The one reason I loved Alanis Morissette as a teenager and now for that matter was her rawness. Every time I listened to her, whether it would be on the radio, on my CD player or live on TV I felt like I was snooping at her diary. Every time she graced the stage and honoured us with one of her songs, it felt like she was leafing through the pages of her deepest thoughts and laying them before us. The strongest of music for me is music that comes from a real place, something true. This could be a dance song, rap, country, pop or any genre you can think of, it really doesn’t matter.
I can sit here and tell you I feel my bones move when I listen to Joan Baez singing ‘Diamonds and Rust. Regina Spektor sings ‘Samson’ like she has no other purpose than to tell that story. Everything else drops away when I hear in the background Robyn on the radio singing ‘Dancing On My Own’. The list does indeed go on.
You see it doesn’t matter what genre, age or even country the music comes from. It’s all where the music comes from inside, how raw and honest it is. The best music in the world is the music that cannot help but be written. That’s where Adele comes into this now, into the mix of music written and sung the way it always should be…with honesty. I always said I wouldn’t get on the bandwagon and blog about Adele, but then I thought is it really jumping on the bandwagon when I truly feel the same as everyone else? She’s good, undoubtedly good at what she does. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there as good as her, there are. But the aligning of the stars happened with Adele’s second album. People were in the right frame of mind to hear something refreshingly new, or more so to feel what music used to be. We got lost a little in the enjoyment of light-hearted ‘music for the moment’ and kind of forgot that there is music to be made that can last forever. Adele made some astounding songs from the deepest part of herself, not forgetting with the help of some astounding writers and producers too. She makes opening your heart look both a necessity and undeniably painful. It makes me sigh with longing to be in a room full of creative people who can come up with such beautiful art. So thank you to Adele for making me keep my eyes open and ears perked for someone else that brings that same raw difference to a ‘sell-out’ world. The irony is Adele has sold-out more venues than my brain can count. Goes to show people have a stronger need to feel than to see.
Music Maniac 