Mood Monday-
It was an unexpected day of rest and relaxation after a crazy busy, but fun weekend (more on that later). Staying up late and getting up way too early, my need to sleep was crushing me. So today, I had a quiet morning that unfolded with catching up with a friend for a yummy lunch. I am thankful for the rest and the friendship.
It was sort of an odd Monday.
‘Me time’ occurred that was long overdue. Sometimes we walk the line of a frantic life and don’t realize how much we burn the candle at both ends until we are slammed with a health issue that forces us to slow down, or experience the sheer exhaustion of stop and drop. I don’t know about you, but both of those things have happened to me as of late. They are slaps of reality which remind me to take care and find an outlet of joy that can recharge my burned out batteries.
Why do I keep doing this to myself again and again? Cramming too much activity in too little time? Hmmmm?
When I come to walk the line
The fire may come, but we’ll be just fine
When I go to walk the line
The fire, it will come but we’ll be just fine
Mouth of the ocean, be well spoken
Watch your P’s and Q’s
Now that we’re older, the future is colder
But what is there to do?
I’ll walk the line, I’ll be just fine
I’ll be right back on time
The fire is coming, but we’ll outrun it
We’ll never be undone
What came of the things we once believed?
Oh, all lost to the depths of a hungry sea
Oh, what came of the things we once believed?
Oh, all lost to the depths of a hungry sea
And now our parents are long departed
Who can finish the songs they started?
Bodies are broken, but it’s just a token
Of what is surely to come
Unstitch the suture, please pause the future
So I can collect my things
The fire is coming, but we’ll outrun it
We’ll never be undone
What came of the things we once believed?
Oh, all lost to the depths of a hungry sea
Oh, what came of the things we once believed?
Oh, all lost to the depths of a hungry sea
When I go to walk the line
The fire it comes, but I’ll be just fine
What came of the things we once believed?
Oh, all lost to the depths of a hungry sea
Oh, all lost and, oh, all lost, to the depths of a hungry sea
Oh, all lost to the depths of a hungry sea
All that’s left, all that’s left
Is the echo of a roaring sea
Long gone, long gone
To the trace of a memory
What came of the things I once believed?
All that’s left, all that’s left
Is the trace of a memory
(lyrics courtesy of genius.com)
“A Knife In The Ocean” is interestingly the last song on the album, What Went Down which drops on August 28th, and perhaps one of the most intense. Drumbeat driven, it pops with the haunting lyrics and the guitars enhance the mood of balancing cautiously on a dangerous line with the possibility of harsh consequences. It’s a longer song at 6:57, but I hope you’ll give it the time to unfold and develop by listening to the end.
The band Foals, from the UK, was thrust to almost instant stardom after their song, “Spanish Sahara“, in 2010.
They followed up with another album, Holy Fire, which created a serious buzz about the band. Now, after listening to only three tunes from their latest project, it is apparent there is no stopping the creativity and intensity of this band. Each song taps into the deep and meaningful, using a band full of instruments making indie-rock at its best.
Clearly, the photo of lead singer and frontman, Yannis Philippakis, speaks volumes of the introspection carefully placed in the songs they produce. I have heard all the tunes from the band Foals slowly being released before their new album comes out. Each one is powerful in its own right, but collectively they take on an amazing project of an open exposure of the human soul. Struggle, confusion, questioning, love, loss, rage, and the lead vocalist of the band pours the passion out of his throat and heart like a faucet that just won’t stop gushing.
Struggle of some sort? Most assuredly, but there is also the reassurance of “we’ll be fine…” The song explores the different ways to communicate this emotion not only with his voice, but also through the intense instrumental builds, and the surreal, surround sound.
In an interview with NME, Yannis explains,
“On [2013’s ‘Holy Fire’] I tried to consciously push the lyrics somewhere personal that was more like real life, whereas on this one I just wanted to strip the layers of myself away, have the reptilian part of my brain speak directly and not analyse or censor it,” he says. “I wanted to tap into my inner madman and feel like I was channelling some sort of fevered creature. I wanted to relish the mania, and what ended up happening – looking back at certain passages in some songs – is pretty intense in a way that I wouldn’t have ever been able to plan.”
I can’t continue without giving kudos to the rest of the band Jack Bevan, Edwin Congreave, Walter Gervers, and Jimmy Smith. All talented and grand contributors to the overall intensity and powerful push of the ideas. They help to take the songs to another level, where each enhances and plays on the talents of the other.
My Monday started the week nicely, and I am promising not to walk the line for now. Well, I just looked at the clock and I have somehow pushed into the wee hours of the morning. Here I go again. Perhaps being passionate about something important outweighs the lack of sleep.
Maybe, it’s not so bad for me, right now? Just please, keep the music coming!
