I want to know about you I want to live around you But it's easy to worry here Oh I hope I don't disappear...

To say I'm mildly obsessed with Pete Yorn's release Back & Fourth is an understatement. I can't stop listening to it - seriously - it's like 5 times a day - on my run - when I put my computer on to stroll the internet - when I work - the only safe place is my car - so far. There is something about this CD that is really getting to me. Every song has a great melody and every song has lines in it I can relate to. That's a rare thing for me. I'm not the sort to buy a song here and there from an artist I like - I buy the whole thing and hope to enjoy the whole thing - which usually I do - but this CD has taken that to a whole other level.

I can't find anything about it I don't like. Seriously. I will say that he sure seems like a tough guy to be in a relationship with - not sure I'd want to go there despite how cute and sexy he is - if his songs are any indication of who is in a relationship well then I'll pass. Not like I have the opportunity anyway - but you know what I mean. I'm sure there are people who feel that way about my music - hell - there are people who feel that way about me to say nothing of the songs I write. But I digress and this is a blog about other people's music not my own.

His songs on this CD are absolutely some of the best he's written. I have everything of his except the stuff he did with Scarlett Johansson - so I think it's safe to say he's really tapped in well to some emotionally heavy topics here - not just love. There's a song about an old flame who has died - "Social Development Dance" - a song about leaving someone "Shotgun" and "Rooftop" my favourite from this one - about well - ok - I take it back - basically this CD is about love and breaking up in it's various forms - but it's not a Debbie Downer compilation it's merely a conglomeration of the varying stages of break up we all go through; denial, love, "come back to me", "you drug addict, you" etc etc. Clearly he had a rough time of it whilst writing this one - and that's cool - his melodies bely the pain he's expressing in his lyrics so you have to really listen (and read his lyrics) to totally get that - but that's what makes this CD so well done. If you don't pay attention you can just hum your way into happy denial. It's like Suzanne Vega's "Luka" and that 10,000 Maniacs song "What's The Matter Here?" - both have very catchy melodies but are about a very serious topic.

Here are some of my favourite lines:

"Comin over the rooftop Would you save me? Cos I'm not okay And seasons change for everyone I've seen it all
And if the rain comes down Let the rain come down..." Rooftop

"And when we kissed it was electric A chemist made us for each other But I was far from being your only one My roommate said he'd seen you before...There's something missing in us We try to make it whole Though it never feels like it, I know you have it all..." Social Development Dance

"I know men aren't supposed to act this way, but things they got too real; I couldn't stay....Turn the lights down low and close the door, and try to feel the way I felt before. Hell, cry in the middle of the day, It better make me feel a better way, if it could take my pain away..." Don't Wanna Cry

"I needed some time To figure out my shit Still walking Through the mines Explosions never far I want to know about you
I want to live around you But it's easy to worry here Oh I hope I don't disappear..." Shotgun

So yeah - you get it......check this one out!!!! www.peteyorn.com or find him on itunes!!!!

WOW....so what can I say? Some of you may have noticed that I've been AWOL these last few months. There's an excellent reason for that. You see, I left Los Angeles - hence all the changes to this blog (new place, new beginning) - and have moved to Connecticut for the time being. I'm currently staying with my sister and my niece, who at 6 can't really say my name (or won't, lol), thusly calling me "LA LA" which explains why the name of this blog didn't change much. This all happened for various reasons and quite suddenly (no I wasn't running from the law or some po'd producer) but it happened and once the decision was made (that had been discussed for several years) why not just DO IT!! So we did it - sold nearly everything that wouldn't fit in a cabrio and a Cherokee and mailed some things....gassed up and left LA on 27 May. Everything happened with one month's notice so as not to pay more rent to my useless landlord than necessary and we didn't tell too many people. Why? Well - the few people that gave a sh** knew and the rest we figured would figure it out. The reason I didn't come out and say I was leaving on this blog (I hinted at it in the last posing) was because we were surprising someone and keeping the secret off of here and facebook was more fun than any 2 people moving across country should have.

Yep. FUN. Well, no, not really. It sucked eggs. My AC was out, it was 100 degrees some days and by golly it's a brutal trip even under the easiest of circumstances. Never mind that I had four chairs strapped to my roof, and the back was loaded up to the ceiling inhibiting my awesome speakers from shining. Oh well. What can you do? Sometimes you gotta get off the pot. Sometimes being near family and those we love is more important than a silly, overcrowded, flakey city. No - I'm not bitter - I'm very glad for my time there. I learned a lot, I met a ton of interesting people and made some friends who will be around until the end of time - and I wrote some good songs about the place. In fact there is much about LA that I miss but there is so much here in New England I'm getting to know again. I never fit in in LA - it was never my scene - but I fit in here. I belong. I revel in seasons and rainy weather. I love snow. I love lobster. I love New England and am so glad I grew up here. I'm even more glad to be back even though I have no idea where I will end up settling down (that will depend on a job) and no clue as to when that will happen, for now I'm with my family - for better or worse - I'm here and, as my song, "Now", goes...."I still don't have the answers, I still don't know our chances, all I know is I'm alive...."

Thanks for tuning in...until next time.....CHEERS!!!