Tag: 366

Oh hai, Angie! Long time no see!

Listen, let’s get this out of the way now. You’re going to hear a lot of Angie this year if you follow this blog! A trek awaits!

I’m currently doing a full listen-through of Childish Gambino’s CAMP as I write this entry and I find myself LEGIT EXCITED to dive into this song over and over. That’s the type of feeling we all need to pay attention to when we feel it, right?! That lightning in a bottle type feeling of anticipation. Is this a weird way to describe music? :D I’d like to say I’m overdoing it, but yooooooo, this sooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg…………

The melody that she creates over the first three lines of this song is some of the most beautifully descriptive prose mixed with equally beautiful music.

In the armchair over there, I can see a face in the upholstery, I can get anxiety from an inanimate object, an inanimate object, and inanimate object…

From there you’re transported to sitting next to your crush at some college house party. 

…and my backbone could have grown, but I think it’s turned to softness, I think it is a problem, like food that’s going rotten, and you might say its ok to eat it, and then it makes you vomit, I really hate to vomit, except the one time I drank too much fireball whiskey, ’cause I wanted you to kiss me, so I threw it up, washed my mouth, and sat back on the couch with you…

Punch. Me. In. The. Gut.

The part of this song that so perfectly synthesizes that angst that comes with that college crush from that house party is that deep resonate guitar riff throughout? It somehow is the sound your brain makes when you’re just yearning for someone to SEE you! Juxtapose that with that rich and honestly angelic voice of Angie’s…her music just drips authentic longing here. It’s palpable.

What’s fascinating to me, and most exciting for me during this upcoming year of amateur music blogging, is how intimately related these rankings overall are to the types of things I’ve been going through over these ninety-thousand (90,00) minutes of listening I’ve done this year.

I’m not sure there’s a more intimate way to experience someone else’s life. It’s one of the most exciting parts of this ideas for me!

Please don’t take this as me professing that I know anything more about music than any of you who didn’t have a life soundtrack that would play for two months straight. I’m just sharing my journey because I find it interesting to talk about this, and if I do, chances are someone else does too! 

I wish Spotify would provide us with graphical information about our entire listening history. Can you imagine how PROFOUNDLY interesting that would be?! #spotifyreleasethedata

It says something about these songs that ranked in the top end of this list though, right? In all the time I spent with music this past year, these songs HIT the hardest. 

There are mysteries of my psyche to be unearthed and explored through so many lines of lyrics! Such rich data for the psychologists out there! 

Thank you for reading. Enjoy. Let me know what you think of the song!

You are soon to find out why, but I can without a doubt say that Angie is my all-time favorite artist now. I feel so much when I listen to her music and I’m excited to dig into all that during this project.

As you can see, we’ve hung out a bit this year. She appears 27 times in this playlist!

She has such a distinctive voice and vocal range. Her voice is simultaneously ethereal paired with the most beautiful coarseness. She wields both seamlessly at times and the result is magic and such an authentic vehicle for the lyrics to visit us in.

I DM’d Angie on IG to tell her that she is what happens when the universe marries soul with sound. Her songwriting and vocals have had such a positive and profound impact on my mental health and overall emotional perspective and maturity this year. Give her a listen, you will not be sorry. Bring the tissues. Also prepare for feelings of euphoria, massive amounts of self-reflection, and an all-time voice that will stay with you.

She speaks relationship. She speaks depression and dark places in the album Salt. She speaks redemption, self-reliance and discovery, and so much more in her latest album, Light, Dark, Light Again. The more you listen to her the more you’ll love her.

So, what is it about this specific song that makes it, out of 366 songs, my top choice?

I think it’s how deep and foreboding that guitar is in the beginning for sure that hooks me, but not far behind it is Angie’s wordplay.

“There’s a quaking in my body and I swear if I could, that I would shake every muscle until you understood, that the heart has to beat like a drum, the plan has to come undone, the pulse of the future is in Mother Nature, the pulse of the future is in Mother Nature…”

Just how good of a songwriter she is will become apparent as you dive into her catalog but honestly, the first few lyrics of this song are so so good.

“I’m the dirt on the ground at your property line, mouth wide open, waiting for a drop of the sky, and I give what I have while you’re here, and I’m trying to stay hydrated, ’cause I’m crying all the time…”

I feel how ignored she is. I feel her begging for attention. It’s relatable, right? We’ve all been there with someone. Pining.

The driving rhythm backbone of this song can’t be ignored. It honestly sets the entire tone for the song and we’re immediately transported into this deep pit of feeling.

Flocks of birds changing form, from a wave, to a fist, to a storm…

It’s a beautiful arc because we’ve all been in that shitty relationship that one day we finally realize we just don’t need anymore. We come out of it stronger and having a much better understanding of our worth.

Enjoy it! Thank you for joining me on Day 1 of 366! Let me know what you think of the song! Did it stir anything up? Let’s talk!