Tuesday Tunes

Perhaps the past is tinted rose, but the further in the past a love becomes, the more fondly I recall it. It doesn’t come close to what I have now, and I have no desire to call an old girlfriend. But time erodes faults, and distills the past, at least for me, into several distinct and intense memories. And so I’m left with these false memories of first love, and remember, surely inaccurately, the perfection of those feelings. Here’s a song that’s captures that for me …

The Song(s)
Song: Girls Like You
Artist: Denny
Album: Single - 2017 - DENNY
Method of discovery: Searching for a different “Girls Like You”

Theory: There’s a stability to the song’s harmony: it doesn’t change very much. And what variety comes in, is not very much. The main pattern is I-IV-V, swapping out the I for a iv to coincide with the word ‘…cigarettes…’ in the first verse. Sometimes there’s a IV-V that’s slower. But what’s interesting about the sonic landscape is the chasms. There are several silences through the song, most notably at the intersection of sections, and to highlight the title. They act like punctuation, full-stops and exclamation marks, and their absence in the second verse helps it to feel like it’s accelerating. There is, much like young love, a false sense of urgency.

Research: Denny the band is three men, Alexander Rollins, Randon Nelson and Sully (according to the band’s Facebook). They hail from Minneapolis, Minnesota, both of which in part derive their names from the word for water in the native language of the Dakota people: ‘mni.’' That has nothing to do with the band, I just found it interesting. Denny entered the music scene with the highly praised ‘Bloom’ in 2016, and ‘Girls Like You’ was their next outing more than a full year later. According to some articles (linked below) the song is based around the diary entries of a younger Rollins, scribble memories ripped from old pages. They combine new and old influences into a soundscape both fresh and familiar.

Personal thoughts: I guess it’s the intention behind a song written in the present in part from the perspective of the past. I, and I imagine many others, can tap into the feeling of the song. For me, there is this pressure to act, and this urgency that time is running out.

Don’t stop to think this through

I can remember many times I’ve been infatuated, and felt like time was always running out for me to act on my feelings. The sharp sting of certain sounds or the way her hair was styled. These are the things that stick in the memory. Eventually, I moved past this approach, and just started telling people of my fondness. I’m glad I did. It may not be rose, but I prefer the current tint.

Give it a go: If you have loved and love again

Give it a miss: If you don’t like champagne and cigarettes

[links]
Spotify: Tuesday Tunes, Girls Like You by Denny
Denny: Website, Facebook
Wikipedia: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Other Articles: Sunlightmag, AtwoodMagazine, poptized