Week Thirty: iPod Picks - Icicle Works - "Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)" - Single

For Week Thirty, I'm turning my iPod loose (in the form of putting it on shuffle) and letting it do the picking... so the seven songs for this week were chosen by my trusty little iPod who is now holding close to 5000 of my favorite songs and who is slowly but surely dying battery-wise; however, I am too attached to do an upgrade just yet...

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In one of my earlier Synthpop posts, I mentioned The Wall, which was one of my favorite nightclubs located in Deep Ellum. On Wednesday nights, they hosted a Synthpop night, but on Fridays, they hosted a retro night.

What I appreciated most about The Wall's retro night was that the DJs tended to steer clear of the mainstream retro tunes, and they would play more obscure retro tunes, even if it meant having a half-empty dance floor on occasion. Do you even know how much I respected them for that?!?!?!? Well, now you do!!

They were also not afraid to play retro tunes that were somewhat hard to dance to, like “Whisper to a Scream”, because songs like this definitely have a tendency to clear the floor.

I found that the secret to mastering this tune on the dance floor in order to prevent oneself from looking like a goofball is to resist the temptation to speed up your dancing once all of the drums kick in. Instead, keep a steady pace with the distinct bass line from the opening of the song. The bass line will kind of pop in and out of the song, which creates a bit of a challenge, but if you try to keep up with the drums, you will wear yourself out before the song is over. You will also eventually lose a definite beat and end up looking drunk and/or uncoordinated.

Try it next time you hear this tune being played at your favorite retro night. Instead of clearing the dance floor with the others who are weak of beat, find that bass line and see if it works for you – I guarantee you that the key is the bass line!

Some things take forever,
But with building bricks of trust and love,
Mountains can be moved

Love come, down upon us 'till you flow like water,
Burning, with the hope of insight,
Feathered, look they're covered with a bright elation,
Stolen, in the sight of love,

Chorus: We are, we are, we are but your children, finding our way
Around indecision, we are, we are, we are ever helpless,
Take us forever, a whisper to a scream

Birds fly, in the eye of the faithless daughter,
Broken, at the bitter end,
Wasted, sacrifice for a new nirvana,
Night time, send us on our way

Repeat Chorus

A whisper to a scream

Repeat Chorus