When are you gonna
Everyone has songs that seem perfect for a season: summer songs or winter songs. Well, I guess maybe people in Florida or other places that don't really have seasons don't think about it too much. But we here in the mid-Atlantic do.
It's funny when two people can hear different seasons in the same song or album. I think that there's no greater summer album than Pet Sounds, but Christian swears it sounds like winter. There's a song from the Of Montreal album that had immediately hit me as a song that was a January release in an August release's cover, but Fluxblog thought that exact same song was a perfect wintery song.
But today, as I walked out of the office in a snow fall that was almost enough to make Crystal City look kind of pretty, there was only one song that seemed right for it: Panda Bear's "Bros" (listen). Even though it's (*ahem*) influenced by the Beach Boys, it seems like the perfect snowfall sound to me. Maybe it's the reverb.
3 comments:
Allow me to provide some greater context to my viewpoint: the first time I heard Pet Sounds in full was one Christmas night. It was a rarity for DC: an Xmas with snow. I remember sitting in his room, with lights out, listening to Pet Sounds and watching the snow come down. Needless to say, I had to procure my own copy that year on my annual Boxing Day record store excursion. So I think that has a lot to do with it. I still think it *sounds* wintery though. The only reason I can fathom it sounding summery is because the word "Beach" is on the cover. I mean listen to the lyrics...there's a whole lot of lonliness and isolation. Even the love songs sound sad. (Ok, forget the jaunty song about the boat...)
Oh...his room being my brother's. Oops. Maybe it was the year he got the big box set for Xmas?
It's not that I deny your winter Pet Sounds coat. I just think it's funny that the same album can sound quintessentially summery to me, and nothing but wintery to you.
I think it's a bit like covers: it has a lot to do with when you first heard it/realized you loved it. Although, that's why I think it's funny that the Of Montreal song immediately struck me as summery.
I can totally see how Pet Sounds could sound perfect with the snow falling, espcially "God Only Knows" and "Caroline, No". It's just always struck that perfect hot weather chord with me: it's a little worn down by the oppressive heat, but still has a get-outside-anyway enthusiasm. "I'm Waiting For The Day" and "Here Today" go beyond just the "Beach" in the band's name. They could be called Brian and the Snowmen and I would still want to be diving in a wave whenever I hear "Wouldn't It Be Nice".
(dammit! I don't have the whole album on my iPod and now I'm DYING to hear it)
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