Kelly
McGrath - You and Me Today
Despite
the omnipresence of it in our lives, physical and otherwise, very little of our
art concerns itself with examining death. Invariably, when a songwriter or poet
turns their attention to the subject, it’s from the point of view Kelly McGrath
adopts in her latest single “You and Me Today”. McGrath sings from the point of
view of a survivor, one of those left behind to pick up the pieces after a
close loved one dies, and her stirring performance never risks the hackneyed or
overwrought. Instead, she approaches this event in song with the same grace the
reality of her loss demanded from here in real life. Everything about this song
rings true. There is a sense of hard-won wisdom emanating from the mid-tempo
arrangement and the plaintive tone of loss infusing McGrath’s voice is
unmistakable. She doesn’t subject the listener to a single note longer than the
song needs and it’s a little astonishing that she manages to so comprehensively
touch on a deeply emotional experience within three minutes eight seconds.
It
is remarkably patient for such a relatively brief song. One expects that such a
profoundly requires a larger stage to communicate its enormity, but McGrath’s
less is more approach belies more incremental ambitions. “You and Me Today”
succeeds, in no small part, thanks to how well it understands its listeners.
The rising and ebbing of human emotions, especially after such a transformative
event, mimics the lightly handled orchestration so evident in this track. It
starts off in muted mood, McGrath’s voice accompanied by acoustic guitar, and
slowly climbs in intensity. The rhythm section gives the song a sturdy skeleton
that McGrath’s other musical cohorts surround the skeleton with sparkling color
that nonetheless has a darker, moody side. The mid-tempo pace that the song
takes is ideally suited for both the subject matter and McGrath’s voice.
The
lyrics are tightly written and, like the arrangement, never waste any energy
with extra material that means nothing to the song. The focus is laudable. She
plumbs to the depths of this experience without ever relying on familiar turns
in the form – she never plays to the audience’s pity, doesn’t
over-sentimentalize her relationship with her father, and fills the track with
a great mix of the personal and general. Instead, she is intent on relaying the
reality of this experience with clear, startlingly direct language that never
cheats the listener and tries to gaze into the face of this grievous change to
her life without ever blinking or flinching. Her attempt is wholly successful
and quite admirable.
Anyone
who has lost a loved parent will understand the pain in this single. “You and
Me Today” is a song that sees the connection between father and daughter as
unalterable, even by the grave, and while the song isn’t a catalog of
platitudes for the deceased, it is a remarkable tribute to the enduring power
that certain figures hold over our hearts and lives. As a preview of her
forthcoming album, Kelly McGrath couldn’t have re-introduced herself to the
music world in a better way.
David
Shouse
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