FLORENCE+ The Machine

Florence + the machine is perhaps my current favorite artist. Her songs are like Anthems, all of them, full of imagery and creative metaphors. She's not afraid to play with language, so many of her songs work as stand-alone poetry, but when screamed aloud by a beautiful, red-haired flowing banshee, they stick to my skin and burrow into my soul. (she'd have either written that better, or sung it with such power that it did the same to you).

Her songs explore love, death, heaven, hell, and often come with emotional bursts that explode from relaxed emotional states. There's a tender desperation that runs through all of her music, all of it backed up by the best percussions you've ever heard.

Her music has served as much of the soundtrack for my next release, ALL SMOKE RISES, especially Lilly's current state stuck in her darkness. I see this in songs like COSMIC LOVE.

 I was all set to see her live a couple years back, but child sickness changed all that, and I sold the tickets last second on Craigslist to some happy folks.

Not sure who she is? Well, you may know her from "Dog Days Are Over" or from "Sevin Devils" which was used as a Game of Thrones Trailer.  "Sevin Devils" captures the series so well, it was a slam-dunk to pick for the show.

(And now I've just found a twitter account that actually traces what books Florence is reading, and tries to read along. I'm in. https://twitter.com/BetweenTwoBooks)

So, Florence, please, make eye contact with me. I may suck a bit of your soul out when you do (you have plenty to spare). I’ll be in the 28th row at DTE theater, Detroit Michigan (really auburn Hills). Say this song is for Mark. Or for Lilly. 

COSMIC LOVE

A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes

I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I became

I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too
So I stayed in the darkness with you