“Don’t forget the songs…”
We have spent the last few days at John Henry’s, making sure we were ready for the gigs that are ahead of us!
These songs are songs I heard over and over again, of which I know the lyrics by heart, and that I can recognize with the first notes, whatever they are. They all have their stories, some complete and crystal clear, some to which only fragments remain. For some, I clearly remember the moments when I first heard them. For others, I remember the studio sessions we’ve had, discussions about the songs, reactions after a certain riff was found, difficulties the band members had to touch exactly what they wanted to convey the way they wanted to. I have a very particular relationship with each and every one of them, a love-hate relationship, they’ve been through ups and downs with me.
At times they are the reflection of my own self-inflicted miseries, describing better than I could ever have what I was feeling. At times they are the trigger to a profound let go. At times they are a source of joy, their melodies being enough to lift me up. At times I want to listen to them over and over again, to escape. At times they are my favorite songs and I could listen to them over and over again. But they all have something in common. The more I listen to them, the more I understand them. And the more I understand them, the more I understand myself. Some of these songs I heard back in 2006, 2007… Like “Midnight’s Crashing”. That’s one of the song I remember hearing for the very first time. I was still living at my parents’ at that time, going to university. And I received an email, it was hotmail back in the days, from Alex, with only a few words and an attached file. High speed wasn’t exactly what it is today, so it took me around 20 minutes to download the song, on that old desktop computer, the old beige one, on which the screens were as big as the computer themselves, and on which you could still use floppy disks. Those 20 minutes seemed to last forever. But the file was finally ready. I opened it using Winamp player, and listened to it one first time. Then a second time. And then a third. And over and over again until my mother called me for dinner. But I couldn’t care less about it at the moment. I was living an experience. The song has brought me into a different world, where the only thing that mattered was the song and myself. Nothing else around me existed. And today, as I listened to the band rehearse at John Henry’s studios, I felt exactly the same! The song is different. It has evolved a lot since I first heard it, as the band members grew, discovered new sides of what freedom was about, what letting go meant in different ways as well, both on and offstage. This is what amazes me the most with music. It changes as you change, it grows as you grow, but a song once meaningful is forever meaningful. And the more honest you are, the more meaningful it becomes with every time you listen to it, on cd or live…
“Don’t forget the songs that made you cry, and the songs that saved your lives”…
And I can say, without a doubt, that these songs have saved my life today, and that they will save my life once again, every night they will be played.
– Stephanie
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Comments (3)
Moose (YFE)
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You said it right Stephanie, we grow with songs. As the initial spark stays when we play them. It’s fascinating to grow with songs like Little Sister, Midnignt’s Crashing or Open Your Eyes. I have the blessing to be with friends that inspires me to constantly go further, brothers and sister who out of love challenge each other and it’s exactly what we bring in those songs we played over and over. Well from one tour to another they keep reflecting the path we walk on. After spending a month without holding a pair of sticks, three intensive rehearsing days like the ones we just had at John Henry’s are a real smash for my entire body. The prayers and simply the joy of rehearsing in this place that we love and which truly feels like a home away from now, this putted together keeps the focus on the blessing instead of letting my physical condition influence the course of such precious days. In a few hours I’ll be doing what I’m called to do with the ones I love the most, ain’t that a beautiful occasion to let go and live it to the fullest?!
Moose
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Marjo
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Thanks for sharing such an insightful story with us Stephanie! Your Favorite Enemies’ songs definitely spoke to me throughout different seasons of my life too… and they still do, in the season which I’m standing in right now!
At times, they are empowering me… That’s what songs like “Would You Believe” or “Where Did We Lose Each Other” do to me… At times, they speak truth in my life… I’m thinking about “1-2-3 (One Step Away)” or “Anyone” which do that… And in some other times, they are friends, companions, in a daily life walk…
I could go on and on and on! lol! And I’m looking forward to keeping on discovering those songs more and more, as life goes on and as YFE keeps on sharpening themselves and their soulful and vivifying sound, through times and tides… I will never thank you enough guys for being part of my life!! 😉
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Mary
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You know what I find nice? We can all try to find the meaning of a song when we hear it, and share about our impressions and interpretations. But what touches me the most, no matter the song we’re talking about, is when a person shares her own experience through it. This is when, for me, we can all connect… Even if our experiences are different, the song is powerful enough to make us live something deep and true. So thanks for sharing your experience.
For me, Midnights’ Crashing is a song that cannot be lived alone in a live show, ’cause there’s so much energy in it that I need to jump, scream, hold my friend Marie-Eve’s hand so we challenge each other to jump higher and pour our guts out!! lol There’s no other way to live it for me… yet 😉 We’ll see next time I have a listen!
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