Passenger - All The Little Lights: An Experiment

Usually I listen to an album a million times before I write about it because I love analysing lyrics and the effect music has on me. This time I thought it might be cool to live blog how I'm listening to Passenger's album. Blabla aside, let's go! Join me by clicking here.

Things That Stop You Dreaming

Violins are always good. Very good actually, I love their sound. Combined with Passenger's voice the first few seconds already give me goosebumps and take me on a promising journey. "If you can't get what you love, you learn to love what you've got. If you can't be what you want, you learn to be the things you're not. If you can't get what you need, you learn to need the things that stop you dreaming." I'm not sure how to interpret the last sentence but I totally agree with the other two. What a great song.

Let Her Go

I already heard this song a gazillion times on the radio, on tv as background for a commercial of Grey's Anatomy, when my brother listened to it in the living room, on a music channel on tv. I never really paid attention to it so it's about time to do that. 
The beginning is so nice, so calm and peaceful. Then Passenger starts to sing and I'm drowning in my feelings. Seriously though, his voice is perfect, I can't even describe what it does to me. This song is so simple actually and that's exactly what makes it brilliant. 
"Well you only need the light when it's burning low, only miss the sun when it starts to snow, only know you love her when you let her go." There roll the tears, bad idea to listen to this song when you can relate to this part of the lyrics, believe me. 

Staring At The Stars

This song is perfect after the last one, simply to cheer you up again. I love the pace of it, makes me tap my toes and just enjoy it. Oh, there are violins again and is that a banjo? And trumpets? Yes, I like this song a lot. The end makes me think of summer nights, it would be the perfect soundtrack for a cheesy love scene in a movie. 
Okay but after 2:11 I'm a bit bored to be honest, for some reason it feels like this song lasts for 10 minutes and not just around 4. 

All The Little Lights

*Edit! I totally forgot to talk about the song which names the album, thanks to Abby for letting me know!
Anyway, this song is just as awesome as all the others are, I just love how calming his songs generally are! 

The Wrong Direction

Yaay, everything's good, smile more, go out when the sun is shining, laugh as loud and as much as possible, just live. That's what my brain is telling me right now and I don't hear something like that often. And then I look at the lyrics and all the happy feelings are gone, oh well. "The first cut is the deepest, but the rest will flippin' hurt. You build your heart of plastic, get cynical and sarcastic and end up in the corner on your own." Yeah thanks, that's what I wanted to hear. Why would you use such positive tunes for such negative thoughts, that's not fair my dear Passenger, stop.

Circles

Oh, the only song by All Time Low I really don't like is Circles, let's see what the british singer made out of this title. 

The guitars at the beginning are great, they make me think of rainy days. It's about friendship, isn't it? About childhood memories, about growing up maybe. I like the lyrics, especially the metaphors he uses. Oh, it's already over, that was fast. 

So: Passenger's Circles > All Time Low's Circles

Keep On Walking

"Last night I couldn't sleep, I got up and started walking..." - How often do you feel like doing that? Just getting up, walking away and never coming back again. I don't know, I have that quite often to be honest. 
I have to mention how great his accent is. I know it's super cliché and annoying but I really enjoy listening.
Apart from that, the song doesn't really leave an impression on me so let's move on.

Patient Love

I love how simple this song is again. Only a few instruments, Passenger and some background vocals. It gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach I keep talking about and the lyrics send a smile to my lips because they're so cute. "Three words on the tip of my tongue not to be spoken, or sung or whispered to anyone till I scream em at the top of my lungs again." I mean, can I have somebody in my life who writes songs like this one for me, please?

Life's For The Living

Very accurate title. 

I found some lyrics I'd stick on my wall! "Don't you cry for the lost, smile for the living. Get what you need and give what you're given. Life's for the living so live it or you're better off dead."

Passenger generally is a genius when it comes to lyrics, I mean wow. Songs are like poems, aren't they? At least the ones with proper lyrics and rather not the ones you hear in a club at 3am. 

Holes

Lyrics, lyrics, lyrics. Brilliant lyrics everywhere so I'll just quote my favourites from this song because I don't have anything else to say about it.

"when he woke up with nothing he said i'll tell you something when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose."

"Well sometimes you can't change and you can't choose and sometimes it seems you gain less than you lose. Now we've got holes in our hearts, yeah we've got holes in our lives, well we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on."

Music teaches me more about life than school or my parents ever did. 

Feather On The Clyde

This song calms me down so much, I'm actually fascinated. Pure beauty.

I Hate

Oh, it's live, perfect. I'm gonna say it one last time, promised: Look at these lyrics. In my opinion, artists who don't take themselves too serious are the winners of this whole business. Passenger definitely belongs to the winners and this song helps him. I mean, don't we all hate  "ignorant folks, who pay money to see gigs and talk through every fucking song"? or "pointless status updates on Facebook" because "we pretend to be friends on the internet 

when in real life, we have nothing to say."? If you're a smoker like me, I'm sure you hate "stepping outside for a smoke and some guy coughs, like your lungs are his." I mean, go inside or step aside if you don't want to smoke with me, what's wrong with you.
I've never been to a festival but I can imagine how great it must be "queuing up for festival toilets, especially when you need to shit."

Now comes my favourite part of the whole song though: "And I hate them magazines, aimed at insecure teens, that make ten year old's race to grow up. Hey kids, let's all be anorexic or better eat chocolate until you throw up. Keep your Hollywood stars, and their stupid cars 

and the Bo-tox, that makes them look fucked. Just grow old with grace, have you seen Cher's face, it looks like it's been hit by a truck." 

Thanks Passenger for such honest lyrics, in my opinion more artists should come up with songs like this one. Thank you also for such a great album, your music is really good for my soul.