Ballad from Haim has timeless quality

Modern classic: Alana Haim takes centre stage for the final verse of the
song Halleljuh, flanked by her older sisters Danielle and Este

If there's one song from 2019 that will be remembered long after the curtain falls on New Year's Eve, it must surely be the newly-released lilting ballad from Haim.

Alana Haim begins the third and final verse of Hallelujah with these poignant words: "I had a best friend but she has come to pass, one I wish I could see now."

It is a song that evokes the style of Simon & Garfunkel, and Fleetwood Mac. However, it carries a charm and resonance of its own and the hallmarks of the timeless classic it is likely to become.

Musically, the stripped-down song is mostly confined to the acoustic guitar picking of Danielle Haim, who also does the largest portion of the singing, although the third and eldest of the Haim sisters, Este, delivers the second verse.

It is the blend of clean harmonies, clear voices and acoustic treatment that so effectively creates this moving ballad. Alana's heartfelt lyrics and the mood of the song are unencumbered by any distractions.

I'll say no more about the song, because it is something that will hold different meanings for each listener, and it springs from a personal story from Alana's life, which she has shared on social media. I have included a link and a copy of the story - in her own words - at the bottom of this blog post.

However, I recommend that before delving into the song's background you listen to it fresh, and let your own thoughts be moved by the mood and sentiments.

Enjoy also this remarkable video, made by talented and multi-Oscar nominated filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. I love the closing scene where Danielle walks from the cinema, with Este in the ticket sales box, and Alana fixes the signage above.

The video for Haim's Hallelujah:


Below is the tweet from Haim (pronounced HY-im), written by Alana, and including her telling of the background to the song and the loss of her best friend.

As I previously mentioned, the song has such graceful power I recommend listening to it first, and possibly many times over, before reading on to learn the genesis of the lyrics in Alana's own words.

We have a song called hallelujah coming out on Monday. It’s a song about family, love, loss, and being thankful for it all. It’s hard to talk about my verse in the song but I wanted to open up about it so here i go... pic.twitter.com/0KqdNx7syq

— HAIM (@HAIMtheband) November 16, 2019

For ease of reading, here are Alana's words from the twitter images:

It’s a song about family, love, loss, and being thankful for it all. It’s hard to talk about my verse in the song but I wanted to open up about it so here i go…
I went through a really dark time when I was 20. I woke up on a hazy October morning to find out that my best friend, Sammi Kane Kraft, had passed away in a tragic car accident. It was a loss that changed my life forever.
Sammi was my everything, and coming to terms with the fact that she wasn’t here, that I couldn’t call her, I couldn’t hug her, I would never see her bright smile and sparkling eyes ever again broke me.
It’s strange but I started thinking about all the milestones in my life that she would never be a part of – like us wanting to celebrate our 21st birthdays in Vegas, or planning all the festivals we wanted to go to around the world, or knowing that when I walk down the aisle at some point she won’t be standing next to me as my maid of honor.
I had always wanted to pay tribute to her in some way and I could never put how important she was into words. It felt like there were no words in the dictionary to encapsulate how special she was. Losing her put a lot of things in to perspective for me. I was so lucky to have my sisters at this time in my life.
There was a point where they didn’t know what to do or say or how to help and them just being there as a shoulder to cry on or as an ear to talk to got me to slowly recover. I’m not the same, I’ll never be the same. The me before took love, friends and family for granted. Now there won’t be a day that goes by where I don’t tell everyone I love how special they are to me.
Though I miss her everyday I know she’s still here sending me little messages, little signs everywhere I go. I always look up and go I hear ya Sammi Sam! Love love love love love you too

Away with the faeries at Lochan Uaine

Mystical place: An Lochan Uaine has an unusually green appearance
 that some say is caused by faeries washing their clothes in its water.

Thirty-three years after first stumbling across a book that mentioned a mysterious faery loch in a remote part of Scotland, I finally had the chance to visit it this year.

It is almost impossible to locate 'An Lochan Uaine' on a map, because it is so small and inconsequential relative to the mountainous splendor of its surroundings.

Tucked away in the vast wilderness of the Cairngorms, it is about seven miles due east of Aviemore -  but don't think about driving there, because you can't.  To reach it you must leave the road behind and take to quiet trails that lead into the mountains and an area known as Ryvoan Pass.

I'd read about An Lochan Uaine. I'd written a poem about it, which had became a song, a play and a short movie. Yet I'd never been to this place that had sparked my imagination in so many ways for more than three decades. Now, as I stood at the edge of the lochan, it felt like the closure of a personal journey that I'd carried since my teenage years.

The story began in 1985 as I read what was then a 30-year-old book about remote locations in Scotland. Each place described was accompanied by a single, page-sized black-and-white photograph. There were no people on the images, just the raw beauty of unspoiled wilderness.

On one page there was a photograph of An Lochan Uaine - a small body of water in the mountains. I recall the monochrome picture had a wintery feel. The words that accompanied it described the green water of the lochan and mentioned a folk tale that claimed faeries washed their clothes there and, as they did so, the dye would run and give the water its green tinge.

I wrote a poem in 1985 based on the tale. Faeries of Green Lochan was included in the 1987 paperback Inspired, a collection of young writers' stories and poems. I turned it into a song to perform at open mic events. In 2003, in a two-person play, I expanded on the theme of the mystical faeries and the lochan, and performed one of the roles at an amateur dramatics show at Bournemouth Centre for Community Arts. The screenplay was included in Eating Clouds in 2008. That led to the animation and live-action short film Faeries of Green Lochan of 2011. I had ambitions of filming it on location, but practicalities meant the live-action scene was filmed at a lake in Dorset, England.

This autumn I finally made it to the Cairngorms and sought out the lochan and its mystical green water. Heather, who was also the 'Woman in the Cloak' in the film version of Faeries of Green Lochan, and I set out on the tricky hillside trail that led to the lochan. The views were breathtaking as we followed a narrow path through fir trees and pines that hugged the steep edge of Ryvoan Pass. There was a magical feel to the place, and I was struck by the number of fly agaric mushrooms visible in the undergrowth. These distinctive bright red with white spot mushrooms had featured in animation sequences of the Faeries film, although at the time I had not known whether they were to be found near the lochan. They were - and in abundance.

Water's edge: with Heather beside An Lochan Uaine.

And then we were there at the edge of the lochan and its green water. A connection that spanned 33 years had been fulfilled. In the remote surroundings of the Cairngorms I wondered if this peaceful place guarded a precious secret. Were they out there - the faeries, hiding in the undergrowth and waiting until all folks had departed before coming to dance and sing at the water's edge and scrub their clothes clean?
Who can say? All I know is the place has a magical feel, and that is enough.

• The short movie Faeries of Green Lochan:

Love the song #4: Vacation

The Go Go's at The Greek ampitheatre in Griffith Park, Los Angeles in
1984, exemplifying the carefree, fun music that was their hallmark.

While the 1980s was a diverse decade musically, there are some songs that can be described as capturing the zeitgeist - at least in part. The Go Go's Vacation is one.

A number of the Go Go's other hits, and indeed the band themselves, could equally be declared as defining the mood and spirit of the first half of the 1980s.

They are one of the most successful all-female groups in history that wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. Although it is also true that their success was overwhelmingly American-centric, and less all-conquering in other countries. Britain is a prime example, for while the Go Go's cut their musical teeth in the country's rough and ready punk and ska scene of the late 70s and early 1980s, in the history of British pop culture they are largely a minor footnote. Their biggest global hit Our Lips Are Sealed is generally not associated with them in the UK, but rather with the Fun Boy Three who took their version into the British Top 10, and whose Terry Hall co-wrote the song with Go Go Jane Wiedlin.

The caveat to the above is that after launching a solo career, lead singer Belinda Carlisle became an undisputed global star with hits including Heaven Is A Place On Earth.

But back to the Go Go's. Our Lips Are Sealed, Head Over Heels, and We Got The Beat, could all easily have been my choice for this "Love the Song" post, the fourth in a occasional series where I highlight a song that particularly inspires, uplifts or simply grabs me.

However, I chose Vacation. For me it captures the carefree essence of this brand of 80s pop, which the Go Go's peerlessly produced. It was written on a plane journey by bassist Kathy Valentine as she flew to Los Angeles to join her bandmates. While it has its own little story of holiday romance, it also evokes in words and tone the joy and adventure of a vacation, and the uplift that comes from breaking away from routine and being somewhere different.

From 1981 to 1985, the Go Go's perfectly captured the spirit and feeling of the moment. Sure, it was mostly a slice of Americana, but it was a time when the imagery of 80s Americana was, through music and movies, a driving force far beyond the shores of the US. If you had any doubts about whether or not life was good, you had only to tune into the Go Go's music to get an unambiguous, reassuring "yes."

And the zenith moment for the band was captured in glorious, colour-saturated 80s fashion at an outdoor show at The Greek ampitheatre in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. It was August 1984, the band were at their peak and still a few months away from the first fractures appearing. The Go Go's split the following year, and while they have undergone sporadic reunions throughout the past three decades (Valentine left for good in 2012) - it is this concert, fortuitously filmed in full, that best captures the joy and fun of the Go Go's and their music.



It is hard to pick a single song and concert moment, so I've included two clips from the concert. The first, above, is Vacation - including a moment when an inflatable beach ball hits songwriter and bassist Kathy Valentine as she sings, and Belinda Carlisle misses a line as she laughs. The second video, below, is We Got The Beat - because it rocks.

Love the song #3: Nobody's Diary

Alison Moyet singing Nobody's Diary at a concert in Berlin in 2015.

Nobody's Diary was released by Yazoo almost 35 years ago. It was the fourth and final single from the duo, who had been together for barely a year.

Singer Alison Moyet wrote the lyrics, with Vince Clarke providing the uncluttered synthpop backing that today sounds as remarkably fresh as it did when released in May 1983.

Moyet's powerful, bluesy voice added an extra dimension to Clarke's stark yet innovative synthesizer compositions. It was a potent mixture that stood out from the crowd.

I have chosen Nobody's Diary as the third in this occasional series where I highlight a song that particularly inspires, uplifts or simply grabs me.

Burning brightly like a struck match, Yazoo dazzled for a fleeting moment and then were gone. Two hit albums, four hit singles before they went their separate (and successful) ways.

They quit at the top, and Nobody's Diary was a perfect song to go out on. Moyet's lyrics are a powerful blend of yearning and forthrightness, while Clarke's keyboard playing, with chords crisply described through single line notes, is all the more memorable and powerful for its simplicity.

Yazoo's earlier hits Only You and Don't Go might edge Nobody's Diary when it comes to mainstream familiarity, but for me the richly etched heartache and delivery of Nobody's Diary soars higher.

Below is the official Yazoo video from 1983, followed by a recording of Moyet (minus Clarke) giving a powerful rendition of the song in 2015.

Love the song #2: Galway Girl

This is the second in an occasional series where I highlight a song that particularly inspires, uplifts or simply grabs me.

When it comes to an uplifting song, this version of Galway Girl, by Mundy with Sharon Shannon, takes some beating. From the first note to the last it has an infectious joy that touches the soul. Mundy's soaring vocals and mandolin playing are faultless. With the smiling Sharon Shannon, one of the most accomplished accordion players in the world, also on stage and driving the melody, you can't help but wish this performance would last forever.

The party atmosphere of the audience further enhances the life-affirming essence of the song, as does the stage full of performers and guests. And if you look closely, you'll catch a glimpse of Glen Hansard, singer with The Frames and star of the film Once, adding backing vocals.

Shannon was once a member of The Waterboys, playing on the 1990 album Room to Roam before enjoying considerable success as a solo artist. Her wonderful, instrumental debut album, Sharon Shannon, was released in 1991 and is the biggest-selling album of traditional Irish folk music.

As one commentator noted, this performance of Galway Girl should be essential daily viewing as it lifts the heart and the spirit.