Grammy Night

Even though my favorite musicians are typically not nominated, I do try and catch the Grammys. I tend to root for the awkward moments but usually there will also be a couple of good performances.

Though not nominated for an award, I would like to highlight one of my favorite songs of the last year ... "Unplayed Piano" by Damian Rice & Lisa Hannigan. It's a beautiful song with a poignant message concerning the detention of Suu Kyi, the nonviolent leader of Myanmar's democratization movement.

Combining politics and art is tricky. If the music can't stand on its own or the lyrics are too preachy, the message is likely to be lost and the song easily dismissed. Rice & Hannigan's song is beautiful even without any knowledge of the subject matter. The lyrics are sufficiently subtle to be subject to many interpretations a listener mat draw. Once the subject matter is known, the images the lyrics create bring an emotive quality to the the problem of despotism that a more straightforward condemnation cannot bring.

Here are the lyrics:



Come and see me
Sing me to sleep
Come and free me
Hold me if i need to weep
Maybe it's not the season
Maybe it's not the year
Maybe there's no good reason
Why i'm locked up inside
Just cause they wanna hide me
The moon goes bright
The darker they make my night

Unplayed pianos
Are often by a window
In a room where nobody loved goes
She sits alone with her silent song
Somebody bring her home

Unplayed piano
Still holds a tune
Lock on the lid
In a stale, stale room
Maybe it's not that easy
Or maybe it's not that hard
Maybe they could release me
Let the people decide
I've got nothing to hide
I've done nothing wrong
So why have i been here so long?

Unplayed pianos
Are often by a window
In a room where nobody loved goes
She sits alone with her silent song
Somebody bring her home

Unplayed pianos
Are often by a window
In a room where nobody loved goes
She sits alone with her silent song
Somebody bring her home

Unplayed piano
Still holds a tune
Years pass by
In the changing of the moon