Noga has such a intriguing voice. Talent in droves and for me it’s on display here:
“Lately, I got ceilings but I burn in the sun, I never miss one shot, I’m sick as a gun, I got mortal friends, I’m dead as they come like, Hey! I’m on the way!, I left my body in the mattress by the San Francisco Bay, now there’s a cop named Mordecai behind my pirated Mercedes, when we crash I hit the ER, this is a thriller, I did it for the PR, I did it for the fear, I did it knowing there’s a D’animal pack in the back of fridge, I go pack it up might triple attack, and battery-acid my stacks in the cab, menagerie cracked and my doggies run packs, I just tell ’em to back it up, back it up, back it up”
She also does a kick-ass cover of Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby”.
Trigger warning. This song is not a happy one. It’s a tale of a pregnant girl dying from domestic abuse after giving birth. Feel free to skip this post if you feel like you’re not up to it. No judgment. It even makes me cringe when I listen to it.
If you’re still with us, this song contains some of the craziest guitar work I’ve ever heard. Seriously, I’ve never heard a guitar do some of this stuff.
Given the subject matter, I’m not going to share the lyrics. Sometimes music isn’t there to make us happy, or feel good, or love. Sometimes it’s meant to tell a story that chills us. A cautionary tale. A reminder to look out for our loved ones. I think that’s honestly what the song (and related ones, London City, Jenny’s Tale and Screetch’s Tale) were written for. I’ll link em at the end.
If you’re into some sad and sometimes painful song listens, these songs are a narrative he’s created and it’s pretty amazing in it’s originality.
Hard to recommend “enjoying” this song, but, if you take them for what they are, it’s a poignant tale spun by Ren. Some of the coolest guitar work if nothing else!
I love the slow beginning of this song. So calm. Sounds like it begins with a deep breath. Steady beat, guitar. Just nice all the way around.
“Moving out west, things got lonely, trying my best, nobody showed me, which way to go, I didn’t know, hating my past, I found the old me, bulletproof vest, my only clothing, hiding alone, prison is home, just a man’s make-up, fake love, make ’em all laugh, come on, someone, take off your mask, it’s nice to meet, honey what you done, come from escaping so fast, we’re from dungeons, Alcatraz, it’s nice to meet”
I love that this song seems to be encouraging us to be real with one-another. I think it’s talking about that stuff that we all go through and pretend not to. I hear the “it’s nice to meet” and picture two people finally opening up to one-another about their shared pain.
Maybe open up to someone today? Maybe open up to a journal. If there’s stuff inside that’s hurting…get it out!
“Barely on my mind, barely on my mind, all the fuckin’ time, all the fuckin’ time, I can see the signs, I can see the signs, barely on my mind, barely on my mind, sinkin’ in your teeth, actin’ like your sweet car crash, follow me around hold me down ’til I drown whiplash, suckin’ on my thumb, you get what you want bad drive, your hands on my thigh, it’s barely on my mind”
I love how you can tell this is a bop right from the top. BFTT. I really do enjoy myself some synthy pop with a female lead. This band kind of reminds me of Chvrches for some reason though more….positive.
I dig the snappy drum, I dig the how lead singer Lydia Night punctuates her notes on beat at times. Just a little energetic romp.
There’s something in my brain that perceives the title of this song as a goal for the rest of my life.
Usually, exploding is not good. Lashing out. Raging. Destruction. Those are the usual ways in which we use the word.
I propose, however, that we read between the lines a bit while we listen to this song!
“I am wild, I am open, rode a wide-awake one-eighty by the ocean, I was fuming by the exit, now I got all this space so I can finally digest it, and yes, you were a friend to me, but only ’til I let you see, I couldn’t breathe and you disagreed, I hope I am always exploding, I hope I am always exploding, I see the stars, they’re supernoving, I hope that I’m always exploding”
Yes, she made supernova a verb. I love her! 😀
The verses need attention here. They are such great poetry. “I rode a wide-awake one-eighty by the ocean”? Who thinks of that?
” Got a hard light on pretending, when I hurt somebody just by holding my breathe in, thank God I erupted, instructions on people pleasing, rained down like a bar fight on the ceiling, and yes, I did my best to hide that scary, silly mess, ’til I could barely find my silhouette, I hope I’m always exploding”
What I take this song to mean, and maybe I’m projecting, I dunno. But I take this to mean that we should, daily, become a new and better version of ourselves. Who we were before we learned what we learned the day before is gone. Exploding, and the act of reconstitution in this case, can happen in the blink of an eye if we let it. It can take the form of catching and stopping yourself from continuing an unhealthy habit. It can be when someone tells you something mind-blowing. Or mind-exploding as it were.
Who we were before ceases to be. Who were are now takes it’s place. This idea works with any sort of time-scale. I’m smarter than I was an hour ago, just by living the hour. Conversations took place. I read about something I was interested in, or knew nothing about prior. Give and take. Value added. 1% better.
Be 1% better at something today. It doesn’t have to be as colossal a concept as “life”, but maybe it’s one less negative self-talk over the course of the day. I think that’s a great way to for us to explode ourselves a little everyday, and take joy and control in the putting back together.
We slowed it down yesterday, now we pick the pace back up! All things in a balance, that’s what I’m striving for anyhow.
Frontwoman Brittany Howard has one of those ALL-TIME voices I think.
“Well, pass me the whiskey, pass me the gin, pass me whatever there’s drink left in, well, I don’t care if it’s seven in the morning, for all I care, it could be the second coming, well, you say you can’t take it anymore, you can’t live like this, it’s a really big deal, well, I don’t care, can’t pay attention, and I don’t give a fuck about your intentions at all, hoo-woo!”
If this song isn’t a rainy day cup of tea curled up with a book, I am not sure what it is. Maybe it’s a warm bath with some candles. Both, I think.
Billie weaves a beautiful tapestry of words and sound.
“Watch me as I go and separate, the ones that I am made to love and hate, and slowly counting down my body weight, I’m tired, watch me as I go and separate, the ones that I am made to love and hate, and slowly counting down by body weight, I’m tired, I’m tired, and the stars, they look like little mice, to me, I am my only vice”
Take it slow today. Move to the beat of this song. Observe, don’t absorb.
If you recall way back when when I started this project, see link below this paragraph, I said the Top 100 was in the order that I loved them, or they resonated with me, etc. From here on out, it’s pure discovery and I’ll do my best to curate a fun journey for us the rest of the way!
How about that eclipse huh?! (I haven’t seen it yet. HA!)
Hollis
I think this is a fitting song to kick off this part of The Project. No more rankings. It’s all fun and games and finding new stuff to listen to! If there was ever a song that personified the dap you get from your friend when you get to a party, it’s probably this.
Gifted Gab
So take a few minutes to bop to this song and just let loose.
This song goes hard. Steady. Lola’s voice definitely has a bit of that longing in it. Great performance overall here. Loving that bass line too.
“I think that I love you but it’s hard, just to be around you, you said, “I’m gonna be a big star”, don’t lie to my face, it’s cool if you don’ wanna hang ‘n’ get loose, but my mom wants me back at like 20 to two, and babe, I think that I love you but it’s hard, just to be around you, don’t hate me but you’re not, don’t hate me, but you’re not what I thought you was”
Definitely gives me some late-90s vibes, right? Just a short 2:42 to keep the blood moving today!
everything, etc. 