Music Monday

Hi.

Back for your musical treat? You came to the right place. Today a video dear to my heart.

David Bazan was part of the band Pedro the Lion. The band was originally had the vision of being a sort of worship band, in fact I believe they started as a worship band in a church in Bellingham, WA. They became fairly popular but eventually broke up after one of their more creative leads, David Bazan, couldn't keep his act together any more. He had a bit of a drinking problem you see. He struggled with alcohol while on tour and eventually it hit hard at home. He also struggled with many elements of faith that they were having more and more pressure to profess due to their "Christian" band status and popularity. He decided to leave the band, regroup, and go solo. This of course is only bits and pieces of the whole story but it's as much as I know.

I came across Mr. Bazan in the aftermath of these events. The album that he had just came out with was brutal and beautiful, brutiful. In it he sang about his decisions, struggles, secrets, doubts, and pain that he caused. When I heard his songs, especially when I heard him live, I was struck by his ability to communicate all of these things through his songs. He has an ability to display a dubious thought in the present tense and his regret of it in the past tense all at once. I'm not sure what that is called or if it even makes sense but that's the description I'm sticking with.

Here are a couple other things I really enjoy about David Bazan:
1. He toured the US through means of house shows. He would come to your house and play for you and your friends if you were able to pay him for it. Basically he would charge $500, you would get 25 people together who wanted to see him play a show and charge everyone $20 to pay him. Then he would show up at the designated place and play a personalized show. Pretty cool, I wish Radiohead did that.

2. He ends every concert with his cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

3. He sings very low.

This is David Bazan covering Hallelujah



I know I know, it started half way into the first verse, there is annoying people talking, and it sounds like he is singing into a pillow. Why did I choose this video? Because I was there, in Seattle, watching this show, just to the right of the camera, and during this song I was fully absorbed. To this day this is my favorite version of this song. At the end when he yells the final hallelujahs you wouldn't believe how hard he actually yells it. He seriously puts everything he has into it. It. was. incredible.

Until next time, keep your halle's lujahed

EO