Jupiter 4

 

 

There are a few times when you hear a new album and are mesmerised immediately. I am by this one.

I have been a fan of Sharon Van Etten for a long time. But this album – Remind me Tomorrow – released only a few days ago (Jan 18), is exceptional. Beautiful music, wonderfully textured and layered, lovingly constructed and such moving lyrics. And of course, her excellent voice.

I am playing the album on repeat and finding it impossible to choose a favourite track. I almost used a pin. This one is superb.

Her style of music may not be for you, but if it is, then you will adore this.

(another of my ‘songs I like but you might not know’ blog posts)

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Jupiter 4 © written by Sharon Van Etten and Sam Cohen, and performed by Sharon Van Etten

This blog post @ the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Jupiter 4

Our love’s for real
How’d it take a long, long time
To let us feel
Try to relate in my state
And the aura around me says
My love is for real

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Touching your face
How’d it take a long, long time
To be here
Turning the wheel on my street
My heart still skips a beat
It’s echoing, echoing, echoing, echoing, echoing, echoing

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Baby, baby, baby
I’ve been searching for you
I want to be in love
Baby, baby, baby
I’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting my whole life
For someone like you
It’s true that everyone would like to have met
A love so real
A love so real

‘

Baby, baby, baby
I’ve been searching for you
I want to be in love
Baby, baby, baby
I’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting my whole life
For someone like you
It’s true that everyone would like to have met
A love so real
A love so real
A love so real
A love so real

 

 

Hunger

 

 

It seems to be a good time to share one of my favourite songs and videos of the year.

I have been deeply impressed by Florence Welch since the the first Florence and the Machine (now Florence + Machine) album (Lungs) in 2009. There is poetry, eccentricity, energy and sensuality in everything she/they do, and musically it is a unique and driven sound.

This song – ‘Hunger’ – comes from “High as Hope’, their fourth album, released in June. I will let it speak for itself.

I adore, the lyric, the music and, unusually for me, the video.

I hope you enjoy.

(This is another of my ‘songs that I like but you might not know’ blog posts)

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Song ‘Hunger’ written and © by Tobias Jesso, Thomas Wayland Bartlett, Emile Haynie, and Florence Welch and performed by Florence + Machine

This post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Hunger

At seventeen, I started to starve myself
I thought that love was a kind of emptiness
And at least I understood then the hunger I felt
And I didn’t have to call it loneliness

We all have a hunger
We all have a hunger
We all have a hunger
We all have a hunger

Tell me what you need, oh, you look so free
The way you use your body, baby, come on and work it for me
Don’t let it get you down, you’re the best thing I’ve seen
We never found the answer but we knew one thing

We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)
We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)
We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)
We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)

And it’s Friday night and it’s kicking in
And I can’t dress, they’re gonna crucify me
Oh, but you and all your vibrant youth
How could anything bad ever happen to you?
You make a fool of death with your beauty, and for a moment

I thought that love was in the drugs
But the more I took, the more it took away
And I could never get enough
I thought that love was on the stage
You give yourself to strangers
You don’t have to be afraid
And then it tries to find a home with people, oh, and I’m alone
Picking it apart and staring at your phone

We all have a hunger
We all have a hunger
We all have a hunger
We all have a hunger

Tell me what you need, oh, you look so free
The way you use your body, baby, come on and work it for me
Don’t let it get you down, you’re the best thing I’ve seen
We never found the answer but we knew one thing

We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)
We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)
We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)
We all have a hunger (we all have a hunger)

And it’s Friday night and it’s kicking in
And I can’t dress, they’re gonna crucify me
Oh, you and all your vibrant youth
How could anything bad ever happen to you?
You make a fool of death with your beauty, and for a moment
I forget to worry

 

Woman

I have always been a fan of Cat Power (Chan Marshall). She has a voice full of warmth and sensuality and her songwriting is first class – a wonderful talent for melody.

‘Woman’ is off her current (2018) album ‘Wanderer’. This song features the fantastic Lana del Rey, and their voices combine beautifully. The whole album is very lovely.

I first heard this in the early Autumn driving back from the gym. It was a golden day and the car was filled with the honeyed magic of this track and of September and the world was suddenly a better place.

If you like it, do listen to The Greatest (from the album of the same name) – a song recored eight years ago – which is absolute heaven.

 

(this has been another of my songs that I like but you might not know’ series of sporadic blog posts)

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Song ‘Woman’ written by Chan Marshall © and performed by Cat Power.

This blog post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Woman

Woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman

If I had a dime for every time
Tell I’m not what you need
If I had a quarter I would pull it together
And I would take it to the bank and then leave
Yes, I would take it to the bank and then leave

If you know people who know me
You might want them to speak
To tell you ’bout the girl or the woman they know
More than you think you know about me
More than you think you know me
See you walkin’ in circles (circles)
See you talkin’ in circles (circles)
See your thoughts runnin’ in circles
And walk around all day long, followin’ me
The doctor said I was better than ever
Man, you should have seen me
Doctor said I was not my past
He said I was finally free

Taking the charge (taking the charge)
I took the lead (I took the lead)
I need you to believe

I’m a woman of my word, now haven’t you heard
My word’s the only thing I’ve ever needed
I’m a woman of my word, now you have heard
My word’s the only thing I truly need
Woman, woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman, woman

Your money’s like a weapon, a tool to get me
You think I’m like the other ones
Well, my money’s like a weapon (weapon), tool for me
No, I’m not like those other ones
A cage is like a weapon, a tool for me
You think I’m like the other ones
Well, my cage is a weapon, it’s perfect for me
It’s the one suit they seem to not see

I’m a woman of my word, now haven’t you heard
My word’s the only thing I’ve ever needed?
I’m a woman of my word, now you have heard
My word’s the only thing I truly need
Woman, woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman, woman

I’m a woman, woman, woman, woman
I’m a woman, woman, woman, woman
I’m a woman, woman, woman, woman
Woman, woman, woman, woman

 

Los Ageless

 

Sometimes a chorus just hits you, melody and words. This one does it for me.

The song is by St. Vincent, which is the stage name for Anne Erin Clark. She is a highly talented and distinctive American singer, multi-intrumentalist and performer. I have admired her for some time but her latest album, Masseducation (released 2017) , has really struck a chord with me. I struggled to choose a track as one ‘ of my songs I like but you might not have heard’ blog posts. But the chorus on this clinched it.

How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds, too?

She might have been writing about Los Angeles, but for me it has a much more personal note.

St. Vincent is a unique talent. Well worth a listen.

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‘Los Ageless’ written and performed © St. Vincent (Anne Clark)

This post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Los Ageless

In Los Ageless, the winter never comes
In Los Ageless, the mothers milk their young
But I can keep running
No, I can keep running
The Los Ageless hang out by the bar
Burn the pages of unwritten memoirs
But I can keep running
No, I can keep running

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How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds, too?
How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds, too?

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The last days of the sunset superstars
Girls in cages playing their guitars
But how can I leave?
I just follow the hood of my car
In Los Ageless, the waves they never break
They build and build until you don’t have no escape
But how can I leave?
I just follow my hood to the sea, go to sleep

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How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds, too?
How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you

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And not lose their minds, too?

Oh my Lord, oh, we really did it now
I’m a monster and you’re my sacred cow
But I can keep running
No, I can keep on running

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How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds, too?
How can anybody have you?
How can anybody have you and lose you?
How can anybody have you and lose you
And not lose their minds?

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I guess that’s just me, honey, I guess that’s how I’m built
I try to tell you I love you and it comes out all sick
I guess that’s just me, honey, I guess that’s how I’m built
I try to write you a love song but it comes out a lament
I guess that’s just me, honey, I guess that’s how I’m built
I try to tell you I love you but it comes out all sick
I guess that’s just me, honey, I guess that’s how I’m built
I try to write you a love song but it comes out a lament
I try to write you a love song but it comes out a lament
I try to write you a love song but it comes out a lament

 

 

Not Dark Yet

 

When I first I heard this Bob Dylan song many years ago I thought the melody beautiful and the poetry astonishing. It touched me deeply

But I was younger then and did not fully appreciate the melancholy, the sorrow, the hopelessness, and the heartbreaking awareness of mortality.

I understand it now.

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Song ‘Not Dark Yet’ written and performed by and © Bob Dylan

This post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

 

Not Dark Yet

Shadows are falling and I been here all day
It’s too hot to sleep and time is running away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t let me heal

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There’s not even room enough to be anywhere
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
Well my sense of humanity is going down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing, there’s been some kind of pain

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She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin’ what was in her mind
I just don’t see why I should even care
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

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Well I been to London and I been to gay Paree
I followed the river and I got to the sea
I’ve been down to the bottom of a whirlpool of lies
I ain’t lookin’ for nothin’ in anyone’s eyes

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Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.

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I was born here and I’ll die here, against my will
I know it looks like I’m movin’ but I’m standin’ still.

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Every nerve in my body is so naked and numb
I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don’t even hear the murmur of a prayer
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

 

 

Big Picture

 

Some songs haunt me beautifully.

This one, by the English band London Grammar, is one of them. It is ethereal and yet raw. It touches me deeply.

And it is not a one-off. Their music has an extraordinary elegaic quality, owing much to Hannah Reid’s gorgeous voice, but also to the compostion, creativity and talent of the other two members.

This song, off their album ‘Truth is a Beautiful Thing’, released last year, has the power to make me sigh deeply and remember, sadly, so many things that have happened, and some that have not.

This has been another of my ‘songs I like but you might not know’ series of blog posts.

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‘Big Picture’ written by © Dominic Ashley Ronald Major, Hannah Felicity May Reid, and Daniel Harry Joseph Rothman, and performed by London Grammar

© this post the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Big Picture

Love, what did you do to me?
My only hope is to let life stretch out before me
And break me on this lonely road
I’m made of many things, but I’m not what you are made of

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Only now do I see the big picture
But I swear that these scars are fine
Only you could’ve hurt me in this perfect way tonight
I might be blind, but you’ve told me the difference
Between mistakes and what you just meant for me

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Don’t say you ever loved me
Don’t say you ever cared
My darkest friend was

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Have you forgotten all the lies you left there so fresh
Turning old in the air
And now, you have no weapons
You can try to get close to those I love
Do you really think they don’t know what you’re made of

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Only now do I see the big picture
But I swear that these scars are fine
Only you could’ve hurt me in this perfect way tonight
I might be blind but you’ve told me the difference
Between mistakes and what you just meant for me

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Someone say you ever loved me
Don’t say you ever cared
My darkest friend was

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Found what I’ve been looking for

 

I listen to a lot of music. A lot of new music.

Every now and then I hear someone who has me playing their whole album on repeat. This guy is one of them. Beautifully crafted songs, strong melodies, and a stunningly good, raw, rich deep voice  – sounding much older than his 23 years. This is real talent.

He is now based in London and grew up in Bedford (UK).

I could have chosen any song from his debut album – the brilliant ‘Lighting Matches ‘- released just a couple of weeks ago but they are all so good I just chose the first track on the listing.

I know it is unfashionable these days to listen to a complete album, but this is truly worth it.

(Another of my ‘songs that I like but you might not know’ series of posts)

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Song ‘Found what I was looking for’ written by © Jordan Riley and Tom Grennan, and performed by Tom Grennan.

This post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Found what I’ve been looking for

Always fine lines between us
They say our days don’t mean much
Cast an anchor in the sand, what we did
But my ships have sailed and I’m here to tell that
I don’t mean like the others
And I

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I keep searching and I can’t seem to find what I’m wanting
It’s changing all the time and if you noticed a different side of mine
Then I’ve found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for

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Should I wait, should I stay to see it
Arm fold ’cause I’m told, I need it
I’m not frightened to take off, step away
But my ships have sailed and I’m here to tell that
I don’t mean like the others
And I

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I keep searching and I can’t seem to find what I’m wanting
It’s changing all the time and if you noticed a different side of mine
Then I’ve found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for

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I’ve been running round, running round, running round
Now I’m done and now I’m done now and now I’m done and now
Scared the magic might fade away

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And I keep searching and I can’t seem to find what I’m wanting
It’s changing all the time and if you noticed a different side of mine
Then I’ve found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for

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I keep searching and I can’t seem to find what I’m wanting
It’s changing all the time and if you noticed a different side of mine
Then I’ve found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for
Found what I’ve been looking for

 

 

Over Everything

 

Sometimes a song just gets its hooks into you and won’t let go.

This collaboration between Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile is one of those. I adore it. It is full of laid back warmth, gentle good humour, and intelligence. The guitar playing is superb. And their voices go together magnificently.

The song is simply a celebration of music. It makes me feel good.

The video, transposing their voices is witty. And I have to admit I find Courtney Barnett wonderfully sweet.

If you like this, do check them out separately and together. They both make music for grown ups. This track is off their 2017 joint album ‘Lotta Sea Lice’.

(this has been another of my ‘songs I like, but you might not know’ series)

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‘Over Everything’ © written mainly by Kurt Vile and partly by Courtney Barnett and performed by Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile

This post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Over Everything

When I’m all alone on my own by my lonesome

And there ain’t a single ‘nother soul around

I wanna dig into my guitar bend a blues riff that hangs

Over everything

When I’m by myself and it’s daytime cuz down-under

Or wherever it is I live when it’s evening

You know I speed-read the morning news

and come up with my own little song also

…too

When I step outside to a beautiful morning

Where the trees are all waggin’, my hair-flag waving

The scenery ragin’, my life/love cascading, and the smog hangs

Over everything

When I’m outside in a real good mood

You could almost forget bout all the other things

Like a big old ominous cloud in my periphery

Don’t wanna talk about it

Simultaneous I shout it

When I was young I liked to hear music blarin’

And I wasn’t carin to neuter my jams with earplugs

But these days I inhabitate a high-pitched ring over things

So these days I plug em up

When I’m strugglin with my songs I do the same thing too

And then I crunch em up in headphones, cause why wouldn’t you?

You could say I hear you on several levels at high decibels

Over everything

When I’m all alone on my own by myself

And there and another single one around I wanna dig into my guitar,

bend a blues riff that hangs…

Over everything

 

Maps

 

Sometimes a song finds its way into my head, a cunning little earworm that just won’t go away.

And often I hate it. I look for other catchy pieces to replace it. I deliberately sing other things I know well. I will do anything to break its spell.

But not this one. I welcome it with open arms. When it comes up on my gym play list I smile to myself and no doubt look a little insane as I mouth the words.

I like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and have done so since first hearing them way back in the mid 2000s. Apart from their compelling simple-jangly-but-great indie sound I have to admit I am drawn to the voice and striking appearance of singer Karen O. But nothing they have done quite enchants me like this track.

Once again I have been singing it all morning, so I thought it would be perfect to share with you as one of the ‘songs I like but you might not know’ series.

 

PS If you want to know the reason why it is called Maps then read the Wikipedia entry for the song – which also explains her tears in the video. Perhaps that moves me too.

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‘Maps’ written by Brian Chase / Karen Lee Orzolek / Nicholas Joseph Zinner and performed by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

This post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

Maps

Pack up
I’m strayed
Enough

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Oh say say say
Oh say say say
Oh say say say
Oh say say say
Oh say say say

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Wait, they don’t love you like I love you
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you
Maps
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you

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Made off
Don’t stray
My kind’s your kind
I’ll stay the same
Pack up
Don’t stray
Oh say say say
Oh say say say

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Wait, they don’t love you like I love you
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you
Maps
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you

 

It’s not over yet

 

Sometimes you completely forget a song that had great significance for you at some time.

Then you hear it out of the blue. Sometimes it all comes flooding back. Sometimes the years have stripped it of its power.

For me, in this case, if I am truly honest, it is a bit of both. I cannot recreate my feelings at the time I first heard it (a few years after this version was released), and yet I do remember how it seemed to capture the hurt of those days. And the lonely nights.

So I thought I would share it with you as a song that I like but you might not know

The band is Klaxons. The members are English and have been going since about 2005. Despite what Wiki says, they are still very much alive and kicking.

This song featured on their 2007 album ‘Myths of the Near Future’. It is actually a cover of a song by a dance act called Grace (actually a Paul Oakenfield vehicle). It was originally released in 1995 and had many remixes and revamps.

I am not generally a fan of covers unless the cover makes a statement that is beyond or different to the original. The Klaxons version, in my opinion, does. It has an intensity I think the original hasn’t – and an air of menace too.

Anyway. I heard it in my buds this morning and was moved enough to repeat it a number of times there and when I reached home – and to enthuse about it here.

So I suppose it did touch me after all.

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‘It’s not over yet’ © written by Robert Berkeley Davis / Paul Mark Oakenfold / Michael Dominie Wyzgowski and performed by Klaxons

This post © the author writing as Romantic Dominant

 

It’s Not over Yet

I live for you
I die for you
Do what you want me to
I cry for you, my tears will show that I can’t let you go

It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
You still me want me don’t you?
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
Cause I can see through you
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
You still want me don’t you?
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet

Don’t let me down, don’t make a sound
Don’t throw it all away
Remember me so tenderly
Don’t let it slip away

It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
You still me want me don’t you?
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
Cause I can see through you
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
You still want me don’t you?
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet

It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
You still me want me don’t you?
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
Cause I can see through you
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet
You still want me don’t you?
It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet