The whole family is obsessed with this song by Peter Fox and the Cold Steel Drumline (it's worth watching all the way through to the end to see some shots of the drumline):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD0A2plMSVA
Last night the kids made me play it about 16 times in a row. Tonight Milo wanted to do the same thing, but we cut him off after about 5. Then he wanted to watch the video over and over again.
But Milo isn't the only one. I love all of the contrasts in this song. To my ear, German is a challenging-to-hear language (sorry, German speakers). It sounds harsh and guttural, bordering on but not quite reaching ugly. It is a very masculine language. So here is this guy singing in an aggressive way in this masculine, staccato language, but his voice and tone are melodic. This mirrors the contrast I hear between the heart-thumping drum beat and the strings, both which provide an ongoing wall of sound behind the lyrics. It's just the sexiest song.
It's like the song itself is a juxtaposition of flowing and hair-raising. This song reminds me of Jake, who double-majored in German and spent a year in Austria as an exchange student. But it's not Jake as a German speaker that I think of, it's Jake the person, who is also a study in contrasts. Jake's voice, angularity, jaw line, and movements through space are so strongly masculine, but his slight frame, gentle tones, and mild-mannered nature are not. It is these inherent contrasts that continue to fascinate me about Jake, and watching him walk, sit, and move is like watching a perfectly orchestrated dance. I guess I mean to say that the way this song fascinates me is a minor reflection of the way that Jake fascinates me.
1 comment:
That drumline is too cool. Where do you find this stuff?
A very sweet ode to Jake . . .
Post a Comment