By Hayley Dyer
HAYLEY'S COMPANION GUIDE TO EPISODE 2: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE POD
Hey guys! Hayley here. Matt was hoping to dish about Episode 2, but he’s on an epic road trip in the Northeast right now and therefore doesn’t have internet. (He’s living the dream, y’all!) I’m currently binge-watching Big Little Lies on HBO and shout out to Leon Bridges for having the “best” make up song ever. Check it out.
Chad Kroeger’s high school yearbook photo. Aww.
So yeah, first thing’s first. Yes, I went to see Nickelback last weekend. I had a blast! I was intoxicated, and I had free tickets, and we really went to the show kind of ironically, but it was awesome, and people were having a really good time – so I have no shame! I can get down with some old school Nickelback. Sorry we spent so much time on this topic and didn’t even get to the nitty gritty stuff like “why do Americans love to hate on Nickelback?” and “who are these twelve thousand people in Dallas who showed up to their concert?” Honestly, I’m sorry we didn’t get into the REALLY important stuff.
For this episode we were inspired by Song Exploder’s Fleet Foxes episode (link in the Appendix!) that came out earlier this summer. First of all, how exciting is it that Fleet Foxes has released new music after a six year hiatus?! I have always liked Fleet Foxes. I’m pretty sure Helplessness Blues was the last CD I ever purchased for myself, and this might be too much info, but whatever y’all, I’m an open book(!) the final scene in Season One, Episode Six of Girls, when Hannah goes home for the weekend ends with Montezuma (from Helplessness Blues) and when I first saw that episode I just broke down in tears because of my relationship with that song and how it collides with this very relatable moment in the show. OMG. Anyways, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes is a master of lyrics and this new album didn’t disappoint me.
GRENDEL! He’s a little bit scary.
We talked about the track Mearcstapa (fun fact – Mearcstapa is another name for the crazy monster, Grendel, from Beowulf) and of course the rest of the album, and then we made a creative transition and discussed Van Morrison’s Moondance. Van Morrison is a legend and was born to be a great musician. He started his first band when he was twelve – like, I don’t even know what I was doing when I was twelve. But yeah, he is originally from Northern Ireland and pretty early on came to the US and has just been rocking it ever since. Check out his “revenge” tracks that came out this year on the album The Authorized Bang Collection. They’re the throwaway songs he wrote about ringworms and sports cars and stuff.
So, I think I have more to discuss in the Appendix section, so read on for important corrections, clarifications, and a super cute photo of my dog!
Appendix:
Song Exploder, Episode 109
Check out this awesome podcast! Some of our favorites include Sylvan Esso, Courtney Barnett, and Grimes. Oh, I also love the episode featuring Thao Nguyen from Thao & The Get Down Stay Down.
Sorry for mispronouncing “Debussy”. (And FYI – I know Claude Debussy before Twilight, that’s just a joke.)
But yeah, here’s that song I was talking about – the one about the cathedral! Close your eyes and give it a listen and imagine that cathedral doing its thing!
My sweet baby Cooper (aka Coops) before he sailed into the Mystic.
In regards to Belfast – I was half right. Looks like the shortest day of the year has 6.6 hours of sunshine, the longest day has 17 hours. SO the sun just has a wonky schedule, but it shines.
White Stripes had SIX studio albums.
Mariah Carey & Eminem
Seriously I used to listen to these two songs back to back ALL THE FUCKIN TIME. Now, I messed it up in the podcast, Eminem’s song is called “The Warning” – oh so ominous! Obviously, I’m on Eminem’s side in this whole thing.
Laura Marling & the boy with curly black hair (Charlie Fink)
P.S. Charlie – I dig your voice and your hair. Call me.