This Year: 2011a

"This Year" is a series of weekly posts, each about one song from one year of my life. See the introduction for more.

2011 is the second year with two choices, after 1982. To keep things even, next week will have 2011b, and then go right to 2013.

Sometimes I quote a lot of lyrics in these posts: that won't be the case this time. This is a minimalist, slowcore song - loud, certainly (or it should be), and one that builds to a tremendous crescendo in its slow relentless way - but the lyrics are minimal. They say all they need to say.

I'm nothing but heart

My song for 2011 is Nothing But Heart by Low, an eight-minute slow boil of skittering guitars, more than a little noise, minimalist drums relentlessly keeping that slow beat in the background, and a swirl - growing slowly, oh so slowly - of catharsis and redemption.

This is another song I would play very loud in my car, driving to and from my train station, over and over in the fall of 2011. I can't tell you exactly what it means: as a song on its own, or what it meant to me at that moment. But it was a real, true thing, a mantra and method for getting through life, and it was exactly what I needed.

It's on my list because of those moments, because of what it meant then. And still can mean to me, any day I need it. Or to you. Or anyone. That's what makes it a great song.