I first discovered The Lumineers when I lived in Austin. I believe I heard them on Pandora. At the time, they only had an EP out, one that included “Flowers in Your Hair” and “Classy Girls.” Oddly enough, I was just looking at their albums on iTunes and no longer see this EP, although I purchased it and it’s in my library. /shrug
At any rate, when they released their self-titled debut album, I bought it. It’s a great album. I really like how quiet and simple their songs are. There’s nothing flashy about them. The music itself, while I enjoy it, tends to take a back seat to Wesley Schultz’s fine voice as he croons out beautiful lyrics. I find a lot of their songs incredibly moving. I usually keep music on in the background while I do whatever - writing, surfing the internet, walking, cross stitching - but with The Lumineers I often find myself pausing to listen to the song, even if I’ve heard it a hundred times before.
I admit to skepticism when they released their second album, Cleopatra, especially since I’m not fond of the first release off that album, “Ophelia.” I still haven’t bought the album, or even listened to the whole thing, but I fell in love with “Angela.”
It’s possible that “Angela” is one of those songs that pretty much everyone sees as relatable. For me, it so reminds me of my younger self. “When you left this town, with your windows down, and the wilderness inside,” is 18-year-old me, fleeing the town I grew up in to go to college out-of-state, because “the strangers in this town, they raise you up just to cut you down.” Except it wasn’t strangers who cut me down, it was people I knew, within my family and outside of it, making fun of me my whole life. The freedom I felt, finally getting out of there! And I never looked back. Sometimes, I miss those days when everything seemed possible.
I’m not sure yet if I’m “home at last.” There have been several times since then where I felt at home, but circumstances changed, and I had to leave that home. The older I get, the more I recognize that home is what you decide it is, but still this song resonates with something very deep inside of me. I'm grateful to The Lumineers for giving voice to my feelings.
2 comments:
As you might know (or maybe you don't) I'm a great fan of the Lumineers. I sang "Flowers in her Hair" during my 40th birthday party and I have a great affection for "Classy Girls" as it reminds me of my period of kissing in bars.
Also, there was a summer Shakespeare performance where they sang several times and one of the songs was "Ho Hey," which they had a very good time singing. I don't even mind that the song has been overplayed.
I'm not in love with O-O-phelia much either, but the radio her sure is. I don't think I've heard anything off of this album so it's nice to hear this.
I do remember you singing "Flowers in Her Hair" at your party! I always think of you now whenever I hear that song. I love "Ho Hey," no matter how many times I hear it. It's such a cute, sweet song. And yes, the radio here is also in love with "Ophelia." It's starting to grow on me, but not to the point where I'm going to download it.
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