LISTED: Goosebumps Vol.6 - Foo Fighters' Everlong


When we first decided to come up with this feature, the Goosebumps series, this song was one of the original tune that we had in mind when we tried to define what songs that gives us the chill, the goosebumps. When it comes to (an almost) perfect embodiment of artistry in a song, not many comes close to Foo Fighters' "Everlong". The words, though some still has us scratching our heads, is not a collection of random thoughts of the singer, or a tale of the singer in the form of the protagonist going through the trials and tribulations of daily life, but rather a carefully selected thoughts tailored together into one seamless tapestry that only surfaces to reveal its meaning if it is read and pondered upon carefully. And with that driving riff completing the experience, on a different day and on a proper listening with a proper understanding of the double serving of the tune and the lyrics, should move one to tears.

We'll leave it to you to interpret yourself what the lyrics could possibly mean because once you do, you'll see the magic of this song (and why it is considered as the greatest song Dave Grohl ever written, according to many fans). Because certain things is best enjoyed when you only truly understand it on your own accord.

And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
Got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang

Foo Fighters - Everlong from Tanya Andersen on Vimeo.

LISTED: Goosebumps Vol.5 - Scanners' Lowlife


I have as of late been haunted by things that I have done in the past; things that especially involves other people. This I can probably attribute it to my failure at learning the gentle art of forgiving myself because I have always been harsh with myself. Especially what transpired in my Indian summer in 2007 - I have yet to forgive myself to what I have done to her...

This entry here today shall have very minimal word because sometimes we think it might get in the way of truly appreciating the art of a song, of this song in particular. It might seem like this probably more about me but we're going to end our entry here with this: we all surely have went through a rough patch in a relationship, and always, the hardest part is letting go. This song, ladies and gentleman, is about that.

Its like my skin, turned inside out
And there's no silver here in this cloud
It's like a love that's turning sour
Its letting go

Scanners - Low Life from Dim Mak on Vimeo.

LISTED: Goosebumps Vol.4 - Sigur Rós' Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása
*Goosebumps is a recurring feature where we highlight on songs that what we perceive to be a complete artistic statement in terms of its melody, lyrics, and to a certain extent, its video clip as well.



We'd really love to write on about something pretty surreal for this entry here but I fear that it might get in the way of you dear readers in trying to properly 'feel' the song because sometimes, as it is more often than not with a good Sigur Rós' song, the meaning is not always implied in anyway by the circumstances that surrounds the artist who is/are singing the song. Like Sigur Rós for example: it is no longer a surprise now, now that the vocalist Jonsi has came out of the closet for so long, so normally our mind would be directed towards his sexual preferences, and further helped by the fact that the video clip for a certain song from one of their albums released in 1999 featured two boys actually making out on a field in the aftermath of a goal-score celebration. Pretty heavy stuff there, but fine; for artistic value perhaps it does have its' merit. We're cool with that. But then on comes the English transliteration of the lyrics to the song and lo and behold...

Before we got our hands on the transliteration of the song "Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása", we could only marvel at the breathtaking beauty of the song and its' other-worldly feel - because it was sung entirely in Icelandic (and thankfully not in the dreaded Hopelandic gibberish), it felt mysterious, alien, majestic, and alienating; and we absolutely loved it. We loved how because none of what was sung does not at all make sense that our imagination are allowed to roam free over what the context of the song could possibly be. A merry band of cherubs floating over clouds in the heaven singing a praise chorus towards Horus? Sure - beats the hell out of it. But then we found this...

I let myself flow onwards,
I swim through my mind back and forth,
my soul still sings the song we once wrote together.

We once had a dream,
we had everything,
we rode to the end of the world,
we rode on searching,
we climbed skyscrapers,
but they were all destroyed
the peace is gone now,
I lack balance, I fall down.
Still, I let myself flow onwards.
I swim through my mind,
but I always come back to the same place,

There is nothing left to say.
This is for the best.

God will provide a day,
for us.

...Tomorrow

The movement of the song is pretty much like a flower bud that is just about to bloom on a crispy Spring morning where the sun is rising over a green hill - it started off pretty slowly, in an almost gloomy mood before a stream of sunlight streaks in inside the darkened room and greet the writer who is slumped on one end of his bed, contemplating the end towards his life, and brought forward such unbridled joy it lifts the writer's spirit and sparked a hopeful smile on his weary face. Then it brings the writer on his feet as he begin to dance... well that was what we were imagining with the lyrics above. The meaning to it probably runs a lot deeper than that but so far, we're pretty comfortable with that. There is that sense of purpose and meaning at the cusp of the climax of the song as Jonsi runs through the e-bow on his guitar, creating that trademark sound so familiar with the Icelandic band, and so similar with the cries of a sperm whale. But the afterthought for the very last line in the song was pretty disconcerting as well when Jonsi sang "God will provide a day / For us / Tomorrow". At first look it seemed all joy and fun and hopeful and everything is going to be alright; but on a second thought, it was pretty damning and suicidal actually - to actually hope for a tomorrow that none of us can ever be so sure of, and to place such hope on God, it might as well be the final word on the suicide note of the writer who is in the darkened room we mentioned just now. And the song ended with string instruments ending in an abrupt discordant cacophony disarray. Dramatic song from start to finish; dramatic climax; dramatic ending; disquieting lyrics - yes, the true meaning of this song is a lot deeper than any of us could probably figure out.

LISTED: Goosebumps Vol.3 - Radiohead's Let Down
*Goosebumps is a new recurring feature where we highlight on songs that what we perceive to be a complete artistic statement in terms of its melody, lyrics, and to a certain extent, its video clip as well.



Well, one thing led to another, from one article to another, and last week I found myself reading on something called Objective Reality. Have to say that it is currently what interest me the most because I've been having this conundrum between what is supposedly the Real Reality that each and every one of us are perceiving with all our senses, and the alternate version of it - since if and if it is true that everything applies to the logic of duality, then this version of Reality must have its' twin sister. But what I would like to posit is that this version of reality that we're in at the moment (I'm mildly suggesting that you the reader is in the same reality as I do since you're reading this blog) is the Perceived Reality, and that the alternate version of it is the real Real Reality.

I will admit that this idea that I'm having is pretty much flawed since it is only about, I don't know, two weeks old at most, and that the million dollar question of between use of perception and determination of reality is still left unanswered. But this question of trying to separate two out of what has always been a single unified entity is not a futile effort at rejection of the 'perceived' Real Reality. It is simply a case of a philosophical mind wandering far with the 'what if' question in hand. Call this an old age bull but I am starting to feel weary of this version of reality that I am currently in, and was hoping that somehow if I could step out of it and into a new one - the alternate version...

...and that theme of a man grown weary with the world that he is in, is the central theme to Radiohead's spine-tingling, raise-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck gorgeous, heartfelt tune "Let Down", taken from one of the most complete rock album ever created at the tail-end of the 20th century: OK Computer. It began with an incessant ringing, and Thom in dejected half-mumbling musing, opening with "Transport, motorways and tramlines / Starting and then stopping / Taking off and landing / The emptiest of feelings". We keep on having this imagery of a person standing on an overhead bridge over a busy highway, late at night, while gazing emptily at cars passing by, contemplating over the pointlessness and meaninglessness of his existence with that line, and it does have a nice ring round it. Then Thom added: "Disappointed people clinging onto bottles / When it comes it's so so disappointing". So the man on the overhead bridge is an alcoholic as well.

The song has perhaps one of the most unique opening part as far as we can recall because when the ringing kicks in, guitars and glockenspiel in perfect harmony, it sounded romantic like a scene that is playing on a moldy 20 years old film reel where the pictures are in sepia tone and some kid is on a tricycle cycling down the driveway, but all of that harking-back-those-golden-eras romanticism was then greeted by one of the most despirited singing lazily drawling all over the first verse; and it actually works with the lyrics. So here is the sound of a man who has given up on any last trickle of remaining hope on what is the purpose of his being, and is on the verge of letting go. And we said letting go because in the second verse, Thom picked up again his spirit and claimed "Shell smashed, juices flowing / Wings twitched, legs are going / Don't get sentimental it always ends up drivel / One day I'm going to grow wings / A chemical reaction..."

The way Thom sings the song is like an emotional roller coaster ride - it has its' ups and downs - and in the first verse, he sounded dejected and weary, and the following chorus line just reconfirms his restlessness. Then he picked up his spirit in the second verse, announcing his self-believe that one day his body will sprout wings and will allow him to soar above all the tedium of meaninglessness, before it came crashing down back again with the chorus: "Let down and hanging around / Crushed like a bug in the ground". Anyone who had gone through a rough patch in life can perhaps relate to that motion - in which the emotion is always constantly moving up and down, and not in a linear manner; and the rising and falling of tone in "Let Down" magically encapsulates that in a simple five minute pop number. Now if only our emotion is that easy to be explained.

P/S: Video embedded below is kind of poor actually, but alas it is among the nicest of the lot that I can find at Youtube.

LISTED: Goosebumps Vol.2 - Elbow's Powder Blue
*Goosebumps is a new recurring feature where we highlight on songs that what we perceive to be a complete artistic statement in terms of its melody, lyrics, and to a certain extent, its video clip as well.



It's still drizzling lightly outside, though the December monsoon should already be at the tail-end of its wrath by now. The alarm clock on my bedside table says it is now close to midnight and the chill is starting to kick in. I huddled up my blanket and wrapped it around me, and returned to sit back in front of my computer. This is not the first time I'm losing my sleep over something... as various thoughts flashes through my mind. The only thing that I can think of right now is that... if ever such a thing is true, then I might be in for such a powerful, raw display of emotion that I've never been familiar with. This, ladies and gentlemen, is all started with the stroke of the piano keys...

According to Guy Garvey, the vocalist for the Mancunian five piece Elbow, the inspiration for the song "Powder Blue" was drawn from a 'tragically heartfelt' scene: "I almost feel guilty for writing this song. It's based on a withdrawing couple I saw in a bar. She was banging a coin on the bar really loudly and he came up behind her and put his arms round her, staying her hand and she burst into tears. There was a tragic magic to the situation that would have affected anyone who witnessed it." (Source)

Without taking in that quote by Guy, my initial thought was that this song is about a couple who are both staring at the face of death, considering the line: "China white, my bride tonight / Smiling on the tiles". That imagery alone was almost totally inescapable of how I imagined the guy seeing his lover lying on the floor, stone cold dead. However, the rest of the lines in the song didn't really tally with the initial image that I have in my head. Only after I did a research (Read: Wikipedia) on 'China white', after I got frustrated coming up empty-handed with 'powder blue', that I knew that 'China white' is a slang term for α-Methylfentanyl, or heroin.

What really grasped my attention the most to this song is how dramatic it sounded and felt, with the opening piano keys tumbling away in a discordant fashion before it neatly retreated back into a calm passage, and Guy's voice hanging in lower mid note, introducing the song - it is as if a tragedy had just befallen on the narrator. Then what proceeded is a four minutes uncontrolled weeping of a man who had 'lost everything', with the narrator pining for the memory of a soul departed in a longing weep: "Your eyes are just like black spiders / Your hair and dress in ribbons / Baby cakes". It was only by the second part of the first verse where the reference towards drug is apparent: "In despair or incoherence / Nothing in between". The way I understood this, when someone is high on drugs, they are in a constant state of incoherence, and when the withdrawal sets in and they are no longer experiencing the high, they are, well, to make it short, in despair.

So to carefully sum up the whole story, it is about a pair of lover who are hooked on doing drugs (and especially heroin, since it got a mention), and the narrator is just narrating that particular moment in which both of them 'administered' heroin into their system, and went through the motions together, as lovers, heart and soul and mind in unison ("Bring that minute back / We never get so close as when the sunward flight begins"). Ah, how romantic.

LISTED: Goosebumps Vol.1 - Doves' Snowden
*Goosebumps is a new recurring feature where we highlight on songs that what we perceive to be a complete artistic statement in terms of its melody, lyrics, and to a certain extent, its video clip as well.



"Snowden" is probably the only song by this British band that I properly liked, thanks in part to its introduction, which to my ear sounded like a choir of cherubs in the Heaven shedding blood tears. At first, I couldn't give that much of a care on what Jimi Goodwin was singing about, something which is quite odd considering I was a Literature student. For me, listening to music has almost always strictly been about the song and not much else because, well blame it on my early days of listening to Coldplay for one, I have always found that many songs, the feel or the real story behind it does not match with the lyrics that accompanies it.

I always felt frustrated listening to a really dramatic sounding song but where the lyrics left nothing at all to the imagination. However, along the way I did picked up a few songs that blissfully had a perfect harmonized combination of songs and lyrics, where the lyrics perfectly completes the experience of listening to that particular song. "Snowden" is among a few other songs which had that perfect harmonized combination of songs and lyrics that I was on about a few lines above.

Referring to this website, I found a few commenter touched on the subject of Joseph Heller's hit novel Catch-22. Snowden, a character in that novel, "...lies dying in the back of the plane from bullet wounds to the chest. His death haunts the main character, Yossarian, throughout the novel because he doesn't realize the extent of the injury before it's too late".

The one particular line from this song that captures my attention is "When is it our turn? / So why should we care?". If their discussion is correct, in which the song is about death and the certainty of it ("If this is our last summer / Then why should we care?"), then this song has got to be one of the most defeatist relative to its subject matter. Defeatist here is where the narrator of the song tells of his ready acceptance of his impending fate and chosen to let what was destined to happen, to just happen. There is no point in fighting against it because fuck it, that's why.

This 'easy' nature of the narrator in accepting his fate resonates very well with the overall feel of the song which flows languidly like a wind that blows in the early evening, gently rustling the leaves on a tree. The rustling sound spreads along with the wind but as it catches the nearest human ear, it only very softly did so in a way that does not trigger any alarm. It's a comforting noise, and it is as comfortable as how the narrator calmly accepts his fate. It's a very poetic combination, and that gives me the goosebumps every time I listen to this song - hence the name of this feature.

Brilliant song.