{"id":32560,"date":"2020-04-18T09:17:54","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T14:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=32560"},"modified":"2020-07-06T16:20:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T21:20:12","slug":"the-elbowrooms-sessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=32560","title":{"rendered":"The #elbowrooms Sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This week, Elbow released a new live album. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the band has cancelled their live dates for this spring and summer, so they&#8217;ve been posting videos on YouTube of the band, separately, playing some of their songs from home, the #elbowrooms sessions.  These aren&#8217;t polished, there are occasional fluffs, but I don&#8217;t mind; I&#8217;m unlikely to see Elbow live in concert again for a while, and this will do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m going to collect these videos in order, and as more are added I will add them to this post. I&#8217;ll also offer some thoughts on each song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Weightless&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The closing song to <em>Giants of All Sizes<\/em>, their latest studio album, &#8220;Weightless&#8221; is a song about the death of Guy Garvey&#8217;s father and the birth of his son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Weightless - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nCxP0ozB7P0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As one of their most recent songs &#8212; <em>Giants of All Sizes<\/em> came out last autumn, after my hospitalization &#8212; I don&#8217;t have a lot to say about this song, except that I love it. It&#8217;s song that reminds me of Gandalf&#8217;s admonishion: &#8220;Do not fear to weep, for not all tears are evil.&#8221; It&#8217;s sad and beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Great Expectations&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A gorgeous song, the penultimate track of <em>Leaders of the Free World<\/em>, the band&#8217;s third studio album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a long time I thought of this song as one of the album&#8217;s &#8220;break-up songs&#8221; &#8212; the end of Guy Garvey&#8217;s relationship with Edith Bowman heavily influenced the album&#8217;s lyrics &#8212; but its lyrics have more to do, if I remember correctly, an imagined wedding on a Manchester city bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Great Expectations - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rTUCYgf7ZrY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I never would have guessed Guy Garvey was a Hawaiian shirt person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Fugitive Motel&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;I&#8217;ll blow you a kiss. It&#8217;ll reach you tomorrow (reach you tomorrow) as it flies from the other side of the world.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fugitive Motel - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y-IjczPlsk4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My first Elbow album was <em>Cast of Thousands<\/em>. I bought it at the Best Buy in Cary, North Carolina in early 2004, sometime after EA&#8217;s <em>MVP Baseball 2004<\/em> came out. Elbow had nothing to do with <em>MVP Baseball<\/em>, but Snow Patrol did &#8212; &#8220;Spitting Games&#8221; was part of the soundtrack and I wanted the album &#8212; and I bought the Elbow album and the Snow Patrol album (<em>Final Straw<\/em>) at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Fugitive Motel&#8221; and &#8220;Not a Job&#8221; were the songs that made me an Elbow fan. I ripped the CD to the Xbox demo unit at my EB Games store, and I&#8217;d listen to it in the mornings, when doing class counts and other stuff, before the store opened. I had it playing one morning during a conference call with Dave Soltysiak, the regional vice president, and the intro to &#8220;Not a Job&#8221; was loud enough that he heard it and complained about how rude and unprofessional it was. He wanted to know who was listening to music. I muted the television and said nothing. Pretended it didn&#8217;t even happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I still love &#8220;Fugitive Motel.&#8221; I still love <em>Cast of Thousands<\/em>. Sixteen years ago, and sometimes it feels like yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Scattered Black and Whites&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;The dream I weaved today.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Scattered Black and Whites - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S9tAK4v667I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The final song of the band&#8217;s first album, <em>Asleep in the Back<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Asleep in the Back<\/em> is not an album I revisit often. I don&#8217;t believe I bought it until after <em>The Seldom Seen Kid<\/em>, the fourth album, came out. I don&#8217;t dislike the album, but I&#8217;m more likely to listen to one of the other albums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Scattered&#8221; is a haunting song of getting lost in memories when looking at old photographs. The lyrical images are vivid, the musicianship compelling. There&#8217;s a reason why this song is beloved by Elbow fandom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though I don&#8217;t visit <em>Asleep<\/em> often, &#8220;Scattered&#8221; is a song I always enjoy when I hear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Mirrorball&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;We made the moon a mirrorball, the streets an empty stage, city sirens violins &#8212; everything has changed.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most romantic song in the Elbow canon? Certainly the top five. Peter Gabriel thought enough of it to cover it for the <em>Scratch My Back<\/em> project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mirrorball - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L_Hfs3Kah-E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I love everything about this song. I love everything about this performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Magnificent (She Says)&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The most radically reworked Elbow song of these #elbowrooms recorded, thus far, is the lead song to <em>Little Fictions<\/em>, &#8220;Magnificent (She Says).&#8221;  On the album, it&#8217;s an intense song full song strings.  This performance is&#8230; <em>not<\/em> intense.  Nor are there strings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Magnificent (She Says) - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2o51NDg5sck?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Magnificent&#8221; is a song I find very moving. I talked about the original video for the song <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=30664\">here<\/a>, which makes me cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I like hearing familiar songs in a new way.  Where&#8217;s the fun in simply hearing the old familiar performance again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my favorite performances, though not by the band, of &#8220;Magnificent (She Says)&#8221; comes in this climate change video from 2017 that features Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson, Jason Isaacs, and David Gyasi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Love Song #ShowTheLove\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zD3YxrZdyzo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Puncture Repair&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The final song off Elbow&#8217;s third album, <em>Leaders of the Free World<\/em>, is this piano piece that was written about Richard Jupp, the band&#8217;s original drummer.  Several songs on the album relate to Guy Garvey&#8217;s recent break-up with Edith Bowman.  &#8220;Puncture Repair&#8221; is about how Guy, one particularly difficult night, showed up trashed at Jupp&#8217;s place, and Jupp took care of patching him up.  A &#8220;puncture repair.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Puncture Repair - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MxlbyjQoW1I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Until this video, I didn&#8217;t know what Guy Garvey&#8217;s son &#8212; and Dame Diana Rigg&#8217;s grandson &#8212; looked like.  Guy was introduced to Riggs&#8217; daughter, the actress Rachael Stirling, by Benedict Cumberbatch at a wedding, they hit it off, and their relationship influenced the lyrics of the last two Elbow albums, <em>Little Fictions<\/em> and <em>Giants of All Sizes<\/em>.  Their son shows up at the end of the video, during the credits, which sort of ties this video back to the first one in the series, &#8220;Weightless,&#8221; which is about the birth of his son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Dear Friends&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The closing track to Elbow&#8217;s 2011 album <em>Build a Rocket Boys!<\/em>, &#8220;Dear Friends&#8221; is a lovely paeon to friendship &#8212; &#8220;Dear friends, you are angels and drunks, you are magi.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dear Friends - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/azsIVY1VrWg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Lippy Kids&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=%23elbowrooms\">#elbowrooms<\/a> comes to an end with &#8220;Lippy Kids,&#8221; the third single off of <em>Build a Rocket Boys!<\/em> and the source of the album&#8217;s title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lippy Kids - #elbowrooms\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JTKmImtSSKY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This performance is fascinating &#8212; there&#8217;s a remote choir! Every time I watch I notice someone new in the Hall\u00e9 Youth Choir Alumni, humming and ooohing. Their facial expressions, some happy, some a little sad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be sure to watch this one through to the end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, Elbow released a new live album. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the band has cancelled their live dates for this spring and summer, so they&#8217;ve been posting videos on YouTube of the band, separately, playing some of their songs from home, the #elbowrooms sessions. These aren&#8217;t polished, there are occasional fluffs, but<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/?p=32560\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#8220;The #elbowrooms Sessions&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4842,4117,680],"class_list":["post-32560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-covid-19","tag-elbow","tag-guy-garvey","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.allyngibson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}