WaterBlogged!

Musicophobia Part 2: “It got into me and I hope that it got into you.”

joie — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:45:21 +0000

This is a post I wrote in July of 2010 and never finished. I intended to go back and post it eventually, but then started feeling silly about it. And then today, I realized I don’t really care if it’s silly.

This is a post that will probably seem trivial to everyone but me; apologies¹ for that.

My feelings towards music have not been very positive since the end of 2008. I fear that what I’ve been calling “burnout” may be something closer to falling out of love (and not understanding why). But music and me, we still have our moments, rare glimpses of the kind of spark I so want to reignite.

I had one of those moments recently at work. I’ve loved the band Hotel Lights (fronted by Darren Jessee, former drummer for Ben Folds Five) for years now, and lately I’ve been listening a lot to their song “Amelia Bright.” Today I stumbled across the knowledge that this song was originally a Ben Folds Five song (slated for release on an album that never came to be, I think?). Oh reader, you cannot imagine how my fingers trembled as I typed into Google that kind of queries that I thought might turn up a bootlegged recording of this. It didn’t take long to find one. I think my jaw was dropped the entire time I listened–it was like one of my favorite bands had time traveled to the future, learned this song, and gone back to cover it. More melodramatically, it felt like receiving a lost letter from someone who’s since died. I know this sounds absurd. But it felt like a very personal experience.

[End Original Post]

I just had a very similar experience today that reminded me of this post. I had a discussion on Facebook recently with someone who told me she cried like a baby when her favorite band broke up. I got to thinking about Harvey Danger, one of my favorites, who broke up back in 2009. When I visited their website, imagine my surprise to find they’d uploaded a “final” album that was only available on their brief farewell tour and a “posthumously” released single. I love that this band, unlike many, fully recognized what a loss their breakup was to their fans. I also don’t know what to do with the files–greedily gobble them all up in on sitting? Try to make them last?

Also, it’s fun to note that since I wrote the original post, Ben Folds released a collection of Ben Folds Five rarities that included “Amelia Bright.” I haven’t listened to any of that yet, though.

¹I’m told I apologize too much; apologies for that.

Protected: In the Flesh, pt. II / Reality Poisoning, pt. II / Wife Wasted

Jackery Simms — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:47:18 +0000

Protected: we are not asleep/we are in the streets

hailevb — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:19:04 +0000

Protected: tender coupling

Robin Sulkosky — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:10:48 +0000

Protected: Quiet House / Professionalism: the other theatre / Real men tell other men how to be real / Marked by Winter

Jackery Simms — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:10:23 +0000

Protected: John Grisham Says Yesh? / It Took Me Years to Come Up With / More Ideas Will Come / And They Call It a Mine… A Mine!

stevn — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:08:23 +0000

Judo Town

Mormon G — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:22:31 +0000

Here is a slideshow that I made about my summer experience. If you have been looking at my photos and videos along the way then this is going to be a lot of repeat info. This time I added brief descriptions so that you can know what is going on though. I know it seems long, but it is so well made that it goes by pretty fast =)
Also, I really wish I could change the thumbnail, but the other two options really stank.

Protected: FTB

Jackery Simms — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:39:31 +0000

Protected: This Could All Be Yours Someday / This Isn’t What I Thought, So Can I Just Go Home? / The Solipsism Blues

joie — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:21:11 +0000

For your enjoyment

Codelete — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:05:14 +0000