I think every now and then, each of us really needs to see a rainbow.

A beautiful reminder of what can happen when the sunshine meets the rain.

But also of how the things which fill us with awe can quickly fade away.

So dance.

Dance your hardest beneath this amazing arc of light;

And when you gaze upon it in the sky,

it will tell you exactly why:

“You had the sun, then you had the rain.

After the pleasure, then came the pain.

But after the pain, came the brightness again

A brightness more radiant than before”

So dance.

Dance your hardest when the time is right.

Within the glow of this awesome, impermanent sight.

Where each shade will tell you a million tales.

Enjoy the show,

Enjoy the rainbow.

Song of the Day: Bright Eyes – A Perfect Sonnet / Bowl of Oranges

Many 30-somethings today, dotted around the globe, will tell you that the Omaha, Nebraska indie-rock scene of the early ’00’s had some sort of effect upon their adolescence and / or early adulthood. Bright Eyes were a band who typified this scene. Each tune so full of raw emotion and energy, yet so unheard of at a time when the only real access to new music came in the form of whatever happened to be playing in whatever record shop you happened to be standing in at whatever time, or what somebody recommended to you.
In 2003, somebody off some internet forum somewhere, accessed by a dial-up, had told a 17 year old me to check out their song “A Perfect Sonnet” on the back of the fact I liked Weezer, and it was a tune that did – and still does, 17 years later – send an absolute chill down my spine. The lyrics to this song may not be the happiest yet you just cannot help but feel in awe of how the lead, Conor Oberst, manages to channel raw feeling into three and a half minutes of secret layers of song.
Having said that, the Bright Eyes tune originally picked for this month’s “Song of the Day” was a slightly brighter sounding offering call “Bowl of Oranges”, but, much like the spirit of the rainbow, I would suggest that people listen to both. So am recommending two songs, to be listened to one after the other 🙂

A Perfect Sonnet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZICv6xbFBw4

Bowl of Oranges:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUym7n7fJTQ