When we're on different sides of the globe

In this post, I mentioned how I had heard a new song that I fell in love with and put on my mix CD. Since everyone has received my mix now, I thought I'd end the suspense and let everyone not involved with the Exchange in on the wonderful song. The song to which I'm referring is Gemini (Birthday Song) by WHY? You can find it on the myspace page, it's the last song listed (you'll have to use the scroll bar to get to it on the list).

What first caught my ear about this song was the vocal line, the timbre and rhythm and just a basic idea of some of the lyrics. Musically, it seemed kind of upbeat, but there was a tinge of some melancholy piano lines in the background. Upon closer listening, the lyrics display a wide array of emotions, but ultimately this is a sad song. It also has some "dirty" lyrics, like the following selection

Today I fell asleep in a bath of hair.
Hair that once sprouted from my own
white wet chalk follicles.
I swallow a coal
and follow my breath
and I did it with the grapefruit soap
thinking of you.

and

When I ask you to kiss my pulse
you offer to start the shower.
I want a verb and you give me a noun.
What do you dream up while I tongue you down?

I think lyrically this is a pretty amazing song. It doesn't use any cliche imagery, everything comes off fresh. I especially like the lines

don't regret the done dirt
there is no life plan set
you just swallow the cold
and follow your breath until death

The song, to me, is about a relationship that the narrator is reflecting upon, one that fell apart.

I wanted to make this some sort of "epic" post, breaking the song down and everything, but I'm having a really hard time trying to come up with some good way of dissecting this song. Every time I do, I feel like I kind of cheapen it and that I don't quite do it justice. I don't feel like I can really get on here and say "this is what this song means, this is what the songwriter meant and what he was feeling, etc." This song, for whatever reason, strikes a chord (pardon the pun) with me, and that's why I'm making it the first song in my new feature, Vital Flenker Tracks.

Vital Flenker Tracks (VFT) will be something that I'll post from time to time, consisting of songs that score the highest points with me, songs that I feel have a special meaning to me or ones that I hear and instantly love. Like this song from WHY?, which fits just about every one of those criteria. I'll try to get a few songs per week, but it won't be on any set schedule. How can I tell when I'll fall in love with a song? They can come from unexpected places. Maybe this will eventually make it into a mix cd, but for now, I just want to share the songs that I love, in any way possible. Perhaps I'll come up with some clever logo, or maybe someone else will. And I'll put up a special section off to the side once I get a few more songs introduced. For now, enjoy Gemini, I hope you can find your own meaning in it, let me know what you think.