Ingrid Michaelson: Layers and Layers of Awesome!

Lillian Beauregarde on 12 16, 2009

Ingrid at the Loft in Atlanta

If there’s one artist in the last five years that I don’t think I could live without, it’s Ingrid Michaelson. Her music is written from a place that really appeals to me. “Keep Breathing” which I spoke of in my post “Tales of Woe From the iPodless” was the first of Ingrid’s songs I found. The beauty of that song still sits in my heart but her other work is so worth looking into.

Oh, you both have layers. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions…. You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits. Have you ever met a person, you say, “Let’s get some parfait,” they say, “Hell no, I don’t like no parfait”? Parfaits are delicious.

To combat the haunting nature of Keep Breathing we move forward to “You and I” a quietly silly song from the album “Be OK” is played almost exclusively on a ukulele. Like many of Ingrid’s songs, the song starts off with a quiet simplicity but builds with layer upon layer to create a rousing chorus in the end. She’s got a lovely and kind sense of humor and it really shows in her lyrics.

Let’s get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France.
Let’s rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance.
Let’s get rich and build a house on a mountain making everybody look like ants
From way up there, you and I.

This New York born singer sincerely knows how to get into my psyche with an almost surgical precision. Lately, it’s been here song “Die Alone” from the album Girls and Boys. We’ve all had that day, month, year, or moment where the fear of being alone is real, true, and an almost visceral experience. That’s how this song reads. A hope sits in this song despite its stranded on a desert island title.

I never thought I could love anyone but myself.
Now I know I can’t love anyone but you, but you…
Make me think that maybe I won’t die alone.

“Locked Up” from Ingrid’s newest album, Everybody, is slightly harsher than much of her music, but it is no less soulful or amazing. Keeping tight tabs on our own emotions, binding ourselves from love rather than letting someone else do it doesn’t make it any easier and she seems to feel that along with us. Growing older and figuring out what’s important and finding the things we’ve missed along the way.

Love, love, love is everywhere… but not a drop for me to drink.

I’ll close with a song of hers that reads like a mantra. In my head I can see a person taking a very deep breath and saying just about every single lyric from “Be OK”. I’ve sent this to person after person and I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t love it. It’s a surprisingly upbeat song and it’s one of those that still haven’t gotten old for me because I, like most people, need some constant reminders that everything will be ok.

I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok. I just want to be ok today
I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok, I just want to be ok today

I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today
I just want to feel something today
I just want to know today, know today, know today
Know that maybe I will be ok