Song of the Day 1/2/12

The last several years I have been gaining more of an appreciation for electronic music. I used to dismiss it as a "lazy way out". I think the reason for my initial attitude was that I was exposed to a lot of bad techno during my college years and found the repetition annoying and the mechanical quality of the music to be missing out on the vital element of emotion. As a joke, Mike once composed and recorded a "techno" song in a matter of hours.

Fortunately I got past this. Bands like Fischerspooner, LCD Soundsystem and Ladytron showed me that electronically produced music could be good, innovative and even pack that emotional punch that I was missing before.

Today's song of the day is "Someone Great" by LCD Soundsystem. The melody is simple and repetitive, yet somehow this song reaches in and breaks my heart. It's about loss, secrets and how one must keep on doing all those mundane activities of life in spite of it all. I've linked to a fan made video since the "official" video, while stunning, cuts out over two minutes of music (including the most powerful verse, in my opinion). I suggest hitting play, minimizing your browser and just listening.



"I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that's the problem.
With someone new I couldn't start it,
Too late, for beginnings.
The little things that made me nervous,
Are gone, in a moment.
I miss the way we used to argue,
Locked, in your basement.

I wake up and the phone is ringing,
Surprised, as it's early.
And that should be the perfect warning,
That something's, a problem.
To tell the truth I saw it coming,
The way, you were breathing.
But nothing can prepare you for it,
The voice, on the other, end.

The worst is all the lovely weather,
I'm stunned, it's not raining.
The coffee isn't even bitter,
Because, what's the difference?
There's all the work that needs to be done,
It's late, for revision.
There's all the time and all the planning,
And songs, to be finished.

And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops.
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops.

I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that's the problem.
With someone new I could have started,
Too late, for beginnings.
You're smaller than my wife imagined,
Surprised, you were human.
There shouldn't be this ring of silence,
But what, are the options?

When someone great is gone.

We're safe, for the moment.
Saved,
For the moment."