Press Shuffle: Songs To Mend Your Roots To

posted in: Reviews & Playlists

Gather ’round, kids”it’s story time!

Culture and history have been kept alive throughout the centuries by oral tradition. A large part of this tradition has been storytelling through music, and this concept still lives to this day. We use dialogue to tell a story, and we use music to tell emotions. Music is about making the listeners feel a story. It’s about achieving an emotional response: if the emotion of the music and the emotion of the lyrics are congruent, the song becomes an immensely powerful, evocative force. Folk musicians excel at this type of songwriting, and strive to convey their unique view of common, quotidian lifestyles and situations in a compelling manner. The examples we’ve collected for you today focus on lyrical storytelling, with music that never detracts from the song.

“It’s All Water” – Chasing Blue: Love and a broken heart has fueled more songwriting sessions than anything. This track gives listeners a snapshot of a frayed relationship close to the end.

“The Collector” – Bobby Caputo: A wonderfully worded story of self-reflection, appreciating what you have, and”of course”love.

“Colorado Rain” – Fiske and Herrera: Life is about living. As simple as it sounds, many forget this simple tenet. To know where you’re going, you need to be aware of where you’ve been.

“Hey John” – Cici Porter: “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” The unusual shuffled feel of the song makes this a unique tune within this list.

“Scenic Route” – Jesse Terry: The hard times in life are only temporary, and we’ll work ourselves out of them soon enough. We’ll remember them with a smile.

“California” – John McKenna: Sometimes we want to hang on to a cherished moment for as long as we can. The world keeps going, and we have to go with it.

“Oh Heart” – Kim Wempe: Introspective songs are the meat and potatoes of folk songs. Take a life experience, see what you’ve learned, and tell others through song. This track is a perfect example of how it’s done.

Have any tunes in particular that you care to share? Disagree with any of the picks? Want a theme in particular to be Shuffled? Let us know by dropping a comment!

Listen to previous Press Shuffle playlists over at 8tracks.com.