Music is supposed to make you feel good.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s supposed to wrap you in a blanket, make you feel everything’s going to be all right.<\/p>\n
I heard this Whiskeytown track on XM, "I Still Miss Someone".\u00c2\u00a0 Being country ignorant, I didn’t know it was written by Johnny Cash.\u00c2\u00a0 I needed to hear it again, to experience its honest folksiness.\u00c2\u00a0 It sounded like it was cut on the porch when no one was listening, when the singer was out there alone.<\/p>\n
But I couldn’t find it on Limewire.\u00c2\u00a0 I found an alternative live take, but it didn’t evidence quite the same homespun quality.<\/p>\n
And I forgot about it until today, when I was downloading from the blogs.\u00c2\u00a0 I needed Frankie Miller’s "Double Trouble", with "(I Can’t) Breakaway".\u00c2\u00a0 I found "Full House" and a greatest hits album, I marveled at his take on the song that Kim Carnes made famous, "When I’m Away From You", and while I checked out my new tunes, many of which I hadn’t heard since I spun the vinyl long ago, I continued to search online.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s when I found the deluxe edition of Whiskeytown’s "Stranger’s Almanac".\u00c2\u00a0 With the additional CD containing this performance of "I Still Miss Someone".\u00c2\u00a0 And when all the tracks were downloaded, after I inserted the artwork, I let the album play.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s when I discovered "Indian Gown".<\/p>\n
I’ve got this two CD package somewhere in my house, or my garage.\u00c2\u00a0 I even like, no, love, some of Ryan Adams’ solo work.\u00c2\u00a0 But his identity, his personal train-wreck, has eclipsed his music.\u00c2\u00a0 His hit to shit ratio has gone haywire.\u00c2\u00a0 I check out everything he releases, but the public has moved on.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s another star who wasn’t.\u00c2\u00a0 Then I stumble on this.\u00c2\u00a0 Ten years after the fact.<\/p>\n
This is what professionals will get you.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a sound you just don’t get with the MySpace bands.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like your speakers are a conduit to another world.\u00c2\u00a0 You can journey through the grille to where they’re playing and quietly sit down in front of the musicians and let the music waft over you, hover in the air, enveloping you in its warmth.<\/p>\n
Hit singles, purveyed by stars as opposed to musicians, have eclipsed this sound for far too long.\u00c2\u00a0 If it doesn’t sell, it must not be good.\u00c2\u00a0 If it’s not brand new, if it can’t be featured in a gossip column, then it’s a loser.\u00c2\u00a0 But this bonus track off a stiff album resonates more than all the hits.\u00c2\u00a0 Because it evidences humanity.<\/p>\n
Ever drive on a late winter afternoon in the snow?\u00c2\u00a0 As you crawl through town your whole life flashes through your brain.\u00c2\u00a0 The quiet sets your mind free.\u00c2\u00a0 But, what if a sound crept into that quietude, tapped you on the shoulder and started inspiring new thoughts.\u00c2\u00a0 Both happy and bittersweet.<\/p>\n
Doesn’t matter that your loved one left you if the music is right.\u00c2\u00a0 The music agrees you played your hand correctly, that you did your best, even if it didn’t work out, and you’ll get a chance to play again.\u00c2\u00a0 The music helps you rebuild your life, in your mind.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re reminded of prior victories.\u00c2\u00a0 You know good times will come again.<\/p>\n
This is why we listen to music.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the written word cannot convey this warmth, no movie.\u00c2\u00a0 They can render the images, but they cannot encase you in their cloak, make you warm and whisk you away.<\/p>\n
We live in a go-go world.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re networked, we’re subjected to tweets.\u00c2\u00a0 But, despite technology, the human condition has not changed, ever.\u00c2\u00a0 We still feel alone.\u00c2\u00a0 No matter how many texts or how much e-mail we get.\u00c2\u00a0 How are we going to feel connected, a part of humanity.\u00c2\u00a0 Get through the lull?\u00c2\u00a0 By listening to music.<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Music is supposed to make you feel good.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s supposed to wrap you in a blanket, make you feel everything’s going to be all right. I heard this Whiskeytown track on XM, "I Still Miss Someone".\u00c2\u00a0 Being country ignorant, I didn’t know it was written by Johnny Cash.\u00c2\u00a0 I needed to hear it again, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-lW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}