Wednesday, December 7, 2011

(17) Ghost Beach - "Empty Streets"


[In the past, I've written short blurbs for each of the year's 100 Songs.  Some of these "short blurbs" were actually thousands of words long, but you get the idea.  This year, sadly, I didn't have time to do that.  But I still have a lot to say about almost all of these songs.  So I'm just going to start writing.  This is one of a still-undetermined number of essays.  Maybe I'll find something to say about all 100 Songs.  Maybe there will just be a handful of these.  I'll try to write one every day, but I make no promises.  Also, they will be in no real order.  In case it gets buried, the original 100 Songs for 2011 post, with links, can be found here.]


(17) Ghost Beach - "Empty Streets"



In 2008, it was The Very Best's "Dinosaur on the Ark"
In 2009, it was Yeasayer's "Ambling Alp"
In 2010, it was Iron & Wine's "Walking Far From Home"


It has become a yearly tradition.  The song I hadn't heard until the 100 Songs list was all but complete.  The song I listened to over and over through late-November and early-December, tinkering with the rankings, first deciding whether or not to add the song to the list, then slowly bumping it up the charts with each revision, ten spots here, three spots there.  The song that, given another week of deliberations, I probably could have talked myself into as Song of the Year.  My obsession with this song is still growing.  If, while listening to 100 Songs for 2011, you think to yourself, "I wonder what song Aaron is listening to right now" ... the smart money is on "Empty Streets."  Eternal gratitude to my friend Jamie and the wonderful people over at the Neon Gold blog.

And the video is equally perfect.  If you set out to make the ultimate visual representation of the lyrics "Pretty girls, born in the 90s / They don't know much of '85 / They're alive, I'm barely breathing / Want to remember what that feels like" ... I don't think you could do much better than this.

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