it’s Perfect that I Drink Wine i Wish You The Best when We Pray!

I’m writing this on Sunday, which happens to be May 18th, which is the day Mt. St. Helens blew her top here in Washington State:

It was a crazy time, that’s for sure! Meanwhile, it’s Monday, and you know that Monday means music! This week’s theme is “International artists/songs”. Let’s get this International party started!

Let’s start with an English singer-songwriter who was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He began writing songs around the age of eleven! The artist wrote this song about his wife – the pair were childhood friends who got together in 2015 and were married in 2019. About the video, he said:

“Came up with the idea for the video because I like Christmas. There’s not enough Christmas music videos out nowadays. So yeah, I wanted snow and romance. The song’s cheesy anyway and I thought we might as well go like full-blown Swiss cheese on it.”

Get ready for goosebumps, here’s Ed Sheeran with “Perfect”:

Next up is another English singer-songwriter who is regarded as a British icon. She is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting, which is straightforward yet sophisticated. This jazz-influenced song finds the artist doing some self-analysis following her split from her husband.

So I hope I learn to get over myself / Stop tryin’ to be somebody else / So we can love each other for free / Everybody wants somethin’, you just want me

With the help of a few glasses of wine, the wounded superstar tries to mend her shattered self-esteem. She said:

“I took everything so personally at that period of time in my life. So the lyric ‘I hope I learn to get over myself’ is like [me saying] ‘Once I’ve done that, then maybe I can let you love me.’

That song is basically like 50 questions I’m asking myself. It felt like it was the beginning of me coming out”.

Fun fact: the artist originally came up with the song title as a joke before deciding to keep it.

Here’s the amazing Adele with “I Drink Wine”:

Next up is a song from this amazing Scottish singer-songwriter, where his description of the song is the best:

“‘[This song]’ came from the idea of a person you used to be with, telling you all this amazing stuff about their life, without you in it. It’s a song about what we don’t say to those people. I was fascinated by the things left unsaid, whether that be in a relationship or a friendship.”

The music video was released on 14 April 2023. Its storyline is based on Greyfriars Bobby, a terrier dog in 19th-century Scotland that visited the grave of his owner for 14 years after the owner’s death. The dog was played by Winnie, a Cairn Terrier, and the owner was played by veteran actor David Bradley. A scene involving Winnie carrying an envelope in her mouth took 10 days of training to get right. Fair warning – you might need some tissues handy while watching this video.

Get ready for some mega goosebumps, here’s Lewis Capaldi with “Wish You The Best”:

Last but certainly not least is a song from this British rock band formed in London in 1997. Collaborated by multiple artists with an operatic, epic-sounding anthem that finds these artists reflecting on their hopes for the future and fears of the present, manifesting greatness amid adversity.

I know somewhere that heaven is waitin’ / And so we pray / I know somewhere there’s something amazin’ / And so we pray / I know somewhere we’ll feel no pain / Until we make it to the end of the day

When asked how the song came about, the main artist said:

“‘[The song]’ sort of wrote itself like some of the good songs do. In Taiwan, in the middle of the night, I woke up and the song was in my head, and I don’t know where it came from. So the sound of it sort of dictated itself and that’s all. I just sort of followed the road map that it said.”

When choosing to include featured artists on any project, he said:

“You have to let the song decide; the song sort of says what it needs, and I think that ‘[this song]’ probably arrived from wherever it arrived from because I’ve been thinking a lot about all of these conflicts and people that hate each other. We’re all praying for the same things, and we’d probably all get along if you just sat down long enough. I think that was the field into which it landed, and then it felt very natural that I wouldn’t do all the verses or wouldn’t sing it all on my own.

It felt like it’s a song about different types of people, so we should have different types of people singing it,” he explains. “Burna Boy, Elyanna, TINI, Little Simz, they’re all from different continents and different languages, and that’s what just felt really right.”

Give a listen to Coldplay, Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna and TINI with “We Pray”:

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

Now, onto 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, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!

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!