Three Imaginary Girls - Shearwater

Totally legit: Sasquatch! 2012 lineup announced

imaginary victoria — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:38:58 +0000

In the throes of a killer party at the Neptune last night, we were thrilled beyond belief to find out the details on another most excellent year for the Sasquatch! music festival, taking place out at the Gorge on Memorial Day weekend {May 25-28}. Sasquatch! is by far one of our favorite fests every year, and 2012 is going to be no exception.

We're particularly excited about partying down with the likes of Jack White, Beck, Tenacious D, Beirut, Girl Talk {hell yes!}, The Head and the Heart, Tune-Yards, Wild Flag, Blind Pilot, Mark Lanegan Band, The Cave Singers, Grouplove, Ted Leo, Deer Tick, Alabama Shakes, We Are Augustines, Shearwater {!!!!!}, Charles Bradley, Pickwick, Hey Marseilles, Sallie Ford, Dyme Def, Fresh Espresso, and Katie Kate -- but by no means does that even scratch the surface of the seemingly-zillion fantastic bands included on this year's lineup. As usual, there's a thoughtful mash of notable locals and squee-worthy headliners, so much so that slapping down the ticket price to spend the long weekend with twenty-plus thousand of your closest friends is an absolute no-brainer.

Imaginary Victoria's best of 2010, part two: shows (and other indoor sports)

imaginary victoria — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:46:03 +0000

It's safe to say here at Three Imaginary Girls that we go to a lot of shows. Sometimes, two (or three) in one night, if there's more than one must-see happening going on about town. And so it's no surprise that in 2010 alone, just on my own, I managed to go to shoot at least two shows a week on average, attended another two dozen-ish (or so) sans camera, plus several festivals, house parties and a handful of KEXP in-studios. We're talking everything from nights at the Sunset and Neumos to four days in Portland for MFNW, out locally for long weekends at Bumbershoot and Sasquatch, and down to SXSW and back again.

On any given night there are plenty of shows taking place, in rooms across Seattle and across the country, where boys and girls and instruments and fans all convene inside four walls to make, appreciate, and experience live music -- but not all of them are Shows. When I reference shows in this post, I'm talking about the nights that we collectively See A Show, the nights that remind me us why we live in Seattle in the first place. Seeing A Show has the ability to alter the fabric of our respective existence, to leave us forever changed -- full of those everything-I've-ever-done-led-to-this-exact-right-now kinds of moments.

With a history timeline at the ready via flickr sets and hastily scrawled notes from stage right, I give you some of my greatest moments of 2010 as an appendix to the ever-popular top albums of the year lists that have been popping up all over our radars.

First place:
Neil Young (solo) at the Paramount

This might be construed as an easy out for a list-topper, but it was by far the most stupidly amazing few hours I spent in a venue all year. Not only was I among the lucky few that got to hang and shoot from the soundboard, but I also had the privilege of being allowed to watch the set after shooting (sans camera gear) from the third-level mezzanine. It may as well have been a live reel of Young in his prime, for how good he sounded -- without a doubt one of the top ten shows of my life, probably in the history of Ever.

Photoessay: A night to remember with Shearwater at the Triple Door

imaginary victoria — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:46:25 +0000

29 Apr 2010

shearwater_td1.jpg

Between the sweet and straight-out bite of Hospital Ships, the huge-guitar shred of Wye Oak, and the general everythingness of Shearwater -- I'm surprised that anyone left the Triple Door last Thursday night with any face left. The show was absolutely amazing, and easily makes my top five sets of the year so far. Without an instant of doubt.

The two openers, Hospital Ships and Wye Oak, were perfectly laid out as warm-up and direct support on the night's bill. There are plenty of bands that can (and do) sound fine next to each other, of course -- but when someone has put together a thoughtful lineup like this, the vibe of the night really translates. Hospital Ships' set was laden with sharp, smart lyrics and lovely, happy-to-melancholy chord changes that took us from "Aw!" to "Holy crap. YES." and back in a single song. Wye Oak, in contrast, stayed more on the angst-sound side, blowing us out of the front row with a gigantic sound that seemed much bigger than two people could possibly produce.

And of course, there was Shearwater... *sigh. Larger-than-life, I-can't-believe-I-forgot-my-earplugs, epic-doesn't-even-come-close-to-describing-it Shearwater. Playing for almost a solid ninety minutes, Jonathan Meiburg & Co. took us through a perfect cross-section of their catalog, most notably with an unreal rendition of "White Waves" about four songs into the set to lay down the tone for the evening. Song after song, line after line, they just brought the amazing over and over again -- leaving us spent, thrilled, and practically faceless. Lest we think we dreamed all the awesome, here's some shots to prove it all happened:

{So amazing! But that's not all -- be sure to check out the imaginary flickr pool for more shots from the show!}

Win tickets to Shearwater this Thursday at the Triple Door

imaginary victoria — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:16:13 +0000

Some sentences are more satisfying to type than others.

'Shearwater is playing at the Triple Door this Thursday' is one of those sentences.

So, let's do it again: Shearwater is playing at the Triple Door this Thursday. (Wasn't that fun?) And we would love to give you the gift of experiencing this one-of-a-kind performance first-hand with us -- so we're giving away two tickets to one lucky imaginary reader! Yes, we're talking to you! So, act fast and drop us an email to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com sometime before 9am on Wednesday, with the subject line ShearwaterLovesYouBack. We'll choose a winner at random, but you're sure to score some bonus points by including a note about why we should pick you, how much you love Shearwater, and any awesome-slash-embarrasing "I carried a watermelon when I met Jonathan Meiburg this one time" tales.

In the meantime, check out this rad NPR Tiny Desk Concert with Shearwater, courtesy of our pals over at YouTube:

We'll see you at the show!

Big bad Sasquatch 2009 preview

Imaginary Shrie — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:25:56 +0000

Sasquatch 2009 is a mere two days away. Go see bands all three days, cheer your head off, drink some beer and/or smoke a joint. Get dirty campin' toes and sweat through your forehead bandanna (or brave kilt-lifting style winds like in 2007). Come back harried and skip out on work Tuesday. Recount every last moment, with positive embellishments, to anyone fool enough not to attend. Buy the tshirt and flaunt the shit out of it.

Here is your big bad SASQUATCH 2009 PREVIEW.

Erik Gonzalez's best o' 2008

Erik Gonzalez — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:57:04 +0000

It has now been 2.5 years since I moved out of Seattle for the Golden State. I've slowly drifted out of the NW music culture, so sometimes I wonder if I know what to say on TIG these days.

Combine that with the fact that I was so distracted from music for a lot of 2008, this year's "best of" lists were especially difficult. Heck, I don't even think I can make a Best of NW music list this year, not because there was insufficient music, but because I just missed so many of those important-but-not-well-known releases that make these lists. I did enjoy Fleet Foxes, Common Market, Colin Meloy live, Malkmus and the like, but really, that isn't a "Best of the NW" list but rather a list of albums I liked that happened to be from the NW.

That being said, I did get a last minute music revival for the year. Maybe it was the election being over (and the good guys winning), maybe it was finally getting a faculty position after many years of trying (lets just say Erik will be moving east in 2009), maybe 2008 just didn't mesh with me musically. Who knows? However, there was a lot of great music anyway, and here are my top 20 (for your praise or fist shaking). Feel free to read the full commentary.

Grand Archives, Shearwater and The Dutchess & The Duke rock the Yule Benefit

imaginary victoria — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:54:00 +0000

12 Dec 2008

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As it has been for the last several years running, KEXP's 6th annual Yule Benefit was a roaring success. With a close to capacity crowd, Neumo's had no shortage on holiday cheer -- on top of the feel-good holiday buzz, there were tiny lights on the banisters, boys in tights and Santa-hats, and a few hundred cut-out snowflakes lining the walls. Sparkly and gorgeous, it was enough to warm the hearts of even the Grinchiest of Grinches!

Of course, the music didn't disappoint either: Friday night's set served up a helping of home-baked goodness with the sweet sounds of The Dutchess & The Duke, followed by the melodic large-guitar assault of Shearwater. And as if that weren't enough, feel-good headliners Grand Archives tied the whole night off with a bow.

Make sure to check out more shots in the flickr pool, and stay warm out there, everybody!

The Friday installment of KEXP's 6th annual fundraiser jingled our bells!

Win tickets to this weekend's KEXP's Yule Benefit

imaginary liz — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:23:23 +0000

KEXP know how to do it right. This year they are marking the holidays with not one, but two nights of yule goodness... and they are sharing the good times with us by giving us a pair of tickets for each night of Yule to give away to a lucky imaginary reader.

And in classic KEXP style, both evenings' line-ups are bumpin':

Friday 12/12 @ Neumo's

    * Grand Archives
    * Shearwater
    * The Dutchess and The Duke

Saturday 12/13 @ Neumo's

    * Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
    * Shearwater
    * Cancer Rising

You can enter to win tickets for each night, but you must enter each one seperately. To enter, email us at tig @ threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "KEXPYule-FRIDAY" or "KEXPYule-SATURDAY" before 4p (PST) on Monday, December 7th and you'll be entered to win.

***Please make sure to include your name in the body of the email***

Win tickets to see Shearwater at Nectar on Thursday

imaginary liz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:45:11 +0000

Enter to win a pair of tickets to see Shearwater at Nectar this Thursday (July 24th)!

Email us at tig @ threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "SHEARTix" by 3p today (Wednesday) and you'll be entered to win.

Rook

zlint krommodir — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:33:03 +0000

9.2

http://www.amazon.com/Rook-Ocrd-Shearwater/dp/B0017R5UH8/wwwthreeimagi-20/

shearwater08jun.jpg

I'm never quite sure if I've had enough of Shearwater. The band delivers truth like a dentist delivers novacaine: despite the absence of pain, the nature of the proceedings is abundantly clear. Shearwater writes deliberate and thoughtful songs that tell of the terrible destruction surrounding us--but do so without scaring us, without the physical pain.

In this modern age of polluted oceans and resource wars, hope and optimism can seem to be endangered species. On Rook, Shearwater takes us gently by the hand, and bids we go witness the ruins of our natural world, rather than sit idly indoors, checking our email and catching up on our favorite blogs.

Rook, Shearwater’s sixth album, the group’s second on Matador Records, is a remarkable work from the Austin-based band. Clocking in at just under 40 minutes and one song shorter than Palo Santo – their critically-acclaimed Matador debut – Rook accomplishes more.

If Palo Santo evoked clouds gathering and forming the perfect storm over a landscape of human-driven global environmental disaster, Rook is a stern reflection on the present aftermath. The album dwells elegaically for long moments on pastoral epochs and then dramatically rings out the relentless and surprising incidents that ensue in the face of nature’s new and unapologetic incarnation.

The album follows a majestic arc setting off with an emotionally vast piece called “On the Death of the Waters.” Lead vocalist Jonathan Meiburg opens, singing plaintively to a solo piano figure that sets a somber, melodic tone. Soon after, Kimberly Burke’s elegant double bass enters and Meiburg reaches to his falsetto to issue a dark warning. "Oh my god/ As the spindle flies apart/ turn your bow to the biggest wave/ but your angel’s on holiday/ and that wave rises slowly/ and breaks" – and with it, the band crashes in with a huge wall of guitars, trumpets, and Thor Harris’ thundering drums – but only for a moment. Having now familiarized us with the gravity of their message, the band restores the song quickly to the quiet contemplation of its solo piano introduction.

Shearwater leverages their second track “Rooks” to intensify their statement. The album’s first single, it takes a more forward yet equally apocalyptic stance. The song begins with bell-tone guitar, a driving bass and drum beat, and piles of crows burning in fields by the side of the road. We are now in a world where even the ambulance driver is hopeless, advising we are best off staying indoors and sleeping until the world of man is paralyzed.

This is scary stuff, but it’s done so beautifully we can’t turn away. Furthermore, we ought to be inclined to listen attentively to such lyrics from a man who studies birds for his living when he’s not playing in the band. Meiburg has his Ph.D. in ornithology and has spent a good deal of time in natural refuges such as the Falkland Islands studying the caracara, a magnificent and ever-rarer bird of prey.

The aptly named “Leviathan, Bound” is a powerful and moving piece that is propelled by an amalgam of percussion, sans drums. The harmonies on this one are beautiful, as are the arrangements of strings, hammer dulcimer, and glockenspiel. Shearwater realizes the race toward ultimate consumption.

“Home Life” is complex, a work in itself that requires many listens to fully appreciate the intricacy of its melodies and changes. The song is an epic journey through the mind’s eye that features guitars, clarinet, strings, tribal beats, piano, and a quite chilling story of human expansion.

“Lost Boys,” a likely ode to Peter Pan, is a dark yet fanciful escape from Rook’s austere realities. Set against a cinematic backdrop of alternating strings and bells, a guitar gently picks while Meiburg sings a nostalgic falsetto. Once we are well-entranced in a world of fantasy, Thor’s thundering drumroll signifies we are near the edge of a precipice, and at once we are again in full flight. The band’s dynamic sensibilities are strong throughout Rook but showcase particularly well here.

“Century Eyes” is the album’s rocker, and ponders television. Shearwater must have known their message might not transmit without a measure of force. “Turn it off! Turn it off!/ With our backs to the arch and the wreck of our kind/ we will stare straight ahead for the rest of our lives!” You will die. Probably soon. This is Shearwater’s way of saying stop staring straight ahead. Wake the f*** up people. Thor’s beat on this tune literally has to be seen to be believed. Like Bruce Springsteen might rock the dystopic future Australia of Mad Max, Shearwater wails on this track.

Calm and beauty returns for a spell as “I Was A Cloud” contemplates the waning relationship between the sky and the sparrow.

“South Col” is the consequent void. The song depicts the absence of song and life through a tense and unsettling arrangement of bowed strings and glockenspiel.

“The Snow Leopard,” the album’s impressive climax, opens with a stately piano figure and spins headlong into a potent chronicle of the life lived by a creature of nature. Piano gives way to wrenching guitar and booming bass, each pushed slightly over the edge of overdrive and writhing over a sturdy marching rock beat. Meanwhile we learn that the very will of nature might be giving up, reaching the threshold of its ability to persist. Will its sullen child summon the strength to survive?

One answer may be heard in Rook’s haunting final track “The Hunter’s Star” which posits “No child at all/ would wake to the light/ of a sun that is reddening/ like a robin’s breast,/ and no lioness/ boards a last, great hull/ on the waves/ that close /on a world/ that will never return again/ and no sound escapes/ from the night to come.”

I don’t prefer or profess to be a doomsayer, but I do think it’s about time someone said something acutely provocative about the present state of our natural world. Shearwater speaks truth to the spoils of man and his crippling of nature.

Thank you, Shearwater. May we hear your next album.

I don’t prefer or profess to be a doomsayer, but I do think it’s about time someone said something acutely provocative about the present state of our natural world.

New releases from Easy Street Records

Jflores — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:23:09 +0000

Featuring new releases from Fleet Foxes, Shearwater, Aimee Mann, Animal Collective, and more.

New Shearwater releases today and you can have a listen for free

Deborah Barnard — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:30:11 +0000

The way quiet mistral-like vocals mixed with soaring instrumentals prompted the question, "Is this a good album to dance the horizontal tango to?"

Flickr photo of the day: Shearwater

imaginary dana — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:51:50 +0000

Lovely photo by Laura Musselman.

Bye bye Okkervil River, hello Shearwater

imaginary liz — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:48:09 +0000

One of our favorite Okkervil River band members (ok, we love them all), Jonathan Meiburg, is leaving OR to focus on his band Shearwater.

Tiptoeing toward the new year - what will be great in 2008?

Sarah Joann Murphy — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 04:34:49 +0000

All things considered, I think I can face Father Time if that's what 2008 holds in store. What albums are you awaiting in the next 365 days?

Will Sheff from Okkervil River and Shearwater

imaginary liz — Wed, 03 Dec 2003 08:00:00 +0000

Want to know which well known indie rock star dreams of hanging out in overcrowded frat bars and enjoys the Austin strip club scene?

Me, too (!)

Okkervil River lead-singer/songwriter/guitar-player Will Sheff knows! But, fortunately for the person in question, Will can really keep a secret. Besides skillfully crafting judicious songs that both seduce and haunt, Will is a man of gallantry, fortitude and moxie.

And you all are my witness, he swears he will never make out with Winona Ryder!

What is your favorite kind of coffee drink?

It doesn't really matter what kind... I like really black strong coffee. When I get home, I'll buy the organic, community farmer indigenous cooperative coffee. But that is if you are going to the fancy food store or the health food store. If that isn't available, then I will get Café Macello (?) which is like a mexican espresso. It is pretty strong and I like strong coffee.

I usually drink coffee every day. On tour it is hard because you have to drink a lot of gas station coffee. I'll mix the 7-11 cappuccino machine coffee with the weak coffee and come up with something so fake that it isn't really coffee. It is kind of like the general foods style coffee.

I had some pumpkin coffee that was really good tasting, but I realize it was entirely artificial and composed of nothing but chemicals. But it was good tasting, nonetheless.

So you've been on tour for your latest record, "Down the River of Golden Dreams" for months now and you've covered Europe and the US... how many different spellings of your band name did you encounter?
I wish that I did not share the name Okkervil River with the band. For the record, I fought against its nomination!

We had this big blackboard where we were marking up names... there was all kinds of really weird stuff... but we were coming up with names and I threw out "Okkervil River" because there was this short story that I had read recently. Everyone was just like "That's IT" and then I was like "No No no no no no! that is like the Shawshank Redemption of band names! No one is going to remember that name... no one is going to spell it right!"

I tried to come up with names at the last minute and they all fought it... and then I ended up unwillingly having to take the name. It is so hard to remember. Sometimes it gets spelled Overkill River.

You recorded "Down the River of Golden Dreams" at Tiny Telephone with John Vanderslice. The credits list him as playing bells on the album. Was that premeditated, or did he decide to add that in during the recording process?
John is a good friend of ours and part of the reason that we wanted to use that studio was because of him. He didn't really play a creative roll in the making of the record... he'd be the first to say. But, he kept saying that nagging us like "I want to be on your record," "I get people to be on my records but I never get to be on anyone else's record," "What am I going to do? I want to be on your record" and so we got him to play bells on this one song. And "play bells" is sort of misleading because you could have tied bells to the tail of a dog and it would have worked just as well. I mean no offense on John who did a fine job. It was just these weird bells, I don't even know where they were from... they were just these bells and he just sort of ran his fingers through them. He basically said, "I want to be on the record" and we thought it would be cool to have that little tinkling of bells as that would be our little psychedelic touch to that song.

That must be an honor to have John Vanderslice saying "I want to be on your record!"
Yea, that was really awesome. It was great to have him hanging around the studio while we were working on the record. I mean, I love his records and he is a really awesome guy.

And Daniel Johnston. When you duetted with him on your first full length {""Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See"}, was that something where he was a fan ahead of time and stalked you until you had him on a record?
Daniel is not even really a fan of anything that came out after 1978. I am a massive massive massive massive Daniel Johnston fan. And the guy who recorded our second record, he was working on it and he said, "We should try to get Daniel Johnston on this song!" He recorded Daniel's record, "Rejected Unknown" His name is Brian Beattie. He also recorded a new Daniel record that is not out yet.. it is coming out early next year {2004} that is AMAZING. I think it may be the best Daniel Johnston record ever. I mean, it is really really great.

Anyway, he has been friends with Daniel for a really long time and he thought it would be cool to have Daniel on this song. So I was really excited, really thrilled... I mean, I love Daniel so much. So we drove out and picked him up and... took him to the studio. It was really nice and it took no time at all. And then we went and bought comic books and hamburgers.

I feel so lucky that Daniel duet'd with me on that track. But, it was like, in a sense I feel very puny and inferior that he is singing my song and not the other way around.

Have you come across any unusual admirers?
The thing that I find coolest is when a band that I love knows who we are and likes us. I would love to know specifically the names of famous folks who listen to us... like even like... like Mark Harmon... I'd love to hear that Mark Harmon was an Okkervil fan.

That actually leads me to my next question... if given the opportunity, would you ever make out with Winona Ryder?
Never, never... not her just because that is the obligatory person. I think that once you become "The Next Big Thing," you get one free date with Winona Ryder... that is part of the whole "Next Big Thing" contract.

Yeah... get into a fight with Courtney Love, and you get to make out with Winona Ryder.
Yep, one free date with Winona Ryder... for me, no... not Winona. I was never much for Winona anyway.

You know, I bet that is what Conor Oberst said too! And all of a sudden... there he is in a couple magazines, making out with Winona Ryder!
Well, I have more fortitude than that... I am holding out for Scarlett Johansson.

I read your biography on OkkervilRiver.com that your goal is to be a failure. I've spent hours daydreaming about that. It is so beautiful. How did you come up with that?
There is a Bob Dylan line, "She knows there's no success like failure / And that failure's no success at all." {from the song "Love Minus Zero / No Limit" on "Bringin' It All Back Home"}

I always really liked that line.

Really, the whole thing about being a failure, it was just giving myself permission to do something that was very scary to me and embracing the very worst consequences of it with total ignominy. You know... throwing one's life away, playing in bars and ending up with no 401K, no wife, no kids, no nothing. And it is a very scary thing.

When I was in college, I was very concerned with what I was going to do with my life and where I was going to go with my career path once I got out of college. I was faced with all these options and they all did really nothing for me and left me cold. I decided that I was too afraid of failure and that I should just embrace that. I think, as an artist, that is an important thing to do. Don't worry about what people are going to think about what you are doing or where your friends fit in. It is better to fail spectacularly - to just fail in an epic, hilarious, glorious way than to sort of go over ok.

And so what we try to do is, we try to shoot for that. We try to shoot for putting everything that we have into it. If that means falling flat on our faces and making asses of ourselves and being object of public ridicule, then that is better than just passing mustard.

So for me, this whole thing of being a failure was this idea of wanting to just embrace what I had chosen. And embrace the very worst scenario of what could happen.

And so was being a musician and going on tour and not having a fancy computer and all that stuff... is that what you were most frightened of?

I am actually, scared of doing all this shit! I have had relationships that have come to messy ends because of being a musician. I've had to justify myself to a great many people. I've had to work really shit jobs so that I can tour. I don't have money, I don't have insurance. Health problems are sort of scary. Security is pretty scary.

And I guess my number one fear is to do all that stuff and have it all come to nothing and wind up being a 44 year old burnout working at McDonalds. Something like that. But you know what? If it is important enough for me to do this, then that is ok with me and that is what I will do.

I just think the most important thing is to believe 100% in what you are doing and be wiling to make those kinds of sacrifices.

That is beautiful.
Haha. Thank you.

It makes me want to quit my dayjob and sell all my stuff!
DO it.

Can you ask me some more questions? I usually don't spend sizable portions of the interview talking about making out and stuff like that.

Well, I guess I just wanted to make sure that you aren't going to end up making out with Winona Ryder.
Oh I won't... this is my pledge to you. Even if she comes knocking at my door, I STILL won't make out with her.

Good. That is comforting. I will feel sooo disappointed if I find out that you've made out with Winona Ryder. You know... rockstars disappoint me all the time.
Me too!

I was very lucky to get the chance to meet a prominent indie rock personality, and I will not say who it was...

What are his or her initials?!
No, I am not saying...

Middle name?!
I am not saying...

Birthdate?!
I am not saying...

Where is he or she from?!
Not saying...

Hair color?!
Nope...

HOWEVER, he is VERY big and I like his music a WHOLE LOT. His music is very sensitive and sweet and sort of affected and heartfelt and I was so happy to meet him.

During our conversation he reviled that he had a very intimate knowledge of all of the strip clubs in Austin and then we were walking down the street and we walked passed one of those really bad frat sorority bar where there was this line of fraternity and sorority kids waiting to get in and he goes, "I wish I was there right now. I've wasted my life!"

I was thinking, "Really, you would have traded all those great songs you wrote for a chance to hang out in that sorority bar?" And that was an example of being disappointed by a person that I thought was quite... a sensitive kinda guy. I was like... MAN!

Yea, it is odd when you met an indie icon and you find out something off the wall, not what you would expect...
I read an interview with Damien Jurado where he said that no song has ever made him cry.

He writes the songs that make you cry!
How could no song have ever of made you cry? And how can you love music enough to do it and yet have never have had a song make you cry. That is very strange to me. To each their own... but that is very strange.

What was the first song, album or artist that ever made you cry?
I don't know... really... that is in the foggy regions of my memory. But I can remember a song that I really went nuts for.

All kids really like pop a lot because it is really catchy and it has really simple emotions that all kids can relate to... I remember, God do I remember, being very very very... uh... moved by that bad pop song that goes like "Being without you, takes a lot of getting used to"

Oh yea, that is Peter Cetera... or Chicago did that? (yes, I have that kind of useless VH1 knowledge at the ready... I can't explain it)
Boy... I remember sitting in my chair, doing my homework and thinking about that song and imagining scenarios. To me, because I was a kid, it didn't even have a romantic context, it was just like somebody had died...

Or you were lost in the store and you couldn't find your Mom.
Yea, it was just like... I did not cry... but it filled me with this really deep melancholic sadness I remember really well. But I don't remember the first song that made me cry

I also remember when my parents bought me Sgt. Pepper on tape much later. I was in 5th or 6th grade? And listening to "With a Little Help from My Friends" and then actually, I did cry. I was so moved by that song. I don't know why. It just really killed me.

That is probably not the first song I cried to, but that is one of the first songs I remember crying to in an adult way.

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It is better to fail spectacularly... to just fail in an epic, hilarious, glorious way than to sort of go over ok.