There’s this lyric on Street Rat by Blondshell, where she sings: “I don’t really wanna leave this to God, maybe that’s part of the problem.” That’s my problem. I don’t trust anything other than me. I don’t like leaving things, because as we’ve observed the world is full of fools, and I can’t leave it to them. And you know it’s my choice to take an active role in our survival against existential threat. That’s my choice I guess, and I am willing the consequences upon myself. And in my diminished capacity in which I am hanging on by a thread, I seem to have lost the ability to relate to anyone who isn’t as traumatized as me by the events of the last seven months. In these shitty and shittier days then, I’ll switch gears…
Out of nowhere tonight my husband asked me if it’s George Michael that I love. I gave a laugh and said I think about his loss every day. He brings me back to my happy place. He was joyful even when he was pretending. I am trying to be there for my children as I look at their young faces and think the world hates them. Trying to be joyful even when I am pretending. Showing them that Judaism is beautiful when I light my Shabbos candles, when I use Yiddish words that make them giggle. Thank you for this tonight. There are no coincidences in life.
Thank you Eve! Brilliant as always. I read this at 5am having slept horribly after visiting the Nova exhibition in lower Manhattan yesterday. The sorrow and pain I've experienced since 10/7 was reignited to a fever pitch as I ran my finger over burnt vehicles, shoes, t-shirts, tents, sleeping bags, jewelry, cigarettes, and a stray packet of birth control pills. All so fucking tangible. All so goddamn painful. Thank you for reminding us how badass George Michael was. Music can ease so much heartache.
I’ve not been able to get St. Vincent’s video for Broken Man out of my head since I first saw it, and what you wrote here just made me realize why. It’s what I feel like all the time these days. Every time I quell the panic in one part of my body, another ignites somewhere else. General Public is such an epic pull from the vault. Never You Done That is another one from All the Rage that I used to play all the time freshman year of high school that never failed to make me forget how shitty being in 9th grade was.
Wow, Eve, just wow!! It was a pleasure to read this. A good portion of my musical playlist is made up of George Michael songs. Freedom is one of my favourites. Waiting For that Day is the first song I ever downloaded. Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, what an album. Also, if you're feeling a bit down then, I'm Your Man by Wham, is a sure pick me up and will get you up and moving and can put a smile on your face before you know it! What a great, generous person George Michael was too, a real mensch.
It's funny because I just started listening to that album again and you are right, whether you mean it to or not, it gives Joy. Your writing is brilliant. Stay strong. You are not alone.
I like that you’re reviewing music while revealing how you are. Thanks. I care and am happy to witness you. ❤️Sending love and friendship. I watched, listened and danced to the George Michael clip. Glorious. Love what you wrote.
I agree. Music can save you and relax you, make you sad, but more often than not, it makes you feel good. Music is magic, really. How do a few notes strung together make us feel, remember or lament? I'm convinced it is a gift from the gods that was slipped in there with the fire.
I had a relatively stressful career as a detective in a major Canadian city. I worked with the victims of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. I have also investigated my fair share of sudden deaths over the years. My point is that, when I feel stressed, I play music and it all goes away. Music moves you and gets into your soul. It takes over your brain, and I have no idea why. Music also makes time fly. When I'm working or writing, I play my music. It is also personal. We all have our favourites, and the same song can mean twenty different things to twenty different people.
I have always had a soft spot for singers/songwriters. There are many people who can sing and many who can write a great song, but not so many who can do both at the same time.
I think of Caylee Hammack's Small Town Hypocrite. When you watch her sing this, you know it is from the heart, and she means every word. Another fantastic singer who wrote from his life is Chayce Beckham in his song 23. I think every young man has felt, at one time or another, that he has disappointed his mother (parents). In his case, with his drinking. I don't think there's a person alive who has been in a relationship that failed who doesn't identify with Bailey Zimmerman's Rock and Hard Place.
I know my references above are all country, and I'm not even a big country fan, but in the past few years, it seems that country singers are the only ones putting out any decent music; even Beyonce has jumped on the country wagon.
I grew up with AC/DC, Foreigner, Def Leppard, April Wine, Heart, Quarterflash, Blondie, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc. Not exactly country music. In the early nineties, new bands grabbed my attention, such as The Cranberries, The Calling, Counting Crows, Garbage, Goo Goo Dolls, Fuel, The Fray, Lifehouse, Remy Zero, and Michelle Branch. I still listen to all of them, especially when working on a project or building something.
The thing about the music we know is that you don't need to hear it clearly or every word because you already know it. Just hearing it in the background is enough to make you feel better.
If I really want to relax and hear a songbird, then I listen to the late Sinead O'Connor sing The Moorlough Shore or The Foggy Dew which always brings back memories of standing in the General Post Office on O'Connell Street in Dublin checking out the bullet holes from the Easter Uprising.
Some songs tell you everything about a character and how they're feeling, such as Demelza'a Song from Poldark. Watching Eleanor Tomlinson sing that song always reminds me how powerful music is and how terrifying for the singers who are putting themselves out there, body and soul, to be judged by us all. Maybe that's part of the magic of music. That someone stood alone, taking a chance that we would like what we hear and ultimately that we would feel something and identify with them. I have never sung in front of an audience, and I imagine it takes great courage and support. My hat's off to anyone who has the strength to do that, and thank God they do, for I truly do love music and can't imagine my life without it.
Excellent post and gratitude for the link to George Michael's "Freedom 90." Wonderful song and video. One of my go to songs is "Seven Nation Army" by One White Stripe. Mesmerizing infectious 7 note driving initial and repetitive beat, got me up several difficult hills while cycling. Ending lyrics oddly relevant today: "And I'm bleeding, and I'm bleeding
I share your pain and angst with the current climate in the world. It has been a real struggle since Oct. 7 for me as well. Some days I get up and see what little progress has been made and the rising hate and it just kicks me in the stomach. My life, too, will never be the same and has been in a constant transition to what can only be a truer me. Music has always been a place of comfort for me. When I have been down I have submerged in darker and heavier material. When I have been good I have celebrated in lighter, positive material. Then when I am tired of the shit I immerse myself in whatever the hell I want to escape it for just a little while. Thank you for your light and strength. We are here and we are strong. Also, this playlist hit the spot today.
Thanks for this walk down memory lane, Eve. I've ALWAYS loved the song "Tenderness", but I'm an old guy so I go back to when it was all the rage among my friends and I in 1984.
Thank you for your response, Eve. It would have surprised me if you did. I can't account for what might have happened to my post, so shall have to repost, although the words will not have the same 'energy' coming later in this way.
I am an admirer and supporter of you, and also, like you, a straight talker. No offence meant, just trying to work it out.
My contribution here insofar as music goes is that, firstly, I'm an outlier in that I've not lived within eras in any way normally - there are reasons for that, but they're not pertinent to this particular discussion. So suffice to say, I'm not au fait with any of the songs and music up for discussion here.
Secondly, I'm aware that I do not turn to music during times of distress, anguish, anger or sheer unhappiness. In fact, during those times I cannot bear to hear the chord of a guitar, the sob of an oboe, the cry of a violin. I find I embrace all of that with abandon when free of misery or angst. Instead I turn to books, for succour, for inspiration, to take me out of the world I'm realistically in to other worlds, not necessarily happier worlds - no. But worlds that perhaps show me it has been forever thus and the arrow from another time, another place, another person, pierces me too and in the same way. I can then look fair and square at where I am now and deal with it. If I didn't have that escape though, to books, I am sure I would not deal with it. Also, song lyrics are not enough to quite do it for me. It needs to be poetry, that extraordinary medium that manages to articulate by suggestion that that is almost impossible to convey.
The previous comment I thought I'd managed to post, I know, was very different in actual words used, but essentially said the same thing.
Out of nowhere tonight my husband asked me if it’s George Michael that I love. I gave a laugh and said I think about his loss every day. He brings me back to my happy place. He was joyful even when he was pretending. I am trying to be there for my children as I look at their young faces and think the world hates them. Trying to be joyful even when I am pretending. Showing them that Judaism is beautiful when I light my Shabbos candles, when I use Yiddish words that make them giggle. Thank you for this tonight. There are no coincidences in life.
Thank you Eve! Brilliant as always. I read this at 5am having slept horribly after visiting the Nova exhibition in lower Manhattan yesterday. The sorrow and pain I've experienced since 10/7 was reignited to a fever pitch as I ran my finger over burnt vehicles, shoes, t-shirts, tents, sleeping bags, jewelry, cigarettes, and a stray packet of birth control pills. All so fucking tangible. All so goddamn painful. Thank you for reminding us how badass George Michael was. Music can ease so much heartache.
Thank you for the gift of music. My one antisemite, BTW, is T.S. Eliot.
great choice
I’ve not been able to get St. Vincent’s video for Broken Man out of my head since I first saw it, and what you wrote here just made me realize why. It’s what I feel like all the time these days. Every time I quell the panic in one part of my body, another ignites somewhere else. General Public is such an epic pull from the vault. Never You Done That is another one from All the Rage that I used to play all the time freshman year of high school that never failed to make me forget how shitty being in 9th grade was.
Wow, Eve, just wow!! It was a pleasure to read this. A good portion of my musical playlist is made up of George Michael songs. Freedom is one of my favourites. Waiting For that Day is the first song I ever downloaded. Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, what an album. Also, if you're feeling a bit down then, I'm Your Man by Wham, is a sure pick me up and will get you up and moving and can put a smile on your face before you know it! What a great, generous person George Michael was too, a real mensch.
It's funny because I just started listening to that album again and you are right, whether you mean it to or not, it gives Joy. Your writing is brilliant. Stay strong. You are not alone.
Beautiful, Eve.
I like that you’re reviewing music while revealing how you are. Thanks. I care and am happy to witness you. ❤️Sending love and friendship. I watched, listened and danced to the George Michael clip. Glorious. Love what you wrote.
I agree. Music can save you and relax you, make you sad, but more often than not, it makes you feel good. Music is magic, really. How do a few notes strung together make us feel, remember or lament? I'm convinced it is a gift from the gods that was slipped in there with the fire.
I had a relatively stressful career as a detective in a major Canadian city. I worked with the victims of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. I have also investigated my fair share of sudden deaths over the years. My point is that, when I feel stressed, I play music and it all goes away. Music moves you and gets into your soul. It takes over your brain, and I have no idea why. Music also makes time fly. When I'm working or writing, I play my music. It is also personal. We all have our favourites, and the same song can mean twenty different things to twenty different people.
I have always had a soft spot for singers/songwriters. There are many people who can sing and many who can write a great song, but not so many who can do both at the same time.
I think of Caylee Hammack's Small Town Hypocrite. When you watch her sing this, you know it is from the heart, and she means every word. Another fantastic singer who wrote from his life is Chayce Beckham in his song 23. I think every young man has felt, at one time or another, that he has disappointed his mother (parents). In his case, with his drinking. I don't think there's a person alive who has been in a relationship that failed who doesn't identify with Bailey Zimmerman's Rock and Hard Place.
I know my references above are all country, and I'm not even a big country fan, but in the past few years, it seems that country singers are the only ones putting out any decent music; even Beyonce has jumped on the country wagon.
I grew up with AC/DC, Foreigner, Def Leppard, April Wine, Heart, Quarterflash, Blondie, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc. Not exactly country music. In the early nineties, new bands grabbed my attention, such as The Cranberries, The Calling, Counting Crows, Garbage, Goo Goo Dolls, Fuel, The Fray, Lifehouse, Remy Zero, and Michelle Branch. I still listen to all of them, especially when working on a project or building something.
The thing about the music we know is that you don't need to hear it clearly or every word because you already know it. Just hearing it in the background is enough to make you feel better.
If I really want to relax and hear a songbird, then I listen to the late Sinead O'Connor sing The Moorlough Shore or The Foggy Dew which always brings back memories of standing in the General Post Office on O'Connell Street in Dublin checking out the bullet holes from the Easter Uprising.
Some songs tell you everything about a character and how they're feeling, such as Demelza'a Song from Poldark. Watching Eleanor Tomlinson sing that song always reminds me how powerful music is and how terrifying for the singers who are putting themselves out there, body and soul, to be judged by us all. Maybe that's part of the magic of music. That someone stood alone, taking a chance that we would like what we hear and ultimately that we would feel something and identify with them. I have never sung in front of an audience, and I imagine it takes great courage and support. My hat's off to anyone who has the strength to do that, and thank God they do, for I truly do love music and can't imagine my life without it.
Excellent post and gratitude for the link to George Michael's "Freedom 90." Wonderful song and video. One of my go to songs is "Seven Nation Army" by One White Stripe. Mesmerizing infectious 7 note driving initial and repetitive beat, got me up several difficult hills while cycling. Ending lyrics oddly relevant today: "And I'm bleeding, and I'm bleeding
And I'm bleeding right before my Lord
All the words are gonna bleed from me
And I will think no more
And the stains coming from my blood
Tell me, "Go back home"
I share your pain and angst with the current climate in the world. It has been a real struggle since Oct. 7 for me as well. Some days I get up and see what little progress has been made and the rising hate and it just kicks me in the stomach. My life, too, will never be the same and has been in a constant transition to what can only be a truer me. Music has always been a place of comfort for me. When I have been down I have submerged in darker and heavier material. When I have been good I have celebrated in lighter, positive material. Then when I am tired of the shit I immerse myself in whatever the hell I want to escape it for just a little while. Thank you for your light and strength. We are here and we are strong. Also, this playlist hit the spot today.
I love love love this article. Music, sound is truly elemental. We are literally made of the stuff
Thanks for this walk down memory lane, Eve. I've ALWAYS loved the song "Tenderness", but I'm an old guy so I go back to when it was all the rage among my friends and I in 1984.
It’s 3am here, a few hours north of NYC, but I had to read on. Loved every word, and it somehow felt like home to me. Thanks.
Please keep posting about music ❤️
And everything else too o/c, but your music recommendations I use every time ❤️
Great post Eve. Music gives me comfort too. I can tell there’s something wrong when I do t start my day listening to music before the sun rises.
I posted a comment yesterday (Friday) but it's nowhere to be seen. Has it been deleted by any chance or are there just gremlins in the work?
I don't delete comments.
Thank you for your response, Eve. It would have surprised me if you did. I can't account for what might have happened to my post, so shall have to repost, although the words will not have the same 'energy' coming later in this way.
I am an admirer and supporter of you, and also, like you, a straight talker. No offence meant, just trying to work it out.
My contribution here insofar as music goes is that, firstly, I'm an outlier in that I've not lived within eras in any way normally - there are reasons for that, but they're not pertinent to this particular discussion. So suffice to say, I'm not au fait with any of the songs and music up for discussion here.
Secondly, I'm aware that I do not turn to music during times of distress, anguish, anger or sheer unhappiness. In fact, during those times I cannot bear to hear the chord of a guitar, the sob of an oboe, the cry of a violin. I find I embrace all of that with abandon when free of misery or angst. Instead I turn to books, for succour, for inspiration, to take me out of the world I'm realistically in to other worlds, not necessarily happier worlds - no. But worlds that perhaps show me it has been forever thus and the arrow from another time, another place, another person, pierces me too and in the same way. I can then look fair and square at where I am now and deal with it. If I didn't have that escape though, to books, I am sure I would not deal with it. Also, song lyrics are not enough to quite do it for me. It needs to be poetry, that extraordinary medium that manages to articulate by suggestion that that is almost impossible to convey.
The previous comment I thought I'd managed to post, I know, was very different in actual words used, but essentially said the same thing.