Track Listing from the Session
"Human Being" by Cat Power (Damon F.)
"Detroit Rock City" by Kiss (Chris P.)
"Try Again" by Keane (Pete M.)
"Never Went to Church" by The Streets (Damon F.)
"Sign O' The Times" by Prince (Chris P.)
"Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie (Pete M.)
Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead (Damon F.)
"Take a Picture" by Filter (Chris P.)
"Untitled #4" by Sigur Ros (Pete M.)
Participants
Damon F.
Chris P.
Pete M.
Spotify Playlist
Apple Playlist
Session Summary
This was the first session of The Listening CLub! May 23, 2020.
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damon_ferrara
TLC is more than sharing songs. It’s the story that accompanies the song. How it’s impacted you or the why behind song choice.
Cat Power’s musical style has evolved quite about over the 10 or so albums she (Chan Marshall) has released since the mid 90s. Chan Marshal has always bore her soul in her lyrics and music and talked about very personal topics. Early on her music was very simple…pretty much her and a guitar. Her sound has evolved through the years and is much fuller these days, but her lyrics are still as deeply personal. “Human Being” us off her 2012 album Sun…the music is entrancing and the lyrics implore us to embrace and celebrate our humanity. It might be my personal anthem.
‘You’ve got a right to breathe, to breathe. You’ve got a right, you’re a human being. You’ve got your own voice so sing. You ‘ve got two hands, let’s go and make anything.’
I was first introduced to British rapper Mike Skinner who goes by the artist name The Streets in the early 2000s through his debut album Originial Pirate Material. I had never heard anything like it, this white dude rapping? in a really thick British accent over killer beats. The guy was/is a wordsmith and I’ve always loved his storytelling. He’s put out several albums since his debut that I like, but none as much his debut. While the majority of his songs are designed more for parties than deep moments of individual reflection, some of my favorite songs of The Streets are the slow almost ballad once that deal with personal topics. I find Mike Skinner to be remarkably insightful and wise in them. The song I shared in our session “Never Went To Church” is one of those songs. He wrote it about his father who had recently passed away. My dad passed away a few months before this session and I was moved by the message of this song- that one way that the memory of our loved ones are kept alive after they pass away is through the similarities of our actions to theirs.
‘I guess then, you did leave me something to remind me of you. Every time I interrupt someone like you used to. When I do something like you, you’ll be on my mind because I forgot, you left me behind to remind me of you.’
“Street Spirit (Fade Out)” is the final song on Radiohead’s landmark 1995 album The Bends. It is one of my all time favorite songs. While the song title includes the words ‘Fade out’, and the repeated lyrics ‘Fade Out’ (not to mention again the fact that it is the last song on the album), the music builds throughout the song to some sort of emotional crescendo. I love the contrast between what the words are saying and what the music is doing.
‘I can feel death, can see it’s beady eyes. All these things into position. All these things we’ll one day swallow. Fade out again. Fade out again. Immerse yourself in love. Immerse yourself in love.’
The very first TLC session. A gem of a setlist. I’ll remember this session not just for the songs but for the story behind each song. Music rules!!!