You know by now that we never miss a chance to have a themed Track special if we possibly can, and what could be more special than Valentine’s Day with all that it entails? It offers the chance to once more pledge that undying love, maybe through words, maybe with a teddy bear holding a red heart emblazoned with that timeless message: “I weealy weally Luv U, 4ever.” Were sweeter words ever so inscribed? We are not being cynical – love is a special thing, as Bob Hite so memorably said: “love is a beautiful thing, yes, love can be found anywhere…even in a guitar.” Which brings us nicely back to music.
David James Allen is in no doubt as to whether this is love or no – By Your Side is a softly spoken ballad, oozing with pedal steel, which weighs worldly wealth in the scales against a lifetime of time spent with someone who loves you, and, guess what, he wouldn’t trade the latter for the former. It’s the latest single from his new album and Allen says that “I wrote By Your Side in the wake of getting laid off at work and being untethered from a day job for the first time in a long time. As I got deeper into the process, it became clear that this was a more raw kind of song about love and companionship as a refuge during a time of burnout and self-doubt. Through thick and thin, we keep pushing onward and upward together and that’s really the heart of song.”
There’s no doubting the feelings of contented co-dependency that can be found on the latest release from My Girl The River, taken from the new album Manifest Good Things. Without You poses a simple question – what would I do without you? And as time goes by, and things change, the question may require subtly different answers, but at the core remains the same.
Hey – did you know you can catch My Girl The River live in Bristol next week at Hen and Chicken Studio on the 19th of February?
And if that’s all getting a little deep and you were hoping for a lighter love song then we have just the thing for you, as Jessica Rhaye shares My Heart Belongs to You. She says of it that it: ” is a fun love song that echoes the spirit of 1950s country music and is inspired by a sweet love letter I received as a teenage girl, from a boy who poured his heart out. Though I never returned his feelings or his words, I kept that beautiful letter all these years, knowing someday it would become inspiration for a song. My Heart Belongs To You turns that long-lost note into a toe-tapping tale of young love, heartbreak and longing that lingers with a smile.”
And let’s conclude this little roundup with a song from Natalie Jane Hill. Her new song Colors is about grown-ups making decisions, and acting upon them. It is, she says “a love song- specifically about the beginning period of falling in love with someone. But it’s also about having a better understanding on personal boundaries and not losing yourself entirely in the potential of something new. It’s being able to enjoy the colorfulness of it, while leaving space for the mystery, too.” There’s a tinge of sadness, and a hint at a potential for love to be fleeting, in the lyrics though, as Hill sings “I’ve been thinking about the direction of my life / Where it’s been and where it’s headed / I’d like to keep you close, even if only in my mind / Cause I know how sometimes you gotta follow your light / And I know how sometimes I gotta follow mine.”
Colors is taken from the new album Hopeful Woman, and Natalie Jane Hill will be touring in May and June as the support artist for Ray LaMontagne.
Oh, and if you were wondering about that Bob Hite quote then maybe this’ll help jog your memory – it’s not really a love song as such, but, well, maybe we need something to bring us back from the realms of amour to the real world once more. So, whatever else you may do this weekend, don’t…forget…to…boogie!
