Saturday, November 8, 2014

“The Blue, the Green” by Lonely the Brave – A Song Review

     We are drawn to songs that are simultaneously distressing and uplifting. They cause reflection almost every time they are played. They have a power. When the band Blue October performs within driving distance, we make the trip. So, the obsessive behavior toward the recently released video by Lonely the Brave was not surprising.
     In the video of “The Blue, the Green,” the person who is shown at the start is clearly a troubled individual. After waking, he takes a number of prescription medications (no, they aren’t shown as being blue pills and green pills). Later in the video, there is a scene in which he is visibly sick during the night and another that reveals he tends to experience shortness of breath. It is distressing to a compassionate viewer. In contrast, the brotherly relationship that unfolds in the video is uplifting. It is the type of relationship that would cause most people to consider the guy to be blessed.

     On the Facebook page of Lonely the Brave, they identify their genre as “Doom-Pop.” That seems appropriate. They are a UK band based in Cambridge. They remind us of Biffy Clyro when that Scottish band is going right (such as in “Black Chandelier”). The members of Lonely the Brave are Gavin Edgeley (drums), David Jakes (vocals), Mark Trotter (guitar), Ross Smithwick (guitar) and Andrew Bushen (bass). When asked about “The Blue, The Green,” Trotter stated, “Our favourite songs are the ones that you take as your own. The songs that remind you of a place, a time or a moment; something that is perhaps far removed from what the artist was originally writing about.”
“The Blue, The Green” Lyrics
There was one time,
There was sunshine,
And the clouds staggered in.
Oh the clouds staggered in
I was crashing down a hillside,
I was tied up in the blue and the green.

And there was progress,
In the process,
Of the hope that fell on me.
Oh the hope that fell on me.
Then you wake up in a hollow,
And there’s a black mark where your heart should’ve been.

So carry me out to the garden,
So I can breathe it in,
Cause I’m in trouble again.
Oh carry me out to the garden,
So I can stop the end,
Cause I’m in trouble again.

When I woke that night,
Oh my head was spinning round.
It was spinning round.
I could have laid down and died,
But my head was spinning round.
It was spinning round.

I wanna know what it’s like,
So I can feel it inside.
I wanna know what it’s like,
So I can feel it inside.
I wanna know what it’s like.
I wanna know what it’s like.
You wanna know what it’s like.
(Repeat)


Another quality song by Lonely The Brave is the guitar-driven “Victory Line.”

3 comments:

  1. Great taste in music, Blue October and Lonely The Brave! My favorites

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe this song is about a cancer patient "the blue" may represent his sadness and "the green" may represent the sick feeling he has from going through treatment. As a survivor myself I feel as though I have felt exactly what the the person in the song is going through wanting to enjoy the life they have left knowing it may not possibly be cut short. The video seems to confirm this as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Unknown August 29th..I feel it's very uplifting though to know that people are there for you..during this very difficult time.

    ReplyDelete