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The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Ms. Lauryn Hill · Barber Cuts: Beats and Bars

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Welcome to Barber cuts, beats and vibes.
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We're a father daughter music podcast that slices into some of
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the greatest albums, one cut at a time.
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With no industry ties or formal training, just a shared love of
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music, we explore albums across genres, rating favorites and
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skips while digging into what makes each one iconic.
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I bring the beats. And I bring the bars and
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together we deliver real talk and fresh takes from both sides
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of the sound. Hey everybody, I'm Riley.
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And I'm Todd and welcome to this episode of Barber Cuts.
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This week episode we are talking about the mis Education of
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Lauryn Hill by Miss Lauryn Hill from 1998.
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A mostly what I've seen called neo soul R&B album.
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So let's get into it. What our least favorite 2?
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I remembered how to podcast so I won't play my least favorite
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too. Don't worry, we're back.
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We're so back even though we were so back.
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So one of my least favorites was an easy pick intro.
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While it's a great setup for the album, it's just someone calling
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roll and with. Not to show my hand, but with
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how great a lot of these songs are, it would be hard for
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something like that to not Bailey's favorite.
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I agree and I put it was an easy pick for me too.
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I did like you know you mentioned the teacher calling
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the role. It does fit in well as an.
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Intro. It does fit in well because it
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the mis education of Lauryn Hill and then she's the only one
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that's absent like. And it continues.
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The teacher talking to the students continues on.
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Yeah, it's a recurring. Some of the songs, so it was it
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was good, but I agree if you've got to pick a least favorite
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song or I'll put in quotes, track that.
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That's an easy one to put there. So.
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Yeah, my second least favorite. OK, this one pains me to say
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because it's one. OK, I'm going to say it's the
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can't take my eyes off of you. But but but but but but I
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literally have the song saved. I loved the song in the album.
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I didn't love it as much as with everything else.
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I think she had such incredible lyrics throughout the entire
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album. And I know a love song fits in
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there, but these incredible lyrics and stories that you're
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being told and is great of a song that is, it's a cover of a
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song that ultimately isn't that deep.
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It's a very sweet song, but following all of these super
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intricate lyrics and soul like feeling, that song threw me off.
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And then it goes back to tell him, which is another great
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song. So while the song stand alone, I
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love, I have saved. So like, I love that song.
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When I had to pick a least favorite, that is the one that
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came to mind for the album's sake.
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OK, makes sense. My my other least favorite was
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when it hurts so bad. And for me, I'm, I'm, you know,
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I'm not sure what it what it is, but it just, it just, you know,
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again, we got to we got to pick one with this and it just wasn't
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one of my favorites. The the singing is incredible in
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it. But maybe for me and my style,
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it was overdone with runs and movement in her, in her voice.
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I am not sure, but you know, totally what it was.
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But that was that was one that was one of my more least
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favorite songs. So all right, let's move on.
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Most favorite? So one of my most favorites, Oh
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pause. Zoom is not being kind to me.
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OK. One of my favorites was I Used
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to Love Him, featuring the one and only Mary J Blige.
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Their voices work so well together.
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It's a great song. The beats great, like just
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everything about the song to me is great and it's 1 so it
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follows like though, when it hurts so bad, it was one that
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caught me off guard that it was kind of like a a more like
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whatever song like don't care about this guy.
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No war when everything else is like talking about how much how
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much feeling she has for something.
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And this one was like, I don't got no feelings and I know
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that's really not what it is, but it was it was kind of a fun
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song to hear that with. But I just love the lower voice.
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The I just love the sultriness of that voice.
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It's just a very nice voice with this beat and everything.
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And and even like Mary J Blige just got a lower voice.
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Lauren Hill has that lower register that she uses in
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several songs, you know, on the album and it and it's really
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good. Yeah, So very much enjoyed that
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song. I mean, when it has Mary J
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Blige, depending on who you are, that's an iconic song.
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But one of my other favorites was Every Ghetto, Every City,
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which surprised me that I liked this song.
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It grew on me a lot because it's a lot funkier than a lot of her
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other songs, which I'm usually not the biggest fan of.
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But like to me that beat almost sounds like ATV show intro from
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like the 90s, early 2000s. So that was like reminiscent.
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I guess it's the wrong word because I wasn't alive in the
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90s, but reminiscent of that time.
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That was like kind of a familiar fun sound.
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And then just loved the story of just kind of like going back to
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all these roots and all these things that remind you of this
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home in all these different places that bring you back to
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your one place, no matter what that is.
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And I just thought it was a fun song in the midst of everything
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to be like, I got my homies and I got my places and I got my
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people. And it's just a fun song.
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And I really, really enjoyed it. So yeah, this the chorus, very
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good. It's all good.
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She also uses her lower. Yeah.
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Voice in that song too. So I I'm a little bit more drawn
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to that lower register. So one of my favourites happens
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to be You know It Already. Can't take my eyes off of you.
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It's such a good song and that's why I had to defend myself.
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Like if you put it stand alone, I literally saved it.
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I love this song so I'm not going to even argue but.
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So, you know, it's starts off with some beatboxing and again
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talked about her range, got some low notes, but then you know, it
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does she hits some just seamlessly goes into some high
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notes. You know, as it started playing,
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I was like, I know this song, you know, But the fact that it
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is so stripped down and soulful and vulnerable.
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She recorded it when she was 8 months pregnant, you know, And
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the cover of the Frankie Valli song from 67.
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It's an. Incredible song too.
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Yeah, and, and that version's good.
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And I think here comes that that high notes of hers.
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So it was featured in a 97 movie, Conspiracy Theory, but
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wasn't included on the soundtrack of that movie.
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However, a DJ in San Francisco started playing it on the radio
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station. More radio stations followed and
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it caused the song to actually peek at #2 on like a Top 40
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chart, and so that popularity caused her to add it on the
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album as a hidden track. So it wasn't even supposed to be
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on the album. Which makes sense.
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Right. And because like what you were
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saying, as an album, it doesn't necessarily fit, but because it
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was a soundtrack album, so. And the other interesting thing
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about it was that it was nominated for best female pop
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vocal at the 41st Grammys, making it the first hidden track
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to ever be nominated for a Grammy.
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So I thought that was a little interesting bit of trivia.
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And we mentioned the 41st Grammys and that nomination.
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There'll be more mentions of that throughout the episode
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because she did really good that year.
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I. Know she didn't, I'm sorry she
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didn't write it. And so I'm not putting that in
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like my favorite lyric side of things.
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One of my favorite lyrics of all time is an underrated lyric in
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my opinion is at long last, love has arrived and I thank God I'm
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alive. Like what a state like that
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that's so much deeper than people realize being like, I'm
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so happy I'm alive because I get to love you.
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That's incredible. That's that's awesome.
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I love that lyric. I love that lyric on the
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original. And so that just made me think
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of it. But incredible song, incredible
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cover. So no complaints for me.
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I agree and but I also understand what you were saying
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as as part of the album it doesn't really fit but.
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That's where Spotify can kind of ruin things.
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When we're trying to listen to it.
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It's because I think it was a hidden track.
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It would be like, Oh my gosh, that's so fun.
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This is like thrown in there as its own little thing.
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We can appreciate it for that. And that just goes away.
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I've lost their, you know, I've really lost their meeting
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because like it's, it's not hidden.
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I see it there the entire time. Yeah, and it automatically plays
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the two with no break, so. So All right, so my favorite
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song from the album is actually Doo wop.
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That thing I like at the beginning, some harmonizing.
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It's got a Doo wop sound. And then all of a sudden, like
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the beat kicks in and she starts rapping and I'm like, that's
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really good. And then you get some R&B in
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there. But if you know, there's some
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horns there, all right. But there, here's the the verse,
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the rap verse. And you can hear the little
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piano in the background that's kind of driving things along as
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well. That's really nice.
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And then during the choruses you get to hear her singing.
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So you're mixing this Doo wop sound, hip hop verses where
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she's rapping and singing this soulful R&B in the choruses.
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So you're you're mixing all kinds of things together and
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switching it through. It's just a really good, catchy
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song, and to that point, it was horror.
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Only Billboard Hot 100 number one song.
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It was the first hip hop song by a soloist to debut at #1.
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It was named the best single of the year by Rolling Stone
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magazine. Of 1998.
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It was best. It won best female R&B vocal
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performance and best R&B song at the 41st Grammys, according to
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Apple Music's one of the most streamed songs of the 90s.
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And the video, which. You can have good videos for bad
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songs and bad songs with good videos, I get that.
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But this one. The video for the song also won
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four awards at the 98 or 99 MTV Video Music Awards, including
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Video of the year. So not only is the song good and
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holds up overtime because obviously Apple Music and
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streaming is a new newer thing and I had a good video to go
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along with it. So that is my favorite song of
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the album. I really like that song too.
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The thing that's so interesting about that one being so
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successful is it was it's a song that's completely counterculture
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to everything that was like in rap and R&B and any type of that
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music really. And it was calling out that
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culture both like, 'cause it starts with like calling out
14:02
women for something and then it, it says the second verse is
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dedicated to the men. Like she starts, she's like, all
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right now this side. And so the whole song is like
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calling out people for things that they're doing every day
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within the music world, within their lives.
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And yet it's the one that's it makes me think that people don't
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listen to the lyrics because I think it's an incredible song
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because of the lyrics. But I would like like it's just
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it's so it. And that's what something I
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loved about the album, if we're going to talk about going to the
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album, is. Why?
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Why should people go listen to this album?
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It's such AI think something that's special about this is
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it's very true to herself. And we've talked about that with
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a few other artists, like Frank Ocean was one that it was like
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almost like you're really getting to know this person
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through listening to their music and through listening to their
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words. And that's a special thing that
14:58
you achieve. Not all, not all the time.
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One is like Marvin Gaye, you feel like you have an
15:05
understanding of his view on life from that album, like
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incredibly, and I get that with this album too.
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Like she very quick, very explicitly kind of lays out her
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morals and life values to a nice beat and with a good voice.
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And so it's very approachable, but it's very kind of relatable.
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And then you feel uplifted at times, you feel called out at
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times, but the entire time you feel like you're forming a
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friendship or a connection with Miss Lauren Hill herself,
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through getting to know her. It feels a lot more like a
15:41
conversation you've had with a friend than it does music, in a
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great way. It's very, very interesting, you
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know, Album and I made a note that Lost Ones, which is track 2
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to Doo Wop, which is track 5. Like that's a really good run of
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songs. X Factor was like my honorable
16:08
mention. Yeah, 2, two through 5 is really
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good, you know, and, and so for a lot of people, like, OK, yeah,
16:17
maybe, maybe R&B souls, not your thing.
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It's not really my thing. I I can listen to it in chunks.
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But those four songs, they, they were really impressive.
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So. Yeah.
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I think it's also. Worth giving it a try to listen
16:34
to at least. I think it's also like, so I
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wouldn't necessarily I I would say I'm more R&B and soul and
16:45
kind of I mean, truth be told, this is this was kind of funny
16:49
because not our last like actual recording.
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I said something along the lines of like no gospel of like joking
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that there is no gospel hints. And in this album they were
17:01
playing like the Oregon. They were gospel like and I was
17:05
like, Oh, that's funny. I called it without knowing I
17:07
was calling it, but I love those types of notes in music.
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I'm not I can't I couldn't listen to this album 24/7 all
17:16
day or this type of music 24/7 all day.
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But something that was fun that you really feel in Doo wop that
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I think is what made it so big and a little bit with X Factor
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is you it like kind of forces you, you unknowingly get like
17:32
into it and you kind of start, especially in do up.
17:35
You kind of start doing the hand movements and like getting into
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it and do all this one that I'm like, gosh, I feel like I need
17:41
to go memorize that song so I can like sing along to the song
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and really feel it And with and I felt that way with a lot of
17:49
these songs. It's like it seems so fun to
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kind of get into it with her in a way that like was just really
17:57
special too. And something that I think R&B
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specifically as a genre has a real skill of doing it.
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It unknowingly pulls you in a lot more than you realize.
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And you'll be like, I've been bopping my head and tapping my
18:13
foot for the past hour and I didn't even think I liked this
18:16
music. But I'm.
18:18
Here, you know, you, you mentioned, you mentioned that
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and you know, this is just off the top of my head, you know,
18:25
R&B, hip hop, like soul, I guess to a certain extent they all
18:31
rely on the drums and like to really get that beat going.
18:38
Whereas a lot of times in rock'n'roll, the drums and all
18:40
that stuff is still there. And, and, and even for sometimes
18:45
folk music, you know, which is more your genre, it's it's more
18:50
guitar or instrument driven than it is.
18:53
Folks got a lot of banjo. You know, yeah, banjo and and
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violin and whatnot. So, you know, there is a
19:00
difference and and again, I think that because I'd noticed
19:03
the same thing with a lot of these songs.
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I the the head bop and and you know, gets going a whole lot
19:11
sooner when you really hear that beat and driving beat moving,
19:17
moving us on forward. So it's definitely, definitely a
19:21
different drive than maybe what what we're both used to, but I
19:25
still still like it. I think I also like and this,
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this is in every genre, they're artists who say things that
19:38
sounds dumb, but I mean like they're not just filler.
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They're like saying something they mean like Pearl Jam is the
19:45
one that I always go to. But like most of their songs,
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they're saying something of importance to them.
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Very few of their songs are like filler mean nothing songs, but I
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think it is a genre that is a little bit easier.
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Other genres, R&B would be so difficult to make a song or like
20:09
this type of R&B would be so difficult to make a song that
20:13
has no purpose. It's just like a fun song to
20:17
listen to. Like it would be incredibly
20:19
difficult. And so that's something I really
20:20
admire about this album and the genre as well, is almost every
20:26
song. In almost an overwhelming way,
20:30
has like a meaning has something that you've like, OK, I got to
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listen to this so I can hear what they're saying much more
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than some other genres where you can easily get away with making
20:42
it. I mean, a great example, and I'm
20:45
not saying I dislike the song is smells like Teen Spirit, like
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they're saying something. They're they're calling out a
20:51
certain thing, but half of that song is also just random words
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like mosquito is in that song, right?
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But and I get that they're they're making a point of like
21:00
entertain us. I get there making a point of
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like I get there making a point. I'm not saying that, but they're
21:06
it's easier to just throw in things and people like it or
21:09
people not listen lyrics since don't like it and that's just
21:12
harder. And so I admire that about this
21:15
album and it really drew that out for me.
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Yeah, I agree, you know, and and it it also.
21:20
Sliver was a bet would be a better example of a nonsense
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song that I like. Yeah.
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Sliver by Nirvana Grandma Take Me Home.
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So you know the away from Nirvana and sliver back to the
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mis education of Lauryn Hill. The album, as I say, the album
21:39
had a few first want to make sure we're talking about this
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one. It was the first again, just the
21:46
the the impact of this album that maybe a lot of people from
21:51
the 90s don't realize. So first number one album by an
21:58
unaccompanied unaccompanied female rapper, first debut album
22:03
by a woman to debut at the top of the Billboard 200.
22:08
It broke the record for the largest first week sales for an
22:12
album recorded by a woman. First week sales are the highest
22:16
for a debut album released by a woman in the 20th century.
22:19
So like, that's not going to be broken because if my math serves
22:23
me correct, we're past the 20th century.
22:26
And so like, that's really impressive for her and the
22:33
album. And then we mentioned the 41st
22:36
Grammys, one album of the year, best R&B album.
22:41
And then Hill broke records for most nominations and wins at a
22:47
single ceremony for a woman. So like, this album had a lot of
22:54
critical acclaim and accolades when it was released.
23:01
Therefore, another why should you listen to album this album
23:05
if you believe in girl power in any capacity, at any level, this
23:11
album is that in every semblance of the way.
23:16
And in and in two ways, right? One, because of who did it.
23:22
So Lauryn Hill, all the things that I just mentioned, she
23:26
produced the entire album. She wrote all the lyrics except
23:31
for a couple, you know, we mentioned the the cover song,
23:35
plus she sang, she wrapped all of it.
23:36
So that's quite impressive. That's one reason.
23:39
But then the second one is one that you've already said.
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Go listen to the lyrics because I and, and you'll get why it's
23:51
called Mis education of, of Lauryn Hill.
23:53
You'll, you'll start to see some of those things.
23:56
You see what we talked about and what we mentioned in the intro
24:01
and then the, the classroom. I'm putting in quotes,
24:05
conversations that happen at the end of some of the songs, you
24:10
know, talking about love and, and what it means and all of
24:13
that. It's really good.
24:16
It's really empowering and you see some of the things of what
24:21
she's going through and I guess a, is it fair to say a re
24:27
education of what love means to her?
24:31
Because in her mind, she's realizing that she had it wrong.
24:36
Yeah, well, that's I think like it's a the three songs
24:41
back-to-back is just by the title.
24:43
You kind of get the feel is when it hurts so bad.
24:46
I used to love him and then forgive them.
24:48
Father, like those three things back-to-back.
24:50
It's like her experiencing something and writing about it.
24:54
Like it's very, very raw of like just a raw depiction of who she
25:02
is and. And there, there's some of these
25:04
songs that are, you know, dealing with some of the
25:12
turmoil, maybe to, to a nice word to, to say of her time in
25:18
The Fugees and, and different things, some others just about
25:23
love in general and past relationships and her growing
25:26
up. So like there's a lot in there.
25:29
And, and again, this is one of those, like you said, it
25:33
definitely helps to listen to or read along the lyrics as you go,
25:44
you know, and, and that's what really I think does make a lot
25:47
of these albums so great that we've been going through is, you
25:51
know, the music is there and so are the lyrics.
25:56
And when you combine both of those at the same time, you you
25:59
tend to get a very powerful album.
26:03
Yeah. So I think one last thing for me
26:08
at least is also, so you mentioned her being in The
26:13
Fugees, which was like a big, big band, like people knew The
26:16
Fugees. So it makes it that much more
26:20
impressive, her success because she was doing all of this when
26:24
people really knew her as a member of The Fugees more than
26:27
anything. And so whatever she produced,
26:31
whatever she made, whatever she wrote, unfortunately it was
26:35
going to be compared to The Fugees rather than considered as
26:39
its own thing. That's just how it works.
26:43
And so it's that much more impressive that she was able to
26:47
do all of this and kind of surpass and become like, I think
26:51
a lot of people know her now as Miss Lauryn Hill and know this
26:56
album and know all of that, and they know she was in The Fugees.
26:58
But she's Miss Lauryn Hill, not a member of The Fugees, and
27:02
that's just a crazy impressive thing to do with the band as
27:06
well known as Fugees. Right, I agree.
27:09
You know the the album again, widely considered one of the
27:13
best albums of 98 with a lot of your major publications like
27:18
Billboard, Rolling Stone, Spin and and Time naming it the best
27:24
album of 1998 was inducted in the Library of Congress, the
27:29
Smithsonian, the Grammy Hall of Fame and among the the best out
27:33
best selling albums of all time. So lots of people love it that
27:40
aren't critics. A lot of the critics love it and
27:44
you know it. It's like you said it.
27:48
It's one of those times where somebody has left a group and
27:53
done something that then allowed them to make a name and surpass
27:58
what they were doing inside of a well known group and and that's
28:01
impressive. So any note you've already said
28:06
nothing else on your end. So best beats and bars probably.
28:13
What was your most favorite lyric from the album?
28:18
So I had two, but for different reasons.
28:22
So let me find where There's so many lyrics and so it's hard
28:28
whenever you're trying to find it on the spot.
28:36
It's almost like I should prepare.
28:41
It's almost like you should be prepared.
28:43
Yeah, that's what. I said I know, I agree, people
28:47
are going to think we're unprofessional.
28:51
Well, hate to break it too. Hey, to break it to you.
28:56
Let's say I think they've already come to that conclusion.
28:59
Yeah, especially my showings lately have not been without
29:06
fault. Hey, so Oh my gosh.
29:17
Oh, I found it. So this is in tell him.
29:21
I was scrolling past it because they're but I found it.
29:25
So this is like my genuine probably.
29:27
I really like this lyric. So last song it's
29:50
it was that lyric. So now I may have faith to make
29:53
mountains fall, but if I lack love, then I'm nothing at all.
29:56
I just thought that was like a beautiful sentiment of I mean it
30:03
with this one especially talking about like telling people,
30:06
telling someone you love him and need him.
30:11
And it's it's a very biblical song.
30:15
It comes across almost as a prayer a lot of times with it
30:20
talking about patient and kind, which are the first two things
30:23
that love is love is patient, love is kind and then make me
30:27
unselfish, which is another thing that I may suffer.
30:31
I'll envy it not and endure what comes because he's all that I
30:34
got. So it it comes across more as
30:36
like a Christian testament, which is even more beautiful for
30:43
the sentiment like for that lyric to kind of be like, OK, I
30:48
can believe in him, I can believe in God.
30:51
I can believe in this person all I want and have so much faith
30:55
that he's real, but if I don't love or like, care about that,
31:01
like, what good is it? It's nothing.
31:03
It means nothing. And it's one that's just.
31:08
We talk about it a lot. Some of my favorite lyrics are
31:12
things that are obvious once said and not easily said.
31:17
Like that is something that's just like, yeah, that makes
31:20
sense. But once it's said, it's like,
31:23
that's what it like that's a great way of wording it.
31:26
That's a beautiful way of wording it.
31:30
And then my other just really all of these lyrics, but I I
31:36
mentioned them is from every ghetto, every city.
31:45
Like the little things that she throws in there are just so fun.
31:50
Like that's incredible. That might be like my favorite
31:57
part of the album period. It's like the Saturday mornings
32:01
and Kung like cartoons and Kung Fu.
32:05
But another lyric I loved off of this album and I won't go.
32:11
Oh, it's right here. Just a reference.
32:21
I that's another one that's just very reminiscent of being like a
32:26
kid or like being even like a middle schooler, high schooler
32:29
now for me is looking at the crew.
32:32
We thought we'd all live forever.
32:34
Like just kind of that sentiment of like there are people that I
32:38
thought I would talk to for the rest of my life that I'm like,
32:40
oh, I haven't checked in a little bit.
32:43
And it's not because of any ill ill.
32:45
It's just you grow apart. Things change.
32:46
That's just when it happens. But in the moment of like this
32:49
childhood bliss, you never are exposed to that until you're
32:53
forced into it. So it was just a very that
32:57
sentiment, looking at the crew, we thought we'd all live forever
33:00
was just like, oh, that is what it feels like to be a kid, to
33:05
not have to worry about any of it.
33:07
Yeah. And so.
33:09
But I was not alive for a lot of what these references are
33:13
saying. But I do know a lot of the
33:15
references that were being said still.
33:18
But if you do want to throwback and you were alive and aware in
33:22
the 90s, this song is fun because it's just talking about
33:25
a lot of throwbacks, both to her specifically and both to like
33:30
culture at large. So.
33:34
So my best beat is obviously my roots for anybody that's listen
33:42
rock'n'roll and then the grunge era of early 90s.
33:48
So for anybody that may fall in those and and say, Yep, that's
33:53
me too, and say no, I'm not going to go listen to an R&B
33:58
album. This beat is for you and it's
34:03
from X Factor, which is definitely a soul song.
34:07
So but there's a moment at 4:36. So you got to get to the end of
34:14
the album, but starting to play it for you and you will know
34:24
exactly what I'm talking about. So here we go.
34:27
We're. Getting in the background too.
34:35
That guitar, so about 20 seconds of it, really nice.
34:42
It's at the end. So if you like that guitar and
34:48
that guitar grabs you, that's great.
34:52
Then let the song finish, Let the next song play because the
34:57
next song features Carlos Santana and the beginning of
35:01
that song is him on the guitar and you hear him playing
35:04
throughout. So if you are more on the guitar
35:08
side of things, you know, you'll find a couple of places here and
35:13
there in this album that, you know, maybe maybe speak to you
35:19
as well. So that is my best beat.
35:24
Next up, ratings. Riley, what's your rating?
35:30
So I would say personally, I did like it a lot more than maybe I
35:34
was anticipating to and really enjoyed a lot of the songs as
35:40
standalones. Additionally, they're just a lot
35:43
of things that stood out for me. I would still probably rate it
35:47
around A7 just because it's not my genre.
35:50
Like it's great for little bits. For me, it's probably because of
35:56
everything I was saying that I love about it.
35:58
It's also not exactly something I can listen to all the time.
36:03
It's a little bit. It's something that I feel like
36:06
I'd have to dedicate more time to you.
36:08
And sometimes that's not the fun part of music to me.
36:13
So it gets a lower rating, like personal rating for that.
36:17
Just really because it's not always my style, but
36:22
objectively, if if you take if you take the the one song and
36:32
keep it as like a hidden track, like the way it was intended to
36:35
be. I mean it's a 10 like the way
36:39
Spotify did it really messed it up.
36:41
But both but both of both of the last two songs on Spotify were
36:47
hidden. That's what I'm saying.
36:49
Even though you really like that one and it fit more in, it was
36:53
still a hidden track. Which is fine, original, but but
36:57
both of those things like take, take all of that, take it, keep
37:03
it as it was intended. I, I think it would be hard to
37:06
say it wasn't intend. I mean, you list all of these
37:09
credits, all of these accolades, all of these things that she did
37:12
and changed and like produced and sang and wrapped and all of
37:16
these things like give the girl credit where the credit is due.
37:23
But I mean. That's all I had.
37:25
Oh, OK. Well, I was just wondering
37:28
because you were like. No, I think if you if you throw
37:32
in the if if you throw in even the two songs I love tell him
37:35
too. But I can see where it it fits
37:37
better, but it's still better as a hidden track in my opinion.
37:45
It, it's more like A, to me, it came across almost just like a
37:49
call to a call to faith, like a call to all of that, which is
37:52
like not exactly fit fitting in the exact way.
37:58
So I understand it being a hidden track.
38:00
I don't have a problem with that.
38:02
And I liked both of those songs. But cohesive wise, story wise,
38:06
all of these things, if you keep it that way, I think it's a 10.
38:11
Yeah, my objective rating was a 10 as well, just like.
38:18
There's certain ones that you can't argue, Marvin Gaye and
38:21
this, like in this one or the two that it's like.
38:23
Yeah, it's, it's just looking, looking at it, you're like,
38:28
yeah, I mean, this is, this is really good.
38:32
Personally, mine, I did 7.5 instead of 7 like you did, you
38:38
know, because I did find myself enjoying it more than what I
38:42
thought I would because again, it's, it's not my normal genre.
38:49
And and again, that's really the only reason that it's not also a
38:54
10. I, I think if you're an R&B fan,
38:58
you don't need me telling you to go listen to this.
39:00
You've already listened to it, you know, countless number of
39:03
times. So, but like I said, and I agree
39:08
with you, I enjoyed it more than what I thought I would.
39:14
So that was that was a nice, nice surprise.
39:17
I think to be like cheesy I guess.
39:21
Like it's always fun hearing ones like this, even if it
39:25
wasn't our new favorite album ever like this.
39:28
And with last week being a replay of Arcade Fire, it's so
39:34
refreshing to be like this is what it's about for me and you.
39:37
Like, these are two albums I probably would have somehow
39:41
fallen into Arcade Fire. I don't know how or when, but
39:44
both of those albums were albums that, like, neither of us would
39:47
have picked out for ourselves necessarily.
39:50
And then, like, Arcade Fire became one of my favorite
39:54
albums. But this one I found songs that
39:56
I love and really enjoy and found an artist that I really
39:59
respect and admire that I don't know if I would have reached
40:02
for. And that's what this podcast is
40:06
about, everybody. It is, it is and has been and
40:11
will continue to be so. Songs of the Week, Riley.
40:18
I would be remiss. Song of the week.
40:21
So let's do it this way because I have a feeling, I know maybe
40:27
not what your song of the week is, but I know the artist of
40:30
your song of the week. And you know which song it is
40:33
too. You may not know by name, but
40:35
you know the one. I will.
40:37
I will start because my favorite song fits in quite well, because
40:43
my favorite song is this one. So it's Quicksand by a group
40:55
called Fight Master. It's all for the.
40:59
Brand new 2026 the reason this band opened for a group called
41:07
Lord Huron, which I will not still Riley's Thunder on who
41:12
they are but it was my favorite song from the show that they put
41:18
on. Shout out to the guitarist,
41:21
don't know his name, but man was he fantastic, crazy good Riley.
41:29
And I even mention it like dude was born to be a guitarist and
41:33
in a band because he just exuded that.
41:38
Even saw him hanging out in the crowd, like after the show he
41:42
was sitting, you know, standing talking with some people.
41:46
So shout out to him for coming out and and engaging the fans a
41:50
little bit before Lord Huron came on.
41:54
And but quicksand by fight master my song of the week and I
42:03
also did not say where we saw them.
42:07
I will allow Riley all the glory and talking about her song of
42:12
the week. So.
42:14
Yeah, shout out to fight Master though.
42:15
They put on a great opener like that's the opener is when I I
42:20
try not to talk during openers. I think that's for me.
42:24
I just, I care to listen to new music and stuff like that.
42:28
But that was one where I was like, oh, maybe I'll chat with
42:30
my family and then immediately meet you.
42:33
And Mama Pot were like locked in all these people singing and
42:38
you're like, oh, this is like, good.
42:40
Yeah, I had never heard of them before, but yet they put on an
42:46
excellent show. I I again like.
42:50
Were they the ones who didn't have a base?
42:52
Well, so yes, they for several songs they did not have a bass.
42:59
And then I noticed like I, I leaned over and told you that.
43:03
And then sure enough, like the very next song, the guy that was
43:07
normally playing guitar picked up a bass and played bass the
43:11
whole song. Then I think shifted, he gave
43:16
the bass to the singer that was playing the guitar.
43:19
He picked his guitar up again. So like they were switching
43:22
instruments. So very.
43:24
Talented. Very good.
43:26
And you know, again my song of the week, quicksand by fight
43:29
master. So, Riley, I turn the floor to
43:33
you song. Of the so fight master opened up
43:37
for Lord Huron at Red Rocks, which most anyone who's talked
43:44
to me in real life has heard me say that my like huge bucket
43:49
list item is Red rocks, specifically a Lord Huron
43:53
concert at Red Rocks, which I have to say I've been I told you
43:57
all that like for about two years now.
44:00
That's like if you're gonna go to Red rocks, Lord Huron is the
44:03
concert to go to at Red rocks. Like it just fits the five.
44:06
It fits just everything and I felt so vindicated because as we
44:12
were walking around Denver and Golden and all these places, we
44:16
would say like oh, we're in town.
44:18
We saw Lord Huron at Red Rocks and they're like well, if you're
44:20
going to go to Red Rocks, that's the one.
44:22
And I was like, I feel so vindicated.
44:24
Not that y'all didn't believe me, but I was like everyone is
44:27
like your girl was right. I was right.
44:30
Incredible performance genuinely like if you're ever like oh Lord
44:37
Huron who can like dance and have fun at that music, go watch
44:40
them perform cause oh boy do they dance and have fun it.
44:45
It was such an engaging performance.
44:48
Incredible. Mr. Huron was great, Mr. Mr.
44:52
Huron was great, The whole band was great.
44:55
The performance side of things, the background, the singing in,
44:59
he sang into like a pay phone, like all of these things were
45:03
incredible and set the ambiance. And then you have Red Rocks as
45:06
the venue. Incredible.
45:09
Still recovering from it. I don't know if I'll, I don't
45:13
know, I don't think there are any pictures of me watching it,
45:17
but half of my half of the songs were me turning around and going
45:20
Oh no to one of my parents and then turning back around and
45:27
looking a little. Probably shell shocked 'cause
45:29
there were times I noticed that I was just standing there like
45:31
this. Yeah.
45:33
And I was like, I don't know what I'm doing.
45:35
The neat thing about it is, you know, and, and and Riley is the
45:39
Lord Huron fan and the family straight up.
45:44
Specific specifically their long lost album Yeah if if.
45:48
She shared it with the rest of us.
45:50
And so again, I've listened to some of them and and know some
45:53
of the songs and whatnot, you know, but when you go into Red
45:59
Rocks, for anybody that's been you'll, you understand this like
46:03
it is a phenomenal venue. Like you don't, I don't know if
46:07
you beat that, but as the night wore on, you forgot about Red
46:15
Rocks and Laura Huron took center stage.
46:19
They were that show was that good.
46:23
And so, you know, shout out to them.
46:25
That was a great. I think the entire drive.
46:28
Home. I've been to Red Rocks and it
46:31
was, it was fantastic. I think the entire drive home
46:34
was different conglomerations of all of us being like, oh, wow,
46:40
yeah, very good. No So.
46:42
Also, don't forget about your actual song.
46:44
I know So Long Lost is my favorite is one of my favorite
46:48
albums. When I first got my record
46:50
player, I got my five favorite albums of all time and Long Lost
46:54
was one of them. I do not say lightly that this
46:59
album came at like a crucial point in my life, I guess, and
47:03
impacted me a lot and still does and I still feel a lot with all
47:09
of these songs. So I'm because of that, I'm
47:12
granting myself 2 and for two different reasons.
47:16
So the first one is the incredible long lost off of the
47:24
album. Long lost.
47:27
I love this song. It was one of my favorites off
47:29
of their album. It is a beautiful song that you
47:34
can like, funnily enough, and you'll understand why this is
47:37
funny and I'll explain why it's funny in a second.
47:40
Every time I listen to it, my junior year of high school,
47:44
senior year of high school, I think every time I listen to it,
47:49
I had like this vivid imagery of people just dancing, like
47:53
ballroom dancing to the song. It just fits that this beautiful
47:58
performance and just in a field or in nature or any of that.
48:03
And this is one that I turned around and went oh to y'all,
48:07
because when they played the song, Lord Huron does something
48:11
incredible. They hire two professional
48:13
dancers that choreograph to their music and perform a show
48:17
along with them. And long lost was one that they
48:21
came out and just danced exactly how I envisioned it since like
48:27
junior year of high school and I I just graduated college.
48:30
Like it was so otherworldly to see everything that I had
48:35
thought of like actually happening in a place like Red
48:38
Rocks even, but just a beautiful song.
48:42
And then it builds to the this chorus and I just, I love this
48:50
song so much. However, it does not claim the
48:56
title of my most listened to song on Spotify ever.
49:00
Another song off of this album does.
49:02
Which when I tell you what it is, people are going to be
49:05
worried for my mental health that this is the song I've
49:09
listened to the most. I'm fine, I just like this song
49:11
a lot. This song is I Lied by Lord
49:16
Huron with August Pontiere Ponthier.
49:19
Ponthier, I'm not sure. August was not there to perform
49:22
the song with them. Their keyboardist who's not
49:25
their normal keyboardist. I was trying to figure out who
49:27
she is. I cannot figure out who she is,
49:28
but she was incredible as the female vocalist.
49:32
It was insane. And so I love the song.
49:37
It's a horrifically sad song talking about all these things
49:42
you promise and love and then leaving that person because you
49:45
lied. And like, that's just, that's
49:52
awful. One of the worst is I told you
49:55
I'd be coming back again for you, but I'm not.
49:57
I made a claim that I would dance until we're bones with my
50:00
bride, told you I would never leave you all alone, but I lied.
50:03
Like, Oh my gosh, it's so sad. And so it builds and builds.
50:08
And then with August, I love August to voice this beautiful
50:15
like voice that kind of responds and reading this breakup letter
50:20
essentially. And she says, I read your
50:23
letter. I cried.
50:24
They were tears of joy. My chains are finally broken.
50:28
And it's this. Both of them wanted this and
50:30
neither of them said anything. And both of them made these
50:33
promises in line. But it becomes almost a freeing
50:36
song at that point. But neither of the people know
50:39
that because all they know is the how the other one felt.
50:44
And their voices together, the harmonies on this part are
50:47
beautiful and they're just repeating.
50:49
I lied. But it starts to build to these
50:54
bigger and it ends with it. Well, it doesn't end.
51:01
It like builds to this huge thing, right?
51:04
So an incredible, I love that part.
51:06
And then it just goes very quiet again and becomes somber.
51:10
I could probably dissect this song for an entire podcast on
51:13
itself, so I'll cut myself off. Go listen to I Lied by Laura
51:17
Huron with August Concierge. There's still time if you want
51:21
to listen to the song as it is. I think the keyboardist did
51:23
phenomenal, but August is joining them on two or three
51:28
shows, I think on their tour. But go give them a listen.
51:32
Their new album is incredible. The performance story they tell,
51:36
every part of it is incredible. So yeah, bucket item.
51:43
I'm still not over it. I don't think I ever will be.
51:46
To to Riley's point, you know, again, I'm, I'm, I'm not a super
51:49
fan of Lord Huron, so I, it didn't even register with me
51:55
that that wasn't who normally sang the song.
51:57
She was that good. Yeah, I'm everybody that knows
52:00
the band obviously knew it because you told us afterwards.
52:03
Like, that's not even the person that normally does it.
52:05
I was like, really? Because you could have fooled me
52:08
or you did fool me because I had no idea.
52:11
Yeah. Because it was it again.
52:13
It was that flawless and it sounded so good.
52:15
So. And it was a it was beautiful on
52:19
there. Like so the long lost song had
52:22
played and you had these dancers and then with I lied, you didn't
52:25
have any dancers, but in the background, the screen was a
52:28
picture frame of like ghost dancing instead.
52:32
And I was like, oh, that's awesome.
52:35
I'm gonna cry. I did it though.
52:37
Very proud of myself. Yeah, it was a very, very good,
52:40
very good show. And again, worth they they put
52:46
on a very good show, very good set.
52:49
So it was awesome. All right, so next album.
52:56
So our next album is good that some time has passed for us to
53:04
listen this album because the next album is The Queen is Dead
53:08
by The Smiths. So that one would have been one
53:11
that maybe we would have skipped around if it was at any time.
53:17
I don't know if that's recently. I've been having trouble with my
53:19
times. I thought the World Cup was like
53:21
2 years ago so the world forgive me.
53:26
What's going on now? I know, I know, but yeah, The
53:30
Queen is Dead by The Smiths is our next album.
53:33
Very good. Very exciting.
53:35
So the Queen is dead by The Smiths.
53:42
Also go and listen to Make Riley Happy.
53:47
Go listen to the long Lost album.
53:50
Bottom you got to do top to bottom.
53:53
I'm OK if you skip times blur but give it a try.
53:56
But top to bottom. So there you go.
53:58
Tells the story. By fight master, Yes, and then
54:03
Lauryn Hill. So the MIS Education of Lauryn
54:07
Hill is the album that we just got talking about.
54:11
Also we have some socials. So if you want to see our lovely
54:16
faces, you can go watch us over at YouTube at Barber Cuts Pod is
54:25
where we are over there. You can watch that Channel and
54:29
you can also go and see the recording from What'd We Do last
54:35
week, Arcade Fire. We posted that one, posted the
54:38
video for that one so you can go watch that one as well also.
54:42
And go follow our Instagram. I'm going to post Facebook and
54:45
videos. Of the concert since we just
54:48
went to a Lord here on concert and we do have pictures that
54:53
that may inspire a post there. So go like that one.
55:00
Other than that, I think we're done.
55:04
So we will see you next time I'm time.
55:08
And I'm Riley, and this was another episode of Barber Cuts.