LNM #3

LNM #3

Konstantine

So on this late night, I find myself thinking about and humming this favourite song of mine: Konstantine. When people ask me if I have a favourite song (which is usually asked by a 10 year old anyway) I almost always say: Konstantine. Despite being fairly old now, it remains one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. The story told is so strong and emotional. The music crescendos before dimming to a single voice and piano where the piano gives just as much as the vocalist. Konstantine is an emotional roller-coaster of a song. It's a bittersweet melody at its finest. I could quote so many meaningful lines.  Andrew McMahon (who is one of my all time heroes! musically anyway...) is the genius behind it. I just love this song beyond words. The lyrics themselves have so much symbolism yet remain really quite simplistic. I don't really know how to describe it... It's just so emotional and beautiful. I always feel emotional and somewhat sad listening to it. The power of music. :)

It's hard to write out the lyrics beneath because AM sings it with slightly modified lyrics everytime. I've written out the ones to the version that I always listen to; I think it's a live version. The video that I've posted to go with it may not match completely. But please enjoy! :)

I can't imagine all the people that you know,
And the places that you go,
When the lights are turned down low.
And I don't understand all the things you've seen,
But I'm slipping in between,
You and your big... Dreams.
It's always you and my big dreams...

And you tell me that it's over,
But I can't stand, 

You're in a patch of four leaf clover,
And you're restless,
And I'm naked,
You've got to get out,
You can't stand to see me shaking,
No, could you let me go?

And you don't want to be here in the future,
So you say, 'The present's just a pleasant interruption to the past.'
And you don't want to look much closer,
'Cause you're afraid to find out all this hope,
That you had sent into the sky by now had... Crashed.
And it did, because of me...

And then you bring me home,
Afraid to find out that you're alone, no,
And I'm sleeping in your living room,
But we don't have much room,
To live.

And I had dreams that I would learn to play guitar,
Maybe cross the country,
Become a rockstar.
And there was hope in me,
That I could take you there,
But dammit you're so young,
But I don't think I care.
And if I hurt you then I'm sorry,
It's just this guilt has got the best of me.

And then you bring me home,
'Cause we both know what its like to be alone, no,
And I'm dreaming in your living room,
But we don't have much room,
To live.

Konstantine came walking down the stairs,
Doesn't she look good,
Standing in her underwear?
And I've been thinking, and I've thinking, no,
She's been drinking and it doesn't get me anywhere.

My Konstantine came walking down the stairs,
And all that I could do was touch her long blond hair,
And I was thinking, what I was thinking ya know,
We've been drinking and it doesn't get me anywhere.

This is because I can spell confusion with a K and it's hard to like it,
It's to dying in another's arms and why I had to try it,
It's to Jimmy Eat World and those nights in my car,
But this time I'm alone and I don't see those stars,
I'm not your star?
Isn't that what you said?
What you thought this song meant?
You thought this song meant.

And if this is what it takes,
Just to lie in my mistakes,
And live with what I did to you,
And all the things I put you through,
I always catch the clock it's 11:11,
And now you want to talk,
It's not hard to dream,
You'll always be my Konstantine.

They'll never hurt you like I do.

This is to a girl who got into my head,
With all these pretty things she did,
Hey baby, you know, that you keep me up in bed.
It's to a girl who got into my head,
With all these fucked up things I did,
Hey maybe, baby, you could keep me up in bed,
My Konstantine...
Spin around me like a dream,
We played out on this movie screen,
And I said,
'Did you know I've missed you?'

God, I miss you...

And then you bring me home,
And we'll go to sleep but this time not alone, no no,
And you'll kiss me in your living room, oh,
And you see, no, that I've been missing in my living room,

Because it's all you.
'Cause this is what I miss, what I miss...

We don't have much room...
I said, does anybody really need that room?
Because we all need a little bit of room
To live.

My Konstantine.


- Konstantine by Something Corporate

LNM #2

LNM #2

Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl

I came across this song on the Scott Pilgrim OST and never paid much attention to it til after I watched the movie. No idea why or how that happened. This song is musically beautiful and the repetitious lyrics become quite haunting. Most people have a different interpretation for the lyrics and I find that most of them are quite valid. My reading of it, before reading those of others, was that the song is about a guy that used to know a girl before she changed to try to fit in with a different crowd. He's now thinking to himself that she can never have him ever again because of what has happened. She used to be an individual but now she's just conforming to fit in with everyone else. It was because she was an individual that he liked her in the first place: 'Used to be one of the rotten ones, and I liked you for that.' Now she's trying to fit in: 'Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash...' He's thinking to himself the day that she realises she's not who she wants to be, it'll be too late and he can only be a dream to her when she feels upset and restless about who she has become: 'Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me.' As the song progresses, it feels like the narrator is regretting his loss less and less. Almost as if to come to an acceptance that the moment has passed. Towards the beginning, he asks 'can't you come back?' But by the end it's just an acknowledgement that the girl is not coming back.

It's such a hauntingly beautiful song... It just really makes you think. The slow buildup of the music with the never changing tone of the vocalist (who is Emily Haines from Metric) is just mesmerising.  The banjo and strings are a wonderful addition. It's as though the feelings become stronger, more confident as the song progresses. The song definitely has a melancholic or nostalgic vibe to it. It's just really amazing. 

Don't change who you are for other people because then you'll lose what is most important to you.

P.S. I'll be adding the video and lyrics to each LNM from now on. :)

Used to be one of the rotten ones and he liked you for that.


Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that.


Now you're all gone, got your makeup on and you're not coming back.


Can't you come back?


Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that.


Now you're all gone, got your makeup on and you're not coming back.


Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under your breath.


Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under my window.


Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me.


Park that car, drop that phone, park that car, dream about me.


Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that.


Now you're all gone, got your makeup on and you're not coming back.


- Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl - Broken Social Scene

Late Night Melodies #1

Welcome to 'Late Night Melodies', a new segment on this blog where I just have a splurge on whatever music I happen to be liking at that moment. It will probably take place weekly and usually during the unfriendly hours of the morning when most people would be sleeping. But this is the first entry. I hope you'll like it! :)

LNM #1

For Me This Is Heaven - Jimmy Eat World

I've loved this song for a while now. It's surprising, seeing as though it comes from one of the Jimmy albums that I never really admired very much. This song just makes my heart beat and feel in the strangest way... It contains so much hope within such cyclic barriers, like you're hoping for the better while knowing that your world will never really change. It's about first times and last times, about waiting for something more and not being able to do anything to change it. It's about reminiscing, waiting for the transient joy to inevitably pass but the importance of experiencing anything close to happiness and fulfilment that you can come by. Live in the moment seeing as though you'll never be able to experience it again. To find a song so well crafted musically and emotionally is rare these days.  It's achingly bittersweet but maybe that's why I'm so drawn to it. 'Can you still feel the butterflies?'