NAILED Songs of the Week #40
“It’s this picture I saw once of a friend with a tiny hummingbird in his cupped hands”
Guest Editor: Kevin Meyer, Contributor and Writer
“Lazarus” – David Bowie
I couldn’t watch David Bowie’s “Lazarus” until I sat down to write this. I don’t cry for almost anything, and I’ve been through some gnarly shit, but it was Bowie’s death that brought me to the edge of tears. And there were Bowie’s hands. His frail, thin-skinned, blue-veined hands, clutched in fists around a blanket. The Blackstar under the bed, twisting his body. That stiff, broken dance of his, dressed in the same costume he wore for Station to Station. Frantic scribbles across a notebook, the desk, anywhere he can write while there’s still time left.
It was the image of Bowie slowly retreating into the dark and closing the door behind him as those haunting last notes dwindle away that killed me. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. And sure enough, I cried, and harder than I’ve cried in I don’t know how long. Decades, maybe. I can only hope I’m this brave when I’m as close to death. What a fucking beautiful way to go.
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Carrie Seitzinger, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NAILED:
“Lucky to Miss” – Sallie Ford
Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside disbanded a year or so ago and since then, Ford has assembled an all-female band (whoo!) to come back to the mic with. All of the energy and beat is still there, but there’s a new mettle and spunk, probably compliments of the fully fueled woman-power that the band presses on with. A new spark that you might say, ironically, just has more balls.
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Shenyah Webb, Arts Editor of NAILED:
“Brains” – Lower Dens
An example of how I think. How my thoughts might sound. How my tension sounds. I had no idea it was called “Brains” until now. My brain.
Thought. Repeat. Build. Repeat. Build. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Build. At 1:48 there is a shift. At 1:48 the shift will happen. At 1:48 the key will change and you will begin to spin while repeating. You will not get dizzy when you spin because you are so focused. When the key changes, it will all make sense. Why you are here will make sense. Why you are masculine will make sense. Why you feel like crying and laughing all at once will make sense.
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be afraid
Everything will change
While you’re asleep
While you’re breathing
Do you believe?
No one is waiting
Brains without names
Thought. Repeat. Build. Repeat. Build. Repeat. Repeat….
January 30th, 2016, Revolution Hall, Portland Oregon. Can’t wait.
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Matty Byloos, Publisher and Contributing Editor of NAILED:
“Cherry Juice” – Nick Monaco & David Marston
I don’t know what it is, but with some art, the way a thing’s nature can be all about how it’s threatening to fall apart at any moment — that can be very attractive to me. With some art. With other arts, I want hard edges and danger. But fragility is its own kind of danger when you think about it. You could accidentally breathe on the thing, and whoosh! It’s all gone like so much dust on the windowsill in a breeze. So WTF is Cherry Juice, anyway. I draw my own conclusions for you, and present them here: it’s a Slurpee in mid-July when a kid’s size melts too fast but it’s still cold and hits the spot. It’s Miami when you’ve never been there. It’s that one time the director gets it right and there’s a few young kids with all the promise of their lives in front of them, and they’re in that scene in the movie where they’re on the freeway with the windows rolled all the way down and they’re screaming at the moon. It’s the first time your lover whispers something really nasty in your ear, and you’re embarrassed over your own piqued sexual curiosity, it’s so new and foreign to you, and you fall deeper in love. It’s this picture I saw once of a friend with a tiny hummingbird in his cupped hands, just sitting there, content.
Dig, and be careful. It could fall apart at any second.
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Check out Songs of the Week #38 for even more great music from the editors and contributors behind NAILED.