Thursday, August 24, 2006

Too Much: Thompson Brings Two for One

Lisa Germano

Today NPR Song of the Day's Stephen Thompson brings us two songs, "Too Much Space" by Lisa Germano and "Woke Up New" by The Mountain Goats. The former is the song of the day and the latter is a companion piece that "picks up where [the song of the day] left off". You can stream Lisa Germano's song from the article or from her myspace page. "Too Much Space" describes the pain of having too much space in bed, making too much coffee, generally trying to adjust after losing someone special. "Woke Up New" speaks of exactly the same things, but it looks ahead to the future. Both of these are good songs.

Music for the Morning After, and Beyond by Stephen Thompson
  • Song: "Too Much Space"
  • Artist: Lisa Germano
  • CD: In the Maybe World
  • Genre: Folk-Pop

The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle has a similar gift for coming by emotional rawness honestly, and his "Woke Up New" (audio) picks up where "Too Much Space" left off, but with a few days' worth of reflection hinting at brighter days ahead. After winsomely brushing past the practical details of newfound solitude -- absentmindedly making too much coffee in the morning, for example -- he eventually comes to tentatively revel in the moment "the world, in its cold way, started coming alive." An ideal companion piece to Germano's song, it examines the morning after the morning after from a newfound and hard-won perspective.

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