Six Picks: October (Part Two)
music is a key part of healing and self-soothing for me.
i'm like a musical encyclopedia sometimes. i love reading and watching interviews with musicians sharing how they created their art.
i’ll try to mix up some different genres to fit all of your tastes, but keep an open mind. ;) welcome to my musical brain!
here is part two of this month’s six picks.
This blog post is special because I focused on three songs that focus solely on your relationship with your body! If this is a sensitive subject for you, personally, please take the necessary steps to support yourself while reading.
into my body - upsahl
a moment for navigating dissociation
“I wanna get into my body and let my skin do the talking. I wanna feel like I'm myself again”
I’ve been a fan of UPSAHL’s songwriting for a long time. Working for artists like Madison Beer, you’ve probably heard an UPSAHL song before without realizing it.
But this is a transparency about mental health we haven’t seen from her quite like this before.
“I wrote Into My Body at the beginning of this summer after getting back from almost 6 months of touring. For the first time in a while, I wasn’t surrounded by chaos and constant brain stimulation, so I was kind of left to me and my own thoughts.”
…Anyone else getting pandemic flashbacks with that statement?
She carries on, “I got stuck in my head and was completely disconnected from reality. I’m an intense person, so whether I was feeling like myself or not, I felt everything to the extreme. I wanted to write a song about how I was having an out of body experience, but it became a song about getting back into my body…”
why is this resonating with me right now?
This has been a year of dissociation for me and sometimes I just feel so uncomfortable in my body, like it’s not even familiar for me anymore.
I also really resonate with the need for brain stimulation. I chase it because I know that it’s good for me, but if I weren’t able to get it for whatever reason I know that my dissociation would only get worse.
I’d like to believe that my dissocation is going to improve soon, and hearing that UPSAHL worked her way out of it is really reassuring for me.
grapefruit - tove lo
sharing about eating disorder recovery after a long journey
“When I'm hurting, every time I have a bad day, then everyone gets lost. But I'm learning every time I feel out of place that you are all I've got.”
Dirt Femme is Tove Lo’s newest album, and it’s incredible. I’ve been a fan for years so I may be a bit biased, but I recommend listening to it and Ladywood right now. Run, don’t walk!!
On this personal song, Tove shares, “I’ve tried to write this song for over 10 years.
“I guess I had to find the right way to share the feelings and the vicious circle of behaviour I was stuck in. I’ve been free from my E D and my body issues for a very long time but they did take up too many of my teenage years. I’m not sure why I wrote this song now.
“Maybe the 2 years of stillness brought back memories, maybe I needed all this time I’ve been free from it to be able to look back without feeling pain. One of the many feelings I remember is needing to crawl out of my own skin. I felt so trapped in a body I hated.”
why is this resonating with me right now?
Oof. Where do I start?
The feeling of wanting to crawl out of your body is not new to me, I’ll say that much. I’m not comfortable sharing much more about my struggles with food but it is a journey and I’m grateful for this song and its impact on me.
glitter and tears -
ella vos
forming unimaginable health scares into something raw
“Cover my eyes when they open my veins. Where do I go when there's no escape? Wish you were there for my worst, but I'm kinda glad that you weren't.”
Last year around this time I found a mysterious lump in my breast, and the constant underlying fear that I experienced for the month of not knowing what it was was truly exhausting. I was very fortunate.
Ella Vos battled cancer a few years ago. This song tells her experiences of leaving stage to go straight to the hospital for treatment.
“Writing about my cancer experience wasn’t easy to do, it took years of recovery to be able to have the perspective I have now and years from now, my perspective will also shift. I think I learned the hard way, when it comes to writing deeply personal songs. As rewarding and cathartic it is, you have to remember that “healing doesn’t a straight line” (to quote @spaceykacey) and when we put a piece of ourselves into a piece of work, it does live on forever and it will affect us differently at times.”
Her advice for us? “Be gentle with yourself!! Feel your feelings!! Acknowledge the highs and the lows!!”
why is this resonating with me right now?
A year after my own scare and I still don’t know how I got through it. Likely a lot of dissocating. But there are some things that I don’t always feel like I’ve fully healed from.
This song has a peaceful approach to helping me look at those things. One step a time.
