Bristol, England-based hard rock band Mallavora are making a big splash on the British music scene with their exciting and hard-hitting sound, with features on BBC Introducing and airplay on UK radio station Planet Rock. Hot on the heels of the late March release of their spectacular single “Ego” (you can read my review here), on April 26th they dropped their latest single “Deceiver“, and now follow up with an exciting new video of them performing the song. “Deceiver” is the second single from their forthcoming Paradise EP, due out later this year, and it another winning tune.
Strongly influenced by progressive rock, groove and doom metal elements from some of their favorite bands like KoЯn, Mastodon, Muse and Alter Bridge, Mallavora create melodic hard rock songs characterized by thunderous riffs, driving rhythms, intelligent lyrics and the incredible sparks that come from having both female and male vocalists with great singing voices. The current lineup consists of Larry Sobieraj (guitar), Ellis James (bass/vocals), Jessica Douek (vocals) and Jack Pedersen (drums).
“Deceiver”explores the theme of domestic abuse, with lyrics describing someone trapped in a toxic relationship. She yearns to break free, but his recurring promises of love, combined with her weakness and lack of self-esteem, prevent her from leaving him. Mallavora skillfully expresses the darkness of the subject matter with an aggressive barrage of Larry’s chugging gnarly riffs, Jack’s pummeling drums and Ellis’ heavy, grinding bass that together sound downright diabolical. Larry’s an amazing guitarist, and his wailing guitar solo in the bridge is a highlight for me. Then there’s Jessica’s powerful, soaring vocals, which beautifully convey the intense emotion and despair described in the lyrics.
Look in his eyes Love is a lie
She can’t hear anything Her heads still ringing The tears on her face The last result of his embrace
And she can hear him calling Feels her heart start stalling She lets her life stay falling down Without a sound
So wash away the truth Except the one he told you Give him your hand to hold And let the fear within take control Look in his eyes Love is a lie She can’t feel anything Her heart’s still beating The rings round her eyes Revealing how she spent last night
Goes to where she was lying To find her phone still dialing But no one’s replying how Is she gonna leave him now?
You’ve gotta tell the truth Accept the things he’s done to you Break free from his hold It’s your life babe, regain control
From the moment we first hear the sounds of someone sniffing a bottle, dropping ice cubes and pouring liquor into a glass, then taking a swig at the beginning of the opening track on the new album It Is Called by British band The Slytones, we just know we’re in for a good time. And quite frankly, can’t we all use a few more good times right now?!
Influenced by their love of The Doors, Mr. Bungle, Queens Of The Stone Age and Jimi Hendrix, as well as a colorful mix of Motown, psychedelia, gospel, blues, jazz and Afrobeat, the Brighton-based sextet make wildly entertaining music that’s bawdy, irreverent and funny as hell. Their hilarious, tongue-in-cheek lyrics tackle the minefield of love and relationships, and how they have a way of often exploding in our faces. As they so eloquently state in their bio, their sound “encompasses everything from schizophrenic fairground avant-pop and queasy skanking swamp-ska to crunching left-brain hard rock and mad scientist anti-funk.” To top things off, they dress in natty attire with their faces covered in black and white greasepaint, looking like six dapper mimes in their animated and theatrical performances.
Formed as a trio back in 2006, The Slytones eventually expanded to six members: Ashley Edwards (lead vocals/guitar), Bradley Wescott (guitar), Chip Phillips (keyboards, backing vocals), Chris Warren (bass) (though Carl Brothwood played bass on many of the album tracks), Freddie Hills (drums), and Robin O’Keeffe (percussion/backing vocals). They released their debut EP The Psychedelic Sound Of in 2011, then began recording new songs in 2013 for what was to be their first full-length album.
According to band drummer Hills (whose music I’ve previously reviewed both as a solo artist and as a session musician with fellow Brighton artists Ellie Ford and Liemba), The Slytones “spent three years slaving over it meticulously with a lot of love and attention to detail until it was finished around 2016. Despite all of this work, we got a bit fed up of playing the music industry game (and each other) and went on an indefinite hiatus. Now that we all have time on our hands, we decided to finally release it.” I’m glad they did, because it’s the most fun I’ve had listening to a record since last year’s Love at First Sniff by Australian band Thunder Fox.
It Is Called was recorded at Ford Lane Studios in West Sussex, under the guidance of Rob Quickenden (Royal Blood, Tigercub, Demob Happy, Fickle Friends), who produced, mixed and mastered the album. Seven years in the making, the album was at last released on May 1st, and features 12 stellar tracks.
Kicking things off is “She Said She Came From the Sea“, which The Slytones first released back in 2015 as a double single with “Time Won’t Wait For Strangers”. Opening with the aforementioned sound effects of liquor being poured and consumed, it’s the perfect drinking song about what appears to be a vexing mermaid who’s intruding on the singer’s free-wheeling ways. Lead singer Ashley Edwards has a raspy, sardonic and emotive vocal style that’s well-suited for their songs. We fully believe him when he sings “The truth is a stone. My heart is a rock. The women that surround me only long for my cock.” The accompanying video showing the guys performing the song on a pier and in the sea is delightful.
The Slytones are terrific musicians, adept at writing complex, ever-changing melodies and delivering them with an eclectic mix of instruments, sounds and stylistic elements that make for a fun and exciting listen. “Empire” is a great example of this, with a melody that alternates back and forth between a bouncy Latin-funk dance beat and a bluesy, guitar-driven groove that seems to channel the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues”. In fact, Edwards sounds alarmingly like Jim Morrison when he wails the lyrics “Break down the walls, your empire falls!” The instrumentals are fantastic, especially the bluesy guitars and exuberant horns.
Another favorite of mine is “Sleeping Beauty Blues“, an appropriately bluesy track with everything from glittery synths, funky bass and blues guitars to honky tonk style piano, organ, jazzy drums and even a bit of cowbell for good measure. Then there’s Edwards cheekily crooning the lyrics about his girl not being all that she appears: “I got the sleeping beauty blues. /She sleeps like a beauty, but she snores like a fool.” There’s more musical mayhem to be heard on the rousing “Come Gigolo“, a wonderful tune with a feel similar to “Master of the House” from Les Misérables (at least to my ears). It also has some of the best lyrics: “I’m feeding all the lions to the dogs. As the idiots sleep, we massage their wives. Come gigolo my body ’cause my time is for sale. /Your mother should have slapped you before you were born.” The rousing vocal harmonies in the chorus are marvelous.
The Doors’ influence continues to be felt on many tracks. “Time Don’t Wait For Strangers” is another song with a complex, evolving melody. Opening with a peppy Latin beat, the song transitions after a minute into a languid and beautiful melody, with watery guitars and shimmery keyboards that remind me a bit of “Riders on the Storm”. At around 3:15, the song transitions once again, this time to a more psychedelic vibe with organ and heavier, distorted guitars. “Green Jacket” is a hard-hitting psychedelic and bluesy rocker, with some great fiddle, accompanied by Phillips’ lively keyboards and organ, and O’Keeffe’s gnarly percussive instruments. “The Seed They’d Sewn” has a bluesy vibe similar to “Love Me Two Times”, with lyrics that seem to describe a woman who’s turned out to be the Bad Seed: “She once was an angel, with skin so divine. Now the lizards congregate.. / The seed they’d sewn should not have grown / The sound they found, they should have drowned.”
“Silver Harpoons” is a jazzy, bluesy and psychedelic fantasia. Edwards’ raw vocals are almost feral as he screams “Silver harpoons in the water. Night made to slaughter. Who are you?!” Later in the track, amid eerie synths and distorted riffs, his malevolence is palpable as he snarls: “Where is my goldmine? This corporate clothesline. I’m in a circus full of thieves. You’d kill a whale to feed your tart. I’ll fuck your wife to break your heart.” The infectious honky tonk piano makes a return appearance on the spirited “Shake the Cage“. Edwards and Wescott’s intense, bluesy guitars, Brothwood’s driving bass and Phillips’ piano are fantastic, and Hills does a fine job pounding out the lively rhythm.
“Don’t Leave Me Alone” has a wonderful tango melody, punctuated with flourishes of bluesy, roadhouse-style grooves. On the amusing but dark “King of the Castle“, the band reference nursery rhymes to describe what appears to be a power-mad father. Edwards sounds rather diabolical as he croons “I’m king of the castle / Do you want to grow big and strong like your daddy? / Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. Well I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in.” The song starts off with a jaunty fun-house vibe, complete with ghoulish clown laughter. Edwards repeatedly sings “Come sing, come sing as we’re dancing“, then in the last minute of the track, the music turns darker and downright menacing, with distorted guitars, crashing cymbals and a wailing organ riff.
The guys pull out all the stops on the final track “Pull Your Finger Out“, a complex and meandering 7:52-minute long extravaganza with more melodic change-ups than I believe I’ve ever heard in one song. It starts off with a slow, organ-driven melody punctuated by a bluesy guitar riff, then shifts to a bouncy melody with honky tonk piano, then to a bluesy, guitar-driven vibe, featuring flute and quirky percussive instruments. Various instruments come and go as the tempo continues to change, with even a flourish of gypsy guitar at the halfway point, and later on, a harpsichord. The lyrics are ambiguous to me – and I’m probably way off base – but they seem to describe a vampire’s love life: “We dance in the wretched moonlight. Sing me a wicked lullaby. Like wild men, we scream at the moon. Conscious in mind, but body aloof. Pull your finger out. / I sleep in the day when the moon is away. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.” Whatever their meaning, it’s a great track.
I love this album and I love this band! It Is Called is 54 minutes of non-stop aural mayhem, and a blast to listen to from start to finish. The Slytones are all amazing musicians, and I hope the release of this album will give them an impetus to reunite and make more music that brings a smile to our faces.
1. CAUTION – The Killers (1)
2. BLINDING LIGHTS – The Weeknd (2)
3. BLACK MADONNA – Cage the Elephant (3)
4. LEVEL OF CONCERN – twenty one pilots (25)
5. LOST IN YESTERDAY – Tame Impala (7)
6. DELETER – Grouplove (14)
7. SHINE A LITTLE LIGHT – The Black Keys (9)
8. OH YEAH! – Green Day (10)
9. BAD DECISIONS – The Strokes (12)
10. OVER AND OVER – Amongst Liars (11)
11. YOUR LOVE (DÉJÀ VU) – Glass Animals (13)
12. USED TO LIKE – Neon Trees (4) 20th week on list
13. ADORE YOU – Harry Styles (5)
14. DON’T START NOW – Dua Lipa (6)
15. EVERYTHING I WANTED – Billie Eilish (8)
16. MARIA – Two Feet (17)
17. LET’S FALL IN LOVE FOR THE NIGHT – FINNEAS (18)
18. ME & YOU TOGETHER SONG – The 1975 (19)
19. LEMON DROP – Absofacto (20)
20. HERO – Michael Kiwanuka (15)
21. BEAUTIFUL FACES – Declan McKenna (21)
22. IF NOT FOR THE FIRE – The Million Reasons (23)
23. HELL N BACK – Bakar (24)
24. LONELINESS FOR LOVE – lovelytheband (26)
25. RUN – Joji (27)
26. HOW WILL I REST IN PEACE IF I’M BURIED BY A HIGHWAY?// – KennyHoopla (29)
27. VAN HORN – Saint Motel (16) 18th week on list
28. HALF YOUR AGE – Joywave (30)
29. DANCE OF THE CLAIRVOYANTS – Pearl Jam (22)
30. LAY YOUR HEAD ON ME – Major Lazer featuring Marcus Mumford (N)
Man, time flies when you’re having fun! It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that it’s already been more than four years since I last featured Brooklyn, New York-based artist Yellow Shoots on this blog. (You can read my article here.) I remember being blown away by his soulful and sultry vibes, and it’s heartening to see his star continue to rise. He fuses R&B, soul, funk, jazz, psychedelic and hip-hop grooves to create his own unique neo-soul sound that envelops you in raw sensuality and emotion.
Yellow Shoots is the music project of singer/songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Greg Matthews. His artistic name comes from his experiences with synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway, such as sound, leads to an automatic, involuntary response in a second sensory or cognitive pathway, such as sight. He sometimes sees vivid yellow colors when hearing music (a common form of synesthesia is known as chromesthesia, for sound to color), hence his name “Yellow Shoots.”
He started releasing music after moving to Brooklyn from Philadelphia in 2014, beginning with his single “Pieces”. He’s put out a fair amount of music in the years since, including his marvelous Prince-influenced album everything in 2018. One of the singles “make it to the summer” has been streamed more than 446,000 times on Spotify. Now he’s back with a new single “Wonderful Day“, from his forthcoming EP Naked, due out in June. Released via LaReserve Records, the song was written, performed and produced by Yellow Shoots, mixed by Javon Gant-Graham, and mastered by Dan Millice. The track has already been featured on TIDAL’s official .WAV playlist.
Photos by Elijah Craig
About “Wonderful Day”, he explains: “This song combines my 90s rap and R&B roots with late 60s/early 70s records I dug as a teenager. It’s sorta like Nelly meets Zeppelin. It’s a trippy love song I wrote last Summer about being comfortable with the past.” The song has a languid and funky trip hop beat that forms a chilled backdrop for his strummed acoustic guitars, soulful bass, gentle percussion and hazy psychedelic synths.
Yellow Shoots electronically alters his warm, sultry vocals at various spots in the track by doubling and/or speeding up the pitch in a manner similar to what Prince was doing in the 80s. The result is quirky and utterly charming as he croons the sweet lyrics to the object of his desire, hoping she has similar feelings for him: “I put my cards on your table, throwing out the clues / If an apple or a pear, I need your divine / And I think about you every day. I’m hoping I’m the paper underneath your pen.”
Morgendust are a talented and well-seasoned alt-rock band based in Zwolle, Netherlands. Formed in 2018, all are accomplished musicians with years of collective experience playing in other bands and as session musicians. Influenced by 80s acts like Talk Talk, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Tears for Fears and Peter Gabriel, as well as more current acts like Radiohead, Editors and Elbow, their music has a maturity and worldliness that comes from having lived on this earth for a while and experiencing the joys and pains of life, love and relationships. Through intelligent, thoughtful lyrics, they tell stories that everyone can relate to, and package them with exquisite dark-edged rock melodies and beautiful instrumentation.
The band consists of Marco de Haan (lead vocals, guitars), Ron van Kruistum (guitars, backing vocals), Iwan Blokzijl (keyboards, backing vocals), Dario Pozderski (bass, backing vocals) and Job Noordmans (drums & percussion). Last September (2019) they released their outstanding debut EP Storm Will Come (you can read my review here). Now they’re back with a powerful and timely new single “Alien“, which dropped today, May 1st. Inspired by the story of band member Dario Pozderski, who 25 years ago fled his war-torn homeland of Bosnia, the song is both a celebration of freedom and a denunciation of mankind’s stupidity, greed, and penchant for destructive wars that result in a never-ending cycle of refugee crises.
The band explains: “This year we celebrate 75 years living in freedom [The Netherlands was liberated from Nazi control at the end of World War II in 1945]. A perfect moment for Morgendust to release their new single Alien, a song about the long, hard road refugees still have to take to find a new but uncertain future. To live in freedom is something to care about and not to take for granted, something Dario can relate to. He arrives in Holland in 1995, because his identity suddenly matters, a lot! He tries to escape ‘the lunatics” as he calls them, but they grow in numbers and he has to run, because he refuses to fight his own people. With only a bass in two parts in a rucksack he reaches Holland and finds a place in an AZC, a shelter for refugees of war.”
Dario in 1995 and 2020
Dario elaborates: “Here I sit in an AZC with nothing to do, which I cannot stand! Around that time I visit the city library often to listen to music. I notice a note on the wall which says: “Band PTS needs bass player” (PTS was a 90s neo-progressive rock band that included Morgendust members Marco de Haan and Ron van Kruistum). “I audition and I’m in…. Now, 25 years later, with two of the former PTS members I still make music in Morgendust.”
“Aliens” was written by Marco de Haan and Iwan Blokzijl, who also mixed and mastered the track, and designed the artwork for the single. The track has an anthemic quality, with a grandiose melody and dramatic instrumentals befitting the expansive scope of the subject matter. The guys are all skilled musicians, and together they’ve created an exceptional song that’s truly stunning. The layered guitar work is fantastic, and I love the intricate, sweeping synths and piano keys that give the song such haunting beauty. Dario and Job keep the track grounded with their perfect rhythms, and Marco’s emotionally-charged vocals bring chills as he drives home the urgency and seriousness expressed in the powerful lyrics. The band has included a snippet from Jesse Jackson’s speech announcing the suspension of his 1988 run for the U.S. presidency.
All the things I had in life Now I see that they are Gone away for good Everything I once controlled When I find out that it’s Gone away for good
Came here By plastic As tame sheep The questions And the screaming The waiting in line
Alien Nations apart Maybe we’re Back to the start Back to the start
Just the scent of neighborhood Brings a tear to me it’s Gone away for good All the colors in the sky Are just pictures in my mind
Saw how The money Can blind you Seduce you Betray you And makes you insane
Alien Nations apart Maybe we’re Back to the start
Jesse Jackson’s speech:
If in my high moments, I have done some good, offered some service, shed some light, healed some wounds, rekindled some hope, or stirred someone from apathy and indifference, or in any way along the way helped somebody, then this campaign has not been in vain.
Soft Shelter is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and music producer from Southern California who writes pleasing indie dream pop songs laced with alt-rock, psychedelic, pop and electronic elements, and featuring thoughtful lyrics. Since the release of his first single “Ashes” last November (2019), he’s been a busy guy, dropping a new single or EP every month or so. In March, he released his single “Anticipation”, and now returns with his second EP Judgment Day, featuring “Anticipation” and two new tracks written during the COVID-19 quarantine.
He states that the EP is sort of a loose trilogy, with rather moody songs that still contain a certain optimism toward the future: “I tried to understand what it means to be an individual within a community during a global pandemic.” He wrote, performed , sang, produced and mixed the songs. Mastering was done by Matt Pereira (aka KOMAK).
The first track, “Anticipation,” was written during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, and it’s title is an apt descriptor for the growing anxiety of the period. Soft Shelter states that the song “speaks to the anxious feeling that accompanies the anticipation of a crisis and the weird sensation of questioning whether it’s paranoia or legitimate.” The song is beautiful, with warm, shimmery synths and gentle percussion, over which he and fellow musician Noah Kastenbaum have layered beautifully strummed guitar notes. It all creates an enchanting backdrop for Soft Shelter’s ethereal vocals, which rise to a lovely falsetto in the choruses. The xylophone at the end is a nice touch.
“Dead Metaphors” touches on how languages evolve over time, with word meanings going from literal to figurative, and trying to stay optimistic: “Time to hit stop and rewind. Dead metaphors don’t stay behind. We too can rise again. Let’s just say when.” The song has a languid sort of hip hop beat, with piano, programmed drums and gnarly electric guitar being the dominant instruments. I like how he makes the music shudder just before the second chorus, like hitting stop, rewind and play on a tape machine.
The third track “Judgment Day” was inspired by the writings of French philosopher Albert Camus, who Soft Shelter admires. He explains that the lyrics “attest to feeling lost and looking for guidance, which is often the case when people look to religion or philosophy or any ideology for meaning or support. We have to work toward uncovering our blind spots and the things that prevent us from seeing clearly.” This is beautifully articulated by the lines “It sure feels like judgement day. Tell me what the wise men say? In the end, perhaps we’ll find all the things that made us so blind. Will anything be the same?”
Musically, the song has a pleasing synth-pop vibe, highlighted by resonant piano keys, crisp percussion and electric guitar. As always, Soft Shelter’s velvety smooth vocals are captivating. The track ends with an excerpt from Camus’s Nobel Prize speech, in which he calls attention to how artists require beauty but also are uniquely tied to their communities: “True artists hold nothing in contempt; they oblige themselves to understand, rather than judge.”
It’s gratifying to see so many artists using their imaginations and creative talents to write relevant and topical music during this unfortunate virus quarantine, and Soft Shelter’s Judgment Day is another shining example of this. He will also be donating 50% of all sales of his EP on the Bandcamp music site to food banks.
Sadly, all good things must eventually come to an end, and today is the 14th and final installment of the Song of the Day Challenge I’ve been doing over the past two weeks. The final day’s theme is “Your song of the day”, and my pick is the new single “Rise” by Ships Have Sailed. The Los Angeles-based duo consists of songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Will Carpenter and drummer Art Andranikyan, and I featured them twice on this blog last year when I reviewed their beautiful singles “Escape” and “Skin”. (You can read those reviews by clicking on the links under ‘Related’ at the end of this post.)
Like many of their songs, “Rise” is an uplifting song of resilience and hope. The song’s lyrics are particularly relevant given the current state of things as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has essentially upended everyone’s life. This past March, after much planning and preparation, Ships Have Sailed embarked on what was to be a 10-show tour across the Southwest with fellow L.A. band Quitting Whitney. After playing only the first show in Las Vegas, their tour came to an abrupt halt the next day as the COVID-19 outbreak suddenly began spiraling out of control. They were forced to turn around and head back to L.A., their tour and dreams in ashes. I had purchased tickets to see them at the legendary Troubadour on March 22, and needless to say was terribly disappointed.
Like all musicians and bands, Will and Art were forced to reassess their plans for the months ahead, and decided to release “Rise” as a single. About the song, Will explained: “In the midst of all the chaos that was happening around us, I felt oddly calm. I can remember realizing that our touring plans were likely done at least for six months and quite possibly longer, and knowing we needed to adjust. I’d had this song “Rise” finished for a minute, but it hadn’t really showed me where it belonged yet. I just sort of realized that it was here in this situation we’re all living through where it belongs…in the middle of this chaos, reminding us all that we can, and will, weather this storm.”
The song has more of an alt-rock feel than many of their recent songs, with gnarly synth bass grooves and more aggressive percussion. Will’s vocals are as sublime as ever though. Take a listen:
Today’s Song of the Day Challenge theme is “A song that describes you”. Self-reflection can often be a difficult thing to do, but sadly, I have to go with the song “Complainer” by L.A. alt-rock band Cold War Kids. While some of the lyrics don’t exactly describe me or my personality, the title absolutely does. All my life, I’ve been a glass half-empty pessimist and malcontent. I bitch, whine or moan about at least one thing or another on a daily basis, driving those around me nuts for as long as I can remember. I wish it were otherwise, but it is what it is. On the plus side, three things that keep me from being a complete asshole are my inherent kindness, empathy and sense of humor.
Getting back to the music, I’m a big fan of Cold War Kids. My favorite songs from them are “First”, “Love is Mystical”, “So Tied Up” and “Miracle Mile”, and I also love their cover of Rihanna’s “Love On the Brain”.
9fm (short for Ninth Floor Mannequin) is the solo music project of New Jersey-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jarrod Pedone. Drawing influences from some of his favorite artists like Paul Simon, Fleet Foxes and James Blake, Pedone melds folk and alternative rock, injecting bits of synth pop here and there to create fascinating and pleasing songs. He’s also a big fan of the classic TV show The Twilight Zone, as well as the more recent Twilight Zone-influenced British sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror, and many of his song lyrics are based on particular episodes of those shows.
In September 2018, I reviewed 9fm’s marvelous EP Little House, and am now happy to feature his latest single “First Blush” which dropped April 27th. The song is based on Season 3, Episode 4 of Black Mirror, entitled “San Junipero”. San Junipero is a simulated beach resort town where the deceased can live and the elderly can visit, all inhabiting their younger selves’ bodies in a time of their choosing. The plot involves two women, Yorkie and Kelly, who meet at a nightclub, and eventually become romantically involved. They meet up at different times over the years in both San Junipero and in the real world, where they face real-life complications. In the end, both are euthanised so that they can be together in San Junipero.
9fm wrote the music and lyrics, sang vocals and performed all the music on “First Blush”, as well as recording, mixing and mastering the track himself in his home studio. Starting with skittering percussion and assertive drumbeats, he layers lo-fi synths, humming keyboards, and what sounds like a bass guitar, though it could also be guitar that’s been fed though a pedal or some other device to give it a deeper tone. The result is a dramatic, fast-paced song that captures the sense of urgency and emotional intensity described in the lyrics about an unusual and logistically challenging love affair. His smooth vocals have an ethereal, almost otherworldly quality that’s quite pleasing and well-suited to the subject matter. “First Blush” is another fine effort from this talented guy.
A life in a place & time, we didn’t choose Abide by the rules we find, oh ’ til we’re through Then I decide on a place in a time to reside that I wished were true But who we are we can’t escape, so I wrecked that too
At first blush I came on way too strong I’d never known someone like you So I knew first, the path that I would choose I’d trade that life for one with you Please see it through You’re all I have to lose
A place in a time designed for our own use A place we can feel alive, in health & youth So I decide on a place in a time to reside that I wished were true So now here we are now free to stay, until we’re through
Without a doubt, the lives we learn to lead die out, & then, leaving us only to find out, the lives we’re meant to lead are found, not with, but without, stable ground
Today’s Song of the Day Challenge theme is “A song from your childhood” and my pick is “She Loves You” by The Beatles. It ranks among their greatest songs, and is one of my all-time favorite Beatles songs.
Anyone who was a kid or teenager in the early to mid 1960s remembers the first time they heard a song by The Beatles. They started out playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany in 1960, and in October 1962, their first single “Love Me Do” was released in the UK. “She Loves You” was released in the UK in August 1963, where it became the best-selling single of 1963, and remains to this day the top-selling Beatles single ever in the UK.
Because of contract disputes with their American label Vee-Jay Records, “She Loves You” ended up being released in the U.S. by Swan Records in September 1963. Shockingly, it sold only around 1,000 copies and failed to chart. But after the meteoric success of the Capitol Records release of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” launched the so-called “British Invasion” of the American music scene at the end of 1963, “She Loves You” finally entered the Billboard chart in late January 1964, and spent four weeks at #2 behind “I Want to Hold Your Hand” before replacing it at #1 that March.
It’s such a joyful and exhilarating song that resonates with young and old alike. The lyrics are from the perspective of a go-between, who tells a friend that his estranged girlfriend still loves him, and that he needs to apologize to make things right with her:
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You think you’ve lost your love Well, I saw her yesterday It’s you she’s thinking of And she told me what to say
She says she loves you And you know that can’t be bad Yes, she loves you And you know you should be glad
She said you hurt her so She almost lost her mind But now she says she knows You’re not the hurting kind
She says she loves you And you know that can’t be bad Yes, she loves you And you know you should be glad, ooh
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah And with a love like that You know you should be glad
You know it’s up to you I think it’s only fair Pride can hurt you too Apologize to her
Because she loves you And you know that can’t be bad Yes, she loves you And you know you should be glad, ooh
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah With a love like that You know you should be glad With a love like that You know you should be glad With a love like that You know you should be glad Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 