That's How You Know

Today I woke up with a song in my head from a family movie that I admittedly like a lot, Walt Disney's "Enchanted."  As a parent of young children, for me it's rare to find a move that I enjoy watching with my kids.  This is one of them, and I recommend watching it if you haven't seen it yet.  Here is the song:

The line that sticks with me, and possibly the reason the song was playing in my head is this:

"Does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close"

Last night, I tried something new that I had never done in an effort to be more romantic.  Once the kids were asleep, I made a playlist of slow love songs on my iPod.  I waited for a moment when my sweetheart wasn't around and lit some candles in the living room.  It wasn't the most ideal setting, but when you're stuck at home with kids, you have little choice.  I turned the music on and slow danced with my wife in the living room.



I admit, as a cynic, I thought this possibly might backfire and come across as silly and contrived.  But truly, the opposite happened, and I thoroughly enjoyed holding my wife and dancing with her.  It made me feel young and brought back memories of when we first fell for each other.  We danced for a good hour or so, talked to each other, laughed, and I think bonded in a unique way.  My dear wife puts up with a lot, and makes sacrifices each day for me and the kids.  I hope she knows I love her.  

I highly recommend trying this some time with the one you love.  I'm certain it will give your relationship a much needed boost.  With all the distractions life throws at us, taking time to care and love each other in simple ways can only do good.

Counting Down The Hours

Today's song is brought to you by a little music group called Ted Leo and The Pharmacists.  Let's have a listen:

If you get some time, after you listen to this rocking song, check out the lyrics.  There is some real depth to what is going on here lyrically, with underlying religious and political statements.  I was surprised to hear this song playing in my head this morning, but I'm glad it did, forcing me to look closer and listen better.  I've had this song in my collection for some time but haven't listened as much as I should.  If my life didn't revolve around a wife and four kids, I'm sure I'd have much more to say about this song. 

I do know this though:  I read recently that Ted Leo teamed up with Aimee Mann and they'll be releasing an album soon, if they haven't already.  After reading the lyrics to this song, it will be an interesting collaboration between the two.  Aimee Mann's lyrics are my favorite of any singer-songwriter.  Their group is called The Both. 

That's all I have to say about that. 

Reunited

I don't have a lot of time.  Today's song is from 1978.  I'm confident you know the song, but I doubt many could tell me who the duo is that sings it.  I even stumped my brother today, whose head is a library of music.

I'll give credit where credit is due, "Reunited" was written by Dino Fekaris & Freddie Perren but made famous by Herb Fame and Francine Hurd Baker, otherwise knows as "Peaches and Herb."  

Here's the song, I'm confident you know this melody:

"Reunited" by Peaches and Herb

Shore Leave

This is kind of an odd one.  The song in my head this morning was inspired by a Vine post.  If you haven't had the chance to use the Vine app, I recommend it.  It's loads of fun. 

First, I'll show you the video.  A WARNING, this small clip could be offensive to some:




The strange music playing on this clip stuck with me.  I had to ask the Vine user "afbradstone" what song it is playing in this clip so I can share it on this blog post.  I was embarrassed to find out the song is called "Shore Leave." 

It's a song by Tom Waits from 1983.  It sounds very different than I had imagined after hearing 6 short seconds of it on Vine.  The song is about a sailor on leave in a foreign country.  What an odd way to learn a new song.  It's a funny world we live in.  Here is the song if you'd like to hear it.

This is the end of my odd little post.  Thanks to afbradstone for exposing me to not only this song, but some really funny Vine videos. 

Proserpina

This song is new to me.  I've blogged about Martha Wainwright before.  I don't know what it is about her music.  I just find her approach so refreshing.  Her voice is raspy.  Her music is sincere. 

Anyway, what's cool about this song is that her mother, musician Kate McGarrigle wrote it before dying a few years ago.  In that same period, Martha herself was becoming a mother for the first time.  In that realm, she felt it was important to cover the song on her latest album.   

Honestly, I just haven't had the time to delve too much into what this song is about.  My daughter is an expert in Greek Mythology.  I was told that Proserpina is the Roman equivalent to Persephone, who is the Goddess of Spring.  I find the melody and arrangement of this song both beautiful and haunting.  Knowing that it was a great musician's last song makes it even cooler.  I'm happy that Martha Wainwright was able to share this piece of art with the world.  Forgive me for having little other to say about it, I'll let the song speak for itself.