6-String Narrative

A good friend of mine, Carson Murphy, just released his debut EP on iTunes. It consists of 6 instrumentals featuring acoustic guitar, and is aptly titled "6-String Narrative". It is worth checking out; he is a fantastic guitarist. Sometimes I just don't want to deal with lyrics, and today is one of those days. While the acoustic guitar is clearly the dominant instrument, I can't help but appreciate the sometimes subtle and sometimes firm contributions of the piano parts. The beauty of "6-String Narrative" is that, sans lyric, it lets you fill in just what the narrative is.

You can hear a song off the album here as well as some other nice tunes. Rain is the Carson Murphy original, although I encourage you to check out some of the other music. Rain features more piano than some of the other tracks, but this is not a bad thing. Personally I am a fan of the percussive sounds; the shaker, the soft beat, and the scraping guitar strings.

As for the narrative, this song sends me soaring over green hills just after a spring rain, laughing aloud with my new found ability to fly. Maybe there are big white puffy clouds in this sky with me, and that could be a rainbow over there. It doesn't really matter, because I am too pleased with the fact that the sky is blue and the grass is green and I am alive to care about the pot of gold. And then, maybe, over the next hill, I see someone I really like. And now it's time to come down from the sky, down from the clouds and the blue blue sky and take that person's hand and walk away, into the sunset. But this end to my flight does not sadden me either, because I have enjoyed it and it has brought me a new perspective, and besides, it's a damn good story to tell.

Jose Vanders

If I write down a hundred things that I thought that I could do by the time that I was sixty-seven,

would that be another list of ninety-nine things that I missed, just because I had a fear of failing?

Would I have walked between two towers just like the man on wire even though he had a chance of falling?

Would I have opened up my soul and let inside that deep dark hole another human being capable of calling me back out?

And we can watch movies, and we can watch movies, where all ends well.

Man On Wire - Jose Vanders

Go listen to her!

Five songs I've been listening to a lot recently, in no particular order

1. Start a War, by the National

I like this song a lot.  It's good writing music, and it's racked up 23 plays in iTunes since I added it about a week ago.  I think the singer's voice is perfectly suited to this kind of song - wistful, sad, resigned.  It builds but never breaks, and there's an anxiety in that which fits in the context of the song.  I like the simplicity of the guitar throughout, and the simplicity of the lyrics, this line in particular: You were always weird, but I never had to hold you by the edges like I do now.

2. Breakeven, by the Script

Probably the thing that bothers me most about this song is that "breakeven" is one word when it should clearly be two.  This is a radio song, and a sad pop breakup song, but I've listened to it a lot anyway.  It's incredibly wistful and catchy.  And I like the line, "What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you?" It's a little trite, but whatever.  There's a truth in that.  Besides, radio is so awful this month that I feel excused in finding the best in the middle of all the bad.

3. Beaming, by Quiet Science

I first heard this song on a long car ride with Ben.  It was on a mix he had made for a friend, and the title was "Everything is gonna be alright (?)" with the artist simply listed as "?".  There's only one or two sites on Google that will turn up if you search for the lyrics.  But it's by a band called Quiet Science, and it's a very pretty song.  With very pretty, simple lyrics that are hard to find.

4. Look at Miss Ohio, by the New Frontiers (Gillian Welch cover)

I still haven't looked up the original version of this song, for which I feel kind of bad.  I also don't really understand it.  But it reminds me of the color palette of the mid-1900s, and I love the line, "I wanna do right, but not right now."

5. Drumming Song, by Florence and the Machine

This song is just mad excitement.  Louder than sirens, louder than bells, sweeter than heaven and hotter than hell.

By the way, we're sorry that we can't get mp3's up on this page.  We don't want to be sketchy and it's just difficult to find a good file hosting site.

Love,

Sarah