Matt the Electrician - I Wish You Didn't Feel Like Home

My best friend, Shai'a sent this to me... and oh how it tickled my fancy. I decided to do this song because it was just so uplifting and after the last 3 songs, I think this blog could use an uplifting song!

This is Matt the Electrician's I Wish You Didn't Feel Like Home.

Much folk in this song (which I absolutely love!), and his rugged and musky (can that word be used as an adjective to describe a singing voice?) vocals give it an almost country-ish vibe. Not the cheesy country vibe, but the hearty country feel that I think all country music should try to achieve, but I digress. 

To me, this song is a story of a guy messing up really bad with his girl, which leads to her leaving him. Or in the very least, just making some space between them because she needed it. 

Matt's warm and light vocals mixed in with the very upbeat and folk-y guitar gives a surprising contrast compared to the lyrics of the song. However, I guess that's what draws me to it. That, and the fact that I could completely imagine a mini-movie playing in my mind as I listened to the lyrics.

What really pulled at my heart strings was this particular line:

"I just wish you didn't feel like my home."

That line just made me sympathize for the guy. Even though he probably screwed up bad, you can't help but feel for him. Once in our life, we were or probably going to be in the same situation. Where you lose a person that meant the entire world to you, and who made you feel at home no matter where you two were.

As the very relevant adage goes, "home is where the heart is." It very much ties into the entire message of this song because once you lose your heart, you inevitably lose your sense of home. To me, that is one of the saddest things any person could ever go through.

Yellow - Coldplay

This song is originally by Coldplay, but I stumbled upon this beautiful cover by my favourite artist, Sara Bareilles. Although I prefer this version much better than the original, the original is just as good... I guess my bias for Sara Bareilles far outweighs my preference for Coldplay! 

This cover hit me so deeply because of the barren and powerful instrumental that came with it. Although Sara used the same chord through the entire song with a moving and simple bass line, it did not take away from the piece. In fact, it probably enforced the tormenting emotion she expressed through the lyrics themselves. What really impressed me most of this song, was that if you really listened to her voice, you realized that the simplicity of the chords was made so to allow her amazing vocals to tell the story and allow the listener to empathize and immerse themselves in the music. 

The lyrics themselves sings of powerful sacrifice from one person to another. When listening to this song, the lyrics reminded me of how much a person is willing to sacrifice so that their loved one would have the very best of anything. The image of a parent sacrificing so much so that their child could see and live the very best of life; someone giving all of themselves so that the person they love could see how much they are cared for. This song definitely gives me chills. It is so beautiful and powerful.

Your skin
Oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
Do you know, know I love you so.

I drew a line,
I drew a line for you.
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all yellow.

The lyrics tell of how we stretch our boundaries or let others past our limits only because we care about them so deeply. This song speaks of unconditional and unrelenting love. A love that is sure to last.

In my opinion, the most powerful line of this entire song is this:

Do you know for you I bleed myself dry.
For you I bleed myself dry.

It shows that once we love someone, we are willing to do anything to make sure that they get only the best and are taken care of. We would stop at nothing until we were sure that our loved one was getting what we think they deserve.

So give this song a listen, it's perfect for those moments when you feel utterly confused and lost. This song could definitely relate to many people, and I hope that it can touch you the way it's touched me.

I Can't Make You Love Me - Bon Iver

This song is currently one of the over played songs on my iTunes/iPod, but I honestly haven't been able to get it out of my head. It's a cover by the wonderful Bon Iver on Bonnie Raitt's song I Can't Make You Love Me. The original itself is awesome, but Bon Iver's cover just blows me away. Honestly, the first time I heard it, I cried and couldn't stop crying... it is that beautiful.

In my opinion, his version certainly gives this song a different tone and feeling. The really simple piano accompaniment just allows his voice to just make this song come alive in a beautifully solemn way. It's a piece that allows someone to look into their hearts and really think about what their intentions or feelings are.

The lyrics give the message of regret, lost love, and sadness. Someone who messed up really badly and lost a person near and dear to them. A person who has gone through much tribulation and heartache to finally realize what was in front of them all along, but failed to acknowledge what they had and ended up losing it. 

It also seems that that person who was lost has given the speaker another chance. However, things are not as mutual as before. 

"I can't make you love me, if you don't / You can't make your heart feel something it won't."

These two lines in particular allows us to empathize with the speaker and his/her loss, with not being able to give their loved one what they rightly deserved. Now, this person is paying for it. It also seems that the person they lost seems to be lost, unable to find themselves to move on, so they revert back to old habits by going back to something familiar. However, anybody who has been in a relationship knows that that's possibly the worst thing you could ever do that would prevent you from moving on. 

"I will lay down my heart / If you feel the power, but you don't."

The speaker is willing to admit to their past mistakes, to move on, to be a better person this time around. However, their loved one isn't as ready to try again. 

By the end of this song, I feel that these two people are left at an impasse. One is ready to try again, but the other isn't. This is what the message is to me; this song tells a story of a couple needing closure, one unable to find it until the other gives it to them, and the other unable to come to terms with their own feelings.

So give this song a listen, I am sure it will leave you in a blubbering mess given the right situation and mood.

You Don't Know How Lucky You Are - Keaton Henson

This is a song that I happened to stumble upon while procrastinating on my BIOL homework... and am I ever glad I did. From the rawness of Keaton Henson's voice, to the hauntingly beautiful words that accompany the soothing guitar, this song is definitely a great track to listen to.



I was first captivated by the way the guitar melodies just blended well together and complimented Henson's convincingly despairing voice. After listening to it a few times, I finally listened and I felt my heart break. The lyrics, although simple and repetitive, come out like poetry (as all good lyrics should be!) and just made my heart feel for this guy whom the singer sings through the eyes of.

The message is simple yet so heartbreakingly relatable: guy loses girl, girl moves on, guy watches from afar, heartbroken that he's been replaced. It's definitely a perfect and cliched scenario that I am sure many of us have encountered a few times, if not once in our lives.

What made my easily weepy tear ducts water was this particular line:

"Does he know not to talk about your dad? Does he know when you're sad?"

I guess this line hit a sore spot for me as I could definitely relate to the girl being sung to in this song. Even more though, is that this specific line allows us to delve deeper into the singer's feelings and sadness for his loss. We can hear and feel that he's taking this loss difficultly, as it seems that he, as in any relationship, has gotten to know this girl inside out. So to lose her and to have her be with another guy, he is basically on the outside looking in, indirectly speaking her to show how well he still knows her.

There is so much more that I can say about these lyrics, but honestly... I'm going to let the song do the speaking for me. Give it a listen, and I assure you that it will most likely hit some sore spot for you, too.