I woke up this morning. The sky was grayish, the air was cool. Feeling a tad melancholy, I stared at my music collection like I do every working morning scanning for something appropriate for the day. Since I have been so Juno-overdosed (first the movie, then the Oscar), I picked “Belle & Sebastian” – something I have hardly listened to – all because two of their songs are featured in the soundtrack of “Juno”.
A much celebrated Indie band from Scotland loved by the critics and fans but only enjoys limited commercial success. I can certainly relate to that. It is not everyday I am in the mood of “Juno” or “Kill Bill” (both have great soundtracks). Today I am Juno’lized, so “Push Barman to Open Old Wounds” it is.
Fans hail “Push Barman to Open Old Wounds” as the best collection from “Belle & Sebastian” ever as well as the right place where new listeners should begin their journey from. This 2-CD collection with a total of 25 songs is a compilation of their out-of-print hard-to-find singles and EPs from 1997 to 2001 – a period some fans see the band at the pinnacle of emotion, naïve, and charm. I personally find the memorable oldie-feel melody and the genuine part-humor-part-ironic lyrics a remembrance of my youth (though I am not that old, I must say!). It brings me back to the time when I could just say-out-loud on my views of the current society (“there are people going hungry everyday, they’ve got nothing on their plates, and you’re filling your fat face with every kind of cake” – taken from “A Century of Fakers”). It brings me back to the time when love is still innocent and the essence of a heartache is still something new (“she was the one love of my life, she showed me the road, I loved her dog, her steady gaze, the chapter is closed … my anger turns to pity and to love, the season has arrived” – taken from “I’m Waking Up to Us”). As we get older, we simply accept the way of the world as what it is and stop to care in the most innocent way. We become pragmatic.
There is something about “Belle & Sebastian” that I simply can’t find elsewhere. It does fill up a hole in my emotional world that unfortunately – or fortunately – does not appear often. Below is a live video of the song “I’m Waking Up to Us”.
2 replies on “Belle & Sebastian – Push Barman To Open Old Wounds”
I’m beginning to feel that way… to stop caring about what is happening in Singapore.
Got to kick myself hard because I have important things to do in the coming weeks. I’m going to do SOMETHING!
ECL – True. I used to read a lot about your constant battle with the Singapore system. Hey, how does your book coming along? I so look forward to buy one and come to your home personally for autograph.