Music Mondays: Josh Groban – “She Moved Through the Fair”

Yes, I’m a proud Grobanite! And although the popular classical crossover singer Josh Groban hasn’t released any new albums recently, I’ve been listening to his music the past few days to “pump up” my excitement about seeing him in concert for the third time later this week. If I had to pick one song from his latest CD, 2013’s All That Echoes, that I’m looking forward most to hearing, it would have to be “She Moved Through The Fair.” This traditional Irish ballad has been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Celtic Women, Loreena McKennit, and Hayley Westenra. Josh’s version is the one I’m most familiar with, and it still entrances me. The simple acoustic arrangements fit the lyrics’ pastoral love story like a summery white dress. And with Uillean pipes, a harp, and a violin along with Josh’s moving baritone, it stirs feelings of emotional intimacy that are hard to find in typical love songs. Think of it as a musical snapshot of seeing your lover’s innocence and true beauty for the first time, on a field of wildflowers under the stars. It takes my breath away every time – and honestly, it’s so beautiful that I don’t mind if it does.

Oh, and you get a bonus with the video below – because it’s a lyric video! Enjoy. 🙂

Music Mondays: Anathema – “Ariel”

Each of Anathema’s past three albums has at least one song that envelopes me completely in whatever feelings it conveys. On their latest album Distant Satellites, that song is the ballad “Ariel.” Understated arrangements at the beginning allow Lee Douglas’ evocative, angelic voice and the simple lyrics to shine. Then, in grand Anathema fashion, the music climbs in intensity until Vincent Cavanagh joins Lee on the mic. Brother Danny Cavanagh prolongs the already-gorgeous crescendo with a heart-cry guitar solo. Enough about the aesthetics, though. The true beauty of “Ariel” is its pervading emotion: love. It’s hard to describe, and I agree the lyrics can be interpreted as either pure happiness or lingering sadness… But “Ariel” stirs the former for me. Warm, auric, unmistakable, intensifying as the song soars on. There may be millions of love songs in existence, but to me “Ariel” defines the musical expression of love – the kind of love everyone deserves to experience in their life.