Tag: heartbreak

Video of the Day: Kensington Road // White Noise

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Good afternoon guys! Are you feeling the Tuesday after a long weekend blues? I have just the cure! Check out this video and tell me what you think about it. I love the black and white aesthetic, which definitely fits the title and the vibe of the song. I particularly like when the girl first notices the second version of herself in the room, and also the mirror scenes.

There seems to be some sort of moral pondering going on with both of the characters in this hotel room. And then we have the singer overlooking the whole thing and singing AT both characters. My assessment is there is potentially cheating happening, and the two cheaters are feeling the weight of the guilt of the person being cheated on? Or maybe not that at all, let us know what you think in the comments below. And go check out more from Kensington Road right here. 

 

-Caleb

 

Morning Commute: Michael Flynn “Professional Network”

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Good morning all you beautiful people out there! I hope you are rolling into your morning peacefully and without too bad of a hangover after Memorial Day festivities. For the morning commute this morning, we wanted to give you something really fun and a little quieter (just in case sun and sound aren’t your friend this morning). Ease into your day with something truly unique. Two steps away from being an acapella track, this is something that has to be heard.

Michael Flynn, who I literally just learned lives four hours away from me, is a self-proclaimed hermit from Charleston, SC. That introverted aspect of his life is on full display in this song. With the facade of being a song about LinkedIn, he tells a story of human contact and the need to be needed. I really love songs like this because it leaves so much to the imagination. I’m going to post the lyrics, and then give you my two best working theories. Here we go.

(I’d like to add you to my professional network)

Oh I get up and make no sound

Waiting on the phone to light up

No messages found I’m ready but I don’t wanna die alone

In my home

Don’t let me cause I don’t wanna die alone

In my home

Oh I get up and make no sound

Waiting on the sun to light up

All the cold wet ground I’m ready but I don’t wanna die alone

In my home

Don’t let me cause I don’t wanna die alone

In my home

Oh I get up and make no sound

Waiting on the phone to light up

No messages found I’m ready but I don’t wanna die alone

In my home

Don’t let me cause I don’t wanna die alone

In my home

Theory 1: The first thing that came to mind, especially given the fact that he is such an introverted person, is that everyone needs someone. He’s reaching out through social media because the thought of doing it in person is crippling. It seems like he may even try to get out in the second verse, but goes back to waiting on that LinkedIn friend to show up in the last verse. Even the most introverted people need a close friend or two, and either Michael, or a character Michael knows/created hasn’t found theirs yet.

Theory 2: Something else that I kept thinking about is that maybe it’s a tongue in cheek way of saying that social media relationships are empty constructs, and he’s ready to move past that. The phone lighting up being that friendship you create online, and the messages being empty being the quality of what you can create via a social media platform. Then, in the second verse, we see him go out and realize that he’s just as scared of what real world relationships are. He is outside and he’s ready to embrace the world, and even though it’s new and challenging, he knows trying is better than dying alone in his house.

Bonus Theory: It’s just a song about LinkedIn. Either way, this is a song that challenges the listener to think about social media in a whole new light.

 

Prefer Spotify? Click here.

-Seth

Morning Commute: Freedom Baby “I Want to Give”

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LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

Good morning everyone. I hope you are waking up to a beautiful Memorial Day morning (or just a beautiful Monday morning if you’re outside of the United States). I figured for the Morning Commute on Memorial Day, we would talk a little bit about a band called Freedom Baby, and their song “I Want To Give.”

The fact that the word freedom is in the band name was completely planned, and definitely not total luck.*

This is just a normal Monday morning for the 8 piece Toronto indie rock group, but this is not a normal band. These guys have made something truly unique and special with this one.

First off, let’s get one thing out of the way. Yes, the song is almost 15 minutes long. I promise it won’t feel like that. I have listened to this song for over an hour in the past couple of days, and I love it every single time. If you aren’t sold from the very beginning with the vulnerable voice of Brianna Bordihn guiding you into your chair, holding you captive for the next 15 minutes, stick around until the 1:02 mark. If you don’t feel something at that point, you are a robot.

In what I would say are 4-5 separate acts throughout the song, a story unfolds of love, struggle, war, and heartache. The band uses their time wisely, crescendoing into cacophonous roars at times, and then brings you all the way back down to barely a whisper, creating dividers between acts but still maintaining a cohesive project better than most artists can do with a hard stop between tracks.

“And I’ll do just what I want 
Try not to fear consequence 
And try to live 
And I’ll contemplate my death 
While drawing in my final breath 
But not til then”

Existentialism is weighed in on, valuing being authentic over all else. Exploring the fact that death comes to us all, they plant seeds of self-examination in the head of the listeners. Whoever you are, be that person to the best of your ability, and try to live.

As a married man with one child and another on the way, there is also one of the most poetic lines I’ve heard in a long time in this song:

“Let our daughters look like you 
Let our sons be brave like you”

A seemingly simple message, it takes on a whole new life when you’re hoping for those same traits that you love so much about your spouse are passed down to your children.

I could go on about this song for a while, but it’s currently 3:08 am. I do want to continue this conversation though, and I’d love to do it with Freedom Baby on the podcast. Caleb has no idea I’m doing this, but I know he will be on board with this idea 100%. Our next podcast is on the theme of Creativity. I’m going to do everything I can to get Freedom Baby to do an interview with us that will go on that episode so we can talk about their creative process, the idea behind the song, and just about who they are in general.

These guys have officially joined my list of criminally underrated bands along with Ezra Bell, Tim de Vil, and Fire Chief Charlie. Enjoy your commute this morning. These guys are going to take you all the way to work (or at least 15 minutes into your commute).

*Freedom in the name of the band was definitely total luck. A Bob Ross happy accident.

-Seth

Mid-Day Music Blast: Of The Valley – “Italy”

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My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to see the National last night at Boston Calling, and I think we’ve found their heir apparent here with Of The Valley. The second verse really stands out to me as a gut punch:

“I wrote your letter on my face

To remind myself you are near

‘Open me in Italy’ I couldn’t, I had my own life to feed

Now I’m moving forward and it feels like you’re moving forward too

The way I move- is it touching you

The way that I move- is it still touching you”

 

I feel like anyone who has been through a rough break up can empathize with those lyrics. The ambivalent nature of moving on, getting better, growing up, but those random moments of thinking back and wondering who that person you used to love might be now, whether they ever think about you, whether your initial impact still has a lasting one. Anyway, just a really great song, go check them out.

You can find them on Spotify here. 

And as always, they will be added to our next playlist, which you can find here.