I mentioned a few weeks ago that my house was broken into, and posted a Dusty Springfield song.
In the past I have been accused (rightly so) of keeping my emotions too much inside, which is always surprising to me because I happen to be on the inside as well, so I know just how many emotions are in there. But I now know that it's a fair thing to say about me.
And so I just want to say, for the sake of transparency and posterity, that after the burglary I did not just continue my life unchanged but for the increased incidence of Dusty Springfield. I am very disturbed about it. But disturbed in a way where I know the only thing to do about it is to live well in my own house so that it can continue to be "my own house" and not "the place that was broken into". If that makes sense. Because living well is the best revenge.
Which means I've been spending a lot of time on my couch eating microwave popcorn and watching music videos, which is how I came across this song.
*
I spent a lot of time in the year 2012 trying to figure out what the year 2012 Meant. (I know I was not alone in this.) It just seemed big in its own way, most likely because of all the apocalyptic drum-beating that accompanied it. I'll probably be thinking about that for a while longer.
But 2013, now that it's 25% of the way done, is a much slipperier beast to me. It doesn't seem to be much of anything (cosmically speaking of course) other than just a Year. And maybe that's all it is! As much as it pains me to admit it -- my friends know how much time I spend thinking about things like, "what does it mean to prefer peppermint over spearmint*" -- not everything is significant.
I do know that when I first heard this song, I thought "that sounds like concentrated essence of 2013". I am not sure yet if I like it, but that's what I hear in it.
Let me say first that I think, at least personally, that listening to current popular music is a huge part of what keeps me feeling young.** I know I actually am young, but let's not front that "being young" and "feeling young" have ANYTHING to do with each other.
The 2013 elements I see:
- A duet. Those are hot right now. Particularly between artists of slightly different genres.
- A duet between two people of similar vocal intensity. (I do love those."If Ever A Love There Was" with Aretha Franklin and Levi Stubbs is my favorite example. Warning: cheese factor HIGH. And GLORIOUS.)
- Subpoint: The style these two vocalists share is a popular one, ie "relatively un-epic voice pushed to epic limits".
- Music that sounds to me (I'm really bad at stuff like this though) to be influenced by dub AND blue-eyed soul AND Americana/roots.
-Wordy, metaphorical lyrics that reflect a really intense anxiety and unrest about relationships, and that also sound pretty much straight from someone's angsty gChats.
-It's bombastic. But we love that nowadays.
The song: Pink ft. Nate Ruess, "Just Give Me A Reason"; 2013
Like I said, I'm not sure I like it. Needs another couple dozen listens, but here it is.
Yrs,
AW
inbedwithamywilson@gmail.com
*Peppermint people prefer beauty that shows manipulation by humans; spearmint people prefer "natural" beauty. It might be ridiculous, but it's my theory.
**I'll tell you what else keeps me feeling young and it's the recent work of Flo Rida. Now THAT sounds like 2012 to me in the best way.
