I’ve mentioned before that few musicians possess the ability to suck their listeners into a song. Yes, lyrics can be clever, well written, and relevant, but they aren’t always powerful. If a song has never transported you to another time and place, has never made you laugh or cry, or has never turned you into someone else, even for a moment, keep searching, that song will come.
When the Animal Collective released their newest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, a little while back, I could hardly wait to hear it. I had been introduced to the band a few years ago when the released Feels, and I have been hooked ever since. The combination of simple instruments combined with layers of electronically produced sound was strangely moving, but never more so than on the track “In the Flowers” from Merriweather Post Pavilion.
Animal Collective – “In the Flowers”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The song is a simple love song full of longing and emotion, rife with the sadness of leaving the one you love and the uncontrollable joy of finally seeing them again. Even if the moment is fleeting, the feeling lasts forever. While the lyrics of this song are simple (though eloquent), the music captures the emotion of the moment in indescribable ways. Starting off slowly, the listener is immersed in the melancholy and yearning of a man separated from the one he loves, holding onto the memories and shadowy images of times gone by. In his longing, he cries out, “If I could just leave my body for the night,” and the music erupts, sweeping all listening along with him to his lover’s side.
The first time I heard this song, I was dumbstruck…with each listen, I continue to be amazed. I can feel myself leaving my body and soaring ever closer to the one I love. Not all music can make us feel this way, but it’s worth listening to thousands of song to find the one that does.
Animal Collective – “Winters Love”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Posted by the Needle
The song that always gets me is ’23′ by Jimmy Eat World.