The Darkest Side

What Did You Expect

A Good Night's Sleep is About Quality, Not Quantity

The Darkest Side by The Middle East

Recommended by Kim C.

"A hauntingly beautiful song by one of my favorite bands. Full disclosure: it's not very uplifting. Sorry!"

Don't apologize, friend. I wouldn't want to listen to anything uplifting, anyway, because of finals.

Pitchfork called this track "a simple, finger-plucked acoustic affair with alternating and harmonizing vocals that lend the hushed track a sense of beleaguered hope." That's accurate. 

I love Jordan Ireland's voice; it's smooth and gentle. Bree Tanner's voice, with all its frailty, surprises me each time we get to her solo section, but I've grown to appreciate it. The character of her voice fits the song. My heart breaks when her voice does at the end of her second verse. It just breaks off until the end of our color TV is nothing but a whisper.

When you really get into it, though, the song is actually...almost hopeful. What was that term? "Beleagured hope." It's about some really, really rough times, but at its core, it's about resilience.

The first scenario is about a mother contemplating suicide. The second is about a father giving up on his dreams. But what do lyrics say to connect these two scenarios? Love. Because the mother doesn't end it right there on the bathroom floor; she stays strong for her children. And when the father sells that old guitar, he does it to give his family a better life.

A few verses later, the song even references the time that Jesus died on the cross for all of his children. If you're a Christian, you recognize that as the ultimate expression of love.

I guess we usually talk about love in a more positive light, but it's a struggle. Love is hard.

Plus, it says that it's the darkest side of my heart that dies when you come to me. And if the darkest side dies, then what's left? The brightest side. So...yeah, you don't really want any of your heart to die. But if life has darkened it so much, then maybe it's not so bad to cut it loose.

We'll ignore the next part where it's like "if you leave me I'll kill myself." To paraphrase. Because then, yeah, it wouldn't be quite as hopeful.

If you actually go to YouTube to watch the video embedded above (here) and click "show more," you'll find a blurb about the song that was apparently written by the songwriter himself, Rohin Jones; however, I'm not going to quote from it here because it's rather lengthy and exceptionally sad. Also, I couldn't find the article from which she pulled the quote, so...

Anyway, good luck to everyone who has finals coming up. This song doubles as excellent study music. To everyone else, I hope you're getting into the holiday spirit. It's that time of year again :-)

P.S. I don't know why the video is the way it is, but it's the best I could find. Don't watch, just listen.

Overview:

Genre:
Indie Folk / Ambient

Favorite Lyrics:
Love
was those dark clouds on the Friday.
It was a holy shaking earthquake,
And you were stuck up the tree.

Verdict:
mood