Lindsey Stirling: South by Southwest and Beyond Series - Part 4 - The Journey Motif

Hey loyal bloggie land reader! Original article in black Italics

“Alright!” She says as the microphone works at last. “I think we’re ready to have a show!”

Putting a song into words is difficult, but I love trying. Art is language and language is art, and one of the most fun things about music and art is watching it translated into another art form. Be it Lindsey turning her vision for her song Stars Align into an amazing video of dance and poetic imagery, or Kuha'O Case rewriting Crystalize in a genius rendition for piano, art is a way for us to glimpse the way we are all connected. 

She is met with a unified cheer, and after a short welcome she begins with her original song, “Antigravity”. It’s a good choice to start with because it’s a high energy song laced with a flowing melody. The song gives a sense of flight in its chorus, and though it is whimsical in places it also carries a strong motif of a journey or march toward a goal. This motif of a journey with triumph at the end is found over and over in Lindsey’s music.

Interesting Note: My kids and I once attempted the dance to Electric Daisy at the end of the Assassins Creed video we made. Maybe that's why I'm partial to it and spend more time describing the dance for this one than any of the other songs. 

The journey motif is also present in her next song, “Electric Daisy Violin”. Electric Daisy is another crowd pleaser, and is particularly fun to watch for its expressive dance choreography. At the conclusion of Antigravity she barely gives the audience a chance to breathe as she crouches into a ball to begin the song. Her dance tells the tale of a flower blooming under adverse conditions, and the song becomes a jubilant celebration of these events. It is difficult to listen to Electric Daisy, no matter your mood, and feel anything less than cheerful.

At Left: Stirling is about expressive dance as well as her music 

Here she stops to pump up the crowd a little. She’s breathing heavily and already sweating, and mentions feeling out of shape from not touring. However, just watching her can make a marathon runner feel out of shape, particularly under central Texas humidity.

Shadows is hard to make as good without a Shadow to dance with, but sometimes when the light hit her just right, one would appear. 

She introduces “Shadows” as one of her personal favorites. It is also one of mine. The song holds a special place in my heart for being the first of Lindsey’s originals to reach my ears. It’s house beat and somewhat mournful melody feels like it belongs in a science fiction epic. Lindsey had a vision of a video where she was dancing with her own shadow, and she wrote the song specifically to match this vision. Perhaps Shadows is a story about turning the darkness within all of us into something cheerful, rather than something to fear. Perhaps it is just a girl dancing with her shadow from start to finish. Whatever Shadows means to each individual heart, Lindsey plays it with a passion this night, and does it justice even without her Shadow to dance with

Let me know in the comments if you like how I delve into music with words, or if this music gave you different ideas as to the motifs and meanings. That could make for some excellent discussion and maybe even a guest blog - Thanks guys!