Monday Music Review on Sunday? Yes, because Monday comes quickly and I want you to be prepared in the morning when you roll out of bed in need of coffee and a good tune to get you moving. So, for this blog, the Monday Music Review comes a day early because it’s my party. And that’s the way I want it.
Band of Horses is a continually evolving group that was formed in Seattle but now calls South Carolina Europe . From their sound to their cover art and their website layout, there isn’t anything about Band of Horses that I don’t like; they are original, fresh, and have tunes that get stuck in my head.
The album cover above reminds me of what the stars look like if you spin around really fast, with your arms open and your head tipped back, when you get swallowed up in the night and feel invincible and insignificant in the same moment. The Band of Horses' songs make me feel the same way, capturing the minutia of the details and the grand scheme of things simultaneously. I'm not quite sure how they do it but they do it well.
I don't really have the words to describe BoH's unique sound, it makes you want to sway and it has a twang that's not bluegrassy. More than the music, it's the lyrics that grab and hold me. I'm not sure the backstory that led to the lyric "we're wheeling through an endless fog; we are the everliving ghost of what once was", but I can feel the confusion, melancholy, and struggle. And I so desperately want whoever wrote that lyric to find a daisy in a field somewhere. I would teleflora him some flowers if I had an address.
As my friend Rebecca reminded me (before I came back and updated the blog because I realized I missed the mark on doing BoH justice), perhaps the best lyric EVER is the classic Band of Horses' line, "I'd like to think I'm a mess you wear with pride, like some empty dress on the bed you've laid out for tonight. Maybe I'll tell you sometime... you were right." While I don't get why that song is titled I Like to Go to the Barn, I do completely understand expectation and hindsight and all the twists and turns it takes to get from one to the other. I don't know what drama has fueled the Horses' lyrics but I'm glad they've found a creative outlet for the angst; the heartbreakingly beautiful ballads remind me that their is life after loss, whatever your loss may be.
The album cover above reminds me of what the stars look like if you spin around really fast, with your arms open and your head tipped back, when you get swallowed up in the night and feel invincible and insignificant in the same moment. The Band of Horses' songs make me feel the same way, capturing the minutia of the details and the grand scheme of things simultaneously. I'm not quite sure how they do it but they do it well.
I don't really have the words to describe BoH's unique sound, it makes you want to sway and it has a twang that's not bluegrassy. More than the music, it's the lyrics that grab and hold me. I'm not sure the backstory that led to the lyric "we're wheeling through an endless fog; we are the everliving ghost of what once was", but I can feel the confusion, melancholy, and struggle. And I so desperately want whoever wrote that lyric to find a daisy in a field somewhere. I would teleflora him some flowers if I had an address.
As my friend Rebecca reminded me (before I came back and updated the blog because I realized I missed the mark on doing BoH justice), perhaps the best lyric EVER is the classic Band of Horses' line, "I'd like to think I'm a mess you wear with pride, like some empty dress on the bed you've laid out for tonight. Maybe I'll tell you sometime... you were right." While I don't get why that song is titled I Like to Go to the Barn, I do completely understand expectation and hindsight and all the twists and turns it takes to get from one to the other. I don't know what drama has fueled the Horses' lyrics but I'm glad they've found a creative outlet for the angst; the heartbreakingly beautiful ballads remind me that their is life after loss, whatever your loss may be.
The first two songs are from the album Cease to Begin (2007) and the last is from their 2010 release, Infinite Arms. Enjoy!
No one's Gonna Love You Like I Do
On My Way Back Home
Oh my gosh, I Like to Go to the Barn Because I Like is my absolute favorite song of all time.
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics get me every time! I'd like to think I'm the mess you'd wear with pride.
Like some empty dress on the bed you've layed out for tonight. Sooo gorgeous!
It is has such a melancholy vibe to it but it is such a beautiful love song.
That's my favorite tune of BoH! I agree, heartbreakingly beautiful! I haven't spent much time with their new album but I LOVE the artwork and what I have heard is wonderful.
ReplyDelete