5pm_weds | thirty-nine. (Reply)

Shot Big Horizon
Artist: NewVillager
Album: S/T
Year: 2011
♥: On Monday, I caught a terrible cold. Trying to teach The Essay to my 9s today was a joke -- I feel like I may have destroyed them for the rest of their English-class careers because I'm so wonky and out of it. I don't get sick that often (knock on wood), but when I do, I turn into a fuzzy-headed grumpy mess.
Of course, yesterday evening, I was supposed to do photos with Julie. I got home from work, bleary-eyed, exhausted, and in a horrible mood --- the last thing I wanted was a camera in my face.

NOW: music is a mood-changer (or sustainer). I was lying in bed reading, grumbling, feverish, sniffling, and finally got fed up with the wallowing -- remembered that fact -- and blared Shot Big Horizon. DANCE PARTY: ENGAGE!

The life in my eyes returned; the photos turned out great.

This particular song appeared in my life last Wednesday at about midnight, and my jaw dropped -- one of those 'instant' songs. I haven't been much for dancing these days, but something shifted when I heard this. The lyrics [well, those which I can decipher] are pretty Relevant To My Life right now:
"Baby don't lick your wounds clean / Need now be making your own dream"
or
"It ain't like old times / nobody gonna tell you / wrong ain't right
Put up a good fight / when all the people tell you / day is night"

but that's not why I love this song. It's the 'TV on the Radio-meets-bouncy dance hook' vibe, and it's the undeniable joy behind the lyrics. It'd be so easy to write a song like this, about how Life Changes and Leaves Us Old and Alone, and make it seriously depressing. I can whip at least five songs like that off the top of my head. Cheerful songs about same? Not so simple. And the thing is, growing up and figuring things out doesn't have to be that depressing! Sure it sucks sometimes, but the decisions of what I keep and what I lose are often mine -- ideologically speaking, anyway. I may not have control over other people or events, but I definitely have control over how I react to their presence -- or lack thereof -- in my life.

So before I head out to a photoshoot, before I head out to work, before I do anything,
it's always worth it to have a blowout dance party. I don't have to feel ecstatic before starting, and sometimes I forget that: I can be in the worst mood ever, but the dancing ITSELF helps ---- reconnects me to myself. Of course, you need a pretty killer song...and this one so fits the bill!