Tag: unheard

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Music UPDATED

Things Could Have Gone Better

updated 5/25/20 after a pleasant email exchange with The Silent Critics’ Ryan Coughter. He provided the actual lyrics and the meaning behind the song. Original post in black.

Disclosure by The Silent Critics

The Artist Spotlight on The Silent Critics was the first spotlight I did for The Unheard. I’m a big fan of their album Chemical Avalanches and Toxic Romances, which is one of the reasons I was super pumped to receive a message from Ryan Coughter of The Silent Critics shortly after our website went live. Ryan was super gracious and kind, and I came away from our conversation encouraged about The Unheard.

Ryan gave me two things I would like to share with you. First, he gave me the exact right words to “Disclosure,” which have now been incorporated into the original post below. The second thing he gave me was the meaning of “Disclosure.” Enjoy.

What is the meaning of the song Disclosure?

Liam and I wrote this song together many years ago.  I wrote the music and most of the lyrics but Liam definitely helped out as well! … The song has a couple different meanings but generally the main feeling behind the song was that my girlfriend and I broke up.  My roommate, who was Liam at the time, was in a great and loving relationship.  I admired it, but I wasn’t ready to have that again, I was more interested in a one or five night dance.  I think you can figure out what [that] means!  haha.

~ Ryan Coughter, The Silent Critics

Indeed we can. haha. Thank you so much Ryan and The Silent Critics for reaching out to us. I wish them the best of luck going forward. You can find their album on iTunes or Amazon. If you like their music you’ll be excited to find out that Ryan told me they are planning to come out with their next album this year.

THE ORIGINAL POST (with corrected lyrics)

The Silent Critics is a D.C. band founded by Liam Garland & Ryan Coughter who started working together in college as a class project. Pleased by their chemistry they started playing gigs in the area and even entered and won contest for their songs. Their sound consists of pleasing melodies and stunning vocals.

When I first heard The Silent Critics I was in college sitting behind a mic as a very green DJ (probably terrified I would mess the broadcast up), and I was hooked. The music was good, the lyrics were interesting, but the vocals were breathtaking. I thought it was just a matter of time before these guys were household names…

I was wrong… as I often am. However, the music these guys made has stuck in my head, and I have carried them with me in the years that have passed. Now it is my pleasure to share them with you. (Lyrics Below)

Lyrics to Disclosure by The Silent Critics

(Yeah) I’ve had it once or twice
the second better than the first
things went awry you went away
now I’m not ready to try
try anything more than a one or five night dance
but to have it again would feel unreal
just a taste, a kiss, a touch with that passion
that you see every day like a movie script theme

Don’t want to leave your sight theme
Don’t want to sleep by myself theme
Don’t want to leave like this
I will do anything, I’ll say anything

And I won’t let you down.
No, I won’t let you down.
And I hope to God that I find you
here when you’re around
No, I won’t let you down.

What I take away from this is
that I was in naïve bliss
I never tried to hide it or fight the fact
that I was forcing the feelings
you simply didn’t have for me

You needed time away from me
You said you needed some room to breathe
We can’t waste love like this
I’ll do anything, I’ll say anything

And I won’t let you down.
No, I won’t let you down.
And I hope to God that I find you
here when you’re around
No, I won’t let you down.

Yeah we’re falling to pieces but I’ll pick you up
The late night talking about what’s to come
Well, the details are hazy but I understand
No, you won’t be second best
No, you won’t be second best, cuz

Don’t want to leave your sight theme
Don’t want to sleep by myself theme
Don’t want to leave like this
I will do anything, I’ll say anything

I’ve had it once or twice
the second better than the first
it went awry you went away
now I’m not ready to try
anything more than a one or five night dance

I’ve had it once or twice
the second better than the first
things went awry you went away
now I’m not ready to try
anything more than a one or five night dance

Oh, to me that five night dance sounds perfect
oh perfect

I’m not sure how a band like The Silent Critics slips through the cracks, but if you liked this song you should check out their YouTube Channel where they cover songs like Crazy by Gnarls Barkley.

I hope y’all enjoyed this new song and the probably brand new-to-you band. If you love it I hope you share it with your family and friends.

Categories
California Music

This Is A Song of Increasing Intimacy

I Can Feel Your Heartbeat (featuring Jordan Frye) by A New Normal

A New Normal is a southern California band lead by Justin H. Wright. Justin describes A New Normal’s music as cinematic electronic, but the song ‘I Can Feel Your Heartbeat’ sounds more like a pop/rock anthem to me. Currently A New Normal is sitting at 2,170 monthly listeners making it a great candidate for our spotlight.

This song is split into two distinct parts. The first part gives you a low deep voice with the persistent bass drum and bass riff. The second part transforms you to a new scene; you’re at a party and everyone knows the words to the song. It’s actually kinda neat because it gives the song a sense of community.

LYRICS

Saw the fire in her eyes
I could hear her heartbeat
Felt the sunlight on my skin
As she laid beside me

Saw the heavens open up
As it rained down on me
Can’t remember what she said
But I could hear her heartbeat

I could hear her heartbeat (x4)

See the storm clouds up ahead
Say the words “I miss you”
I can’t remember what you said
But I could feel your heartbeat

Hear the heavens open up
As she laid beside me
See the fire in her eyes
I can feel your heartbeat

I can feel your heartbeat (x2)

In A New Normal’s bio on Spotify it says, “Every composition released by A New Normal is carefully crafted take the listener on a journey.” So what journey did we just take?

MY INTERPRETATION

This is a song of growing intimacy. The first half represents the infatuation phase. The second half represents a promise.

In the first half of the song we hear the repeating phrase, ‘I can hear her heartbeat.’ How close do you have to be to someone to hear their heartbeat?

So Close GIFs | Tenor

Exactly! He’s letting us know that he is in close relationship with this woman. You can also tell that he is committed to her because rain (As it rained down on me) or shine (Felt the sunlight on my skin) he is still right by her side. He can hear her heartbeat.

Then we get to the second part of the song and something really unusual has happened. We have gone from a very intimate setting to a public gathering. Also we see our first glance to the future, “See the storm clouds up ahead.” He’s not scared though. In fact, now he can FEEL her heartbeat. He has gotten closer to her.

Cat Hug GIF - Cat Hug Love GIFs

Finally, he is no longer singing about her, but to her. “I can feel your heartbeat.” And he is declaring this in the company of a crowd who is singing with him. This is an image of a wedding. The groom is publicly declaring his love to his betrothed in front of witnesses whose presence sings of approval.

In Summary, it’s just another song about a guy and a girl who have fallen in love, and I love it. What do you think? Do you get a different interpretation?

SOURCES

https://www.google.com/amp/s/genius.com/amp/A-new-normal-i-can-feel-your-heartbeat-lyrics
https://open.spotify.com/embed/artist/6VJnJ6OWeHKZzGlEumBPHa

Categories
Texas

Exposing The Love Lives of Delicious Royalty

Quality Time By Bipolar Bears

The Bipolar Bears released their first and only full length album in 2012, toured for a few years, and have since disappeared. Their last Facebook post was February of 2017, the last twitter post was November 6th of 2013, and saddest of all their website is 404ed. The Bipolar Bears have 42 monthly listeners at the time of this post making them a perfect candidate for our spotlight.

The disbanding of The Bipolar Bears is unfortunate because I really dig several songs this quartet from Austin, Texas put down on their self named album. In an interview with Austin After Dark writer Caleb Holland said, “most everything I write is conceptual… I try to write the songs as stand alone songs.” As a result each track each track in the album does offer some depth in the lyrics and I love being able to dig into a song. These guys also know how to rock. I love the guitar parts of Theme and the composition of Half Cigarette, but my favorite song on the whole album is Quality Time.

Quality Time is a narrative based song exposing the love lives of delicious royalty: Queen Frostine, King Kandy, Lord Licorice, & Princess Lolly. And no, I was not aware that these were characters from the board game Candy Land until I was writing this. The song combines snarky lyrics with a catchy tune and a fun spirit. Lyrics and a quick interpretation of the song are written below. I hope you enjoy.

LYRICS

OOooOO, Lord Licorice
Your castle don’t mean your rich
Cuz, OOooOO you’re out of touch
And those don’t raise your status much
You left footprint right up the door
Stiletto print molasses on your kitchen floor
You’ve got Princess Lolly’s love, but you throw it away
Cuz girls can only be your love by day
But we all know what you’re using them for.

OOooOO my queen Frostine
How could you be so mean
Your new umbrella dress
Has put your King in a bit of distress
You left footprints right up to his door
Peppermint and snowflakes on his new carpet floor
You’ve got King Kandy’s love, but you throw it away
Cuz men can only be your love by day,
But we all know what you’re using them for.

Trying to be as good as i can
I hope Lilly will understand

oooo, when the rocks have eyes
oooo, they’ll tell all your lies
oooo, when the rocks have eyes
oooo, they’ll tell all your lies
oooo, when the rocks have eyes
oooo, they’ll tell all your lies
oooo, when the rocks have eyes
oooo, they’ll tell all your lies

AN INTERPRETATION

As a I sit and ponder about the lyrics of this song there are questions that come to mind. Like Who is Lilly? What is it exactly that we all know they’re using them for? However, my favorite thing to think about is the prophecy they give regarding when all their secrets will be revealed – “when the rocks have eyes they’ll tell all your lies.” We know all their lies; we were told by the song. Therefore, Rock(n-roll), in the form of The Bipolar Bears, is making known to the world the scandalous nature of the Candy Land royalty, just as the songs said it would. I think that is just a neat thought.

A CONFESSION

I’m so glad you have made it this far down into the post. I have something on my chest that I need to bring into the light. You may already know this, but the lead singer of The Bipolar Bears doesn’t have a great voice. I know. I hear it. You’ll hear it too if you listen to the whole ablum. But I still like their music, I can’t help myself. To me they make it all work and I think you might can grow to love their music too if you gibe it a chance.

I hope you enjoyed this new discovery and if you do please purchase one of their songs wherever you get your music. I would love to hear from you. What do you think of this song? Is there an artist you would like people to discover? Let me know in the comments below.

SOURCES

https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2012-04-20/the-bipolar-bears/
https://www.facebook.com/bipolarbearsband/
https://twitter.com/bipolarbearsatx?lang=en
https://youtu.be/XEh5zD9tk5M