beautiful beat

Guess this is on a bit of a delay, but it's still ringing in my ears, so I'll post...

Nada Surf, after recently releasing their new album, Lucky, recorded here in Seattle (on Barsuk), played a sold-out show last Friday at the Showbox, and added a show on Thursday to appease the masses. I was at the Friday show; it was epic. (yeah, you heard me J, epic!)

As I'm pretty fond of their stuff, and know all the lyrics (thanks to an advance-copy of the new album, which was pretty sweet, given I wouldn't call myself a seattle indie music junkie), it's a given that I'm going to get into it.... Maybe it was the venue (definitely a more intimate, intense vibe than when saw them at the Gorge last summer); perhaps it's the band's chemistry, and the fact that they (from Brooklyn) have become part of the music scene here and are familiar with their strong fan base; perhaps it's the nature of their thoughtful, optimistic, melodic sound that both rocks and mesmerizes me and so many other listeners; something about the mix of that show made it one of the best I've ever been to. There is something wonderful about the band, and their presence and songs. I don't think it was the three gin-and-tonics.)

Last week the Stranger had an interview published with Matthew Caws, lead singer and guitar, and he mentions how when he writes he tends to seek peace through his music. I guess maybe that's part of it, there is hope and optimism in their music that speaks to me. Somewhere during the show I looked back into the audience and scanned the faces soaking it in, aglow in the dark room from the stage lights, content and into the music. It made me think of the part in the beginning of Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain) where they list the things that the characters find pleasure in doing, one of them being Amélie's turning-around during movies to take in the expressions on movie-goers' faces. I thought to myself that there is a similar tone between that movie and this music...an optimistic, thoughtful approach, both starry-eyed and simple while being bold and unique, that seeks goodness and peace in life. A joie de vivre, as the French say.

Joie de vivre is a major part of my life philosophy, when I think about it, so the power for me in Nada Surf's music makes sense... love life, be thoughtful, don't take it too seriously.

With some help from my good, die-hard Nada Surf fan friend (thanks chelsea), I have a compiled list of many of the songs in the (very long, hooray) set they played Friday. I pay attention to lyrics (maybe it's the choirgirl in me), and I hold tightly onto the ones that strike me, filing them away like mementos. As I recall them easily, they are apparently not part of the same platform of neurons that regulate my memory of things to take care of at work, or where I put my housekeys.

Not a song played that night, that I don't truly love... beautiful.

See These Bones

Look alive, see these bones
what you are now, we were once
just like we are, you'll be dust
just like we are, permanent

You were too tired to eat, too hungry to sleep

I feel rain in the movies and the talk before the screen lights
I hear strings in the park
I don't like to call or write, except when it's too late at night
I mostly just think in the dark...

Concrete Bed

to find someone you love
you've gotta be someone you love

to find someone you love
you've gotta call your own bluff

Hi-Speed Soul

do you ever feel like you just landed
upon this earth?
see the creatures all do their dances
back and forth
you get restless and then you join them
on the floor
suddenly it's tomorrow
it's not today anymore

the stars are shining above the city
every night
they come every night

I Like What You Say

they say you learn from your mistakes
that's not always the case
I see and then I understand
how I've made them again and again

they say you have to have somebody
they say you have to be someone's
they say if you’re not lonely alone
boy there is something wrong

you say and I like what you say
I like what you say
I say...
baby, I only wanna make you happy
baby I only wanna make you happy
lately I only wanna make you happy

Happy Kid

i’m just a happy kid
stuck with the heart of a sad punk
drowning in my id

Fruit Fly

flying jerky patterns
like snowflakes in the air
i’m sorry you’ve got nowhere to go

left straight right straight
i can’t find a reason
i know i’ll keep going but
i can’t find a reason
nothing looks right
nothing smells right
...i can’t land

only have enough gas left
for the beercan to the bowl

Blonde on Blonde

i’ve got no time i wanna lose
to people with something to prove
what can you do but let them walk
and make your way down the block

80 Windows

i feel far away from you... so what else is new?
the moon is closer to the sun than i am to anyone.

Stalemate

Blankest Year

i had the blankest year
i saw life turn into a tv show
it was totally weird
the person i knew
i didn't really know

i'd like to return this spell
cuz it's not my size
your lies are so much bigger
than my lies
and your ties are made of things
that shouldn't make ties

oh, fuck it
i'm gonna have a party

What is your Secret?

The Commander Thinks Aloud (Long Winters cover with John Roderick)

Boys and girls in cars
Dogs and birds on lawns
From here I can touch the sun

Always Love

to make a mountain of your life is just a choice

always love- hate will get you every time
always love- don't wait till the finish line

I've been held back by something ...yeah...
you said to me quietly on the stairs

Do it Again

I spend all my energy walking upright
I like the masked noise quiet of your breathing nearby
when I accelerate I remember why it's good to be alive
like a 25-cent game

maybe this weight was a gift
like I had to see what I could lift

Killian’s Red

we'll go on vacation tonight
under a sun of neon light
and i almost love this town
when i'm by your side

Are You Lightning?

I see you in my sheets, I see you in my sleep,
I see you from my steps; you're walking up my street.

and just look at the size of you-

the sun shine on and on...
the sun shine on and on...

Blizzard of ‘77

i know i have got a negative edge
that’s why i sharpen all the others a lot

it’s like flowers or ladybugs
pretty weeds or red beetles with dots

Inside of Love

I wanna know what it’s like
on the inside of love
standing at the gates,
I see the beauty above

only when we get to see
the aerial view
will the patterns show
we’ll know what to do

I'm on the outside of love
always under or above
must be a different view
to be a me with a you

Beautiful Beat

I'm trying to levitate I'm
trying to leave the ground
tryin' to remember when i could
fix anything with sound

beautiful beat, get me out of this mess
beautiful beat, lift me up from distress

Weightless

behind every desire is another one waiting to be liberated when the first one is sated

The Fox

the curve of the hill is green and soft
as if the wind would hold you aloft

Ice on the Wing

don’t talk to thy neighbour
if they don’t take your same lord as saviour
in a songless meeting house
proud to be the only ones
who get saved in the end
from hugs and drugs and movies

but baby ice
is growing on the wing