I think it’s important to live in the moment. I’m also a hypocrite. And one of those goons at shows who holds their iPhones up and takes video footage that will just gather dust and data in the archives of my cloud. But in rare form, and on a particularly wallowy weekday, I replayed Garth Brooks concert snippets from this past weekend. Surprising even myself, I gleaned some quotable nuggets that at the time took a backseat to my Whispering Angel-fueled screaming of “Play ‘The Thunder Rolls'!” and sobbing because 90s country *is* my youth encapsulated and it was just all so beautiful.
From his Yankee Stadium soapbox, Garth read a fan’s sign back to her – “I am me because of you” saying it was the same for him, too. This simple truth – that, yes, was uttered by a middle-aged white male millionaire – struck me. Because of its universality and the fact these past weeks have been the pits. A wildfire of hate spreading through our nation & world, leaving pain in its wake and me utterly speechless, hopeless, confused.
And while certainly not a cure-all for evil, music is my outlet.
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This week’s playlist deviates from my sardonic skimming of indie sappy & sweet, and takes on a more realistic arc – from despondent, to determined, to hopeful, ending with a cover of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” There’s an instrumental piece, “Wednesday,” by Joe Alexander Shepherd that feels like firebranded fortitude, and a French song “Une Migration” by Josh Savage that is a buoy of a battle cry; you can feel his assured doggedness without even understanding the chorus. (Which for the curious and “google search” inept, translates to, “Ask me where I’m going / I’ll say up, I’ll say up.”) And then there’s Molly Moore’s “Free Spirit” – which is a mold-breaking, trip-hop, beats-driven track about being a soul bound by skin and bones, floating through the cosmos.
So although I may be hiding behind others’ music & lyrics because I have no words, I will borrow that woman’s sign from this past weekend, “I am me because of you.” Now let’s act like a “we.”
In the spirit of inclusivity, I’d love to hear your mood music – during trying times or just to remind yourself that loveisloveislove. For submissions please use #IndieSkim hashtag or hit me up on @Anna_Murphy.
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