This week has been a mixture of regret, shame, Oprah-style spiritual thoughts, and plans on making a change. I entered last week not feeling too great after a careless Friday night and spent last Saturday floating though an awaked sleep state. It was a wasted day; a type of day I strive to never have. I’m the type of person that thinks he’s wasted the day if he wakes up past 9:30 on the weekends. I enjoy the day; I enjoy mornings; I equally enjoy the evenings. After last Saturday I spent the better part of the week mulling over what happened, how and ultimately why? I took myself out of my body and imagined myself as Yukimi Nagano singing to the man in this classic Little Dragon track.
You grew high, taller than the middle class Boy, cash running in your pockets You skate high, gold on your finger tips They try to make people nervous Something missing in your smile Something missing in your soul Are you suffering the blues? Tell me why, tell my when, tell me why…when…”
This track is a classing WTF-are-you-doing-wake-up? song. The lyrics abide by Little Dragon’s eloquent blend of jazz, blues, and pop; poetically calling out someone for carelessly losing themselves. It’s a track that could easily become an irrational outburst if the conversation were had in real life, but Little Dragon delivers it simply and accompanies the words with a production that serves as a quick hit to the back of the head – as if the music is saying, “You idiot.” Tycho hears this in the track and turns the message into something akin to a transmission from another planet. I’ve read that this was Tycho’s first ever remix; whether it is or not, it’s a track that keeps the integrity of both artists. Lush synths melt into reverberating chimes that work in concert with Yukimi’s milky vocals. The bit at 1:50 is a personal favorite. It brings the track down to earth for a cool 10 seconds before taking us back into the atmosphere.
Tycho’s take on this track is something to get lost inside. It had me floating between both introspective and extrospective states. At what point do you acknowledge that youth no longer means reckless consumption and wastefulness? What is youth after that? Picasso said that “youth has no age.” What then is youth? Perhaps it is realizing the absence of something Yukimi sings about in the track’s bridges, and rather than fill the void with careless outings and wasteful spending you make it a point to grow into space that’s missing. Maybe? I’m no Oprah or spiritual guru, but tracks like this make for reliable stand-ins.
I’m gonna keep explorin’.
