two

A couple of songs immersing my trudges to and from, and much in between--

Two by the Antlers, from Hospice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsXKa97J6pM
The sound at first feels so different from the words. The sound begins simple, a kind of pure that I'd like first thing in the morning. More and more builds, and you can't really hear the words too well, but phrases slip into sharpness and over time you string together pieces and realize the story is sad. Listen more and more, and the conflict comes into focus, but then blurs back into background, because it's not so much that the sound and word oppose; they layer.

Cosmic Love by Florence & the Machine, from Lungs
http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627079823895964
Soft female voices that can really howl give so much. I heard this song and thought for awhile of a word to describe what her voice does, and soon after I settled upon "howl," I noticed that song #4 on her album carries that title. Fitting for an album celebrating the capacity of her lungs. And that volume doesn't have to be about overcoming or battling in order to for her sound to be soaring; it can just be the volume of what she feels and the expression of that. I love when femininity proves its strength by pouring forth the full-blown force of vulnerability.