Grant Lee Buffalo: I’m in Love with a Band that Broke up 20 Years Ago
I want you to meet my new love interests: Grant Lee Buffalo. Too bad the band is from twenty years ago. What happened? How did I only now stumble on to the melancholy genius of these guys? No explanation.
Thank goodness for Spotify, which allows all of us to explore bands and music we would never know about otherwise, especially since we can’t go wading through record stores exploring music like we used to when ahem…some of us were teenagers, and especially in the middle of a pandemic.
One of the songs that shot an arrow through my heart is Mockingbirds. It’s like it was meant to be on one of my playlists. Olivia struggles with feelings of doubt and encounters tragedy upon tragedy. I can imagine her saying something similar about devastation as if she could meet him/her on the street.
Devastation at last, finally we meet
After all of these years out here on the street
I had a feeling you would make yourself known
You came along just to claim your place on the throne
Now I have been overthrown
Overthrown
Devastation my door was left open wide
You brought me into your heart then you swallowed my pride
I had a feeling you were hiding your thoughts
I made a note to myself I nearly forgot
Now I am overwrought
I’m overwrought
I don’t know what the songwriter had in mind, but for me this song really plays into my thinking about thrones and destabilization of old ways as a part of Book 3 and it makes allusions to other worlds and adventures gone bad.
Salutations at last down on my knees
I heard the bugle this morn blast reveille
Woke from a dream where I was in a terrible realm
All my sails were ablaze I was chained to the helm
And now I am overwhelmed
I’m overwhelmed
I haven’t yet, but I should really send these guys a love note for inspiring my writing. If you haven’t you should check out their songs. Do you have a band or song that really captures your attention or mood? Send me a link and we’ll feature it on our social media.