Now when we originally posted this, the only versions we had to go on were live ones. I LOVE the album versions, but I think when it comes to the painting capturing the vibe of the song, you have to hear it live, which is posted below. The live version is just sexier and just… _________... I’ll just stop there, you get the point. I will just leave you to read what Mare and Danielle have to say because when it comes to this song and this painting… no one can describe it as well as Mare did…It is absolute perfection and I never get tired of reading it……in this case it wasn’t just the song that inspired the painting.. it was reading and discussing how she felt about the song. Team work at it’s finest:
Here is a recap of Mare’s description of the song….
The idea for this painting came the morning after I saw Lee sing “The Ride” for the first time....right in front of me, in Asheville, NC. It was the first time I’d heard the song and I had an immediate physical reaction to it. I wanted to live INSIDE the song. I felt the music crawl up my skin, make my heart pound..... and as it was giving me chills, suddenly the room fell away. I heard the music, I heard the words, but I was no longer watching the person in front of me sing. Instead, a song turned into a story that I fell into... with my own images, my own feelings.... That is truly when you get “lost” in a song. I knew, after hearing it just once, that my reaction to the song, the world it created for me, and the way I could let go and get lost in it..... HAD to come to life.
I contacted my friend Jenn the next day. We had spoken about her art and Lee’s music many times in the past. I always felt that what she painted is how I would explain Lee’s music visually. She makes his songs into pictures.... The entire vibe and feeling of a song in front of me VISUALLY. I was so affected by The Ride, that I knew I had to ask her if she would paint the song.... Her response was: “What if I paint what YOU see? Describe it to me, everything you see and feel about the song and I’ll make it real...”.... I wasn’t sure how that would work....
That night, I sat down to write a short hand of what that song looked like in my mind. Here are the exact words I sent to Jenn:
“The scene is smokey to me, fiery, it burns. Reds, black details, sepia tones, not clear, more like you're looking thru smoke except maybe one detail that's in focus. It almost reminds me of 1920's prohibition basement music with sexual tension, withheld aggression, a warning, but chill vibe all in one.
A few visuals: that new mic with a hand holding it, maybe to the forearm to see a tattoo to know its him, and lips to the mic.
I also see him writing this song.... paper and pencil on an empty stage, with lights above shining down.
It also creates a sexual kind of pic.... I see two people up against the wall in a kind of struggle.... Arms pinned. But even though I see the whole pic, on a canvas, I can only see the couples arms in an aggressive hold.
I see SO many different pictures, but the FEEL of it is always the same....”
The next morning, Jenn had read what I wrote, and the amazing thing is..... She had seen the same visuals. She knew EXACTLY where I was going, and from that point on, we collaborated on the picture, the art, of The Ride.
The more talks we had, and the further the painting evolved and became what it is, the further inspired I became. Someone could take my feelings, my reactions, my imaginings.... and transfer them to canvas. When you really “listen” to a song that affects you, it becomes more than notes and words. It takes on a life of its own. Suddenly, the song has texture, it has color, it has shades, a vibe, a feeling.... it creates a snapshot of the world you got lost in for those few minutes.
It takes a circle of inspiration to create something like this. A musician that writes a song from his heart and performs it so well that you get lost in a story..... An artist that is so in tune with that music that she can create a visual.... And a fan that was so affected, that the song had to become “real”.... through nothing other than words....
Now, Here is my Sister, Danielle’s point of view looking at the art work alone:
Wow, ok so The Ride...I'm sitting in a cozy little jazz bar, the room filled with a smoky curtain! As I sit and sip my martini...a man walks out on the stage and mesmerizes the audience with his laid back, sexy voice! The man is cool and confident I imagine he rolls his eyes up to the ceiling as he feels the melody and let's the lyrics soar into my soul! This is the kind of painting you look at before picking up a 50 shades book hehe!
You HAVE Listen to "The Ride" here (courtesy of Kelly (@Lees_BiggestFan) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzAV_6JGLQk
(**warning, be prepared to not want to do anything else the rest of the night except repeat)
Lyrics for “The Ride”
I don’t break apart so easily...
Maybe you would like to try.
But I’m the one who waited carefully...
Thinkin’ I would take my time.
But you knew better than I....
Somewhere buried underneath the lights...
You wait.... You wait.... You’d wait and you’d see...
The time it takes to bend someones knees...
And who, who knew better than you?
No no no, no no no, no no no, no
Who knew better than you?
Hold on tight, the ride has just begun...
If you care to come along.
Cause being right for you was too much fun...
And being right for me was wrong.
But you knew better than I.....
Somewhere buried, somewhere buried, underneath the lights.
You wait... You wait.... You’d wait and you’d see...
The time it takes to bend someones knees.
And who.... Oh who knew better than you?
Knew better.... Knew better..... Knew better than you?
Who knew better than you? Who knew? Who knew better than you?
Who knew better? Who knew better? Who knew better..... than you?
Hopefully you are enjoying reading and seeing how we think and feel about this album.... Next post, "Don't be afraid" ...
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