"You Love to Sing" by Copeland, Wednesday, June 15, 2022 (partial repost)
From the band's heaviest album, In Motion, Copeland released songs that bore some similarities to mid-to-late '90s rock. The sound of In Motion is a natural progression from their first album Beneath Medicine Tree. However, Copeland's sound changed drastically after In Motion. Starting with a bonus EP recorded prior to but released with their third album, Eat, Sleep, Repeat, exclusively at Best Buy, the band reworked three of their songs from In Motion, slowing them down and using a string section rather than guitars. The three songs from this release would be included on the band's B Sides record, Dressed Up & In Line. The band would continue to experiment instruments, synthesizers, and non-traditional rock arrangements.
NOT BECAUSE YOU LOVE THE SONG, BECAUSE YOU LOVE TO SING. Between the two versions of "You Love to Sing" the original is my favorite. It's a great road trip song on a great road trip album. Grungy guitars, piano-driven tracks with guitar accompaniment, the musical-theater/Sound of Music-sounding "Kite," to bright sounding guitar solos, the band uses musical variety to keep listeners engaged, even on the slow songs. In Motion and Beneath Medicine Tree are perhaps the most concretely spiritual albums. On In Motion, the band deals with grace on "No One Really Wins," with acceptance on "Choose the One Who Loves You More," with unconditional love on "Love Is a Fast Song," and with God on "You Have My Attention." The subject of the penultimate song,"You Love to Sing," though is the love of music itself. While, the singer wishes that the live of singing the songs he loves were more profitable and that he could buy his love more things, he's content with the joy of creating art. After a music journey of stylistic changes, the instrumental section is a bit hypnotic in the car--not to cause an accident, but to keep the driver ultra-focused.
I NEVER HAVE ANY TIME TO PLAY. IT ALWAYS SEEMS TO SLIP AWAY. The opening line of "You Love to Sing" seems to ring truer and truer the older I get. I'm sure many of us can actually remember a boring childhood in which we stared outside on a rainy day. There was nothing on TV--maybe a Sunday afternoon when PBS had some grey-haired news commentary or worse, an 18th century period piece! And the other channels were playing golf tournaments. You sit in front of the TV hoping that at least mom will make something good for dinner, maybe ziti or Craft Mac & Cheese, but instead it's a casserole of some sort. Nowadays there's too much to do, both in terms of chores and entertainment. And the moment you get sucked into something on Netflix, the next thing you know it's time to go to bed so you can get up to go to work. Taking on this blogging project for a year and a half, I've been able to submerge myself in music. Some days that immersion has been deeper and some days only getting my toes wet. This week has been busy because I have a guest at my house, so my blogs are as quick as I can write them. I always wonder what the future of this project is. Is it really feasible to write two hours every day post-pandemic? At some point our quarantine habits have to adjust to a more social world. I'm still pondering that question, but I know that music and writing have to be a part of my life, as does exercise and getting a degree so that I'm not in a dead-end job forever. And so, I'm pushing another month until I watch the Copeland documentary in preparation for a Copeland post. I hope to write better next week!
Original:
Slow Version:
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