When I saw the prompt for this week -- to discuss a favorite song -- I knew exactly what piece I was going to write about. Music has always been a source of catharsis for me, a way to release my emotions, whether I'm the one creating it on the piano or the one receiving it through some headphones. I've always found it interesting how one song can affect a person so deeply and profoundly, yet be merely a catchy tune for someone else.
Music is, in a word, personal -- personal to the artist, personal to the listener, personal for everyone.
And one of the many songs that I hold dear to me is The Barr Brothers' "Even the Darkness Has Arms" The lyrics and a music video are below. I suggest reading along as you listen to the song.
Music is, in a word, personal -- personal to the artist, personal to the listener, personal for everyone.
And one of the many songs that I hold dear to me is The Barr Brothers' "Even the Darkness Has Arms" The lyrics and a music video are below. I suggest reading along as you listen to the song.
EVEN THE DARKNESS HAS ARMS - THE BARR BROTHERS
I was holding my breath
When the tightrope walker
Slipped into the moonglow
Saying all my children follow me,
Maybe it's time to go
You can be chrome when you're wise
Can be wise when you're blue
And baby if I have, then I have for you
Bribing the jury to keep me in jail
Singing "Tea for the Tillerman"
And although I lie fantastically
I swore an oath on my history
It's a miracle I can see
You can be wrong when you're right
Even when you're right on cue
And if I die tonight, then I die for you
Calling on those that call me son,
Great-grandson, or grandson
Great uncles, aunts and relatives
To judge what I have done
Gonna make right by you
Even if it's all I do
And if it's all I do, then I do for you
People will raise a whole lot of hell about
The water and the wind-mill
And although I stab chaotically
It hurts no one but me
Even the darkness has arms
But they ain't got you
Baby, I have it, and I have you too
And a light in the window
To pass the night through
May be so uncertain but what can I do
Keeping it on, keeping it on
And I know I like it but what does that prove
Sometimes I worry I don't know
How to love you
I bring to you with reverend hands
All the books that my love abides
Kind woman that my passion wore
Like the shoreline wears the tides
Maybe the water went dry
Keeping an eye on you
And with an eye on you, it could drown me too
People will raise a whole lot of hell about
The water and the wind-mill
And although I stab quixotically
I swore an oath on my history
Even the darkness has arms
But they ain't got you
Baby, I have it, and I have you too
And a light in the window
To pass the night through
May be so uncertain but what can I do
Keeping it on, keeping it on
And I know I like it but what does that prove
Sometimes I worry I don't know
How to love you
I've never really thought of myself as someone that would enjoy "folksy" music, but as this past year (and Hozier) has taught me, I really do enjoy the organic feel of the music. I almost wrote "calm" instead of "organic" right then, but I realized that that's not really true either. I've heard some pretty intense folk music in my time, brimming with energy and passion, but it's something more simple and less convoluted than some synthetic, over-produced pop song. (And before you get mad at me for sounding like a music nerd, yes, I do listen to Single Ladies at least once a week. It's Beyonce, okay?!)
But something about this song truly does calm me down. The first time I heard it, I was messing around on Spotify instead of studying for a physics test and stumbled across the tune in an aptly named "Home, Sweet Home" playlist. And if I could describe this song, I think I would describe it as that: home, sweet home. The Barr Brothers have a soft, serene quality to their voices, and laid over a soothingly repetitive guitar (or banjo, maybe, I'm no music expert) riff, they create a seamless, flowing piece. The song conjures up images of calm lakes, snowy evenings, warm fires in wooden cabins.
The singer of the song is a flawed lover, partially consumed by the "darkness" he describes in the song, who tries to protect his significant other from also being taken away by the "darkness." He describes how he "stabs chaotically," but "hurts no one but [himself]"; this statement suggests that he fails at communicating with others and that his attempts to show emotion often end up hurting himself more than anyone else. His love also seems dangerously passionate at some points, as he sings that "the water went dry keeping an eye on you, and with an eye on you, it could drown [him] too." Maybe his love is so all-consuming that it clouds his judgment and actually ends up damaging their relationship.
And perhaps the most important line of all: "Even the darkness has arms, but they ain't got you. Baby, I have it, and I have you too." This line, merely a declaration of love on the surface, seems almost subtly insidious. The last line out of context, for example, could almost sound like a threat: "I have both the 'darkness' and you." But maybe I'm just looking too far into it; at the least, the singer admits in this line that he has issues, but that he will protect his lover from the darkness consuming him.
But something about this song truly does calm me down. The first time I heard it, I was messing around on Spotify instead of studying for a physics test and stumbled across the tune in an aptly named "Home, Sweet Home" playlist. And if I could describe this song, I think I would describe it as that: home, sweet home. The Barr Brothers have a soft, serene quality to their voices, and laid over a soothingly repetitive guitar (or banjo, maybe, I'm no music expert) riff, they create a seamless, flowing piece. The song conjures up images of calm lakes, snowy evenings, warm fires in wooden cabins.
The singer of the song is a flawed lover, partially consumed by the "darkness" he describes in the song, who tries to protect his significant other from also being taken away by the "darkness." He describes how he "stabs chaotically," but "hurts no one but [himself]"; this statement suggests that he fails at communicating with others and that his attempts to show emotion often end up hurting himself more than anyone else. His love also seems dangerously passionate at some points, as he sings that "the water went dry keeping an eye on you, and with an eye on you, it could drown [him] too." Maybe his love is so all-consuming that it clouds his judgment and actually ends up damaging their relationship.
And perhaps the most important line of all: "Even the darkness has arms, but they ain't got you. Baby, I have it, and I have you too." This line, merely a declaration of love on the surface, seems almost subtly insidious. The last line out of context, for example, could almost sound like a threat: "I have both the 'darkness' and you." But maybe I'm just looking too far into it; at the least, the singer admits in this line that he has issues, but that he will protect his lover from the darkness consuming him.