A Holiday Song (Happy Holidays) by Starflyer 59 from The Fashion Focus
starflyer 59 - a holiday song (happy holidays)
maybe this’ll be a holiday song christmas countdown? this was the first starflyer 59 song i ever heard, and i’m pretty sure it actually changed my life. i was 12 years old, heard this song (probably on a 7-ball sampler?), then asked my parents for sf59’s americana, damien jurado’s waters ave s, and pedro the lion’s it’s hard to find a friend for christmas. like good parents, they got me exactly what i wanted. and, like a good person, i stopped listening to so much dc talk.
pedro the lion - diamond ring
this is probably my favorite video of all time, for so many reasons.
and i don’t say that lightly. i’ve been thinking about it for at least 3 years now, and i’ve made much more important decisions in much less time.
I Never Wanted You by David Bazan from Live At Electrical Audio
UM! so, i just got the live at electrical audio album. and it’s good. really good. but this version of i never wanted you (originally from the headphones album) is absolutely incredible. the whole live album was recorded in one take with no overdubs…which just makes it even better.
what’s killing me about this one is that he’s saying what are the probably the most hurtful words anyone could say to anyone anytime ever…but somehow i feel like he’s the one in pain. well played, david. well played.
so now i’m in my office, door open, belting this shit. i may or may not be the last one here…who knows?
eirtee #19: david bazan (from pedro the lion, as paperback) - “i do”
(connection: high school, again)
li’l sis laura has good taste, really she does. but this is what i was listening to my senior year of high school. this exact song, actually. david bazan was opening for starflyer 59 under the name “paperback” - and i had no idea. my girlfriend at the time, jordan (who is awesome), and i went to see starflyer 59. but before they went on, david bazan got on stage, alone with jason martin’s guitar and a 10 watt travel amp, and silenced every single mouth in new brookland tavern. if you’ve ever been to new brookland, you know that’s a big deal.
this video was recorded in 2003, just a few days before i saw it (david bazan, not the video). and i cried the first time i heard it, swear to god.
it eventually turned into this:
…which is great. but it can never match accidentally seeing your high-school idol climb on stage with a borrowed guitar, close his eyes, and silence an entire bar. it can never match watching david bowie’s long-lost brother drunkenly slow dance during starflyer’s set. it can never match being stopped by the cops on the way home, and being scared but knowing that you’re a “good kid,” and everything would be alright. everything would always be alright.
…you know what? high school was pretty great.
