Track Listing from the Session
"Rained On" by Frightened Rabbit (Damon F.)
"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley & The Wailers (Jason S.)
"Rise" by Yaima (Nancy O.)
"Come Alive" from Greatest Showman Alive Soundtrack (Rae Z.)
"Victory Dance" by My Morning Jacket (Damon F.)
"Pastime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder (Jason S.)
"It Runs Through Me" by Tom Misch feat. De La Soul (Nancy O.)
Participants
Damon F.
Jason S.
Nancy O.
Rae Z.
Spotify Playlist
Apple Playlist
Session Summary
This was a special session as the 4 of us chose songs that we felt helped us turn the page on 2020 and move towards a brighter 2021. We had some really open and powerful conversations inspired by the songs that we shared.
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Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit is an all time top ten band for me. Lead singer, Scott Hutchison, committed suicide a couple of years ago, but while he was alive- and perhaps even more so in his passing- his insightful and witty lyrics provided comfort and perspective to many many people- me included. The band released several excellent albums through the years, but the song I chose “Rained On” is off an 3 song EP called Recorded Songs that was released in 2017.
This session occurred on December 30th and the theme was ‘songs that set the tone for 2021’. I decided that the first of the two songs I would share would express how I feel about 2020 and that the second song would represent how I feel about 2021. “Rained On” is the song I chose to describe how I feel about 2020. The year was an undeniably challenging year and to me the lyrics to “Rained On” authentically acknowledge the challenges life presents, but also drop little hints that there is always some value that we can find in pain- if we are willing to see it.
‘Everything has changed, not for better or for worse. Are they tears or is rain? Doesn’t matter anymore. In the end, we’re less filthy than before. Didn’t ask for a downpour, didn’t need a flood. Still I think I found the answer somewhere in the mud.’
My Morning Jacket is another top ten all time band of mine. “Victory Dance” is the lead track off their 2011 album Circuital. The band’s early albums (in the late 90s/early 2000s) had an alt country/americana/southern rock vibe to them. Their later albums were a bit more experimental, polished and electronic. For me, Circuital combined the best of these different music styles. “Victory Dance” sounds otherworldly and lyrically the song has deep spiritual/metaphysical meaning. I chose it my song that ‘set the tone for 2021’ because, even though the calendar says that 2021 is technically a new year and there is a light a the end of the tunnel with the vaccine being deliver- we still have a long ways to go before life returns to any sense of normalcy. “Victory Dance” serves to remind me that I/we still have ‘work to do’, but that we can have faith that we will be victorious.
“Hope to dance the victory dance after the days work is done. Hope to dance the victory dance in the evening’s sun. Hope to dance the victory dance over many lives to come.’
Yaima’s ethereal music is transporting. Following the burn-out, worn-out, what-the-hell-is-coming-next year that was 2020, “Rise” lifts me and reminds me that we will, indeed, rise. Every day we have this opportunity to both be in this moment and to look beyond the chaos that feels pervasive. And we have the opportunity to rise and determine which direction we will turn. May it be the direction of peace, of unity, of love.
“It Runs through Me” by Tom Misch, to me, encapsulates the whole reason for The Listening Club – to embrace the notes and lyrics, let it lift us, make us sway with the rhythm, and feel. Just feel. This song literally makes me smile, close my eyes, and groove with abandon.