March 27, 2009

"Know That I Will Always Run to Greet You"

I've been in a bit of a blog funk lately, overwhelmed by work and life and such. What better way to break out of that than by pretending that I have a larger blog audience (blogdience? blaudience?) than I actually do.

I was listening to a mix in the car the other day, and up came Bishop Allen's "Butterfly Nets." Now, this is one of my favorite songs; it was the less-famous-yet-equally-important "second dance" song at my wedding. Of course, by that point, everyone had exhausted any chance of dancing, especially since it was roughly 9,000 degrees outside. But, this song has a special place in my heart.

This is precisely what I imagined butterfly catching would look like.

I started humming along. It's a short song, and near the end I thought to myself: I'm getting kind of tired of this song. This was a monumental moment, one that made me ponder. How many times do I have to hear a song before it gets old? There are still a few songs that I can listen to over and over again without getting tired of them.

I'm curious to hear what you readers think. What are some songs that never get old for you? What is about those songs that seems to hold up well to repeated listens?

6 comments:

  1. Okay, I know this is really really not the song you want me to answer this question with, but I've been thinking about it and singing it quite often lately.

    "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. I love it. And I know all the words. And it is mostly in my range. And I think it is absolutely beautiful in sound and meaning.

    And, for some reason, it's always on the radio in Bangor. And still I stop when I find it and sing it with all I'm worth. When I'm alone, that is.

    And... now I'm humming it.

    BUT (and this is a big but) I don't want to hear anyone besides myself or Jason Mraz ever, ever sing that song again.

    So that's something.

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  2. Oh, and I've been singing I'm Yours with a good measure of conviction for something like two years now.

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  3. You must have a much better vocal range than me. I'm jealous now and must hear you sing. I give my chances of that actually happening about 10%.

    I think there's something to be said, though, for the simplicity of songs like "I'm Yours" and "Butterfly Nets." I can't imagine living with a Sigur Ros or Broken Social Scene song for years on end. In fact, most of what I keep in rotation for years on end is downright minimalistic.

    Now you have me humming Jason Mraz. Great job, A., great job.

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  4. Umm... try 1.5%. Most people live their lives without hearing me sing.

    And, I consider anything I can sing comfortably to be in my range. Whether that's the case or not is a totally different ball of wax.

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  5. cool post Evan..."prison girls" by Neko Case is a current favorite that I can listen to over and over

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  6. LP: I have her new album on my computer, but I haven't listened to it yet. I just skipped to "Prison Girls," and you're right, that's a great one. Thanks for the suggestion!

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