Hands by The Raconteurs
In 2006 I was in London doing consulting for a television show for a magician there. He was asked by the band The Raconteurs to appear in a music video with them in Norway. Those of us working with him went along too. It was a cool time and a fun video to be around the shoot for. It featured all these deaf girls and they taught everyone a bunch of Norwegian sign language (which is different than American). They would jump around and dance to the music they could only feel and not hear.
The song is called Hands, and I used to think of the first line when I would come to see you, even before we were together. Then after we were a couple, the rest of the song reminded me of you too.
Girl you got those hands that heal
Help me get in touch with what I feel
‘Cause you understand and you sympathize
And you know me best it’s no surprise
Girl you got those eyes that see
Help me find the good that’s inside me
‘Cause you’re the only one who really knows
How the feeling comes and why it goes
When you’re with me there’s a light and I can see my way
When you speak to me it’s a song and I know what to say
When you listen there’s a hope and I know I’m being heard
When you smile at me and I know and we don’t have to speak a word
Here I Am by Adam Green and Binki Shapiro
I feel this duet could be a poeticized version of discussions we’ve had about our relationship.
Her: Looking down the line at you
Left a trail I hope you will undo
The echoes of failure inside someone
To learn to feel the flavor of the sun
Her: Here I am, meet me as before and more again
Him: Here I am as before again
Her: I won’t let my endings keep me from you again
Him: I won’t be kept from you again
Her: Taking you from the back of my mind
To keep you with me always, all the time
Imagine scenes I hoped for you
Pretending to be realistic, too
Him: Crack through the grip
Look up at what you’ve touched
Hiding yourself in the wrong place for love
Shangri-La by Fox Grin
Shangri-La is a mythical paradise in the mountains of Tibet. It’s described as “an enduringly happy land, isolated from the world.” That describes how I feel when we’re together too.
She is the setting sun
You are the moon revolving ’round
And in a silent way you call out to her
Above it isn’t bright
Below it isn’t dark
I am the wanderer
And for years and years I’ve roamed
And in the morning light
I can almost see her eyes
I am the beggar now
With the sky inside my hands
She is the setting sun
She is the calm before the storm
And as I sail the night
She is the light that guides me home
All of My Days and All of My Days Off by A.C. Newman
In the late summer/early fall, there was a period where we were spending a few days a week together and I was loving it so much. And this song came up on one of my playlists and I was listening to it over and over with you in mind. It’s just the simple repetitive chorus that made me think of you and my desire to spend as much time with you as I could.
“And now I give you my days, all my days… And all of my days off.”
Sonic Bloom by Tripping Daisy
This may be my favorite love song of all time. So, of course, it would make me think of you.
Tripping Daisy were a psych-rock band from the late 90s. The lead singer, Tim Delaughter, would go on to form the Polyphonic Spree in the 2000s. You might remember them. They were a band with, like, a chorus and an orchestra they travelled with. They kind of looked like a hippy cult. They were pretty cool.
At any rate, I think this song perfectly captures the uncertainty/insecurity of falling in love with someone, followed by they the strength and confidence you have when you truly give in to it.
The song starts:
“Love gets inside of you, makes me invisible.”
Then there’s a tonal shift at 2:42 and it becomes.
“Love gets inside of you, makes me invincible.”
Yes.
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