Originally, I was just going to lay down one take and let it be done....but then I heard the playback, and decided a little harmony wouldn't be too hard and would really add to it. Sixteen takes later, I decided it was time to go to bed.

I also started playing with a rocked-up acoustic rendition of "Into the West" (the Howard Shore tune sung by Annie Lennox in the third Lord of the Rings movie)...it's amazing. That song makes me tear up, months removed from the movie, even when I'm singing it rough and harsh. It's just so damn beautiful.

The sky was lit
by the splendor of the moon

So powerful
I fell to the ground 

Your love
has made me sure 

I am ready to forsake
this worldly life
and surrender
to the magnificence
of your Being
 
- "Defeated by Love," by Rumi

Okay, I love that right wing think tanks tried to bribe scientists (to the tune of ten grand) to release contrary findings at the same time as the UN released a report supporting that global warming has been accelerated by humans, and may in fact be irreversible. The real beauty is that they couldn't find a scientist who could do it. Of course, right now, there's some stinky proof that it's for real.

Also, I think a giant flower that smells like (and I quote) "rotten cheese, dog poo, and something dead" is proof positive that the universe possesses a wicked sense of humor.

My life is such an odd experience.

Many years ago...like, what, maybe ten? Anyway, awhile back, Garth Brooks (who I was *way* into in high school, when I was also into wearing cowboy boots and hats and line dancing...sue me) did what I would charitably call a "concept" album where he posed as a tortured Australian pop star named Chris Gaines. Of course, it was all in support of a movie that never materialized....blah blah blah. I never understood the stunt, except possibly as the product of an amazing performer whose ego was in need of leash - that said, the music was solid and really well done, with some really interesting tunes I liked instantly...my personal fave was a nice bluesy ballad called "It Don't Matter to the Sun."

Cut to a couple weeks ago: I've got the TV on while I'm writing or flipping through a magazine or something, and the end of "Gray's Anatomy" or "Gilmore Girls" or some cutesy pop comic opera or other features "It Don't Matter to the Sun," and it sounds like Shawn Solvin is covering it - and it's somber and heart-wrenching and awesome! I immediately went and asked my friend the internet where I could find a copy of this fabulous song....but sadly, the internet didn't think Shawn Colvin had actually done that song. Ever. I insisted that I'd actually heard it with my own two ears, and the internet shrugged and said it was pretty much tough noogies.

Now this past Friday: I have recently, through a random set of links clicked here and there, looking for some version of some Ryan Adams tune or other, stumbled onto Rosie Thomas. I heard a tune or two, and my ear was caught in that way that occasionally happens....and I just wanted to hear anything she'd done, ever. I was digging and digging, and found....her cover of "It Don't Matter to the Sun," wherein, at times, she sounds eerily like Shawn Colvin.

I love the way the universe sends me gifts.

Today's playlist:

"Beauty in Ugly" - Jason Mraz
"Once is Enough" - Willie Nelson & Aerosmith
"I Can't Stand You Now" - Paul Sanchez
"Hooch" - Everything
"Lose Yourself" - Eminem
"Superman" - Lazlo Bane
"Boulevard of Broken Songs" - Party Ben
"Drive On" - Johnny Cash
"Belief" - John Mayer
"On the Road Again" - Willie Nelson
"Baby One More Time" - Travis
"Spineless" - Alanis Morrisette


Recent entries...
27 December 2007: 2007: Finis.
17 December 2007: A ruse, a rant, and a poem. It's short.
11 December 2007: Music & falling....story of my life.
08 December 2007: Briefly...ish.
29 November 2007: A poem, a rant, a lesson.