This is a multiple part spotlight because The Avett Brothers truly deserve all the spotlights. Just listen to their entire discography—believe me, that is the spotlight hahaha. Anyway, here are my personal favorite 15 songs (because narrowing it down to 10 just wasn't possible), in chronological order—obviously I can't choose an ultimate favorite:
Love like the movies (A carolina jubilee, 2003)
I chose this version of the song because the album version has Dave Rhames, a family friend, singing the second verse and I don't like it. This song is great because it talks about how people need to start being more realistic about love because it will never be perfect like it is always portrayed on the silver screen. Being in love is perfectly imperfect—you're not always going to have the right words to say at the right moments, you won't have a director telling you exactly what to do in a certain situation, and you won't be acting. Being in love is real, unscripted, and completely unique to each person. We truly can't be in love like the movies, so let's quit wishing for it and just embrace the beautiful and glorious mess that love is.
Real life is more than just two hours long | |
Sorry man (A carolina jubilee, 2003)
This song gets to me, and I don't even know why, because it's not like it applies to my life or anything. I just think it's so sweet that this guy tries so hard to be with his girlfriend even though her parents don't like him. The couple realizes they can't change her parents' minds, so they basically run away to be together. I absolutely love how the speaker tries to prove everyone wrong and says that no one else can love the girl like he does. The simple fact that he's even actually trying shows that he's not a sorry man at all. Gah. So sweet. And Seth's voice is extremely beautiful.
| And I've got news for your ma |
Smoke in our lights (A carolina jubilee, 2003)
THIS SONG. There are too many great lines and it was an instant favorite of mine the first time I heard it. I feel like he's comparing the girl to all these things because they remind him of her. She's not just a girl; she's a town, she's a song, she's a car, she's a waltz, she's summertime, she's the sway of the hammock. All of these seemingly simple and ordinary things make him think about this extraordinary girl and how much he loves her. And I think that is such a beautiful thing to write and sing about.
All around my memories, you dance | |
Offering (A carolina jubilee, 2003)
"I'm lost 'cause I don't know what to say"...this song is so sweet and simple. I seriously can't think of anything else to say about it. It's so beautifully breathtaking, just listen. And look at Scott's cute family chilling on the couch. And cry.
| Sometimes I act foolish |
The new love song (Mignonette, 2004)
Another simply beautiful song. He's going to continue to see tenderness and grace in this girl no matter what happens or what has happened in her life before. He wants her to forget all the bad she's seen and he wants to be there for her, to comfort her. And when he says "take my name", "burn the questions, burn the shame", and "you don't have to live with them"—I'm speechless. I love this version of Scott singing it with just his banjo.
Burn the questions, burn the shame | |
at the beach (mignonette, 2004)
I haven't really been listening to this song much until recently when I was walking around my college campus truly paying attention to each lyric. It's fun, upbeat, and reminds me that life is too short not to instantly leave all our worries behind. We need to learn to let our troubles go and just embrace the moment we're in. I love the last stanza where they're walking along the beach, thanking whoever set off some fireworks, and dancing to no music. It's a scene that shows the beautiful simplicity of life that can still hold a whole world of meaning and excitement.
| I know that you're smiling, baby, |
Salvation song (Mignonette, 2004)
Breaking Bad fans, listen up (jk haha). This song has so many great uplifting lyrics about our purpose in life. We came for salvation, family, and everything good; we didn't come for fame or for anything that isn't honest. I like the part where he says "If you take of my soul you can still leave it whole with the pieces of your own you leave behind". We all have some sort of impact on each other whether it's big or small or good or bad and we leave bits of ourselves with other people, which is a pretty cool thought to me.
We came to leave behind the world a better way | |
Famous flower of manhattan (Four Thieves Gone, 2006)
This is another instant favorite of mine. The best version was the Live on Letterman version, but those videos have been taken down, so that's lame. The speaker finds a girl in the city hoping to take her to stay with him in the country where he's from away from the hectic life he thinks is too dangerous for her. However, he doesn't actually do it, because he realizes that we can't just go around trying to change people to fit our own needs. We can't pick the flower from where it grew and try to replant it in an environment that it is not used to or where it doesn't belong. That's greedy and possessive. By the end of the song, he realizes that what he did was for the best, because the flower/girl is flourishing exactly where he left her, even though she isn't with him. I love the metaphor and concept of this song and I hope I get to hear it live someday soon.
| Blue birds don't fly without their wings |
Sanguine (The Gleam EP, 2006)
Gah, this song is so pretty. To be sanguine means to be "optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation". I think this is really important because we are inevitably going to continue to face awful situations throughout life, we will be heartbroken, and we will eventually die, but we can still be hopeful and love through it all. A lot of the Avett Brothers' songs deal with life struggles that many can relate to, and they are always able to bring hope into the picture somehow. So, "I will keep my wits about myself", and I will choose to be sanguine in harder times.
Help me genuinely | |
Tear down the house (the second gleam EP, 2008)
I actually used the line "I have no memory of who I once was and I don't remember your name" as my senior quote for my high school yearbook, because I know I've become a different person since beginning high school, and I know I will continue to go through other changes for the rest of my life. I love this song for the heartbreak, change, and improvement it talks about. After all that he's been through, he knows he isn't the same man anymore, but also that it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Remember that change is good--you'll be "a better man for having gone through it".
| I don't need those words to say what I mean |
Murder in the city (The second gleam, 2008)
This is one of their more well-known "classics", I guess you could say, and it is amazing. When I heard it live back in October, Scott was alone with just his guitar and the lights on him like in this video. It was so beautiful. This song is centered around the importance of family and love. Since Scott now has a family of his own, he sings "Make sure my boy knows I love him, make sure my girls know the same. Always remember there is nothing worth sharing like the love that lets us share our name".
Always remember there was nothing worth sharing | |
St. Joseph's (the second gleam, 2008)
I love the tune of this song and the way that Scott and Seth sing it in this version. I just think it's so pretty and one of my favorite Avett lyrics comes from it. I don't know what else to say about it, except that my favorite line does remind me of some of my favorite people ever. We could be anywhere and I'm certain we would have so much fun.
| It's not where I am |
Through my prayers (the carpenter, 2012)
This song is a reminder that we need to love and forgive before it's too late. We need to say those "better words" now. It captures the feeling of loneliness we experience when someone we're close to dies and no one else seems to understand what we're going through. It teaches us that we can't wait until the only time we're able to tell someone how we truly feel and that we care is through our prayers—we have to do it now, while we still can.
If you have love in your heart let it show while you can | |
A father's first spring (the carpenter, 2012)
This song is so special to me and I'm not even a parent yet. Scott wrote it after his first child, Eleanor, was born, and it's one of the most beautiful and honest songs I have ever heard. The part where Scott talks about the realist thing he ever felt and being a child before the day he met his daughter is so raw and beautiful and GAH. And when his heart is ruined when he looks into her eyes and how "there's no part of it left to give"—there's just something about a new parent's instant and unconditional love. I adore this song so much and I am so excited to feel this different kind of love for my own child some day, way in the future.
| I have been homesick for you since we met |
standing with you (the carpenter bonus track, 2012)
This was only on a special Target release of this album, which is insane, because I think it is amazing and should have been on the actual release.
I always will put you before me | |
i wish i was (True sadness, 2016)
If you're counting, you know this is the 16th and not 15th song on this list, but I thought I would include a new one as a bonus. This will be on their album coming out in June and it's one of my favorite new songs. It will also be the first dance song at my wedding, and ya better believe it. When I heard this song live, I couldn't help but sing along at the end when he talks about all the things he's not. He wishes he could be all these different things, but he knows he's better—he's a man in love and he wants that to show. This is quite possibly the greatest love song of all time, in my very factual opinion.
| I'm at a loss for what to do but I'm drawn to you |
Something that struck me as I was writing this is that I didn't include any songs from Emotionalism or I and Love and You, even though they are my two favorite albums. I guess it's the cohesion of them that drew me in and I love all the songs, but my absolute favorite stand-alone songs are from other works. Interesting.
I can honestly say that the Avett Brothers have changed my life and the way I view things. They are my favorite band and I can't wait to attend more live shows and hear their new music for years and years to come.
As always, thanks for reading, and expect more Avett Brothers posts in the near future! Spread the Avett gospel and share this, why dontcha? :)
~Say Love <3 (If you don't get that now, you will later)
I can honestly say that the Avett Brothers have changed my life and the way I view things. They are my favorite band and I can't wait to attend more live shows and hear their new music for years and years to come.
As always, thanks for reading, and expect more Avett Brothers posts in the near future! Spread the Avett gospel and share this, why dontcha? :)
~Say Love <3 (If you don't get that now, you will later)