So. Just saw Andrew Bird [for the first time] last night at a most epic setting (Fourth Presbyterian Church) here in Chicago, with a snowy blizzard quietly wreaking havoc on the communities outside. We sat in our pews like obedient romantic children of yore while listening to a man create looping melodies and harmonies with his violin and whistling by his lonesome. Fittingly.

Meta. In today’s context, meta has become a literal self aware dirge of popular media. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to consume something that isn’t overtly somber for the sake of cracking emotion in it’s listeners. But when you are able to take common motifs form pop music over the decades and take advantage of the listener in such a heartbreaking and loving way… you win. You win me.

Take no better example than Andrew Bird and Fiona Apple’s epic duet (we saw last night with the beautiful accompaniment of Kate Hogan, doing her own well received rendition) Fifty-two seconds. Fall in love with the simplicity that one word can personify all the difficulty, sorrow, unfairness, and heartbreaking misery that life can provide. Relationships are fucking hard. Life is full of bullshit. What is time. Still, remember that for every moment of self heartache and agony, there is another perspective that probably doesn’t see everything in the same tragic romanticism.

I’m a skeptical cynic at heart. Questioning my own deservedness for happiness on a daily basis. But just listen. Listen to your lover. Empathize with others. The world isn’t only yours to fuck up. Click.