Cold, cold water

It's funny how music resonates with you years after the first time you hear it.

Back in 2007 I came across an artist called Damien Rice and hearing two of his tracks today struck me with the strangest feeling. It's so weird to just hear thse tracks and remember the person you were and place you were at when you first heard it and connected with it. But it's even more overwhelming knowing that whilst circumstances change and you're at a very different place right at this time you hear it years later, it affects you in a same way and you realise that in essence, the core of you hasn't changed at all.

I went to see him when he came to Sydney back in early 2007. To this day it's still the best live music concert I ever witnessed. The irony of it was it was one of the simplest performance and stagings I'd seen but his voice, his songs, lyrics and presence captivated all of us and it was so beautiful to just witness how much he put his soul and thoughts into these 3 minute pieces which honestly are timeless.

He somehow encapsulates within a single track an amazing depth and honesty of what people experience every day in their lives and their minds. It's those things you keep quiet, captive in your mind, and when you attempt to tell people, end up faltering because it's so hard. I get that. Understandably he's singing from the sincerest, most vulnerable part of himself - his heart - but I feel like he's speaking about a universal human experience of loss or vulnerability which I feel really really moving. It's challenging. He's like giving a voice, a quiet, faltering voice, to people's experiences and I can't get over it.
 
My favourite two tracks of the night were Cannonball and Cold Water.

Cannonball. In this song he sings about the feeling of just falling for someone deeply and being astounded by that feeling of losing yourself in that potential and their presence. My favourite part of song is when he says You step a little closer to me/Still I can't see what's going. And that's something I think most of us have experienced. It's like being in the presence of someone you're realising that you could, or are falling for, and being so overwhelmed that you can't think straight because you just don't want to blow it or scare them away. Or for those who haven't experienced this, you can get a glimpse of what it might feel like - so when it happens you will know the moment it happens and still struggle to cope with that feeling. You won't be prepared for it and that's the point.

It sounds like such a cliched subject to sing about but it's the way in which he sings the song, composes the music and performs it so understatedly, and just the lyrics, I'm in awe. Watching it live was one of the most arresting moments I can remember because it's like you can't get over how he can articulate that feeling with such simplicity and honesty. You can't take your eyes or ears away from it. You're compelled to look.

Then Cold Water came on and I just felt like crying because it's so sad. Watch this clip and the chills you experience are only a fraction of the experience you have watching it live. It's crazy.

I'm not religious myself and so can't relate so much to the idea of reaching out to God in times when I'm desperate, incredibly lonely or just feeling hopeless but I felt like crying because I'm sad that this is how low people can feel and it makes you realise how important having a faith is or simply something to believe in is. You need purpose, we all need purpose and it's really easy to get disillusioned or lose sight of what's important in life. And sometimes, when you finally realise this, you feel like you've wasted the best years of your life on trivial matters.

This song is so heartbreaking, and everyone who listens to this track regardless of what they are doing at the time, can't deny that. They can understand that and that's what's so sad.
Anyway I'm not so sure why I'm in such a forlorn mood to dig up these tracks from 5 years ago but I wanted to express how much they affected me when  I was 19 and why that hasn't changed to this day.