Some songwriters write songs nobody will
have to think too deeply about. The lyrics discuss party lifestyles, repeat
crude phrases bent on lust, give us fantasy accounts of dramatic breakups or ensnare
us with a cutsie picture of how a perfect romance should go. Once in a while, a
song makes it big with something stronger and deeper—poetry.
Lindsey Stirling’s new single, “Shatter
Me” is an honest and candid work of lyrical and musical poetry in its purest
form. From its first words, “I pirouette in the dark, I see the stars through a
mirror,” to the final cry of “Shatter me” the song revolves around a single
metaphor—that of a dancer trapped in a snow globe. Woven throughout this metaphor
are an impressive number of emotions. They include loneliness, feelings of
entrapment, longing, personal oppression, obligation, and desperation.
Lindsey has explored many of these
feelings before. “Transcendence” and “Song of the Caged” Bird in particular are
full of musical motifs inciting the hearts of people to be brave and accept
themselves for who they are. Transcendence accomplishes its goal through a journey
motif found in many of Lindsey’s works. Song of the Caged Bird was born of
poetry (A Maya Angelou Poem), but has an underlying theme of hope.
Shatter me is groundbreaking for Lindsey
in that it explores the darkest emotion—fear. The song gives no solution to
fear, no hope, and no respite. It simply cries for help. Stirling courageously opens
her heart and shows her audience some of its darkest places. And yet the song
also leaves it open for the listener to realize that we all need help
sometimes, that we cannot make it through this life alone, and that we need to
reach out to each other to help everyone get through.
The violinist leaps onto a new stage
with Shatter Me, and does so by enlisting the collaborative effort of Halestorm’s
vocalist Lzzy Hale. Lzzy is masterfully able to capture all of the previously
mentioned emotions with her voice, but also manages to sync perfectly with
Lindsey’s violin. Some longtime fans may experience mixed emotions at first to
this bold step in her career, but once the poetry of Shatter Me hits them at
their core it promises to be a huge hit.
Buy Shatter Me now on itunes and
preorder the entire album of the same name through the following links.
Itunes -
Target - http://smarturl.it/ShatterMeTAR
Amazon - http://smarturl.it/ShatterMeAMZ
Travis, can you correct the poet's name: it is "Maya Angelou" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou)
ReplyDeleteOtherwise a very good review of Shatter me.
Greetings from Belgium
Bert