fifteen

[amethysting.livejournal.com]

Grown Man
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Tell Me
2011

I think I have a thing for weird voices.

Also, I might have a bit memory problem.  Every time this song turned up on shuffle, I'd stop and think, "Oh, wow, what is this delightfulness?"  I added it to my On-the-Go three times because, apparently, I would get excited about discovering the song every time I heard it.  I wanted to hold it.  To save it.  To draw a heart around it in my notebook.

I think of this as Reggae-tinged Country with a hint of the Super Mario soundtrack (not the live-action movie--I mean the music from the game, like the original one).  It's not that I relate to the lyrics in particular, but I love the way she sings them; kind of morose and haltingly.  The words are an afterthought...I love the "I don't care, I don't care" she repeats towards the end, I'm not sure it is entirely believable and I like that.  This song is kind of awkward, which I think reflects what she is saying.  I love that the line breaks aren't where you'd expect them to be.

"And I'd give most anything
To know as you're sitting
There with your legs crossed and no
Clothes on what you are thinking
Of..."

My favourite though, is:

"I'm surprised that I'm not
Dead yet. Maybe I'm disappointed
But we won't get into that"

I like that the words hint at things without coming right out and saying them.  I like that even though it is a pretty weird FUSION (recurring themes, dude) of genres and sounds, there is something simple about it.  A kind of familiar ache.

Aside: the album cover reminds me of Dusty in Memphis.  I wonder if that was intentional? 

Comments

[cabaretlights.livejournal.com]

haha no worries dude! :D

[cabaretlights.livejournal.com]

I'm a huge fan of this song. I love your "thing for weird voices" because it's introducing me to so many fabulous female artists (my head kind of groups this song with Alex, Frida, and Imaginary Cities and I kind of love it [an aside: this prompted the "return comment" comment haha]). The line breaks and how her voice is kind of lazy -- I adore!! It flows so beautifully while still retaining something, as you said, kind of awkward. Awesome. It almost sounds like modern poetry, sung, as opposed to something more rhythmically structured, which I really appreciate. I also totally love the lyrics because they're all May/December fabulous. This is always a big plus for me with love-ish songs, haha, so.

I think of this as Reggae-tinged Country with a hint of the Super Mario soundtrack...
HAHAHA I TOTALLY HEAR IT, especially at the beginning! Oh my god what a perfect description, dude. hahahaha awesome. FUSION!!

I'm really impressed with how simultaneously mellow and unrelenting this song is. The background is chill, kind of sounds like something you could listen to on a beach, but the way she sings and the way the melody is written lends it something a bit more...macabre's not the word, but I'm going to use it anyway. MACABRE. Something a little dark is going on beneath the surface. LAYERS. Layers.

Also: it's totally addictive. As are all the songs you post. haha