“Balconies” by Paper Route, Wednesday, November 23, 2022 (repost)
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Listening to Paper Route makes me wonder, what if Coldplay, after recording X & Yhad continued making electronic music and honed in on their lyrics. Paper Route has a solid pop-rock band, on par with any of their contemporaries (i.e. OneRepublic, Coldplay), but their somewhat eccentric fidelity to their craft, recording their albums themselves in old Tennessee mansions to let the natural acoustics reverberate on the record, had cemented them as an indie rock band. "Balconies" was kind of Paper Route's first and last hit. The band's music had been featured in movies and television shows, but "Balconies" got them a late-night performance slot on Seth Meyers. As one of the most obvious hits from their third album, Real Emotion, the song was released to radio but didn't do too well on the charts. After touring to support the album, the band went on "an indefinite hiatus." However, as the band has had long gaps between albums, I wonder if JT Daly and Chad Howat will assemble a group of musicians together for album number 4.
RAISE YOUR ARMS AND HOLD WHAT YOU CAN'T REPLACE. "Balconies" uses several mixed metaphors to convey a message about being unable to hold it together. The singer claims "that the simple things [he] can't get right" and he "know[s] that it's [his] fault," yet he offers to comfort the listener: "You don't have to speak/ you can just sleep while I drive." He talks about the difficulties he faces: "For every wound, there's a hill to climb" and that he has a "hunting heart trying to survive." This song can draw an obvious connection to Daly's lyrical theme of wrestling with God and religion, but it also seems to be about his other theme, struggles with romantic relationships. If it's the first option, the singer is letting God down in the first verse, and in the second God is offering comfort. I don't like how the speaker shifts so much in that interpretation, so I think the song is about showing support for a loved when you both are having a hard time. The minor key keyboard synth riff that is repeated throughout the song sounds like rain, and the subject matter of the song matches with the dreary sounds of the song.
IF I'M IN YOUR DREAMS, AM I WHAT YOU WANT TO FIND? "Balconies" is certainly not Paper Route's lyrical masterpiece, but it is a comforting, uplifting song. It was a perfect song of the day because of the bleak weather we've been having lately. Yesterday it cleared up for a day only to start raining again today. Whenever I hear "Balconies" on days like today, I'm transported back to my childhood on a boring, rainy day. My mom ran the dryer and folded the laundry and as I got older I folded the laundry. She's watching some late afternoon talk show and I'm watching it too because there's nothing else to do. I'm sitting on the couch, warm towels just out of the dryer are covering me, and I feel the warmth of the afternoon laundry. Later mom announces it's boxed macaroni and cheese for dinner. That was pretty typical food when growing up and there was nothing special about it, but on boring days like today, mac and cheese is kind of a highlight. I can't fully understand the struggles of my parents trying to feed three kids on a single income. I don't know what their daily hopes and fears were. I was sheltered from it. I can look back fondly on those boring, rainy afternoons when I didn't have to worry about money or not being loved by my parents. I know that this is not true of every family, so I'm thankful for the privilege that I had for that time. I think "Balconies" taps into that human emotion of a loved one saying, "Don't worry about it and let carry your burden for a bit." It may be just a box of macaroni and cheese, and we may have to worry about our nutrition later, but you won't be hungry. And sometimes that's what you need.
When I was a Christian teenager, a book started circulating in my church youth group. Joshua Harris wrote about youth with wisdom and authority that seemed logical and categorical for every situation to the young women who read I Kissed Dating Goodbye . The book’s thesis argued that dating was a worldly alternative to the more purposeful Christian concept of courtship. Dating fueled erotic passions, which must be saved for a heterosexual marriage. Dating is casual, even preteens dates. Courtship was about vetting a marriage partner and would happen in the late teen years or early adulthood. YOU THINK I'M PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON . Josh Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye was part of a movement I’ve written about a lot: purity culture. How much this movement influenced young Katy Hudson, a pastor’s daughter in Southern California, touring with a slew of Christian rockers on the heels of her debut, self-titled album , I can only speculate what went through the 17-year-old star’s
On April 8th, people from around the world crowded the path of a rare total solar eclipse that spanned from central Mexico to Newfoundland. The celestial event lasted at most 4 minutes and 28 seconds. In the eclipse's direct path, businesses charged excessive rates for tourists to stay, dine, and enjoy themselves before and after the short main event. Many recall the 2017 total eclipse when then-President Trump looked directly at the sun without protective glasses, leaving experts aghast. As the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipses were less than seven years apart, why the hype and international travel? While the two solar eclipses happened only seven years apart, the last total eclipse before 2017 in the contiguous fifty states was on March 7, 1970, and the next total solar eclipse after 2024 is not until 2044, but only be visible in the north-midwestern states around sunset. I SEE THE NIGHT SLIPPING OVER. The cosmic phenomenon of the sun being blocked by the sun’s light being block
Capitalizing on the pop-punk sound of the time Tooth & Nail signed Search the City , and they released their first album A Fire So Big the Heavens Can See It in 2008. The band played at Tooth & Nail Day at Cornerstone that year and produced several radio singles from the radio-friendly album. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics in songs like " Son of a Gun " and " Ambulance Chaser " lyrically could connect this Detroit-based band with the likes of a clean-lyriced Blink-182 , Angels or Airwaves , or Relient K . Five years after Fire , the band reformed with a new drummer, bassist, and vocalist, 21-year-old Travis Bobier , who was much younger than the other band members. The 2012 album Flight was very similar to Fire, with Bobier's vocal performance on the album of high-register, energetic emo sound like original singer Josh Frost . YOU HAVE A PLACE TO CALL YOUR OWN THAT NO ONE CAN EVERY TAKE FROM YOU. The opening track of Flight , " My Secrets Have Secr
Listening to Paper Route makes me wonder, what if Coldplay, after recording X & Y had continued making electronic music and honed in on their lyrics. Paper Route has a solid pop-rock band, on par with any of their contemporaries (i.e. OneRepublic, Coldplay), but their somewhat eccentric fidelity to their craft, recording their albums themselves in old Tennessee mansions to let the natural acoustics reverberate on the record, had cemented them as an indie rock band. "Balconies" was kind of Paper Route's first and last hit. The band's music had been featured in movies and television shows, but "Balconies" got them a late-night performance slot on Seth Meyers. As one of the most obvious hits from their third album, Real Emotion, the song was released to radio but didn't do too well on the charts. After touring to support the album, the band went on "an indefinite hiatus." However, as the band has had long gaps between albums, I wonder if JT Daly and Chad Howat will assemble a group of musicians together for album number 4. 
Comments
Post a Comment