Song of the Day: Bat for Lashes--"Daniel"

So...how creepy is that video? And how gorgeous is Natasha Khan???

I know this is technically pretty old (from Bat for Lashes' Jan. '09 release) but, again, I'm catching up to all the admirable music I missed while I was listening to "Big Booty Girl" and "Simple." Not that those tracks weren't completely admirable, in and of themselves.


Full disclosure: I get most of my music from Sirius/XMU because I gave up on radio years and years ago, once Kalispell's only rock/pop channel was converted to a country music station. I first heard "Daniel" on Jenny Eliscu's show and I was intrigued enough to enter the relevant artist information into my favorites list on my trusty LG Envy (the original--I'm still not caught up on the smartphone thing).


I think my first impression of this song was something like, "What a bomb take on the best elements of the '80s!" Which is funny because rumor has it that Khan based her Daniel character on the kid from The Karate Kid. No, really.


But then I got past the sort of kitchsy' appeal of the track. ie) Daniel, when I first met you, I knew that you had a flame in your heart.

Instead, I got somewhat fixated on the dreamy quality of they lyrics, the abstract images and expressions:

But in a goodbye bed

With my arms around your neck

Into our mouths the tears crept

Just kids in the eye of the storm

And as my head spun round

My dreams pulled me from the ground

Forever to search for the flame

There's a lot of nostalgia here and I'm not just referring to the '80s. We're talking a first love, greatest love, very-much lost love. Which is interesting because the video makes me think more of Natasha using Daniel as a reference point to escape creeping darkness etc, etc. And I guess that could still be true. Who hasn't idealized first loves and then used them as emotional signposts/recovery points?

When I run in the dark
Daniel
To a place that's vast
Under a sheet of rain in my heart
Daniel
I dream of home