"Blinding" by Florence + the Machine, Tuesday, October 31, 2023 (reworked repost)

There isn't much of a reason that I chose this song today. It's creepy, and Florence + the Machine is kind of witchy. In fact, Lungs, and today's song "Blinding" has a feeling that deals with the otherworldly, primitive pre-Christian Celtic world. It feels more like a spring song, though, celebrating the sun. However, as we are going into the dark part of the year, it's nice to remember that no matter what happens in the winter, spring will be back to reawaken us. The following story, though has to do with the spring. Happy Halloween. Stay safe and try not to succumb to the winter depression.

A TOURIST IN THE WAKING WORLD, NEVER QUITE AWAKE. I will definitely come back to the shift in the alternative sound as the year goes by, but I'd like to tell a rather embarrassing story about how Florence + the Machine and a bunch of other Indie Rock/new Alternative acts came into my music collection. It was the spring of 2011, and I was finishing up my senior year. I would be student teaching in the Fall and graduating in December. But before I could graduate, I had to take a newly introduced English Capstone course which was a review of all great literature from the dawn of time to about 1960. We would take the literature section of the GRE, and since we were the test pilot, we didn't have to receive a passing score. However, in order to study for the test, I joined a study group with a bunch of other Lit major girls. I had a crush on one girl, but didn't want to ruin the dynamics of the group, so I didn't say anything. This study group took place at two of the members' off campus house, and they shared the place with two other girls. One of the housemates asked about me. We had taken some classes together. She was a history major; I was a history minor. One day she gave me a mix CD containing indie rock groups like Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, Noah & the Whale, Mama Ray, Mumford and Sons, and Florence + the Machine. I loved that mix and added all of the songs to my iTunes library. I made her a mix of some songs that I had been listening to, Copeland, Jonezetta, The Starting Line, etc. that had comparable sounds. 

NO MORE CALLING LIKE A CROW FOR A BOY, FOR A BODY IN THE GARDEN. Well, this mixtape exchange got the girl that I had developed feelings for in the study group a little jealous. She made me a mixed CD--all songs about rain. Most of the artists were pretty old. When we talked about music, me and her had never quite the same vibe in music. I responded with a mixtape (CD) of songs about sun. "Solar Powered Life" by The Classic Crime, "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles, "Gimme Sympathy," "Sun" by Mae, were all a few of the songs that I chose. I thought the mixtape was some of my best work; however, she didn't seem to like it. Things got kind of weird between us; however, it was like the current hit by Katy Perry,  it was hot and then cold. Maybe I was hot and then cold. Maybe she was. Anyway, one Friday night when the flowers were in full bloom on campus--this was mid-April, 2021--I asked her out. I don't think I asked with confidence, though. I was still wanting to keep the friendship and keep everything as it was with the friend group. She responded that she thought of me as more a friend. And that's how the friendship ended. I'd like to write a song about this whole ordeal and call it "Mixtape Emotions." I was at the end of my Christian college experience. I saw my best friends finding love, and it seemed like something that wasn't meant for me. And it wasn't, yet.

Read the lyrics on Genius.