3 Things I'm Grateful For
An Album, A Show, A Metaphysical Phenomenon
Hey there friends, we’re back on the every Friday schedule with Three Things I’m Grateful For, some thoughts and recommendations of things I’ve been digging.
“What If This Is Good Enough?” has been out for about a week, and the song itself is an incredible little forget-me-knot. As I sit and stress the numbers, whether what I’m doing to promote the work is actually working, I am reminded of the individuals who have reached out to say that the song touched them, that it made them feel something, so much so that they went out of their way to share it themselves.
I talk a big game about making art, not commerce—that the point of all of this is to share and to connect, and that happens at an individual level, not a “quantifiable” one—so here I am trying to walk the damn walk.
Every time I sing the song, whether it’s on stage at the Troubadour or alone in my bedroom, I try to take a little moment right before the last line—“I believe that this…”—to open my eyes, to look around, to breathe in what I’m doing, and take the song for what it’s teaching me.
This is all there is.
Three Things I’m Grateful For
1) Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain by Raveena
Think thoughtful modern indie pop meets Corinne Bailey Rae (“GIRL PUT YOUR RECORDS ONNNNN!”)—but with a distinct Indian flavor, some Tabla drums, harmonium drones, and sitars that create this unique texture that feels both infinitely familiar…but also ridiculously fresh.
The grooves are light and plentiful, layered with textured vocals, unique samples — but also live instruments, vintage guitar tones, and good ol’ fashioned soul music mixed in.
If you dig Maggie Rogers, Cleo Soul, Clairo, or even Solange, you’ll feel this for sure. And if you’re my dad reading this and don’t know who most of those people are but like really solid songs that feel good, you’ll dig it too.
Stand out tracks for me are “Every Color,” “ Rise,” “Lose My Focus,” and “Pluto.” But it’s a full-album kind of a vibe for sure.
2) The Last of Us
So, they’re trying a bit too hard to be Game of Thrones, and it’s not Game of Thrones, but while we may never again reach that level of TELEVISION PHENOMENON, this is a real good version of that same kind of thing. And that’s not a knock. Different version, different ideas, different lessons, etc.
Look, (almost) nothing is new anymore.
I heard the creator of the original video game state his writing philosophy: "Simple stories, complex characters," saying something to the effect of "it's a guy and a girl and a road; you know what it is.1" And yeah, there’s an apocalypse and existential threat of zombies—but it’s not about the zombies.
It’s about the way we trust one another, let others into our lives, how we survive, and how we live with ourselves whether it’s life or death or just the small moments of day-to-day life.
Bella Ramsey, the main actress, is a treasure. Something about her presence and poise just makes her fascinating to watch, and the depth of her character here unearths some serious truths about young people—young women in particular—and their complex alchemy of attachment and emotions, how they can push people away, cling to friends and protectors, all while fighting fiercely to simply protect their (burgeoning) independence2.
It’s made me want to find some friends to watch it with, these kinds of shows always being better when watched with at least 2-3 homies in the room with you, feeling the rise, fall, thrills, and quiet moments together.
3) Live Sports On Delay…and how we’ve bent the continuum
What has happened to time now that I can watch a baseball game from 3,000 miles away, 2.5 hours on pause, and it doesn't matter what's happened by the time it's actually happening?
I'm watching a game, yelling at it on my iPad as if it is literally happening, uncertain of the outcome, cheering on my guys, pleading with Anthony Volpe not to swing through another center-cut fastball…but the game is already over, already determined. And it makes no difference to me.
Everything still feels completely present tense—it is that night’s game, after all—and yet we’ve quietly bent the laws of physics to our will.
I know it’s been around for a little while, but this was literal science fiction in the early lifetimes of our parents and grandparents. We have immense power over our experience of reality, and it has led us to levels of comfort, ways of choosing what we do with our time, how we occupy our minds that cannot be overstated but are clearly taken for granted.
The challenge is we can’t let it mess too much with everything else, this god-like power we have to distract ourselves however we want.
For today, I’ll just take a second to make sure I acknowledge it.
-David
Also remember that this was based on a video game, which, while (apparently, I haven’t really played video games since Grand Theft Auto IV) full of complex character development, is also mostly about adventure and exploration…and mashing B on some mushroom zombies. And, again, that’s not a knock.
There’s a sequence in this past week’s season 2 episode 3 where we see her finally give in to full-throated sobbing before hearing a friend enter her house downstairs, and watching her try to pull herself together, wipe away tears, and appear “cool, calm, collected, whatever” made me literally gasp out loud. The pain, vulnerability, and REALNESS in her face was absolutely amazing