Why do some songs pull on your heartstrings? Why do some songs resonate in the deepest part of your gut? They ignite flashes of memories in your brain. You remember the first time you fell off your bike. Hit your head (you were wearing a helmet) and scratched up both knees (two giant strawberries). The first time you cried over those sharp pains in your heart (you really loved him, how could you live without him??). Hugs at the visitation (why am I consoling other people? you thought). Blink of the eye lucid images appear. Your mom’s laugh. Your friends at the beach. Your visceral reaction toward tragedy: 9/11, shootings, Katrina, tsunamis, tornadoes, warfare…bursts of color. Red hues. Black smoke. Blue skies.
Maybe you can relate, maybe you can’t.
For us, music has always been profoundly personal, private, shared and deeply loved. It began with a summer of Kurt Cobain fascination (an entire summer of music video watching: Soundgarden, Blind Melon, even Snoop and Dre). Inspired crushes with each verse, notably “She Loves You” by the Beatles per a grade school chorus concert solo. Our heart soared and lept. We might have even wept a little.
We clung to DMB in high school, just like our friends. We wore only clothes from Express. Just like our friends. We secretly adored Ani, unlike most of our friends. We secretly wanted to go to art school, unlike our friends. We wore mostly black for a while, our math teacher (Algebra III, don’t ask) pegging us the “Princess of Darkness.” Rebel phase. We progressed and developed devotional crushes on classic rock. Van Morrison. The Stones. John Hiatt. The Doors. Bonded with Rick Springfield, Joan Jett, Bob Marley, Zeppelin, and Cougar Mellencamp at all our local college bars. Bonded with them more than a few of our college crushes? Definitely. Seeing as this relationship lasted longer than the inevitable 2 am last call.
Now? We breeze through hip-hop, jazz, sultry soul, and mellow indie rockers. Music ignites us, always excites us. And we love, love this song by Oren Lavie. It’s a LOT Badly Drawn Boy. A little Postal Service. A little Nick Drake. A little Hellogoodbye. A little John Mayer-ish with deeper, more poetic lyrics. It’s a resonator and definite stimulator. Lovestring-tugger and heartfelt melodic dreamweaver.
