(no subject)

In which I take some time to brag about my brother:


When I was putting together a playlist the other day, I listened to a song called "One Last Round," by The Gardens Faithful, the band Andrew fronted before he joined Beth In Battle Mode. I don't recall hearing it at their concerts, and I've become fascinated by it. The narrator is part of a crowd celebrating some unspecified victory - it could be anything from VE Day to the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the apocalypse, or more flippantly, a local sports win. The point is, it's one of the more subtle and bittersweet "We've won - now what?" pieces I've ever heard. It's joined the playlist.


And we tore into the street,
as the shoes burnt off our feet,
for we'd finally shed the burden of defeat.
And we hugged and shed our tears,
and forgave those heartache years;
Raised our glasses to a thousand scratchy cheers.


And the night sky was on fire,
Sirens wailed into a choir,
As the crowd climbed up atop a church's spire.


And we're lost for what to do,
we just can't believe it's true,
'cause for so long disappointment's all we knew.
And for all the joyful din,
this requited love we're in,
still - the only place we know is where we've been...


And the old walls tumble down
all across this desperate town,
from the strength of this collective grace we've found.


And we may never meet again,
but in this moment we're old friends,
as this hollow world around us finally ends.
'Cause at last we've finally won,
and the last days now have come
So we might as well have one last round.

(no subject)

With the barrage of holiday music well under way, I'm thinking as I do every year about the Christmas-by-default songs: Jingle Bells, its derivative Jingle Bell Rock, Sleigh Ride, Let It Snow, and Winter Wonderland - what might more properly be considered winter songs, but which have got lumped in with the carols. The latter two might be good Valentine's Day songs if they weren't beaten to death every December. Oddly, the same fate doesn't seem to have befallen Baby, It's Cold Outside - maybe it's just risque enough to resist seasonal sentiment. And I'm guessing Frank Black's Manitoba is right out.....