Since music is a big part of my life, I usually like to think back at the end of each year and reflect on the songs that I enjoyed the most and meant something to me. Last year I just made a list of my top favourites, but I thought this time I might go a bit more in depth about why I liked them. What I love about music is that a song often means something completely different to one person than to another, and a song might have no significance to you at one stage in your life, and then at another stage take on a profound meaning.
One of the albums that I definitely listened to and enjoyed the most in 2009 is Imogen Heap's third studio album Ellipse. I love Imogen's music for a whole lot of reasons and I've yet to come across a song of hers that I didn't like. When I first started listening to her music, it took a while to grow on me but then it stuck like glue. Her voice is unique, her compositions refreshing and her lyrics full of depth. Though I love all of the songs on the album, two that spoke strongly to me are "Wait It Out" and "Half Life".
In "Wait It Out" she asks the question of what you do while you wait for time to heal a wound: 'what of the wretched hollow, the endless in between?'. Even if in the end you know everything will be fine, you still have to get through it. But can you handle the waiting, and how long will it take? Will you spend your whole life waiting for something to be fine someday, or for it to turn out the way you want? Sometimes I think you just have to accept that you have a wound that might not heal properly and to go on with your life regardless. If you sit and wait you might find that life will pass you by.
"Half Life" is a bittersweet song about putting your eggs in a basket they don't belong in, a situation I've found myself in before. As far as the lyrics go, the content is quite clear: falling for someone who can't return your feelings. The song reminded me that liking someone who doesn't feel the same way as I do has everything to do with me and very little in fact to do with the other person. She sings 'my self-worth measured in text back tempo, it's been two days and eight minutes too slow', and the minute I heard those words I found myself thinking of all the times in my life I had anxiously looked at my phone waiting for an sms from some guy who had probably already forgotten I existed. Yet most of those messages I waited for never came and I'm fine today, having realised along the way that it truly is a half life living like that; it makes no sense wanting someone to give you something that they don't have.
The other album that I really loved this year was Matt Alber's debut album Hide Nothing. A little-known artist, I stumbled across him by accident while surfing the web one day. I instantly fell in love with the songs on the album (which happens to include an Imogen Heap cover, "Hide and Seek"). The folkish songs are thoughtful and contemplative and Matt has a rich, resonating voice that is very soothing on my ears.
My favourite song of 2009 (and one of my favourites of all time so far) comes from this album, the track "End of the World". I had to wipe away a few tears when I listened to this song for the first time, and I honestly don't remember the last time that happened. It's about a 'dying romance' and whether or not it's worth saving. The words are beautifully metaphoric and makes me want to play it to everyone who's ever wanted to leave the person they love because of some silly, superficial reason. Perhaps the song just caught me on a vulnerable day when I first heard it, and perhaps I'm just an incurable romantic, but I fell in love with it. And then when I saw the video I fell in love with it all over again.
Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTvJdpkdLiw (If you are disinclined to appreciating love between two people of the same gender, you might not want to click.)
Two other albums that formed part of my soundtrack for 2009 were Pet Shop Boys' Yes and Swing Out Sister's Beautiful Mess, both duos from the UK that I've loved since the 80's.
There were a couple of songs that also had me singing along at full blast in the car and dancing in my room with the headphones on. A song that had me howling along was Shakira's "She Wolf"; I don't know why I love that song so much, but I do. Empire of the Sun's "We Are The People" also had me singing along, especially in the car; I didn't like it at first but then it grew on me and now it often gets stuck in my head. Ladyhawke's "Paris Is Burning" had me bopping my head and pulling a few moves; I can't sit still whenever I hear that song and it reminds me of club-hopping nights out on the town. A couple of other songs that had me dancing quite a few nights away were Calvin Harris' "Ready for the Weekend" and Britney's "3" (I was highly amused when I realised it was about threesomes). And of course I can't leave out Beyoncé's "Single Ladies". I nearly put my neck out one night in a club trying to "put a ring on it". How I managed to have friends left after that night I still don't know.
So those are my favourites of 2009, and as I write this I'm already curious about what the music scene will dish up for 2010.
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