First to Evanston, IL, in January of this year, where my friend T and I sat front row in the dim and intimate Space venue. We were seeing Teitur for old time's sake and were both hoping to hear only songs from his 2003 album, Poetry & Aeroplanes, which is one of my all-time favorite albums from any artist.
I distinctly remember that Teitur must've had a cold because his nose kept dripping, which was all too apparent from the front row. Gross? Maybe that's why it sticks out in my mind. The venue was too quiet, making it awkward to sing along, I thought, especially with our close proximity. The awkwardness was magnified by Teitur's quiet demeanor, a quality I used to find endearing at the height of my fandom. Not surprisingly, he only humored us with a handful of old songs we recognized; but while sitting at the piano, he did play a beautiful and melancholy tune that grabbed and held my attention. The very next day, I downloaded the rest of his music library to complete my collection, but I really only listen to the one song, "You Never Leave LA."
The next month, my friend E and I were in New York City during Fashion Week, preparing to head home after a far too short weekend of seeing absolutely no runway shows or celebrities besides Project Runway contestants and narrowly missing the blizzard of the year while still battling the elements of fat, wet snowflakes and bitter wind but having a blast nonetheless. I didn't want to go home yet and leave this city that I had fallen in love with despite everything; and as I sat in the airport, waiting for our flight that was miraculously not delayed, this song came to mind.
I boarded the plane, thought I'd said all my goodbyes
I bear no regrets, I'm only sorry how time flies
A man next to me, says the city is so shallow
Me I'm looking down, I see a city full of souls
And I can hardly wait
To see those lights again
A part of me remains
I'm forever changed
You're always almost there
It's a love and hate affair
I believe them when they say
You never leave LA
While trying to buckle down at work this morning, I put the song on and felt compelled to share it, especially with this season's Fashion Week coverage winding down and the recent 12th anniversary of 9/11. Even though the song is about Los Angeles, clear over on the other side of the country, the lyrics always remind me instead of New York City. I don't know if I'll ever go see another Teitur show again, but I'll definitely be back, NYC. Someday.
this is so touching! i'm constantly amazed at the power music and lyrics have over each of us. i remember sitting in my friend's house in CT looking up who teitur was before the '03 tour. we jokingly learned as many lyrics that stood out to us as we could in anticipation of the 4-5 shows where we would be seeing him open for hanson. later that year, i caught him do an acoustic performance at a borders bookstore. like so many of hanson's opening bands, i feel a pretty strong sense of nostalgia toward him and remember really enjoying poetry & aeroplanes but i definitely didn't keep up with him after that tour ended. it sounds like his music is worth getting reacquainted with... so thank you for posting this. :)
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