My number one book of 2024 was a bit of a surprise, as it is a new author, and book I reserved on a whim after reading a review. Obviously, I wasn’t let down by this quirky, pseudo-science fiction novel that tells the story of a life that is unique.I love finding books like this that come out of nowhere and have a powerful impact. Both funny and a little sad, it’s one of those books that sticks with you after you finish it.
The beauty of Marie-Helene Bertino’s latest novel Beautyland is that while our protagonist, Adina, purports to be from another planet, born through a human mother, you never really know for sure if that’s fact, or delusion… and it doesn’t even matter. The novel is a beautifully written allegory for being the ‘other.’ Adina was always a little strange growing up; from her aversion to mouth sounds, to her largely solitary existence, with only her mother as a companion for her early childhood. As she grows into adolesence, she forms a strong bond with Toni and her family. As an adult, she tries out a romantic relationship, but doesn’t really understand how it all works. All the while, she dutifully faxes her ‘superiors’ from her origin world, receiving brief sometimes heartening, sometimes frustrating responses. In the end, Adina lives a life, and whether she finds what she needs will be up to the reader.
And now we’re taking a look at my Top 10 Emm Gryner songs, and every one of them is a standout, if you ask me. Here you’ll be able to figure out my favorite albums as well, as the Top 10 is primarily made up of cuts from AsianBlue, The Summer of High Hopes, and most notably, the outstanding Science Fair. While the Summer of High Hopes scores big with three songs in the Top 10, they all appear here in the lower half. Still, it’s a pretty bold showing! Take time with this list… and I hope you take a moment to listen to all of these outstanding tracks.
#10 – Serenade (Science Fair)
Here in the Top 10 we see Science Fair start to take
command. Two tracks from this album appear in this segment. It’s an album
that’s near perfect for me, and Serenade
is a gorgeous, melancholy acoustic guitar-driven ballad. It’s also one of those
songs whose lyrics are pretty poetic and don’t add up to a lot for me; it seems
intensely personal. It seems that it was written on the road, and there’s
definitely a sense of longing. But the killer lines come in what could arguably
be called the chorus, “It’s a good day for wishing you were mine. I wish it all
the time.” We’ve all felt that before,
right? Gorgeous in its simplicity, with some beautiful harmonies that just make
my heart soar.
#9 – Girls are Murder (The Summer of High Hopes)
While Science Fair will continue to dominate the Top 10, The
Summer of High Hopes does its best to assert dominance, with three cuts in this
group. I’m a sucker for a 70’s pop groove, and Girls Are Murder has that subtly embedded in the verses, along with
a killer syncopated drum track. The lyrics are vivid, telling the story of a guy
who’s had his heart broken, hence, “Girls are murder.” The summer as hell
imagery is fitting and ironic on the album entitled The Summer of High Hopes.
And man, that chorus is what pushes it over the edge. Wow, after the commanding
piano chords to kick things off, and the up and down melody of the verses, the
driving, urgent chorus really pulls it all together and reels you in
beautifully. While Science Fair dominates the Top 10, The Summer of High Hopes
rules #’s 6 – 10, with Girls Are Murder
being the first of three tracks.
#8 – Revenge (Science Fair)
Revenge has a special place in my pantheon of Emm songs. It
was a cathartic song when I broke up with a long-term boyfriend nearly 20 years
ago. While Emm clearly wrote this about a very specific situation, this is
great break-up song from whatever your perspective. I particularly love the
line, “I wanted to show you the things I know, As few as they may be.” In my
own personal movie, the song’s point-of-view jumps back and forth between me
and my ex, and I think that’s why I love who flexible it can be for the
listener. From a musical point of view, I love the bridge and it’s gently descending
melody… it just draws you directly into the chorus.
#7 – Almighty Love (The Summer of High Hopes/Gem and I)
The duet version of Almighty Love with Joe Elliott
Emm Gryner, live of Irish TV singing Almighty Love
Perhaps one of Emm’s most famous songs, after Bono selected it
as one of the ten songs written by other artists that he most wished he had
written. And with good reason, Almighty Love is a gorgeous love song about the one
person who just can’t be denied, but is just flat-out bad for you. I love the different
versions of this song, some with the distorted power chords pushing things
along, another more pop-oriented, but sung as a duet with Joe Elliott form Def
Leppard, who in some ways could be the epitome of the song’s subject. There are
so many great, great lines from this track that I can’t pull out just one or
two lines. The entire first verse is a masterpiece.
“You don’t write back when you promise to
The moon has overdosed on night-time like me on you
I got bars of your punk rock running through my veins
I got symphonies and science but no way to explain
How you broke my life in two different worlds
You move quicker than the lightning illuminates a girl
Got cigarettes you smoke burned into my veins
I got sympathy and silence but no way to explain”
Side note: for no other reason then maybe one or two lines
(like the third one about punk rock) this song always reminds me of a cinematic
version of my good friend Christine.
#6 – Blackwinged Bird (The Summer of High Hopes)
Blackwinged Bird is
one of those soaring piano ballads with gorgeous, evocative lyrics, that
conjure up images and emotions, but are impossible to understand… at least for
me. But that doesn’t matter, because the song is just wrenching, even in its
obliqueness. As in many of her songs, there is a lot of exploration of the way
boys and girls act differently, and it seems to be referring to a dark time in
this young woman’s life. Of all the beautiful lyrics of the song, my favorite
verse is still fairly indecipherable in the context of the song, “Now we’re
paper dolls all aflame, in houses that all look the same.
Rows of regret, an arson for a wilderness.” The
crowning glory from The Summer of High Hopes, Emm also produced a lush,
accompanying video for this song.
Here’s a nice assortment of pop songs, from gorgeous ballads, both piano and acoustic guitar, to easy pop rock, and clever lyrics. It’s a great lead-in to my Top 20… and now it’s getting harder and harder to rank them because they’re all great!
#25 – Billy Hang On (The Great Lakes)
Another one about survival, perhaps of a relatioship… “We’re at an all-time low, but some of the stars still glow. So Billy hang on, Billy hang on for me,” Emm sings. It’s heartfelt and beautiful. It’s the only track to make it to my Top 40 from The Great Lakes, Emm’s home-made album. It’s a classic Emm Gryner piano ballad sung and played with such emotion and beauty. Sadly, I can’t find a single source online for this beautiful song!
#24 – Survive (Northern Gospel)
Emm channels the smooth soft-rock of the 70’s in this easy-going pop confection about making it through life. Some nice rollicking piano and lush, soaring vocals on the chorus really propel this number along beautifully, complete with a fuzz-guitar solo, so effectively used by other 70’s pop staples like The Carpenters. Emm mines another Canadian reference, “The word came down like Victoria rain” and things look pretty bleak, especially in the romance department, but Emm challenges, “The trick is to survive, yes survive, but you gotta wanna keep yourself alive. Do I, do I?” This is the third and highest charting number from Emm’s 2011 album, Northern Gospel.
#23 – Young Rebel (Asianblue)
Stop start of the drums. Awesome Electric piano. Recurring eastern-influenced intro. Second of 5 appearance from 2002 album, Asianblue. This still seems like one of Emm’s earlier albums, but the maturity is definitely starting to show. One of my favorite of Emm’s albums. Emm sings about a guy who breaks rules and soars above the rest of us… he’s a bad boy, but she’s transfixed. It’s a theme that will show up again higher up on this list.
#22 – Sundown On Us (Torrential)
Man, this is a heartbreaker about a young woman who realizes that her long-term relationship is nearing its end. A gentle acoustic guitar-driven ballad. The first line, “It’s my birthday and you still haven’t kissed me,” just breaks my heart. Then the chorus, “Big day feeling small, is this the end of perfect love, feeling six feet tall. It can end just like it began. Is it sundown on us? Sundown on everything that was…? And where did that church organ come from at the fade out? If Torrential isn’t Emm’s break-up album, I don’t know what is.
#21 – Math Whiz (Torrential)
And knocking on the Top 20 is the last number from 2014’s Torrential, another break-up song, the delightfully geeky Math Whiz. In fact, it starts and ends with the same cascading synth that Sundown on Us ends with. If it wasn’t so god damn clever, it would be almost annoying as Emm crams every math metaphor to describe her breakup. But Emm’s pretty masterful with her lyrics, whether in their poetry or the simplicity… and the lovely acoustic guitar that drives this song is just perfect for the melancholy mood overlaying the pop melody. And as much as I hate auto-tuning, Emm’s use of the sound adds a nice background during the coda. Check out the promo video for the song above, and a lovely solo acoustic rendition below.
https://youtu.be/cfG4L0RacgM
And now we’re headed into my Top 20 Emm Gryner songs!
Sorry for the little break. Things got a little busy as September rolled around. But I’m back with my next batch of songs in my Emm Gryner Top 40! Here we countdown #’s 35 – 31. Emm’s latest album, Only of Earth: Days of Games sees two more cuts appear. It’s doing pretty well so far!
#35 – Doomsday (The Original Leap Year)
I’m sad to say that I can’t find a video or a sound file for this song anywhere on the web so you’ll have to be content with just reading the beautiful lyrics.
“Do everything that you’ve never done, “ said the man on the radio. So begins Emm’s mournful piano ballad heralding the end of the world and the loss of someone she loves. When she wails, “More than anything, I need the last minute of your time,” years of heartbreak and longing overpower the looming apocalypse. This one should have been part of the soundtrack of Don McKellar’s stunning film, LAST NIGHT.
#34 – Something Tells Me (Only of Earth)
Channeling late-70’s David Bowie, with guest singer/guitarist David Rhodes, Something Tells Me is the second track to appear in this Top 40 that is taken from her latest album, Only of Earth. The easy swing of the beat, and the soaring saxophone that interplays with vocals brings something joyful to this cut.
#33 – Summerlong (Dead Relatives)
Summerlong was the first single released to the world from Emm’s major label debut, Public, but it’s the originally recorded version taken from her Dead Relatives album, complete with crunchy, distorted electric guitar that perfectly offsets this pop gem about a summer romance. “The city smiled when you were around,” is such a great lyric.
#32 – North (Northern Gospel)
Emm sings about Canada a lot, and North is a beautiful mid-tempo ballad that mourns a love lost, “In my heart you’re north of the border, shining down like the aurora,” with the “rain coming down like a eulogy.” The live solo version included here captures the spirit of the song perfectly.
#31 – Silent Steps (Only of Earth)
Pushing her voice to the extremes of her upper register, Ermm sounds otherworldly over the Goldfrapp-like synth runs firmly serving us 80’s space opera. Such a cool, cool song. The third of four tracks from her latest album, Only of Earth: Days of Games, to appear in this top 40. You’ll have to wait a good 25+ tracks to get to the next one.
As I stated in my last post, Emm is a very prolific songwriter, and as a way to revisit all of her catalog, I’ve gone through to chronicle my favorite of her songs. Emm’s strength run the gamut of blissful, heady pop to emotional power ballads, with some 80’s prog-influenced rock and roll. I think this list reflects her range well and slightly surprised me with its final ranking.
#40 – The Spark (Only of Earth)
Anchoring my Top 40 Emm songs, comes a track from her highly ambitious, newest album, Day of Games, the first in a trilogy of albums titled Only of Earth. Propelled by birth and loss, Only of Earth sees Emm really stretching her musical creative skills, borrowing from progressive story-telling and musicianship from the 70’s and 80’s to find new inspiration. The Spark kicks things off with some crunchy rock and roll that really opens up her songwriting to new heights.
#39 – Boy Races (Science Fair)
If I’m being honest with myself, after creating this list, I would have to say Emm’s 1999 homemade album Science Fair remains my favorite as a piece. There’s a sense of youthful bravado, while at the same time an earnest poetry that resonates beautiful across generations. Recorded on an 8-track, it outsold its major label predecessor, Public, in just two months. Boy Races is a complex, epic-feeling love story, with lyrics I don’t really understand, but with a complex musical structure that shows off Emm’s skill as a songwriter.
#38 – Home (Northern Gospel)
A mid-temp soulful piano-driven pop song reminiscent of the best Elton John, Home is taken from Emm’s 2011 album, Northern Gospel. As many of her songs, it tells a rather melancholy story, but there’s something comforting in the lyrics despite its seeming regret.
#37 – Hello Aquarius (Public)
Lush and over-produced, Hello Aquarius is the opening track to Emm’s first-and-only major label release, introducing a young, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter to a public that largely ignored her. It’s filled with youthful heady concepts, indecipherable lyrics, and pop hook after pop hook that this listener found impossible to ignore. The album was called Public, and it was released in 2008. Several of the songs were first recorded on her indie album, The Original Leap Year, and Emm re-recorded the album in its entirety as a bonus album for her fans in 2006 called PVT. I love how many of Emm’s vocalizations have continued thoughout her recording career. This was my first Emm experience and I’ve been hooked ever since.
#36 – Lonestar (Asianblue)
A lot of Emm’s songs deal with heartbreak, and Lonestar is one of these. It’s also a classic example of the poetry of Emm’s lyrics that often stick in my brain (and I’m not a lyrics person). In this case the opening pair of lines, “All the stars above, I named for you — Constellations spun like a sea of aquablue.” Sound promising, but unfortunately, the “you” mentioned leaves Emm behind, much to her confusion. It’s all wrapped up in an unerring melody that evokes the longing of young love. Lonestar is the first of 5 great songs from her 2002 album, Asianblue.
Here’s a nice assortment of pop songs, from gorgeous ballads, both piano and acoustic guitar, to easy pop rock, and clever lyrics. It’s a great lead-in to my Top 20… and now it’s getting harder and harder to rank them because they’re all great!
As I stated in my last post, Emm is a very prolific songwriter, and as a way to revisit all of her catalog, I’ve gone through to chronicle my favorite of her songs. Emm’s strength run the gamut of blissful, heady pop to emotional power ballads, with some 80’s prog-influenced rock and roll. I think this list reflects her range well and slightly surprised me with its final ranking.