Music Monday — Les Sampou
I have an eclectic taste in music (which I guess is fitting, considering my handle online!). For a long time in my life, I lived on music — both listening to it and writing as an amateur. Music has helped me through some difficult times, but also was with me in some of my happier times, too. Recently I’ve been trying to reconnect with my musical side, instead of just having music on in the background as I do other things.
Today when I was listening to music on shuffle, one singer-songwriter came up that I hadn’t listened to in a while: Les Sampou. She has several songs I really, really like — in particular from her eponymous album Les Sampou. If you’re not already familiar with her work, you should check it out! Here’s an embed of that album on some more about which songs of hers I love (and why).
I hadn’t looked up info about her online in a while, so I was surprised to find out that after starting as a folk/pop solo act — which Les Sampou could fall under — she has since expanded into other musical genres, including writing and performing on a number of movie soundtracks.
The two songs of her I’d say I like the best are “I Want You” and “Happy Anniversary.”
I Want You is a song about the pain of falling for someone who’s married. At the time I heard the song, I was going through something similar actually, so it really struck a chord (no pun intended, at least when I started typing that!). It definitely is the song that’s the most “rock” from her first few albums, with powerful guitar riffs and heartfelt vocals sung in the perfect way to match the torn emotions expressed in the lyrics.
“You got me in a place I don’t wanna be
You got me wishing you were suddenly free
And I don’t give a damn about the consequence
Or whether or not a home will be wrecked
I want you for my own”
Happy Anniversary, despite its name, is not a traditional love song, and definitely not a happy one. It’s one of the most hauntingly raw songs emotionally I’ve heard, and yet the lyrics and music are a well-crafted masterpiece that expresses the profound sadness and desperation — with the music expressing that emotion perhaps even better than the words do. This time, the song describes a break-up on a couple’s anniversary, with the narrator devastated by being dumped on “such a special night.” The chord change between the verse and the bridge/refrain in particular gets me every time. Even if I’ve never gotten dumped on an anniversary, I think the emotions expressed are ones we can all identify with.
“I watch you chase the parakeet escaping through the grass
pitifully flapping within inches of your grasp
Delivered from the sky, this ill-fated thing
huddles in a cage and mournfully sings […]
Shuddering, it spread its wings--stiff in deathly flight
How can you abandon me on such a special night
Happy Anniversary”
I don’t know how much, if any, these and her other songs on the album are autobiographical — but they are well-written and moving, lyrically and musically. Sometimes I’m in the mood for “Silly Love Songs”, as Paul McCartney calls them, but this type of music on the other hand really speaks to the listener. In another life, I would have loved to become a person who could write music like this.
But you don’t have to be a professional songwriter or musician to enjoy, and get a great deal out of, music whether for pleasure or because of a deeper emotional connection to the message or music. If even one person listens to Les Sampou after reading this, or goes and listens to one of their favorite songwriters they haven’t heard in a while, then this post was worth it. I can’t imagine what life would be like without music, and music is a great gift to be able to share.
