Sunday, March 9, 2008

Girls and Boys...I Give Thee Ingrid Michaelson



For lovers of the hit shows Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill, hearing cuts off of Ingrid Michaelson's sophomore release of Girls and Boys is really nothing out of the ordinary. Her songs are perfectly placed at pivotal and emotional parts of both shows, with her soft lyrics and piano based instrumental parts to match. Since being released on September 18, 2007, it has peaked at number 64 on the Billboard 200 charts, and gained her plenty of national attention on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Carson Daly Show.

Notable and well known tracks off of Girls and Boys include "The Way I Am," "Breakable," "Overboard," and "Corner of Your Heart." "The Way I Am" has been featured on campaigns for Old Navy and used on both Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. The song, although a short 2 minutes and 15 seconds long boasts adorable lyrics about how the person she loves takes her for how she is, even if the things she does may be seen as small and insignificant: 'You need a light, I'd find a match.../If you are chilly, here take my sweater./Your head is aching, I'll make it better.' The title of the CD comes off of the lyrics in the track "Breakable" which opens with fantastic lyrics: 'Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?/Just a cage of rib bones and other various parts./ So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess./ And to stop the muscle that makes us confess.' The song goes on to talk about her regret in not being able to love her significant other back as much as he loves her, and how every one of us are 'breakable girls and boys.'

"Overboard" is probably my favorite song off of the disc. Michaelson starts off with a sassy attitude about all the things she can do by herself, and that people can stop treating her like a little girl, but when she falls in love still wants to be caught by the person she's fallen for. It gives perspective on today's lifestyle, how girls are expected to be smart and solve all these probems but refuse to fall and rely on someone else to catch them. But by the end of the song she realizes that it might not be so bad to fall, even if she eventually has to pick herself up alone. Finally, "Corner of Your Heart" is a haunting song about how she would do just about anything to have just a piece of this guy's heart. 'There is room beneath your bed just for me.../I will leave this man just to occupy one minute of your day.../ Just to stay in the corner of your heart.' Those lyrics show the lengths that she would go to and the almost desperate attempts that she would go to just to win him over. To go along with the haunting lyrics, the repetitive piano part in the background adds to the mystique of the whole song.

Other fantastic songs include "Glass" and "Starting Now," although all eleven tracks bring something different and refreshing to the table. For a quick listen of some of her songs see the music player below or click the link for the video of "The Way I Am" found out Youtube.



SeeqPod - Playable Search

No comments: