And
now, for day six of Song Solstice – Summer 2024, we shall get to
know a fantastic song by UK darlings, Elbow. I hope you continue
reading and let me share its brilliance with you.
Sometime
in the mid 2000's while hanging out on YouTube, I came across a cover
of Massive Attack's classic, “Teardrop”, as done by a band I had
never heard of called Elbow. The cover was (and is!) stellar and it
got me wanting to dig a little more into their music. The next track
I heard was a lovely song call “Great Expectations”, and,
eventually, I came to discover a track that would arrest me. That
track is the third single from the Mercury Music Prize winning album, The Seldom Seen Kid, “The Bones Of You”, which is also today's
feature.
Although the song was a single and has an official video,
it was only ever released physically as a limited label promo.
It pains me that this song isn't more widely known because it is truly a
wonderfully perfect track. The lyrics bring you through a man's
recollections of a love he had and lost years before, having been
sparked by a song, weaving wonderful storytelling and emotion inside
the perfect musical backing track. I really adore the way this song
moves, with the vocal covering the words in a way that really takes
you inside the memories with him. More often than not, I can get lost in it to the point
of playing it a few times in a row before moving on. It's just so good... *chef's kiss*
At
the end of the track,
"Summertime" by George
Gershwin, Dubose Heyward, Dorothy Heyward & Ira Gershwin plays in the background of the sounds of people chatting and glasses clinking from a
doorway, farther illustrating the moment that sparked the onslaught
of memories and feelings the narrator grapples with. I can hear
“Summertime” inside the song, too, with the instrumentation
taking cues from the Jazz classic in just the right ways. "The Bones Of You" just oozes with fantastic songwriting all around, highlighting how good
the band really is and why The Seldom Seen Kid won the coveted and prestigious Mercury prize.
Credit: Pete Swift, 2024
It's
interesting to me how Elbow hasn't quite broke here in the US as they
really are fantastic and deserve far more global success than they
have. (It shouldn't be surprising, though, considering how music has
been over here over the past 10 to 20 years, but I digress...) Even
still, I'm glad to have come across Elbow and the masterpiece that is
“The Bones Of You”. May it arrest you, too.
Lyrics
So I'm there charging around with a
juggernaut brow
Overdraft, speeches and deadlines to make
Cramming
commitments like cats in a sack
Telephone burn and a purposeful
gait
When out of a doorway
The tentacles
stretch of a song that I know
And the world moves in
slow-mo
Straight to my head like the first cigarette of the day
And it's you and it's me
And we're
sleeping through the day
And I'm five years ago
And three
thousand miles away
Do I have time? A man of my caliber
stood in the street
Like a sleepwalking teenager I know
And I
dealt with this years ago
I took a hammer to every memento
But image on image like beads on a
rosary
Pulled through my head as the music takes hold
And the
sickener hits, I can work till I break
But I love the bones of you
that I will never escape
And it's you and it's me
And we're
sleeping through the day
And I'm five years ago
And three
thousand miles away
And I can't move my arm
For the fear
that you will wake
And I'm five years ago
And three thousand
miles away
And I'm five years ago
And three
thousand miles away
And I'm five years ago
And three thousand
miles away
And it's you and it's me
And we're
sleeping through the day
And I'm five years ago
And three
thousand miles away
!BONUS!
Audio of Elbow performing "Teardrop" by Massive Attack on BBC Radio 1
Disclaimer: All photo, music, lyrics, video, and artwork copyrights belong to their respective owners. Photos, videos, and lyrics used for reference and informational purposes.
I'm not being paid by them to write this. I'm not a journalist or anything. I just love music.
(Posted on 1st July 2024, backdated to 6th June 2024)
