Sooty's 2011 Year In Review Countdownmania

[Tray73]

I don't know why but I'm quite surprised Foo Fighters are in your top ten - guess I didn't realise you liked them. As much as I love Dave Grohl, I've never really been much of a fan of the Foo Fighters but I love 'Walk'. Never heard Miss the Misery before but I like it

 

[Soot and Stars]

I don't know why but I'm quite surprised Foo Fighters are in your top ten - guess I didn't realise you liked them. As much as I love Dave Grohl, I've never really been much of a fan of the Foo Fighters but I love 'Walk'. Never heard Miss the Misery before but I like it

My glory years were the grunge/alternative years and I jumped on the Foo Fighters the second they first appeared on MTV with "I'll Stick Around" and I was like "Hey, I know two of those guys from Nirvana!" They've always had some great tracks and as far as rock basics I love them more than most basic hook and chorus bands!

 

[Soot and Stars]

#6
Company Of Thieves-Running From A Gamble

Afterthought



Take all of my worry
And take back all of my words
Before I never learn
Before I never learn

That I am not my problems,
I am not my money's worth,
Where I went to school,
Order of my birth

And I am not the answer,
I am not the aftermath,
Or picture of the past

I didn't know, know, know
I didn't know, know, know
I didn't know

Someday on a mountain
I will face all of my fears
Before I disappear

But I'll never know, know

That one night in the middle
Of my marigolden dreams
I will start to see

I didn't know, know, know
I didn't know, know, know
I didn't know, know, know
I didn't know

TAKE ME FOR ONLY A MAN!
TAKE ME FOR ONLY A MAN!
TAKE ME FOR ONLY A MAN!
TAKE ME FOR ONLY A MAN!



This band may have been my best discovery of 2010. The vocalist Genevieve is simply awesome! To watch her live and animated is amazing but one can just listen to the studio work to feel her presence as well. She's sultry yet has a gusto that kicks ass! My favorite song of the album shows this pretty well. The music is simple with the slow jangly acoustic and steady drum beat. The music has a slow retro jazzy feel with subtle yet soulful vocal accompaniment. This is Genevieves show here though as she smoothly coast though the song with a sexy velvet laced vocal and sways vocally with the song gradually added a layer of emotion until the song reaches it's climax. At this point Genevieve lets out a cathartic growl that makes Courtney Love sound like she has the power of Hilary Duff in comparison. The fuzzy guitars at this point compliment everything perfectly and from 2:53 on (the last half) the song becomes a different beast and gives me goosepimples each time. Whether a darker vibe or a happy pop filled one this band always deliver an energy that is genuine and powerful.


Death Of Communication


Honestly my honesty
Was always what I gave for taking your breath
I never thought you would have hung it high above
As you did over my head

Ever since you came into my life
I always felt a little mislead
I tried to read the signs
Tried to stay in the lines
But (the) shapes were always changing

Almost fooled me when you said just

Sell your soul for someone's gold
Maybe then you'll have a friend
Go on, sell your soul to be controlled
Maybe then you'll have a friend

Everything we'll ever need is deep inside of our limitless beings
We struggle and we fight cause it feels good
To wonder why our lives are happening

Almost fooled me when you said just

Sell your soul for someone's goal
Maybe then you'll have a friend
Go on, sell your soul to be controlled
Maybe then you'll have a friend

Hid in your history
Writ in your memory

oh you didn't know it's

Hid in your history
Writ in your memory
Say you don't know it

Sell your soul for someone's goal
Maybe then you'll have a friend
go on, sell your soul to be controlled
Maybe then you'll have a friend

In The death of
The death of
The death of communication


This song was the single and was the perfect pick for that purpose. I don't see why they didn't catch on like fire after this single. It's an explosion of everything a good pop rock single should have. Genevieve is a pop rocket vocally sending out an escalating energy that even the band playing at like a frantic sugar rush has a hard time keeping pace with. Not in technical terms but as vibrantly and colorfully. They do as well as anyone could do with her though. She's a tough act to follow IMO. The other thing I love about this band is that they have the best lyrics that aren't dumbed down to fit the pop vibe. They put a lot into having lyrics that mean something yet still make a song that moves the listener. All pop rock groups need to put these guys under a magnifying glass!


Intro/Queen Of Hearts



Meet me in the middle of my mind, and no one else
I've been waiting here now for a while, I need your help
Like the time you tore my skin and all the world went blank
Never felt such real escape- it bled into the day

I stress talking so much that it hurts, then
Can't speak but a word to a lover that was

I'm gonna paint myself aside, like something second in line
Just gonna paint myself aside, like something second in line

Meet me in the middle of the night; I never sleep
Since you told me all the secrets that I swore to keep
In my dreams I can make love to you without a fight
And sometimes I wonder if it's wrong or if it's right

I stress talking so much that it hurts, then
Can't speak but a word to a lover that was

I'm gonna paint myself aside- like something second in line
Just gonna paint myself aside- like something second in line

Here, within the walls, I cannot take all the wreck
involved (it's contagious)
Here, within the walls, I cannot take it- all the wreck involved

Everyone's taking their cards
As usual, I'll be the Queen of Hearts

I'm gonna paint myself aside- like something second in line
Just gonna paint myself aside- like something second in line
I'm going silver
All over silver


This album opens and closes (Afterthought) with greatness. The intro that immediately prefaces the first track is a short yet stirring A Cappella! Between that and the Queen of Hearts track, the pairing features my favorite overall vocal which shows her range more evenly rather than sporadically. The sweetness seguing into the coarser diction is awesome. The song is as bouncy as it gets but Genevieve adds a fierceness to balance it out. Once again everything's perfect including the lyrics. This is going to be a band I follow as long as they exists!
​

 

[Soot and Stars]

#5
Frank Turner-England Keep My Bones

I Am Disappeared



I keep having dreams
Of pioneers and pirate ships and Bob Dylan
Of people wrapped up tight in the things that will kill them
Of being trapped in a lift plunging straight to the bottom
Of open seas and ways of life we've forgotten
I keep having dreams

Amy worked in a bar in Exeter
I went back to her house and I slept beside her
She woke up screaming in the middle of the night
Terrified of her own insides
Dreams of pirate ships and Patty Hearst
Breaking through a life over rehearsed
She can't remember which came first
The house, the home or the terrible thirst
She keeps having dreams

And on the worst days
When it feels like life weighs ten thousand tons
She's got her cowboy boots and car keys on the bed stand
So she can always run
She can get up, shower and in half an hour she'd be gone

I keep having dreams of things I need to do
Of waking up and not following through
But it feels like I haven't slept at all
When I wake to a silence and she's facing the wall
Posters of Dylan and of Hemingway
An antique compass for a sailor's escape
She says you just can't live this way
And I close my eyes and I never say
I'm still having dreams

And on the worst days
When it feels like life weighs ten thousand tonnes
I sleep with my passport
One eye on the back door
So I can always run
I can get up, shower and in half an hour I'd be gone

And come morning
I am disappeared
Just an imprint
On the bed sheets

And by the roadside
With my thumb out
A car pulls up
And Bob's driving
And so I climb in
We don't say a word
As we pull off
Into the sunrise
And these rivers
Of tarmac
Are like arteries
Course the country
We are blood cells
Alive in
The blood stream
And beating heart of the country
We are electric
Pulses
In pathways
Of the sleeping soul of the country
We are electric
Pulses
In the pathway
Of the sleeping soul of the country
(We are electric)
The sleeping sould of the country
(The sleeping soul of the country x 2)



Frank Turner still remains the best artist I've ever been exposed to on this forum (Thanks again Sal! ) and as fate would have it he cracked my actual top five for this year! No small feat seeing the competition! Frank Turner is the most energy, attitude, punk and rock I've ever seen from what is still at his roots a folk artist! This is the guy at the pub that gets the crowd to raise their glasses and scream along to the music whether it be an inspirational **** all chorus or a drunken call to arms (no guns but rather a sloshing beer mug and profanities)! Anyway, besides "Photosynthesis" which was my great intro to Frank I don't think I've ever heard as much of an inspired epic from Frank. While "Photosynthesis" was the cheery rowdy inspirational epic this is the more layered dramatic epic of escaping the mundane and saying **** your fears and jumping into the unknown to find our way. This song is so amazing in the way it builds as you can picture the transition of the character. The tension that builds with each musical transition until it explodes with such a heavy full sound that you can see in your head the characters finally broke the mundane. The sound is the sound of accomplishment and realization. We are electric pulses in the sleeping soul of the country is a perfect line and this is a perfect song!


One Foot Before The Other


On the very day I die
The very last of my desires
Is that you take my broken body
And commit it to the fire

And then when the fire is finished
Scrape the ashes in a tin
Take them down to London’s drinking reservoirs
And throw them in

And then specks infinitesimal of my mortal remains
Will slide down 7 million throats and into 7 million veins
And I will creep through their capillaries to the marrow of their bones
And they will wake to bright new mornings and then wordlessly they’ll know

That I remain
I am remembered
I remain
I am remembered

So these 7 million innocents
They will have me in their blood
And when they die they’ll burn their bodies
Or be buried in the mud
And I will spread through streams and rivers like a virus through a host
From the hamlets to the cities from the rivers to the coast
And from there into the channel across the great Atlantic Ocean
And ever onwards to the new world
Through the waters gentle motions
Until parts of me are part of every land mass every sea
In the rain, up on your crops and in the very air you breath

I remain
I am remembered
I remain
I am remembered
I remain

And all the things I love will be washed away in the rain
I remain

I’m not convinced of the existence of these things that don’t exist
Yeah by Jewish boys with big ideas and scratches on their wrist
By a loving or a vengeful God
Or one who condescends
Who’ll wash his hands down in the mire among the misery of men
Or by ever turning circles hanging timeless in the sky
Like a dream catcher distracting from the fact you’re gonna die

But I place one foot before the other
Confident because
I know that everything we are right now is everything that was
That Watt Tyler, Woody, Guthrie, Dostoevsky and Davy Jones
Are all dissolved into the ether and have crept into my bones
And all the cells in all the lines upon the backs of both my hands
Were once carved into the details of two feet upon the sand

We remain
We are remembered
We remain
We are remembered
We remain

And all the things we love
Will be washed away in the rain
We remain


This song is the complete opposite to my prior pick and I love it. While the last track was victorious this one is dark, menacing and ranting. It's all about mortality and wanting to leave a mark. The lyrics are brilliant and the intensity kicks ass. You feel like this song will speed up eventually and burst off the disc. There is song cool metalish guitars on here, a heavy drumbeat and the most aggressive spoken word ever. This may be the most metal folk has ever been.


I Still Believe



Hear ye, hear ye, friends and Romans, countrymen.
Hear ye, hear ye, punks and skins and journeymen
Hear ye, hear ye, my sisters and my brethren.
The time is coming near.

Come ye, come ye, to soulless corporate circus tops.
Come ye, come ye, to toilet circuit touring snobs.
Come ye, come ye, to bedrooms, bars and bunker squats.
The sound is ringing clear.

Now who'd have thought that after all,
Something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all.
And who'd have thought that after all, it was rock 'n' roll.

Hear ye, hear ye, now anybody could take this stage.
Hear ye, hear ye, and make miracles for minimum wage.
Hear ye, hear ye, these folk songs for the modern age,
Will hold us in their arms.

Right here, right now, Elvis brings his children home.
Right here, right now, you never have to feel alone.
Right here, right now, teenage kicks and gramophones.
We hold them in our hearts.

Now who'd have thought that after all,
Something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all.
And who'd have thought that after all, it was rock 'n' roll.

And I still believe (I still believe) in the saints.
Yeah, in Jerry Lee and in Johnny and all the greats.

And I still believe (I still believe) in the sound,
That has the power to raise a temple and tear it down.

And I still believe (I still believe) in the need,
For guitars and drums and desperate poetry.

And I still believe (I still believe) that everyone,
Can find a song for every time they've lost and every time they've won.

So just remember folks we not just saving lives, we're saving souls,
And we're having fun.

And I still believe.

Now who'd have thought that after all,
Something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all.

Now who'd have thought that after all,
Something so simple, something so small.
Who'd have thought that after all it's rock 'n' roll?


The most purely cheerful track of the three which makes sense as it's the single. It's also the most festive and follows the theme of saving the world through beer and rock. No one does this with as much gusto as Frank and this song will get anyone with a soul moving! I love the line:

"And I still believe (I still believe) that everyone,
Can find a song for every time they've lost and every time they've won."

Rock music like this always saves my year in music!
​

 

[ILoveJimmyPage]

Totally missed your Foo Fighters post! One of the things I love about the Foo is they have a tendency to start some of their songs off a little slow, have you fooled for a minute then BAM! Totally kickass hard rockin'. I love Wasting Light! I was glad to see them receive such a warm reception last year with it too.

Boy, we are really getting up there on your list eh Soots? Great job on all of it. You put so much passion and energy into it I wish I had that same music stamina that you possess.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Totally missed your Foo Fighters post! One of the things I love about the Foo is they have a tendency to start some of their songs off a little slow, have you fooled for a minute then BAM! Totally kickass hard rockin'. I love Wasting Light! I was glad to see them receive such a warm reception last year with it too.

Boy, we are really getting up there on your list eh Soots? Great job on all of it. You put so much passion and energy into it I wish I had that same music stamina that you possess.

Hey Jen, thank you for the bump and also giving me a kick in the ass reminding me today this list really needs to get wrapped up! Wasting Light is my second favorite Foo Fighters album and you are right about the hard soft formula they use which is primarily amplified with their singles which explains why the albums usually have an awesome kickass single with tons of filler. Not the case with Wasting Light I don't think.

 

[Soot and Stars]

#4
M83-Hurry Up, We're Dreaming



[GROOVESHARK]33316191[/GROOVESHARK]

I'm slowly drifting to you
The stars and the planets are calling me
A billion years away from you
I'm on my way
I'm on...
I'm on...



M83 were my band of 2008. The first group (group used loosely as they are primarily Anthony Gonzalez's project) of it's ilk I ever really fell for aside from being a solid fan of Moby. I always found Electronica dull, repetitive and lifeless but this group came out with an album Saturdays=Youth that was vibrant, contained massive soundscapes and captured a feel for the 80s that transported you back in time. When I heard in 2011 that not only were these guys coming out with a new album but it was to be a double album I was ecstatic. Plus Anthony said that this album was influenced by Melloncollie and he sites songs like this being included as a result of that influence.

The album didn't disappoint! It was beyond awesome and epic! The challenge to posting this is that it's definitely an album where everything connects and is meant to be experienced like one big journey! The album is full of Wow moments and is an instant classic IMO. The most cohesive Electronic Pop album ever. My number one song is a short song but stands out for me as one of the coolest moments. It's vocally like a Coldplay song but the ambience behind it and it's build is one of epic victory, redemption, glory and captivation all wrapped up. It captures what I've always loved about Moby's best moments all in a little over two minutes. Not the song that shows the eclectic styles, instruments or complicated song structures with but just a personal pick.


Midnight City


Waiting in a car
Waiting for a ride in the dark
The night city grows
Look and see her eyes, they glow

Waiting in a car
Waiting for a ride in the dark
Drinking in the lounge
Following the neon signs
Waiting for a roar
Looking at the mutating skyline
The city is my church
It wraps me in the sparkling twilight

Waiting in a car
Waiting for the right time
Waiting in a car
Waiting for the right time
Waiting in a car
Waiting for the right time
Waiting in a car
Waiting for the right time
Waiting in a car
Waiting for a ride in the dark



This song was the single and reminds me most of the 80's love letter of the prior album. It actually picked up some steam and my friend who doesn't care for this style of music liked this one. This song has a trance like quality with haunting vocals that get stuck in your head. The song has such an exuberant quality that you aren't surprised when the sax is busted out in the last third of the song. This is a song that's grown on me more and more and it's a perfect pick for a single where every song holds it's own place.


[GROOVESHARK]33344158[/GROOVESHARK]



I'll be yours Someday
I'll be yours Someday
I'll be yours Someday
I'll be yours Someday
I'll be yours Someday
I'll be yours Someday
Someday
Someday
Someday
Someday


The other influence aside from Melloncollie which I had to mention firsthand because obviously I favor that is The Wall. The Wall would obvious be the influence to every double album ever created so it goes without saying but what doesn't go without saying is how much an electronic album like did screams Floyd more than you would ever know. The whole vibe of this track screams Floyd and I love it. The simple acoustic and soaring vocal is sonic bliss. The way it's produced and mixed it just comes right out at you. It's songs like this throughout the album, the chick speaking over a track as well as a child, the huge ebbs and flow of the album, etc. Very much structured to the point where Floyd was an influence but it's by way of Floyd there's never a question who's album it is. This is definitely Anthony's own opus and has his stamp on it. An Electronica masterpiece that could lure someone even outside of the genre.
​

 

[Soot and Stars]

#3
The Civil Wars-Barton Hollow



Poison and Wine



You only know what I want you to
I know everything you don't want me to
Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine
Oh you think your dreams are the same as mine
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
I always will

I wish you'd hold me when I turn my back
The less I give the more I get back
Oh your hands can heal, your hands can bruise
I don't have a choice but I still choose you
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
I always will
I always will
I always will
I always will
I always will



This duo was my definitive discovery of last year even besting Lana. I struggle here because how can I make this fresh. I've talked until breathless about how much I love this duo and Hell, most of you listened (if not through me through another uber fan) and I'm preaching to the choir. As evidenced by my thread and what I've seen on Facebook shortly after I muckled onto these guys they became an unexpected phenom. I can tell you why these guys rightly caught on. The purity, the baffling unparalleled chemistry, the perfect peeeeerrrrrfffeeeect harmonizing, the simple yet dust kicking rootsiness........**** it! These guys just make gorgeous amazing music! So that's where the ying to the yang comes in because even more than Adele I don't know how such a deserving talented act got that lightning in a bottle moment and actually got the audience they warrant. Real music like this rarely ever hits that chord like it should.

The second thing I struggle is how do I pick three songs on a perfect IMO album. I never struggled with the tameness of it like some. I love every song. The thing is the singles were picked for a reason by them and by me and I stand by them. They are the trio that sets the balance for the album so the rest of the songs could exist as they should. Just beautifully harmonized sweet folk! This first pick, the single Poison and Wine, still gives me goosebumps. I've never seen the roles played with more heart in a ballad in my life. This is the perfect example for someone somehow new to these guys to know the unique perfect chemistry that seals the beautiful harmonies together here. It's sonic Heaven and the words "I don't love you but I always will" are the most beautiful, poignant, true spoken words in a love song ever! Simply a flawless song that had no equal in the love song this past year!



The Violet Hour


It may be strange to see an instrumental here but for me it stands out. First, to me it has this quality to it. Somewhat dark in a dusky way like an instrumental Trent Reznor would do during his lighter moments during his Fragile period. It's still rootsy but has a different quality that breaks up the album. It's a beautiful melody and I had to applaud them for not only including it but having it be a full length track rather than just an interlude. A really great moment on the album.


Barton Hollow



I'm a dead man walking here
But that's the least of all my fears
Ooh underneath the water

It's not Alabama clay
That gives my trembling hands away
Please forgive me father

Ain't going back to Barton Hollow
Devil gonna follow me e'er I go
Won't do me no good washing in the river
Can't no preacher man save my soul

Did that full moon force my hand?
Or that un marked hundred grand?
Ooh underneath the water
Please forgive me father
Find More lyrics at Lyrics, Song Lyrics - SweetsLyrics.com

Miles and miles in my bare feet
Still can't lay me down to sleep
If I die before I wake
I know the Lord my soul won't take

I'm a dead man walking
I'm a dead man walking

Keep walking and running and running for miles
Keep walking and running and running for miles
Keep walking and running and running for miles

Ain't going back to Barton Hollow
Devil gonna follow me e'er I go
Won't do me no good washing in the river
Can't no preacher man save my soul


I was very indecisive about using this or rather another track. I love this track but using the single almost slights an amazing album and doesn't iniatate that there's more to love on the album in which there is a lot. However, I have to be honest this is the song that brought me to the dance and represents the legit experience of having this be my moment in 2011. Plus Cosmic made some great points in her induction and this song rocks. Like she said this is the only song that truly packs that punch. It has an old western revivalist bite that you want to hear more of from them while still maintaining the beautiful harmonies they are known for. As flawless as the album is I'm left hoping they'll balance it more with this. With a better boost from the record companies after their success I'm guessing they will use their new resources to make an even more amazing album if that's even possible!
​

 

[Soot and Stars]

#2
Switchfoot-Vice Verses



Vice Verses



Walking along the high tide line
Watching the pacific from the sidelines
Wonder what it means to live together?
Looking for more than just guidelines

Looking for signs in the night sky,
Wishing that I wasn’t such a nice guy
Wonder what it means to live forever?
Wonder what it means to die?

[Chorus]
I know that there's a meaning to it all
A little resurrection every time I fall
You got your babies, I got my hearses
Every blessing comes with a set of curses
I got my vices, I got my vice verses
I got my vice verses

The wind could be my new obsession
The wind could be my new depression
The wind goes anywhere it wants to
Wishing that I learned my lesson

The ocean sounds like a garage band
Coming at me like a drunk man
The ocean tells me a thousand stories
None of them are lies

[Chorus]
I know that there's a meaning to it all
A little resurrection every time I fall
You got your babies, I got my hearses
Every blessing comes with a set of curses
I got my vices, I got my vice verses
I got my vice verses

Let the pacific laugh
Be on my epitaph
With it's rising and falling
And after all, it's just water
And I am just soul
With a body of water and bones
Water and bones

Where is God in the night sky?
Where is God in the city light?
Where is God in the earthquake?
Where is God in the genocide?

Where are you in my broken heart?
Everything seems to fall apart
Everything feels rusted over
Tell me that you're there

[Chorus]
I know that there's a meaning to it all
A little resurrection every time I fall
You got your babies, I got my hearses
Every blessing comes with a set of curses
I got my vices, I got my vice verses
These are my vice verses
These are my vice verses

Yeah
These are my vice verses



This year was the year where I had two bands erase any doubt that their momentum of making amazing albums was a fluke. Consequently, my #1 and #2 band played together in the last concert I saw. They are of two contrasting styles though. While they are both loosely pop rock alternative bands Switchfoot concentrates on the darkness with more hope than it's counterpart. They have a beautiful contemplative style that approaches darkness in a way that explores faith and the challenges of it. Yes, they are a Christian band but this music is music for humanity. Anyone who wonders, wanders or looks to find their way. Some songs on hear touch a nerve that can cause tears, some are triumphant and uplift and some just make you bounce and tap your foot with jangly rhythms like pop is supposed to do.

The album is produced by the same guy who did the previous album that I love from them, Hello Hurricane. The producer, Neal Avron, has a lot to do with their great sound they've developed as on both these albums the crisp perfect production has stood out so well to me. He picks up every detail of the instruments and vocal and still makes it sound so clean. Beautiful work!

So the song I picked for my top pick is a very simple song but is simply the best song lyrically this year for me! It defines what I feel about not just faith but the world in general and how their's a beauty in the balance of things. I think that we need a bad with the good or nothing really has the same value. This is finally a song that puts my beliefs into words and does it in the most brilliant way.

Audio wise as simple as it is I once again love the production. I love the singers vocal and the detail it gets here is awesome as well as the amplified guitar strings here are so clear. Such simple intimate songs rarely sound so grand. This song is my mantra for the year and it deserves it's spot on my list.



Where I Belong


Feeling like a refugee
Like it don't belong to me
The colors flash across the sky

This air feels strange to me
Feeling like a tragedy
I take a deep breath and close my eyes
One last time
One last time

Storms on the wasteland
Dark clouds on the plains again
We were born into the fight

But I'm not sentimental
This skin and bones is a rental
And no one makes it out alive

Until I die I'll sing these songs
On the shores of Babylon
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

Where the weak are finally strong
Where the righteous right the wrongs
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

Feels like we're just waiting, waiting
While our hearts are just breaking, breaking
Feels like we've been fighting against the tide

I wanna see the earth start shaking
I wanna see a generation
Finally waking up inside

Until I die I'll sing these songs
On the shores of Babylon
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

Where the weak are finally strong
Where the righteous right the wrongs
Still looking for a home
In a world where I belong

This body's not my own
This world is not my own
But I still can hear the sound
Of my heart beating out
So let's go boys, play it loud

On the final day I die
I want to hold my head up high
I want to tell You that I tried
To live it like a song

And when I reach the other side
I want to look You in the eye
And know that I've arrived
In a world where I belong
In a world where I belong
In a world where I belong

Where I belong
Where I belong

Where I belong

Where I belong

I still believe we can live forever
You and I we begin forever now
Forever now
Forever
I still believe in us together
You and I we're here together now
Together now
Forever now
Forever now
Forever now
Forever
Forever

I've bounced between whether I like this song better or my #1 pick ever since I got the album. This is the song I would recommend to others more and it's my friends pick off the album. It's definitely the bigger more triumphant song. If it weren't for the other song having such perfect lyrics this may just as well been my pick. Sonically I connect with both and both move me. This moves me with more of a pulse sonically. It seems like they are taking what Kings of Leon tried doing by adapting the grandness of U2 (in better fashion IMO) with the vocal styling of Stephen Jenkins (Third Eye Blind). Whatever it is works and is the perfect closer to an album. If you aren't feeling on top of the world by the end of this you may be missing that soul Switchfoot spends a lot of their time singing about.


Thrive



Been fighting things that I can't see
Like voices coming from the inside of me and
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

I've been awake for an hour or so
Checking for a pulse but I just don't know
Am I a man when I feel like a ghost?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes

No, I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
A steering wheel don't mean you can drive
A warm body don't mean I'm alive

No, I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive

I come alive when I hear you singing
But lately I haven't been hearing a thing and
I get the feeling that I'm in between
A machine and a man who only looks like me

I try and hide it and not let it show
But deep down inside me I just don't know
Am I a man when I feel like a hoax?
The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes

No, I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
A steering wheel don't mean you can drive
A warm body don't mean I'm alive

No, I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive

I'm always close, but I'm never enough
I'm always in line, but I'm never in love
I get so down, but I won't give up
I get so down, but I won't give up
I get so down, but I won; t give up

Been fighting things that I can't see
Like voices coming from the inside of me and
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

Am I myself or am I dreaming?
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

Thrive, thrive, thrive, yeaah, thrive

No, I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
A steering wheel don't mean you can drive
A warm body don't mean I'm alive

No, I'm not alright
I know that I'm not right
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive
I wanna thrive not just survive

Yeah yeah
Feel like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive
I wanna thrive not just survive
I wanna thrive not just survive

Feels like I travel but I never arrive
I wanna thrive not just survive


This is a pop song of perfect rhythm. The vocals in their coarsest state swagger between lines in a way I love. Lyrically I love the statements about living beyond existing. This band takes themes that are familiar but presents them in a way that I have that rare connection with them. I'd compare that specific connection to that of the Pumpkins which is a high accolade obviously for me. This band actually connected with me personally than any band this year even my #1 pick and I can't wait for further output from them!
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[Soot and Stars]

#1
Blue October-Any Man In America

Since this is my number one album and was such an integral part of my year for 2011 I'm going to do something different with this final entry. When I was into the album I tried making a really ambitious song for song take on the album. I was liking the way it was looking and IMO it was one of my better written and looking threads. At the time I really could've broke down the whole album but for one reason or another I lost momentum and I always did want to finish it. That's what I'm going to do for the remainder of this thread and that's how I'll finish number 1! ​