Cello Song and fighting the blind side

How do you inspire someone?  Each person has their version of inspiration- for some it's a famous athlete that inspires them to achieve their physical best; for me, it's music.  A song, at a certain moment that just hits me smack in the face and reminds me of how lucky I am to have music in my life, and how much it keeps me sane.

Being a teacher with a ridiculous schedule of teaching and training sessions, listening to music is my peace and calm while in transit from one place to another.  Although I try to include music in my lessons as often as possible, it doesn't always happen and doesn't always allow for finding new music.  This week, it stumbled upon me completely by surprise!  With my 12th graders, who are tired and eager to get out of school, we are struggling to find that last bit of inspiration to keep them coming to class and to give them any last bit of information we can before they head out into the world on their own.  As a part of my last hurrah, we started a project similar to #365Grateful and #100happydays, to connect with ourselves and the world around us, reflecting on our daily lives as they are now- at this moment- to see the good around us.

Along with it, I'm showing the film "The Blind Side."  This film inspires me in many ways, as a teacher, as a person who wants to see good done to others, not evil.  Most of all it gives me hope.  I hope my students will catch even a speckle of hope and inspiration that I feel when I'm in front of them, learning with them. 

 This song, Cello Song, originally by Nick Drake on his 1969 album, Five Leaves Left, is a meditation masterpiece, with a continuous flow of energy.  As the guitar riffs bounce off of the bongo drums in the background, Drake's soothing voice calms the listener and gives this sense of hope I'm looking for.  With beautiful cello interludes it's utterly breathtaking, and a bit sad, as it deeply reflects Drake's struggle with depression.

The last verse slides away into a deep, still pool of water, and you're left wondering if he feels the hope himself or not.

So forget this cruel world

Where I belong

Ill just sit and wait

And sing my song

And if one day

you should see me in the crowd

Lend a hand and lift me

To your place in the cloud

But Drake's version is not in the film The Blind Side, which instead includes a cover of the song by a NYC duo called The Books.  They have since then split up, but they grabbed José González for this cover, which was a part of a charity album for Red Hot, an organization whose biggest cause is the battle against HIV and AIDS.  González's vocals are just as smooth as Drake's, but the flair of electronic undertones give the song a new breath.  It sets certain tone for the movie, which tells the story of a lost teenager looking for someone to "lend a hand and lift him up to the cloud."

TV Love Songs- Hart of Dixie

The awesomest job in the world?  Searching for songs to be played at the perfect moment for TV shows.  I love my share of TV series, from Grey's Anatomy to Nashville, shows these days have an amazing team of people searching for up-and-coming artists and songs that match each love scene, break-up scene, and everything in between.  Hart of Dixie is a corny TV show about a doctor who goes to work in a small town to find her roots and an entertaining crew of friends.  Rachel Bilson does a good job playing the city-slicker gone country girl and her missteps and adventures are cute, at most.  Although I may not watch the show for its gripping storyline or moving actors, the music is spot on in every episode.  That's how I found this group- The Open Sea.

Although not a new band, and they've had their songs played on TV shows before, the two artists Ari Hest and Rosi Golan come together from their individual projects to collaborate on what is a simple, sensitive and sincere track called Keep Me Tonight.  Their easy-going harmonies compliment each other at the most precise moments, a back and forth that begs for these two to become the most intimate of lovers.  Yet, the love story isn't so simple and although the choruses are sung together, the verses are sung by each of them individually, a flirtatious melody line accented by beautiful mandolin solos.

Keep Me Tonight is from The Open Sea's EP Little Apple, released in 2010.

Inspirations, chants and a cover

It helps to have friends who share their musical musings with others, even better when they hear something and do the right thing by suggesting it to you!  And yet again our web of artists and songs has expanded and brings us to an even more appreciative listening place.

The first moment you hear The Lone Bellow, you will either be blown away by their immediate and intense three-part harmonies (like in the song "You Don't Love Me Like You Used To"), or sucked into a delicate and mesmerizing melody line (like in "Tree to Grow").  Either way, you're not going to stop listening any time soon.  Although at times, the album as a whole might seem a bit inconsistent, the group's ridiculous (-ly good) harmonies are such a joy to a vocalist who understands the work and sync-ness that is vital to succeed in this kind of singing.  As you listen to their songs build to bridges of almost-screams, Zach Williams, the band's timid, but powerful lead, soars with his vocals, as his two other band members, Kanene Donehey Pipkin and Brian Elmquist, work as the harmonic foundation for his forceful and reflective lyrics.

So, how to choose which song to share?  Wanting to give a full perspective of what this band can truly do, two songs beg to be posted.  The first, an homage to the band's home, Brooklyn, a video beautifully representing the rough edges of a city burrow near and dear.  The song's memorable riff "ba ba da ba ba da..." has everyone singing along by the end, even all of the people appearing in the video!  Williams' vocals are highlighted, but The Lone Bellow harmonic core still plays a big part in creating this song into an anthem of power and unity, especially as the harmonies and "ba ba da's" echo out in the outro.

The other song is a well known Buffalo Springfield song, For What It's Worth.  Sung acoustically on the top of a mountain with snow capped scenes behind them, the trio are oozing with subtle and controlled emotion.  It is a nice change to see Williams take a break at first, allowing his other bandmates to sing the opening lines, holding back for the imminent build the song will take towards the end.  It does and it's beautiful and the song is resurrected from its place in history, being given a modern channel for freedom and protest.

Bleeding Out is from The Lone Bellow's self-titled album, which came out in January 2013.