Put Your Records On
I'm still on the fence about Corinne Bailey Rae's album as a whole, but her song "Put Your Records On" is solid gold. Smooth vocals, catchy lyrics, enough edge to keep it from being completely disposable, and a track that makes you want to get up and MOVE- it's definitely got me hooked.
Girl put your records on
Girl put your records on
tell me your favourite song
you go ahead let your hair down
sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead let your hair down
Youre gonna find yourself
somewhere, somehow.
Last summer my friend Nat and I were driving around San Antonio- not exactly sure where we were going, but we were going somewhere- and we got into this discussion about how many of the greatest artists (writers, painters, composers, et al.) were severely depressed and would feed off these depressions to create some of their greatest works. He asked me what I thought about the wonders of modern medicine which help to balance some of the imbalances leading to disorders such as manic-depression, which as many know, in the manic phases can lead to the outpouring of brilliant work. Should people have the right to be happy, or should nature take its course since the outcome can last all through the ages?
This of course led us to the other obvious prong of the discussion, which was, if drugs (the illegal/hallucinatory kind) were completely done away with, would this also curtail the outpouring of brilliance from would-be artists around the globe?
And what the heck does all of this have to do with Put Your Records On?
Okay, well I'm not going to answer the first two questions even though I have strong opinions on each- I'll let people ruminate on those ideas- comment if you want to!- and now, the third, how-is-this-relevant question...
The other thing we talked about during that car ride was the fact that music acts like a depressant- so it can have the same effects as alcohol, in that it can enhance your mood. If you're happy, it can make you happier, if you're depressed, it can help plummet you further into the blue abyss.
He (Nat) told me that the inclination of most people isn't to get out of their moods, but rather to prolongue them- even if those moods are sad and sulky. So, when people are sad, they listen to...you guessed it-- slit-your-wrist tunes. And vice versa.
Ever since he told me that, whenever I start to wallow, and I find my mouse poised over some Radiohead song on my itunes list, I always ask myself "do i want to prolongue the mood, or get out of it." Most of the time, I, being the lemming [read: sheep] that I am, want to prolongue it..and on comes Fake Plastic Trees. But every once in a while, I'll skip to a happy, upbeat song like Put Your Records On (aha! the tie in!) and you know what? It really does improve my mood. Crazy.
Last summer my friend Nat and I were driving around San Antonio- not exactly sure where we were going, but we were going somewhere- and we got into this discussion about how many of the greatest artists (writers, painters, composers, et al.) were severely depressed and would feed off these depressions to create some of their greatest works. He asked me what I thought about the wonders of modern medicine which help to balance some of the imbalances leading to disorders such as manic-depression, which as many know, in the manic phases can lead to the outpouring of brilliant work. Should people have the right to be happy, or should nature take its course since the outcome can last all through the ages?
This of course led us to the other obvious prong of the discussion, which was, if drugs (the illegal/hallucinatory kind) were completely done away with, would this also curtail the outpouring of brilliance from would-be artists around the globe?
And what the heck does all of this have to do with Put Your Records On?
Okay, well I'm not going to answer the first two questions even though I have strong opinions on each- I'll let people ruminate on those ideas- comment if you want to!- and now, the third, how-is-this-relevant question...
The other thing we talked about during that car ride was the fact that music acts like a depressant- so it can have the same effects as alcohol, in that it can enhance your mood. If you're happy, it can make you happier, if you're depressed, it can help plummet you further into the blue abyss.
He (Nat) told me that the inclination of most people isn't to get out of their moods, but rather to prolongue them- even if those moods are sad and sulky. So, when people are sad, they listen to...you guessed it-- slit-your-wrist tunes. And vice versa.
Ever since he told me that, whenever I start to wallow, and I find my mouse poised over some Radiohead song on my itunes list, I always ask myself "do i want to prolongue the mood, or get out of it." Most of the time, I, being the lemming [read: sheep] that I am, want to prolongue it..and on comes Fake Plastic Trees. But every once in a while, I'll skip to a happy, upbeat song like Put Your Records On (aha! the tie in!) and you know what? It really does improve my mood. Crazy.
"We, verily, have made music as a ladder for your souls, a means whereby they may be lifted up unto the realm on high; make it not,therefore, as wings to self and passion. Truly, We are loath to see you numbered with the foolish." Baha'u'llah
That word, ladder, really captures it. You can climb up a ladder..but you can also climb down. (So it can uplift, or it can depress. It can elevate or it can degrade.)
See, science and religion- harmonizing all the way.
On a final note, I apologize for the twelve different thoughts I loosely-- if at all--strung together in this post. Must be one of those days.
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