The Other Side of Intimacy

Hey Y'all,
I'm going to forgo the traditional "welcome to Monday morning! Yaya it's warm out who woulda thought" stuff today and wade right into it.

Some artists are accessible.  They speak to the person you are.  You relate these art works to points in your life that are exciting, exhilarating, extraordinary.  To the moments when you know exactly who you are and what you are meant to do and you are filled with a love and a duty.  At the Mixtape I have written and shared mostly artists like these.  They relatively are popular.  They are good.  They are beautiful.  And they are different for every person.

Today I am not going to write about those artists.  I am going to invite you to the other side of intimacy and attempt to talk about the artists that speak to the person I am both afraid and too proud to be.  The songs I will share with you today are songs that make me feel what I can only describe as vastness and mystery.  I don't mean to get seven different kinds of poet on you because that wouldn't do any justice to these artists.  What I'd like to do is invite you into the moments when I am filled with a love of everything mysterious and unexplainable in this world.   A love beyond reason and happiness and duty.

At this point you could be thinking "oh shit, he's gonna go on and play like a bunch of obscure Bob Dylan tracks that aren't catchy and have nothing redeeming about them aside from their existential examination of blah blah ect. blah."  I assure you no.  These are the songs that come on at the end of parties when everyone you didn't really want to hang out with is gone and you throw on the record player and can't hide your smile.  These are the songs that send me 'dancing beneath the starry sky with on hand waving free.'


First, is Leonard Cohen.  The first video is a perfect introduction:







The next is from his "New Skin Old Ceremony" you've probably heard it.  It's called Chelsea Hotel No. 2.  I love this song because of the space in it and all the things he doesn't say.  There seems to be room to move.






Second is by Tom Waits.  The guy in the apartment above ours left a bunch of CDs.  This song blew me away.  Anywhere I Lay My Head.






Third is The Rolling Stones cover of Sam Cooke's Good Times. I want to explode with happiness.






Four: Conor Oberst's Ten Women







If you're still with me (!) This is Rain Machine (of TV On the Radio) with Free Ride