Is this my beautiful house?

I’ve decided that a central purpose of this blog will be this: the transparent and earnest exchange between friends.

So there you have it and here it is: the first recommendation from a friend here on Subanimal Sounds. This one comes from Julie Anne Reda (I remember her under an earlier name), whom I knew in college, and with whom I attended Gulf War symposiums, nature preserve lie-ins, and Saturday afternoon common room singalongs (often featuring U2′s “40″ and the entire oeuvre of the Waterboys). “Warm memories” are how I would describe those times.

Fifteen years of life later, together we look back one small year: one of Julie Anne’s favorite records of 2008 was “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” by Brian Eno and David Byrne. I happened to have “Life Is Long” in my iTunes library, so I will post it here. I hear a potential world to be drawn into here, and my interest is piqued (the names alone would do that), but I’m on the fence. I fear the song’s title promises more than the lyrics deliver. I remember a character from the movie Magnolia chanting “life is long” on his death bed, and depressives everywhere nodded in their guts… a little later I stole it myself and used it in a song. I hear a different message in this song. More measured, more instructional. Any thoughts out there? What does this album mean to you? Please share with us.

Brian Eno and David Byrne: Life Is Long