My general love for Delta Rae has sent me, via various audio platform’s algorithms, to some really great tunes I would never otherwise discover. I’d like to share my findings with you:
- “Bilgewater” by Brown Bird– “In spite of all the wherewithal all to fight it all, I embrace it all / When every day is like a war to go on and the wish that the world will spiral into the sun… If the sun was always shining and the load always light, we’d be shakin’ like a leaf with every God-given night and we’d break under the weight of every pressure that was ever applied…”
- “Canary” by Joy Williams – “There’s a madness in a cavern/ There’s a darkness that can blind/ Where it’s every man for himself No one’s getting out alive… But I will not shut my eyes, No, I will not fall silent/Canary in the mine,Oh, I will, ooh, honey I will…I will sing”
3. Saint Elizabeth – Kaia Kater This one was playing on my general southern and alt rock rotation for awhile barely noticed until I came into my lab and actually heard ‘With black and rotten teeth” and “with black and frozen feet, white roses all around”. I had to look up Saint Elizabeth. It’s not just catchy, it’s about a desperately self-sacrificing Christian woman who used their great birth and wealth to help the poor.
4. Delta Rae – Hands Dirty I almost feel stupid for sharing this one, but I will. When I fell in love with Delta Rae, they were a band with grounded, earthy, but also gorgeous and rich sound and a message I really loved. Right now, in 7/21, I have a hard time backing them because the message has utterly changed. I still think this song is really good, But don’t agree with the band anymore.
5. Billie Jean – The Civil Wars “Billie Jean was not my lover, she’s just a girl, she says that I am the one, but the kid is not my son,” I honestly did not care until this beautiful, beautiful recreation of the song. I still don’t care, but the Civil Wars have convinced me through beautiful harmony that the kid is not /my/ son.