Miami

            If you were to look at my iTunes, you would realize pretty quickly that my 47 most-played songs are all by the Counting Crows. Say what you will, but I believe Adam Duritz is a lyrical genius and a true poet. Most people only know Mr. Jones or A Long December, but I really enjoy their music that never quite made it mainstream as well. Recently I’ve been listening to the song Miami a lot and thought I’d make a topic out of it.

You can listen to it here, but the lyrics are below:

Counting Crows - Miami

I guess I think I feel alright

You come circling through the light

The skyline, baby, is bright tonight

What more perfect rendezvous?

The sundown paints the shadows

Through the daylight, Amy, on what we do

It looks like darkness to me

Oh, Drifting down into Miami

Can I say,

"I wish that this weather would never leave?"

It just gets hard to believe

That God sent this angel to watch over me

Cause my angel

She don't receive my calls

Says I'm too dumb to fuck

Too dumb to fight

Too dumb to save

Well, maybe, I don't need no angel at all

It looks like darkness to me

Drifting down into Miami

She could pull the sunlight through me

Coming down into Miami

Make a circle in the sand

Make a halo with your hand

I'll make a place for you to land

The bus is running

It's time to leave

This summer's gone

And so are we

So come on baby,

Let's go shut it down in New Orleans

            I know a little more about the Counting Crows than most, so I’ll give a quick overview of this song. It was written in the airport as Duritz was waiting on his girlfriend, Amy, to land. They both knew she was making the trip to break up with him, and this is the song that resulted.

            The most fascinating thing for me about this song is the number of different ways this song can be interpreted. Obviously the literal interpretation is fairly clear. One of the more interesting perspectives I think, however, is that Miami is not a physical location but a mindset, more specifically depression. The hesitation in the first line and the underlying sarcasm in the fourth were what cued me in to the idea first, but the second verse and the motif of darkness were what really brought it home for me.

            You could make a pretty waterproof argument that waiting for your girlfriend to break up with you and depression are pretty similar emotions, but for me at least the latter has a much darker side that a simple break up can’t touch. Being able to see both so vividly in one song is quite interesting. Hope you enjoyed it.

     Here's to wonderful music and great lyrics.

Lullaby for the Late Night Thinker

     I have a final tomorrow for grad school, so I spent the vast majority of the day studying and am just now getting around to writing. My night is finally winding down, so I figured what better way to calm down for the night than listening to one of my favorite songs by my favorite band.

Round Here - Counting Crows

Lyrics:

Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices
The contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
Angels get a better view
Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
And I walk in the air between the rain, through myself and back again
Where? I don't know
Well, Maria says she's dying
Through the door I hear her crying
Why? I don't know
Round here, we always stand up straight
Round here, something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
And she walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
She parks her car outside of my house and takes her clothes off.
She says she's close to understanding Jesus
And she knows she's more than just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands
Run home, sleeping children better run like the wind
out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
out of the lightning
She says "it's only in my head"
She says "Shhhhh I know it's only in my head"
But the girl in the car in the parking lot
Says "Man you should try to take a shot
Can't you see my walls are crumbling?"
Then she looks up at the building
Says she's thinking of jumping
She says she's tired of life
She must be tired of something
Round here she's always on my mind
Round here hey man got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
and nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late oh
I can't see nothing... nothing round here
Will you catch me if I'm falling
Will you catch me if I'm falling
Will you catch me cause I'm falling down on you
I said I'm under the gun around here
Oh man I said I'm under the gun around here 
And I can't see nothing 
Nothing round here.

     I consider Adam Duritz to be nothing short of a lyrical genius and this song really illuminates why. I've never heard a more beautiful first line, much less an entire song full of incredibly sharp emotions. Sooner or later every single person feels the overwhelming pressure of being inadequate and needing to change because you just aren't good enough. Justified or not, the emotion is universal, and incredibly sad.

     The song might not rock me to sleep in the most literal of senses, but there's a very real comfort in knowing so many people share the same pressures and emotional reactions. Perhaps that's what I like best about Adam Duritz's lyrics. He just understands people.
     Here's to being an individual.