Anemone's Music Thread! (everyone is invited)

This thread has strict rules. Those being:
1. Post music you love.
2. Explain exactly why you love said music.

If you don't follow the rules I will make empty threats. You have been warned. Also I grew up in hardcore christian hicksville, so you're not allowed to make fun of me for any countryish music I may post. With that said:


This song may be a cover, I'm not sure. But I love Gillian Welch to death. This particular album came out like in the 90s sometime, and I kind of grew up with it. She also did some songs for the O Brother, Where Art Thou? movie, which as we all know was terribly great. I especially love this song, though, because sometimes I get homesick and sad, and this matches my mood when it happens. Whoever this woman is supposed to be, she's saving her money so she can come back to her old home; though she really knows she can't ever come back (at least anytime soon), and just sings and gambles hopelessly. What else is there really to do, you know? Like much of my music, the instruments kind of serve as a simplistic background to the main event, which is the vocalist. And her voice, much like her eyes, seems sad and a little tired, but very strong and determined.

idk maybe I'm weird, but it makes me emotional.

This song I like mostly because it's so hard to make sense of, and makes you feel upbeat and happy in a kind of hopelessly lost sort of way. Reminds me that I'm human, and it's hilarious to me that I think of this song everytime I listen to "All Things Considered" on NPR.

The lovely Jolie Holland with a dreamy and wistful tune. It's nice to dream

I cannot say enough good things about this song. It's actually made me cry. Dessa's songs are usually more about the story they tell than the actual music; a lot of the time it's like spoken word poetry but more musical. So, much of the awesomeness about the music is in the lyrics. It's a tale of pain, and forgiveness.

Basically, this ex of hers hurt her a lot, and he calls to ask her if she'll forgive him. She has to ask her kid-self for the strength to manage it.

Then with your heart in your lap
And your head in your hands, suddenly you had a plan
Wrap the mess in newspaper
Headed west on Hennepin,
Heavy with a huge favor for a kid that just turned ten
A flat-chested, gap-toothed girl
Was the best that I've been so far
And now I'm too big to forgive him
I need just a moment with me,
A moment when I was still little
I used to sing on the roof outside my windowsill
And I came hoping some ghost of me would be here still
And here you are, stick figure and a busted grin
Still ignorant of all the trouble I'ma get us in
Hoping we could trade, just for tonight
Like I could borrow your heart
And I could leave you mine
It's not much for collateral, tattered and battle-scared
But I can promise you solemn
That I will be back for it tomorrow
I only need yours this evening
So I can call an old friend
And I can tell him
That we're finally even,
That we're finally even

Beautiful.

I'm sure most people get the reference, but for those who don't "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt," is a quote from the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. It's how the protagonist in the story experiences death. I don't think I need to say more about it; it's an interpretation of the experience of death.