Mood Today
Some days are sunshiny and beautiful, where everything goes the way you dream it to be. You wake with energy and excitement for what is next. You attack the day with wild abandon.
I totally understand that not everyday can be that way. Some days are gray, cold, dark, and have a crazy power that sheds a weird spotlight on insecurities, worries, and self doubt. Somedays can be wonky and somewhere in between.
I seek the sunshine, I grow in the light of acceptance and understanding. I bet you do too. How does it happen? What makes it happen? Is it through the eyes of others, or deep from within?
Today the weather was picture perfect. The sun and chirping birds woke me, and even though my porch was coated with yellow swirling pollen, I relished the coziness it provided. The house was quiet, our small celebration of Easter was over, and life moved on to a busy week.
My loved ones are here, there, and everywhere in different cities.
I understand the people I cherish most, have to go, move on, and live their lives. But this dispersement from the holiday feels a little off to me this time…somehow I see it as more permanent. Our gatherings are fewer and fewer, and I am left feeling a bit sad wondering when we can get together again.
So even though there might be abundant light all around me, I have a sluggish reaction to it. Experiencing today alone, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face, I should celebrate the idea of ‘me’ time, but to be honest I am not sure what to do or what direction to move. It is strange when time speeds by, things change, and priorities shift.
So when I listened to this song, “Prior Things”, the unexpected, all over the place, sonic tempos entered my head and perfectly reflected my entangled feelings.
It is a song that you need to sink into a bit. Listen to the song more than once. Pay attention to the chord changes and frenetic strings. To me, it mimics modernity and life as we know it. When the lovely vocals enter soulful and edgy, it quickly becomes more than delicious while questioning everything.
Feast your ears…
Hop Along-Prior Things
“…Here, why don’t I try
Why don’t I try to make you mine?
Why is a lack of imagination the crime?
Why don’t I try
Why don’t I try to make you mine?
Why don’t I back you up against this moment?
So when you finally go
And when you choose to go
I resume my little lower road
And nobody needs to know
Will know that I ever meant to leave
My little lower road…”
Hop Along is a band out of Philadelphia and will release their third album, Bark Your Head Off, Dog on April 6th, but you can stream it now through NPR’s First Listen. As I am writing this, I have been listening and loving it.
The foursome is fronted by the dynamic vocals/guitar of Frances Quinlan, and instrumentally and creatively supported by Mark Quinlan (drums), Tyler Long (bass), and Joe Reinhart (guitar). According to their label (Saddle Creek), the album…
“imagines what it’s like to cast off long held perceptions, often without being certain about the new ones that will replace them.”
The standout tune “Prior Things” is the album closer, adding a powerful exclamation to Hop Along‘s eclectic discography. It is full of texture, intricate rhythms, and lush arrangement. The last song leaves us without resolution but further questions, wildly mysterious like life, and worthy of playing on repeat.
