Friday, June 25, 2004

Songs as Velveteen Rabbits

In the June issue of The Believer, Gina Gionfriddo, in an article on an Elliott Smith vigil, comments on how we outgrow the songs "that saved us," and leave those once-precious songs behind. "Perhaps we reject the music that scored our youth because it reminds us of a time and a state of mind that embarrasses us, a time when we really did feel, like Morrissey, that unhappiness--rejection in love, a friend's betrayal--could literally kill us."

She tells us that we have a responsibility to those songs: "Hold sacred your dark-hour songs and your dark-hour friends, even if you can no longer stomach hanging out with them."

If you see this issue on the newsstands, pick it up. The "free" sampler CD is fantastic, with music from The Walkmen, The Mountain Goats, The Buried Beds, TV On the Radio, Iron & Wine, and others.

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