My secret garden

[cosmolinguist]

I couldn't wait until I could get some new music again, I told ivana_duboise when I was still in the States and pining for Andrew's Internet connection and Soulseek capabilities. There's so much stuff I really want. Like this one hip-hop thing about how great it is to be from the Midwest.

I remember his answer: "That sounds horrid."


I woke up groggy today. There was laundry to put away, everything's untidy, the dishes could stand being washed. I didn't have the energy for it. I was a zombie, staring at walls, all morning.

I stared at the computer too, and there I found a new folder I'd put there myself just last night but already forgotten about. I clicked on it. It said "Atmosphere." Things have not been the same here since.


Despite its too-clever name, I fell in love with Minnesota Public Radio's new station, The Current, quickly and thoroughly. They spoiled me with more good music than I'd ever heard in one place before.

With DJs who were obvious music lovers and also real people (they'd tell stories of bringing their own CDs and getting made fun of for them, they'd sometimes cue up the wrong song), this radio station reminded me of my college radio show. The Current was what I wanted that to be, if it had been done right.

I didn't find them quite early enough to hear the first song the new little station played, but I heard about it. I heard it too. It's a hip-hop thing about how great it is to be from the Midwest.

Now, I occasionally can be persuaded to listen to hip-hop (Danger Mouse, anyone? definitely a highlight of my college-radio life), but I'm not used to it resonating with me. I know I'm not the intended demographic.

But this track is different, because it's about snow and mosquitos, clean air and people who don't carry guns.

I was thrilled. I was in love. Eventually I find out what I really want to knw: this is Atmosphere; the song's called "Shh."


Last Friday, belladonnalin and I both seemed amazed to find someone else who's heard of Atmosphere, and we start talking, very excitedly, about the same song before we can even realize it's the same song.

She and I met in Manchester but we share the Midwest. If you can drink tap water and breathe air. If only one store in your town sells twelve-inches.

Roam if you must, but come home when you've seen enough.

She tells me she'll burn me a CD. The next Friday, she brought me a bunch of mp3s. Last night I put them on the computer.


Today I played them. Then I stood on the couch to open a window I hadn't even noticed was closed before. The cool air and the loud music seemed to finally wake me up; I danced around the room a little and folded some laundry. Life is not perfect but it seems better now.

At the end of the song there's a litany of towns--Duluth, "Minnesnowta"; Columbus, Ohio; Lawrence, Kansas, Boulder, Colorado--sung out by someone whose voice seems to love the words, makes me fond of places I've never been. And of course nothing beats the love for places I have been; the first two in his list are St. Cloud, Minnesota and Mankato, Minnesota. Just hearing the word "Mankato" again is enough to make me wriggle in delight.

That's how much of a dork I am.


I transcribed the lyrics, too, because I want to have them. And while you can get lyrics on the Internet, they're always on sites with pop-ups fierce enough to defy even Mozilla's pop-up blocking and anyway they're mostly written by people who got those lyrics the same way I used to: with a notebook, a pen, and a quick finger on the pause button.


I wanted to make a song about where I'm from, you know?
Big up my hometown, my territory, my state
I couldn't figure out much to brag about
Prince lives here
We got ten thousand lakes
But wait
The women are beautiful
To me they are
And we're not infested with pretentious movie stars
And it hit me
Minnesota is dope
If only simply for, not for what we have, but what we don't
It's all fair
It ain't out there
It's in there
It's in the mirror
Behind the breast, under the hair
"Follow the dream" doesn't mean leave the love
Roam if you must
but come home when you've seen enough
I love New York and Cali, but I ain't movin'
Too overpopulated, saturated with humans
And I'm not big on rappers, actors, or models
If I had to dip, I'd probably skip to Chicago
None of this is a diss to no one, nowhere
Like, damn, I'm from Minnesota
Land of the cold air
Too many mosquitos and our fair share of egos
But like my man Sabe says
That's where my mommy stays

So if people laugh and giggle when you tell 'em where you live
say shh
And if you know this is where you wanna raise your kids
Say shh
If you're from the Midwest, and it doesn't matter where
Say shh
If you can drink tap water and breathe the air
Say shh

Got trees and vegetation in the city I stay in
The rent's in the mail, and I can always find a parking space
The women outnumber the men two to one
Got parks and zoos and things to do with my son
The night life ain't all that, but that's okay
I don't need to be distracted by the devil every day
And the jobs ain't really too hard to find
In fact, you could have mine if you knew how to rhyme

This is for everyone around the planet
That wishes they were from somewhere other than where they're standin'
Don't take it for granted
Instead, take a look around
Quit complainin' and build somethin' on that ground
Dance and sleep on that ground
Get on your hands and knees and watch the ants walk around that ground

Make a family
Make magic
Make a mess
Take the stress, feel your motivation and build your nest

It sucks that you think where I'm from is whack
But as long as that's enough to keep your ass from comin' back
With a smile and a hint of sarcasm he says
"I beg your pardon, for this is my secret garden."

In the land of ice and snow...

So if people laugh and giggle when you tell 'em where you live
say shh
And if you know this is where you wanna raise your kids
Say shh
If you're from the Midwest, and it doesn't matter where
Say shh
If you can drink tap water and breathe the air
Say shh
If the playground is clear of stems and syringes
Say shh
If there's only one store in your town that sells twelve-inches
Say shh
If no one in your crew walks around with a gun
Say shh
If you ain't gonna leave 'cause this is where you're from
Say shh

belladonnalin flies away next week. I just met her, but I'll miss her; it won't seem right here without her. But she won't seem too far away when I remember that, like everything else these days, Atmosphere seem to have gotten into my life by a convulted series of connections. As far as I'm concerned, this music exists in the confluence of a radio station and a new friend and a certain kind of sentimentality about where I'm from; without any one of those things, I wouldn't be listening to it now.

Comments

[belladonnalin.livejournal.com]

"Follow the dream" doesn't mean leave the love
Roam if you must
but come home when you've seen enough

This line ALWAYS makes me cry. Along with If you ain't gonna leave, 'cause this is where you're from ...

Just ... love that song.

[eerielass.livejournal.com]

yay! Atmosphere is great! I saw them in Colorado and have their live CD. No one knew who the hell they were in Colorado before they started playing and everyone left with a CD. I love the song: "It's nothing but sunshine."

[paninogirl.livejournal.com]

As soon as I read the first paragraph, I knew you'd be writing about that Atmosphere song! I absolutely love it! My best friend Serena actually introduced me to Atmosphere around Memorial Day weekend, having been introduced to him herself through a friend from New Mexico. I, too, get excited every time I hear that song on The Current.

Minnesnowta rocks! :) Come back soon. :)

[elrestodemivida.livejournal.com]

Aw, what a lovely song. Are all Atmosphere's songs that nice? If so, i might have to go looking for some of their records.

[cosmolinguist]

Well, this is still my favorite. :-) It's a hidden track on their latest album, Seven's Travels, and so it's on the same mp3 as the last proper song, which is called "Always Coming Back Home to You," which I like almost as much. I haven't listened to the other CDs belladonnalin gave me, so I can't say for them. But in general, the impression I get from Atmosphere is that it's good for people who don't like hip-hop: it's not all guns and money and anger and calling people "bitches" or "niggaz."

[elrestodemivida.livejournal.com]

Oh, i love hip-hop, but like you i can't be bothered with all that guns-drugs-bitch'n'ho crap because it means nothing to me, is the same old crap regurgitated, and is just, you know, trying rather hard to be "shocking" when frankly it's been done to death.

You might like to check out Ugly Duckling too because if i remember rightly (and it's been a long time since i last listened to them) they are similarly positive in their lyrics and pretty good too.