What can I say…
This is a seductively sad little tune. Initially when this came to my attention I was in the middle of working on several things at once. When a song is capable of snagging my attention in such circumstances it will take up room in my iTunes library on a permanent basis.
I’ve been running errands and attempting to get my affairs in order since I’ve handed off the mixing of the Christmas album to my buddy Chris. I do have one more session with Danniella to do backgrounds on a couple more songs, but it’s essentially all tracked. I feel like it’s a lull before the next wave. It’s a good time to be taking a breath. Several of my choices this week seem to be just such a thing.
Obviously the plane crash in New York yesterday will likely be on the minds of a lot people. I would have to think that a song like this would describe how Cory’s wife is feeling right about now. Unfortunate is how I would describe the situation. I never met Cory or his brother Kevin, however a good friend of mine grew up with the both of them and played baseball – Mike. He was unhappy about the news obviously. Mike and Kevin were both catchers and as much of the world now knows Cory was a pitcher. The three of them all played in the minor leagues together as well.
No one imagines its fun to lose a friend, a husband, a father, a hero. Death is not something I have extensive experience with in my immediate family or close a friend yet. Three of my grandparents are no longer on earth. A few of my fraternity brothers have succumbed to various accidents and illnesses, but no one that I was intimate with. Truthfully there’s really no way to understand it until it happens to you. So I won’t even pretend to know what Cory’s wife is experiencing. Add a young son to the mix and that compounds the problem for her even more.
The song isn’t directly about death. However, when a romance dies its likely to feel like a death. Kristen is spilling over with that very emotion of dead romance. The saying is usually that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. If someone wrote and sang this song about me, I’d be heartbroken and proud at the same time. Strange contradictions.
Sonically this song is powerful. I really dig the arrangement and the piano playing. It tugs at me in a way that music should, then digs in under the skin and becomes a part of me. As I’m writing this I’m attempting to hear if it’s even possible for a male to even consider singing a song like this in this expression. Only one male vocalist comes to mind that might have even been able to get away with it – Freddy Mercury. That’s a hefty comparison I’ve just given Kristen, as Freddy is probably one of my all time favorite singers. For that reason alone you ought to buy the music!