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there ain't no sunshine in his song (lies!)
Summary of my day:
* Moment of rage when I got home and my preorder still wasn't here! I'm mostly over it, but jesus, I just want to watch the stupid DVD and I want to watch it now, stop getting in the way of instant gratification, life!
* Being vastly entertained by the Chace Crawford/J.C. Chasez poolside cabana shenanigans. (Nate was pinging my gaydar from the start on Gossip Girl; since Chace is a pretty terrible actor, I will be NOT AT ALL SURPRISED if these rumors turn out to be true.) Bonus coworker action! Rachel: "It was all very Brokeback Miami." Me: "... You've been waiting to use that one all day, haven't you." Rachel: "Came up with it in the car this morning!" Rachel is my favorite.
* Lots and lots of downtime at work! Which isn't usually a good thing, actually. But today it meant listening to Pretty. Odd. five hundred times with no distractions! Let me tell you all about it..
Sometimes I really wish I understood music on a more technical level. All I can say about music, really, is "this works for me" and "this doesn't so much work for me" and sometimes "this made me feel like I was a butterfly floating on a cloud inside a snowglobe on a sunny day in July." Trying to talk about how I feel about music always seems silly because it's such a matter of individual taste, in the end, knowing that what I hear when I listen to a song is not really the same thing that random person X hears, so what is there to say? But it's never actually stopped me from trying.
We're So Starving: I never listened to the demo version, so this was new to me. It's silly, but I kind of love it, and as a lead-in to Nine in the Afternoon it actually works really well - it made NitA sound different, somehow, even though I've been listening to it for weeks.
Nine in the Afternoon: Still love it, obvs.
She's a Handsome Woman: Here's where I diverge from almost every single review (professional and fan) I've read so far - I love this song SO MUCH. Everyone else seems pretty "eh" about it, and I don't get it! Right now it's the song I can't just listen to once, I have to listen to it three times at least. I LOVE the way Brendon sings the verses, and when he sings "reverie" I die a little on the inside (in a happy way). This would be where I wish I knew how to talk about music. Yeah.
Do You Know What I'm Seeing: Okay, so first time through, I was pretty much "...? Clouds marching along? WTF RYAN ROSS." I'm happy to say that by the second listen it was growing on me, and now I'm pretty fond of the way the song's, like, three-quarters fluffy and one-quarter melancholy/sinister.
That Green Gentleman: Catchy and awesome. Possibly more old-school Panic than anything else on the album. When's the kidfic video being released, do we know this yet?
I Have Friends in Holy Spaces: If Brendon weren't already my favorite, he'd be well on his way after this. Just, WHAT. How does this song even happen? While the rest of the band was listening to The Beatles and ingesting vast quantities of THC was Brendon stuck in a Depression-era AU? Inquiring minds want to know.
Northern Downpour: Um, it's pretty? Really pretty, which is why I feel sort of mean saying this, but the lyrics really don't work for me. I'm mostly a fan of weird, obscure lyrics (musically I grew up on a steady diet of Tori Amos, so) but while it works in most of the songs on the album, this song would've benefited from lyrics that were just a little more straightforward, on the chorus especially. I'm sure sugarcane and weather vanes have some deep and special meaning for you, Ryan Ross, but I'm not feeling it.
Still. Pretty.
When the Day Met the Night: The only song on the album where I wish they'd gone a little lighter on the production and instrumentation. I bet it sounds awesome live, though; it's a really good song, it's just a little too busy in its current form.
Pas de Cheval: Really kinda hated it at first! Really kinda love it now!
The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know: The song that divided fandom! (Or is that Folkin' Around?) SO GLORIOUSLY WEIRD. I listen to a lot of weird music, though, and am not phased: this is just completely awesome. I am a huge fan of songs that completely change direction halfway through, also.
Behind the Sea: I didn't listen to the alternate version when it leaked, so I can't say "I liked the alternate version better!" like everyone else. (Actually, I've listened to it now, and I like it less.) I like the song, but I went back and forth a bit. I still have reservations, most of them about Ryan singing lead. If it was so important to him to sing lead on a song, I think it's a sort of weird choice, for one thing, and really not the best one. And I like Ryan's voice, love him in backing vocals, love him taking on more equal vocals with Brendon in She Had the World and Mad as Rabbits, and also I'm not usually super-critical of vocals in general (I mean, I love Bright Eyes, and Conor Oberst is many things but a skilled vocalist he is not). I think Brendon just has such a strong (and more skilled) vocal presence that Ryan's limitations as a singer are highlighted when it's just him out front alone. For me. This is all subjective. I am also biased, since I would listen to Brendon sing anything.
Anyway. In the end, I mostly like it, I like it more every time I hear it, we'll see.
She Had the World: Harpsichord! (The other reason I wanted the album to come today is I'm desperate to know if that's Brendon playing, and I'm counting on the liner notes for this one.) I love this! It's not just the harpsichord. The whole thing makes me think of carousels and parasols, I don't even know, it's just awesome.
Folkin' Around: AKA the song Ryan Ross claims he didn't get. I say he was being purposefully obtuse. LOL @ your delicate ego, Ryan.
So, this song + my heart = true love forever. Bluegrass. Brendon's voice. The lyrics. They are not intentional cliches, Ryan, get over it. Also, officially the saddest song on the album no matter which interpretation of the lyrics you choose to adopt (it's about Brendon's lapsed-Mormon family angst! It's about his relationship with Ryan! Take your pick! (I definitely lean toward the former, tinhattery aside.))
And oh, Ryan, I make fun of you but I do love you, and I think you're an amazing songwriter, but lyrically Brendon kicked your ass in just a handful of lines, and I think you know it. "You've never been so divine in accepting your defeat / and I've never been more scared to be alone / If love is not enough to put my enemies to sleep / then I'm putting out the lantern, find your own way back home." SO MUCH LOVE. BRENDON. STOP KILLING ME.
From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins: ...eh. This is the one I'll probably always skip.
Mad as Rabbits: Amazing. THIS is where Ryan's voice works best, and he and Brendon sound amazing together, and the whole song is just awesome. It's a tiny thing but I am obsessed with the way Brendon sings "...at the train station" all fierce-like. This band still knows how to end an album, which wins huge bonus points with me, if bonus points were even necessary, which they aren't, because, minor reservations aside, I love this whole thing madly.
Even if I didn't love it I'd respect the band for taking such a risk, for pushing their musical boundaries and departing so completely from the sound that made them famous in the first place. And they're still so young! I don't know. I didn't think it was possible to fall MORE in love with this stupid band, but it was, and I did, and I am, six weeks and three days until I see them, the end.
* Moment of rage when I got home and my preorder still wasn't here! I'm mostly over it, but jesus, I just want to watch the stupid DVD and I want to watch it now, stop getting in the way of instant gratification, life!
* Being vastly entertained by the Chace Crawford/J.C. Chasez poolside cabana shenanigans. (Nate was pinging my gaydar from the start on Gossip Girl; since Chace is a pretty terrible actor, I will be NOT AT ALL SURPRISED if these rumors turn out to be true.) Bonus coworker action! Rachel: "It was all very Brokeback Miami." Me: "... You've been waiting to use that one all day, haven't you." Rachel: "Came up with it in the car this morning!" Rachel is my favorite.
* Lots and lots of downtime at work! Which isn't usually a good thing, actually. But today it meant listening to Pretty. Odd. five hundred times with no distractions! Let me tell you all about it..
Sometimes I really wish I understood music on a more technical level. All I can say about music, really, is "this works for me" and "this doesn't so much work for me" and sometimes "this made me feel like I was a butterfly floating on a cloud inside a snowglobe on a sunny day in July." Trying to talk about how I feel about music always seems silly because it's such a matter of individual taste, in the end, knowing that what I hear when I listen to a song is not really the same thing that random person X hears, so what is there to say? But it's never actually stopped me from trying.
We're So Starving: I never listened to the demo version, so this was new to me. It's silly, but I kind of love it, and as a lead-in to Nine in the Afternoon it actually works really well - it made NitA sound different, somehow, even though I've been listening to it for weeks.
Nine in the Afternoon: Still love it, obvs.
She's a Handsome Woman: Here's where I diverge from almost every single review (professional and fan) I've read so far - I love this song SO MUCH. Everyone else seems pretty "eh" about it, and I don't get it! Right now it's the song I can't just listen to once, I have to listen to it three times at least. I LOVE the way Brendon sings the verses, and when he sings "reverie" I die a little on the inside (in a happy way). This would be where I wish I knew how to talk about music. Yeah.
Do You Know What I'm Seeing: Okay, so first time through, I was pretty much "...? Clouds marching along? WTF RYAN ROSS." I'm happy to say that by the second listen it was growing on me, and now I'm pretty fond of the way the song's, like, three-quarters fluffy and one-quarter melancholy/sinister.
That Green Gentleman: Catchy and awesome. Possibly more old-school Panic than anything else on the album. When's the kidfic video being released, do we know this yet?
I Have Friends in Holy Spaces: If Brendon weren't already my favorite, he'd be well on his way after this. Just, WHAT. How does this song even happen? While the rest of the band was listening to The Beatles and ingesting vast quantities of THC was Brendon stuck in a Depression-era AU? Inquiring minds want to know.
Northern Downpour: Um, it's pretty? Really pretty, which is why I feel sort of mean saying this, but the lyrics really don't work for me. I'm mostly a fan of weird, obscure lyrics (musically I grew up on a steady diet of Tori Amos, so) but while it works in most of the songs on the album, this song would've benefited from lyrics that were just a little more straightforward, on the chorus especially. I'm sure sugarcane and weather vanes have some deep and special meaning for you, Ryan Ross, but I'm not feeling it.
Still. Pretty.
When the Day Met the Night: The only song on the album where I wish they'd gone a little lighter on the production and instrumentation. I bet it sounds awesome live, though; it's a really good song, it's just a little too busy in its current form.
Pas de Cheval: Really kinda hated it at first! Really kinda love it now!
The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know: The song that divided fandom! (Or is that Folkin' Around?) SO GLORIOUSLY WEIRD. I listen to a lot of weird music, though, and am not phased: this is just completely awesome. I am a huge fan of songs that completely change direction halfway through, also.
Behind the Sea: I didn't listen to the alternate version when it leaked, so I can't say "I liked the alternate version better!" like everyone else. (Actually, I've listened to it now, and I like it less.) I like the song, but I went back and forth a bit. I still have reservations, most of them about Ryan singing lead. If it was so important to him to sing lead on a song, I think it's a sort of weird choice, for one thing, and really not the best one. And I like Ryan's voice, love him in backing vocals, love him taking on more equal vocals with Brendon in She Had the World and Mad as Rabbits, and also I'm not usually super-critical of vocals in general (I mean, I love Bright Eyes, and Conor Oberst is many things but a skilled vocalist he is not). I think Brendon just has such a strong (and more skilled) vocal presence that Ryan's limitations as a singer are highlighted when it's just him out front alone. For me. This is all subjective. I am also biased, since I would listen to Brendon sing anything.
Anyway. In the end, I mostly like it, I like it more every time I hear it, we'll see.
She Had the World: Harpsichord! (The other reason I wanted the album to come today is I'm desperate to know if that's Brendon playing, and I'm counting on the liner notes for this one.) I love this! It's not just the harpsichord. The whole thing makes me think of carousels and parasols, I don't even know, it's just awesome.
Folkin' Around: AKA the song Ryan Ross claims he didn't get. I say he was being purposefully obtuse. LOL @ your delicate ego, Ryan.
So, this song + my heart = true love forever. Bluegrass. Brendon's voice. The lyrics. They are not intentional cliches, Ryan, get over it. Also, officially the saddest song on the album no matter which interpretation of the lyrics you choose to adopt (it's about Brendon's lapsed-Mormon family angst! It's about his relationship with Ryan! Take your pick! (I definitely lean toward the former, tinhattery aside.))
And oh, Ryan, I make fun of you but I do love you, and I think you're an amazing songwriter, but lyrically Brendon kicked your ass in just a handful of lines, and I think you know it. "You've never been so divine in accepting your defeat / and I've never been more scared to be alone / If love is not enough to put my enemies to sleep / then I'm putting out the lantern, find your own way back home." SO MUCH LOVE. BRENDON. STOP KILLING ME.
From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins: ...eh. This is the one I'll probably always skip.
Mad as Rabbits: Amazing. THIS is where Ryan's voice works best, and he and Brendon sound amazing together, and the whole song is just awesome. It's a tiny thing but I am obsessed with the way Brendon sings "...at the train station" all fierce-like. This band still knows how to end an album, which wins huge bonus points with me, if bonus points were even necessary, which they aren't, because, minor reservations aside, I love this whole thing madly.
Even if I didn't love it I'd respect the band for taking such a risk, for pushing their musical boundaries and departing so completely from the sound that made them famous in the first place. And they're still so young! I don't know. I didn't think it was possible to fall MORE in love with this stupid band, but it was, and I did, and I am, six weeks and three days until I see them, the end.
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