There's a little bit of magic, everybody has it There's a little bit of sand left in the hourglass

Artist- Jenny Lewis
Song of the day- Head Underwater

I know I can't believe it took me a whole week to get to Jenny Lewis' new album either, but really I held out as long as I could. After working 9 days straight and being told by multiple co-workers  and patients that my self medicating ben-gay body balm scent was a little too overpowering all my muscles have wanted to do was relax. And like an annoying old friend you can't get rid of, insomnia knows the perfect time to rear it's ugly head. As I lied awake at 3am counting the minutes till I had to be on my feet again, I felt a little less alone humming this song in my head.

I won't bore you with another repetitive rant on why Jenny Lewis is pretty much the best and all the reasons why she is the forefront voice of pretty much every woman you encounter (at least the cool ones) even if they don't know it. Mostly because I'm too tired to make a deserving compelling argument. But I will just say she is a hell of a song writer and can make even the worst times of our lives a little more groovy. Here's a little pick me up to start your week the only right way I know how. Thanks Lewis.



I've been wearing all black since the day it started
When I stopped and looked back as my mind departed
I've been losing sleep and I cannot sit still
I'm not the same woman that you were used to
I put my head underwater baby, I threw my clothes away in the trash
I stood barefoot on the blazing concrete, I was waiting for the gut of the thunder
I don't wanna bore you with how I feel,
but when the walls came down, the shit got real
I never thought I would ever be here,
looking out on my life as if there was no there
I messed around with something I always hated
I took a blanket into the bath
Opened my eyes and hallucinated,
I took a nap and woke up in the grass
There's a little bit of magic, everybody has it
There's a little bit of sand left in the hourglass
My own mortality, I contemplated
Down in the valley i got hypnotized
It left a mark that hasn't faded
That's when I realized
There's a little bit of magic, everybody has it
There's a little bit of sand left in the hourglass
There's a little bit of magic, everybody has it
There's a little bit of fight left in the end
I put my head underwater baby, I held my breath until it passed
Crossed my fingers and concentrated
I closed my eyes and I was free at last

Been beat up and battered round Been sent up, and Ive been shot down

Artist- Jenny Lewis, Ben Gibbard, Conner Oberst
Song of the day- Handle Me with care

It seems only appropriate I play a Jenny Lewis song to send me to sleep the night before my last test in nursing school. And after this rough and tumbling week and the stress of tomorrows test I can't express how true this anthem is. At times much of nursing school and a lot of this week felt a lot like getting beat up every day till a few weeks till graduation has me hoping that my fragile body can possibly be handled with care. If you are feeling the same this one's for you. And if you care to remember, shoot some major prayers up for me tomorrow cuz I'm in need of major care handling from the man upstairs!



Been beat up and battered round
Been sent up, and Ive been shot down
Youre the best thing that Ive ever found
Handle me with care

Reputations changeable
Situations tolerable
Baby, you're adorable
Handle me with care

(chorus)
Im so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Wont you show me that you really care

(bridge)
Everybodys got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine, and dream on

Ive been fobbed off, and Ive been fooled
Ive been robbed and ridiculed
In day care centers and night schools
Handle me with care

Been stuck in airports, terrorized
Sent to meetings, hypnotized
Overexposed, commercialized
Hand me with care

(chorus)

(bridge)

Ive been uptight and made a mess
But I'll clean it up myself, I guess
Oh, the sweet smell of success
Handle me with care

But you are what you love And not what loves you back

Artist- Jenny Lewis
Song of the day- you are what you love

As I am inching quite closer to having a full 365 day music blog, i've started thinking of all the songs I'd wanna make sure were included. And as I've been playing open mics at one of the only country bars in Chicago lately, I started re listening to this album. If there was only one album in the world that defined me musically it would be Jenny Lewis' Rabbit Fur Coat. It is the rare instance in my life where I know exactly where I was (silverlake resevoir) and what I was doing (attempting to run around it and failing miserably). But by the time I made it around and back in front of the club Spaceland on my way back home I knew two things for sure: a) I still hate running b) I'd found my music. Thus is my musical origin story that tail spinned into music reviewing, music playing, music writing, and all around music obsession that makes up who I am now. Though I was obsessed with each song on the album from various times, the song writing in today's song is why I fell in love with her music. And it's difficult for a music addict to pick a favorite, but today's song usually leads the pack in this instance. It holds my favorite musical quote of all time. And though the album version is quite fantastic I just found this super early stripped down version that let's the writing shine. I could talk about everything I think the song means but it really does speak for itself: you are what you love and not what loves you back...it's at times a painful but true lesson to remember at least about myself and also sums up my love affair with music. It's quite usually a one sided love affair but in the end I am what I love. To all the things we love and we are, this one's for you.



This is no great illusion
When I'm with you I'm looking for a ghost
Or invisible reasons
To fall out of love and run screaming from our home

Because we live in a house of mirrors
We see our fears and everything
Our songs, faces, and second hand clothes
But more and more we're suffering
Not nobody, not a thousand beers
Will keep us from feeling so all alone

But you are what you love
And not what loves you back
That's why I'm here on your doorstep
Pleading for you to take me back

The phone is a fine invention
It allows me to talk endlessly to you
About nothing disguising my intentions
Which I'm afraid, my friend, are wildly untrue

It's a sleight of hand, a white soul band
The heart attacks I'm convinced I have
Every morning upon waking
To you I'm a symbol or a monument
Your rite of passage to fufillment
But I'm not yours for the taking

But you are what you love
And not what loves you back
So I guess that's why you keep calling me back

I'm fraudulent, a thief at best
A coward who paints a bullshit canvas
Things that will never happen to me
But at arms length, it's Tim who said
I'm good at it, I've mastered it
Avoiding, avoiding everything

But you are what you love, Tim
And not what loves you back
And I'm in love with illusions
So saw me in half
I'm in love with tricks
So pull another rabbit out of your hat