mom’s friend listened to it on repeat, so she had heard it enough for a lifetime. My first memory of this song is from the Forest Gump soundtrack. But the memory of this song is about a trip to Florida in mid-July 2012. I was going down to Florida by myself for the first time. I was going to stay with my grandfather and visit my friends. River was getting married, and it was a kind of a college reunion of a lot of my friends. My college was fed by many Adventist high schools, and many of my friends had graduated from the Adventist high school in Orlando, which coincidentally was my mom’s hometown. Several occasions over summer vacation I visited my Orlando friends, and this would be the last of these trips before going to Korea.

    IF I COULD, MAYBE I’D GIVE YOU MY WORLD. “Go Your Own Way” is a break up song sung by two members in a band who hooked up, dated, then went their own way. Fleetwood Mac continued with their classic lineup into the ‘80s. They’d fight, threaten to break up, someone would leave, then come back again. The band was more like a dysfunctional family with a bond that kept them together. I think about the reasons I chose to “Go My Own Way” and what my family may think about it.  Of course my mood when writing is skewed by the platform’s mobile unfriendly nature. It’s three weeks after three years so it’s a time that I’m supposed to just suck up and deal with. Yet, being a child for three weeks is torture. 

    Read “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac on Genius.

  • “Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home” by Keira Knightly, Wednesday, January 25, 2023 (warning: strong language)

     

    The 2013 film Begin Again stars Keira Knghtley, Mark Ruffalo, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine. The film tells the story of a heartbroken English singer-songwriter, Gretta James (Knightley), betrayed by her boyfriend, David Kohl (Levine), when he becomes a superstar and cheats on her while on tour. Gretta processes the breakup by recording an album dealing with the end of the relationship. But beyond the theme of heartbreak, the film deals with the state of the music industry. Without spoiling the ending, Gretta sticks it to the joint-stock capitalist record label in a very satisfying way. 


    HELL, JUST THROW ME. I want to talk about my admiration for the film, and I’m sure I will. But today I’m pissed off, and it has to deal with he subject of this song. So I’m going to rant instead. I’m in America righ now, specifically Anytown, USA where there’s no god damn Internet. My parents don’t have Internet and I’m going though withdrawals. Fortunately, I have mobile data but the fucking cellphone companies are greedier than Korean cellphone companies charge for using a hotspot. After paying an obscene amount of money for limited data and 5 gb of mobile hotspot data, I found out that my hotspot won’t work—the in-store service rep says that it’s probably the e-sim. There might be a few other options, but for tonight, I’m hunched over my phone typing on a Bluetooth keyboard.


    YOU DON’T HAVE TO KILL SO KIND. I feel especially shitty about how I treated my mom after I came back to the car after meeting with the sales rep. After explaining the situation, I said of course they couldn’t solve the problem. She said, “You’re alway like this when you come home. It’s only three weeks.” I said that I needed the internet on my computer because I had stuff to prepare for work. I was so annoyed with her that she couldn’t understand that I need the internet and that not having it is ruining my time at home. She made me sound like I was an ungrateful child. But that’s just it. I felt like an ungrateful child. With the emphasis on being a child—at the whim of whatever or whoever could offer me a ride. No fucking respect for my autonomy, that I write every day or that I use my computer constantly for anything. I always thought about “Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home” as a song about wanting to go back to a simpler time, like when every day your parents had a plan for much of your free time. But today, I’m realizing that going back to that time is impossible and super uncomfortable.


    Read the lyrics on Genius.

    Film version:

    Soundtrack version:


  • “Reunion" by M83, Tuesday, January 24, 2023 + partial repost+ Coming Home Playlist

    Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming contain’s M83‘s biggest hit, “Midnight City.” Everything on Hurry Up, is calculated to give listeners, including M83’s sole member Anthony Gonzalez, the maximum amount of nostalgia. After a song-length, mood-setting intro, “Midnight City” builds on a riff for three minutes before climaxing in a saxophone solo, unheard in most music since the ’80s. Track three, “Reunion,” builds on layers of guitars and harmonies by one singer. This guitar-based M83 is a bit rare in their catalogue, as most of M83 is programing in synthesizers with touches of guitar here and there. But a guitar-based track is no-less nostalgic. It’s that ’80s chord progression heard in New Wave rockers and glam hair metal that sounded so cool to a young Gonzalez, listening to music in his bedroom growing up that bleeds into this song. The lyrics beg for a reunion with a loved one who has gone away.

    A NEVER-ENDING DANCE. Today I chose a bunch of ancillary songs to soundtrack the experience as I recover from jet lag and catch up with friends and family members. These songs are meaningful to me. While most of them are old a few are new because they remind me of times with my people. What songs would make your list?

  • "Hotel Aquarium" by Falling Up, Monday, January 23, 2023 (repost)

    In 2007, Falling Up released their third studio record, Captiva, returning to the production of Aaron Sprinkle. Unlike their debut album Crashings, also recorded with Sprinkle, on Captiva, Sprinkle plays the role as songwriter alongside lead singer Jessy Ribordy. Captiva also marked the end of four years of a daunting release schedule. Their debut album and follow-up Dawn Escapes were released within just 20 months of each other. They then released their remix album, Exit Lights a year later. Captiva attempted to keep hype in the Christian Rock and pop market, releasing four singles, the first of which is today’s song, “Hotel Aquarium.”


    ALL THE LONELINESS IS FILLED BY YOU INSIDE. By Falling Up’s third album, Captiva, musicians started shuffling to other, more successful, more overtly Christian bands. Falling Up’s lyrics started mentioning Greek gods and space. Frankly, Ribordy’s lyrics sounded more like an acid trip and less like a church service. And while some bands have eased into the secular market and are beloved by CEO Brandon Ebel, Aaron Sprinkle, and their scene, Captiva shows a major decline in the band’s popularity. On their previous albums, they collaborated with many artists including Jon Micah Sumrall (Kutless), Ryan Clark (Demon Hunter), Solomon Olds (Family Force 5), Trevor McNevan (Thousand Foot Krutch), and even CCM singer Rachel Lampa; however, after Captiva, the band started working with Casey Crescenzo (The Dear Hunter) to produce low-key indie rock. I’ve always wondered what was the drastic switch? And more importantly, why is no one talking about Falling Up? Tooth & Nail and BEC have seemingly forgotten them and they have only been mentioned in passing on the Labeled podcast.
     
    IS THIS ANOTHER COMPLICATION I FACE? I have a theory about Captiva. I can piece it together based on the Jesus Freak Hideout Interview from 2015 and statements made by Aaron Sprinkle I’ve heard on various podcasts including Labeled and the  BadChristian Podcast. Sprinkle has said that he wouldn’t name the bands that he didn’t enjoy working with, but he said that he didn’t like working with bands who came to the studio unprepared. While Crashings is perhaps one of Sprinkle’s most underrated works, Captiva sounds more like a chore. Looking at the writing credits and how musicians had left the band, I wonder if Falling Up was one of the bands Sprinkle was talking about. Captiva isn’t an album that I go back to listen to and feel much nostalgia for. In 2007 there were much better releases on Tooth & Nail. And while other groups have ventured into fantasy lyrics (i.e. Copeland), fans and other bands in Falling Up’s scene started to distance themselves from the band. My guess is that something happened during the production and/or the album cycle of this record that alienated Falling Up from the Christian Rock and Christian Rock adjacent scene. According to Ribordy, BEC stopped communicating with the band after they recorded their fourth record Fangs! The record label never dropped them, but they were reluctant to fund their fifth record. And there wasn’t an offer for the band to join the much more secular-friendly Tooth & Nail side of the corporation. Ribordy also mentioned that he is working on a semi-autobiographical fictional novel in which he will talk about his experience with the music industry. However, he is yet to finish the novel. I only hope that whatever happened, someday Falling Up’s story can be told. It’s a shame that a band with 3 number one hits from their first album is almost completely forgotten by everyone except for Jesus Freak Hideout. But then again, there’s Jennifer Knapp and Ray Boltz.

     

  • "Rabbit Holes" by Paper Route, Sunday, January 22, 2023 (Repost)+ Year of the Rabbit Playlist

    In April 2012, five months before they released their second album, The Peace of Wild Things, Paper Route performed a concert in an art studio, which was filmed and aired as the third episode of Brigham Young University Television’s music show, Audio Files. The show only lasted for two seasons, but the first episode featured then up-and-coming band Imagine Dragons.  Paper Route performed songs from their first album Absence, but also indulged listeners’ expectation by performing several songs from their upcoming album and shared stories about the songs and the recording process.
    WE WELCOME YOU THIS EVENING.  The entire performance used to be up on the show’s now defunct website, but now we can only watch “Wish” and “Tamed,” on YouTube, the latter being a short eerie duet with singer-songwriter Cacie Dalager, lead singer of the indie band Now, Now, and harpist Timbre. I don’t remember all of the songs Paper Route performed on the show; however, I’m pretty sure they performed the album closer “Calm My Soul” and today’s song “Rabbit Holes.” Beyond that I’m a little fuzzy. At the time of the promotion-to-delay-to-promotion of Peace,  I remember Chad Howat talking about the composition of “Rabbit Holes.” He said that the string arrangement doesn’t resolve; the strings are always looking for the resolution. The deep harmonies in this song remind me of the classical music I grew up listening to, whether it was my great aunt’s violin recitals, my grandfather practicing for hours while the rest of the family sat around the dinner table, my mother squeaking and squabbling to prepare something for special music at church because she hated practicing–but pulling it off at the last minute–, or simply just classical records at home. 

    NO ONE KNOWS HOW THEY WOUND UP IN RABBIT HOLES. For me, there is only so much emotion a classical piece can convey. It can paint a scene of childhood for me, but a string quartet in E minor does make me feel sad like an Emo rock song can. I don’t turn to classical music when I want to dwell in self-pity, but I listen to it to uplift me to a better place. I associate a minor piece with growing up poor or a scene that I’m looking on with others’ sadness, not my own. It seems to be a collective experience, whether joyful or morose. I don’t think that’s how my musical family thinks of music, though. A song like “Rabbit Holes,” one with pointed lyrics–I’m guessing aimed at JT Daly‘s ex-wife–uses composition skills that, without the rock instruments and vocals, I wouldn’t associate with lost love. Lyrics reminding listeners of the rabbit hole down which Alice discovers Wonderland, today’s song helps to keep The Peace of Wild Things a mixed bag of emotions. The album is filled with profound love songs and songs of deep loss. “Rabbit Holes” doesn’t resolve until “Calm My Soul.” It throws the album into unpredictability toward the end, but the unpredictability is really what Paper Route is all about. And yes, this was quite the rabbit hole.

    Before I go, I want to share my “Year of the Rabbit” playlist for Lunar New Year’s Day:




    Audio:

    Live performance: 

     

    Read “Rabbit Holes” by Paper Route on Genius