In This Home On Ice

#32

02.01.10

Photo

While I was reflecting on The Czars Paint the Moon lyrics from #30 I thought of these irregular and randomly shaped pieces of ice churned out on to the shore of glaciated lakes.  They reflect that blue-grey light referenced in the song, plus a hit of green.  Perhaps you'll recall blog entry #13 Grey (Blue) Ice Water which attempts to describe the paradoxically indescribable beauty of glacier water.  This glacier water ice holds similar properties and beauty.

Here are a few more photos showing how simple ice blocks wedged from the edge of a lake might make for interesting and beautiful photography subjects:

Perhaps these images will not strike you as beautiful and / or interesting, but they do strike me so.  I love how these subjects were lying on the ground at my feet while I looked above them, searching for a pretty vista to capture.  I wonder how many times in my life, or in every day, there is beauty at my feet and I miss it while looking for the forest through the trees?

Music

I have been burned twice in the past year for highly recommending Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY) to friends, and like Edward Bear (a.k.a. Winnie-the-Pooh), being of very little brain, Here I Go, Again.  In This Home On Ice was the first song I ever heard of CYHSY, and it hit me so strongly and so favorably that I have issued them a permanent carte blanche to create as they see fit, and I will follow.  The song just explodes from the first bar with amazing rhythm and lead guitars, with a different "tone" than ever have I heard.  

Many listeners will probably experience a similar and surprising "Whoo" escape their lips as the song starts; but from tragic personal experience, that Whoo-factor is usually battle-axed once Alec Ounsworth starts to sing.  I have no argument that his delivery is whiny and nasally; but it's that very brave uniqueness  that strikes me as wonderful.  

Ounsworth is the lead writer and vocalist for the band, and he is from my home-away-from-home Philadelphia.  The rest of the band is based in Brooklyn, New York.  This track came off their first and self-titled CD.  The song has many layers of meaning if you decide you can tolerate the singing and listen to it several times.

To me it is a critique of society built on a fragile foundation, 'in this home on ice".  I like the line about being sad because now he can "dance all night".  It doesn't make any real sense, unless he's just saying he will live happily despite his misgivings.  I hope you'll share your ideas with me if it strikes you in a different way.  

Parting Comments

The Czars were featured in #30 "Wolf Moon" with their song Paint the Moon.  I had written so much about procuring the photo of the moon that I slighted their very beautiful song.  I thought up today's blog entry just last night as I was reflecting on some of their lyrics:

Don't paint the sun anymore.

Paint the moon, and the stars

In an autumn sky.

Paint me cool blue waters, with

Shades of gray.

Just don't let me

Live my life this way,

Without you.

I think the song deals with the loss of a loved one, probably by death in this song, but possibly about any loss.  In any event, I like the mood and cadence of the song.  There are some nice harmonies, too.  But what I really like are these lines above asking not for the standard or typical bright sun-shiny days, because you cannot really appreciate those sun-shiny days unless you experience ample blue-grey days as a counterbalance, right?  So why fight it or avoid it?  The Czars say bring it on, and I agree.  Beauty abounds; it's just a matter of perspective to find it all around us.


Until tomorrow... thank you for looking, listening and reading.  CCE