And so, I thought today I'd change that!!!!!
Lately I've been getting into a band called Stars. They are a Canadian Indie Pop Band whose lyrics tend to focus on relationships, life, and love. So, that description made them sound completely normal...sigh. Okay, so the songs they play don't cover the same subject matter as most love songs on the radio (I love x person but he/she does not love me; I cheated on x and he/she dumped me and I want he/she back; let's break up, etc.). Their lyrics are actually riddled with real situations that real people encounter. That isn't to say that the topics in the aforementioned songs on the radio are not things that happen to real people...plenty of people experience unrequited love (oh, don't get me started on that!), betrayal and pain. But we've heard songs about that how many times? I will venture to guess like a billion. And it's nothing new at this point.
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| Amy and Torquil performing with Stars at Lollapalooza, 2010. Such a wonderful concert :) |
The first album I owned by Stars is Set Yourself on Fire, from 2004. It contains some of the most touching, sad, honest and realistic lyrics I've ever heard, which seem to follow a theme of a man and woman getting over an ended relationship. For example, in the first track, "Your Ex-Lover is Dead," Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan sing a duet, telling a tale of two ex-lovers who met again, years later, as strangers. The story is that the two had a relationship, which ended for some unknown reason, and now, years later, the woman is happy with the way things turned out. You never hear this kind of emotion in a love song, and it's amazingly touching. Here are some lyrics...
(Amy)
This scar is a fleck on my porcelain skin
You tried to reach deep but you couldn't get in
And now you're outside me, you see all the beauty
Repent all your sin
(Both)
It's Nothing but time and a face that you'll lose
I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose
I'll write you a postcard, I'll send you the news
From the house down the road from real love
Live through this and you won't look back
Live through this and you won't look back
Live through this and you won't look back
There's one thing I have to say so I'll be brave
You were what I wanted
I gave what I gave
I'm not sorry I met you
I'm not sorry it's over
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save
And here is where you can listen to it. Please do!
"Ageless Beauty" is another song that stands out on the album. This one, though, for its amazingly catchy chorus. This one employs imagery of a lighthouse to convey a message about love and time (the exact meaning is unbeknownst to me). Another of my favorites from the album has to be "the Big Fight," where Amy confronts Torquil (in song, hopefully not in reality, that would be messy and sad) about his apparent cheating on her, while he attempts to convince her that he still loves her. The two singers alternate singing individual lines of lyrics, making it feel as though they are having the confrontation in this very moment. Here are some of the lyrics...
(Amy)
How could you do it?
(Torquil)
I couldn't say.
(Amy)
Years built on sand...
(Torquil)
June until may
(Amy)
Second to second
(Both)
Lied even while you held my hand
(Amy)
Its death for the living
(Torquil)
Yes I am a ghost
(Amy)
The mirror is cloudy
(Torquil)
I loved you the most
(Amy)
You threw out the pieces
(Both)
Did things we didn't understand
He doesn't want her but he just won't let her go
She started breaking but she still won't let it show
And again, you can listen to this one here!!
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| Torquil being amazing. |
"One More Night" is another touching song...this one about the sex that the man and woman have after they break up. It's pretty obvious in the lyrics this time, but they surprisingly aren't crude, as so many lyrics are nowadays. Again, they are so very honest and so, so well delivered in the song...some lyrics below.
One more night, that was a good one
One more night, I dreamed it was good one (one more)
One more night, that was a good one
One more night, the end should be a good one
A good one
He starts with her back, because thats what he sees
When she's breaking his heart, she still fucks like a tease
Release to the sky, look him straight in the eye
And tell him, right now, that you wish he would die
You'll never touch him again, so get what you can
Leaving him empty, just because he's a man
So good when it ends, they'll never be friends
One more night, thats all they can spend in...
Please listen to it now!! Here you go.
I've never had a relationship end with cheating, but lyrics from all of these songs, and more, definitely express feelings that I have had in the past and been unable to explain. Since I first acquired Set Yourself on Fire, I have made a point of finding all of their other albums as well, and I have just started making my way through Heart, In Our Bedroom After the War, and Nightsongs. I can't wait to hear more :)
I hope that you listen to some of these songs. I also hope you come to realize just how amazingly beautiful and emotionally charged music Stars has been able to make for us.
Hey, listen!
...also...I feel so ashamed for quoting Navi just there. I apologize . That was uncalled for.
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