Choctaw County Affair with a Galway Girl in the City Of Angels or maybe Malibu

So the hubby was on his spring break last week – naturally I didn’t get as much done as I normally do during his regular work week…heh. Of course now the end of his spring break segues into noon dismissal every day this week for Little Dude since it’s Parent/Teacher Conference Week. Which reminds me, I still need to schedule our P/T meeting.

And, after a week of half days for Little Dude, that segues into spring break for both kids – it’s too bad the hubby’s spring break doesn’t coincide with their spring break so there could be some ‘no alarm’ days, but alas, no ‘no alarm’ days in the offing.

Meanwhile, it’s Monday, and Monday means music! This week our Spotlight Dancer is Ellen of 15 & Meowing! She has chosen the theme for this week, which is “Names of Places”. Example: Cities, States, places you go or see… get the idea? Let’s have some fun!

Let’s start off with one of my favorite artists, who, when she first received the demo for this song, was put off by the title. She was quoted as saying:

“My brain immediately went to, like, ‘It’s a cheatin’ song – you know, like, ‘affair’, so it actually took me a few days to listen to it.”

However, once she did listen to the tune, she fell in love with its “swampiness.” It wasn’t at all what she thought it was going to be, so she turned it up and got sucked into the story. The story-based song delves deep into the amorous adventures of a man and a woman, but with an air of mystery. You don’t really know what happened, there’s still a lot left to the imagination, which the artist liked because people are going to fill in the gaps in their own way.

Here’s the inimitable Carrie Underwood with “Choctaw County Affair”:

Next up is a fun folk-pop song this artist released on St. Patrick’s Day last year about falling for an Irish girl. The track is the result of him inviting Northern Irish trad-folk band Beoga to his home recording studio for a week. The artist explained:

“It was based on the fiddle player in Beoga, Niamh [Dunne]. She’s married to an Irishman, a friend of mine. I had the band in my house for an extra day so I was like, ‘what can I write about? She plays the fiddle in an Irish band… right, cool, let’s write a song about that.’ She inspired the first line but the rest of the song isn’t about anyone, I just made up a story.”

He also explained the title of the song:

“Galway is a city in Ireland where my cousin and uncle live and it’s a really beautiful place – it’s like cobbled streets, it’s quintessential Ireland.”

Here’s the mega talented Ed Sheeran with Galway Girl:

Next up, while the song title references the nickname of Los Angeles, the group frontman said that it could refer to any place where you go to fulfill your dreams. He explained:

“That was a very personal song, obviously, about a specific place: Los Angeles. But it could be … well, when I was a younger kid, it was New York City. That was the place where I went to make my dreams come true, at that time to be a painter, an artist. I was in art school and New York was the place where you went to make those things come alive. And as I got older, I started studying film and I came out to Los Angeles. But it could be Paris, it could be Shanghai, it could be San Francisco, Palo Alto, anywhere. A place where you go to realize yourself and your dreams.”

Give a listen to Thirty Seconds To Mars with “City Of Angels”:

Last, but definitely not least, is a song named after the California beach community where this artist now resides., and is a love song about her fiancé.

I never would’ve believed you if three years ago you told me I’d be here writing this song / But here I am, next to you, the sky so blue, in Malibu

“They’re going to talk about me if I come out of a restaurant with [him],” the artist was quoted as saying. “So why not put the power back in my relationship and say, ‘This is how I feel’?”

Here’s Miley Cyrus with “Malibu”:

That’s a wrap for this week, have a great Monday – see you on the dance floor!

Now on to the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me:   I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, Callie from JAmericanSpice., as well as the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy.

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!