Hi all,
I haven’t kept up with Kurt Vile since Bottle It In came out. Not for any particular reason, life got busy, and I also really dove into the world of older music for the first time which has kept me occupied for a while.
Nevertheless, I have continued to listen to Wakin on a Pretty Day regularly since then. I have listened to this song at least 1,000 times. Actually it’s probably more. I don’t know what it is, but it feels like for nine and a half minutes Kurt is able to perfectly capture an emotion that I don’t have a name for. I really wish I could put it into words, but nothing I’m writing is coming close, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide what I mean.
One of my greatest joyous memories in life was seeing him perform this song live in 2017. It felt like it went on for 20 minutes. And watching him play was hypnotizing. It makes it hard to see other performers at concerts, because at least when I saw him I felt immediately that he was being authentic with his music and especially with this song. He could have kept it going on forever, and I would have kept listening. He must have been feeling something very clearly and powerfully, because he was still able to translate that into music when I saw him.
I’m curious what it has been like for you to see this song live, especially if you’ve seen him more recently than I did. I know I need to listen to his new music, but I would be happy if this were the only song I had access to for the rest of my life.