Piano Queen

It’s the end of the week and I’m tired. See, on Tuesday I went out – Halloween, yeah! Fun! – and I still haven’t recovered. I do feel old.

Despite my old age, I was at a party, trying to have fun and a conversation – it’s a real challenge when it’s your 18th hour awake and you’re 7 drinks in – when I caught myself moaning about something a friend said – I say friend because I feel like aquaintance wouldn’t cover it and would be slightly insulting, but I don’t think it’s a perfect fit here. Said friend made a comment about me being a foreigner living in this country.

When I’m tired, I tend to be much less patient with people; so something that, in the summer – when I have free time and regularly sleep more than I need – is nothing and I brush off easily, during term time turns into fuel for hate and obsessive desire for revenge.

The poor boy does not know that; he does not know either how touchy I am with the whole immigrant thing; so I’m trying to be moderate here, but I can’t stop thinking about it and I’m getting angrier and angrier. I’m hoping it’ll pass after a good night sleep – something I haven’t had in a while now.

So to calm myself down, I’m sharing with you 13 songs – ooooh 13 – by my favourite immigrant, Regina Spektor. I’ve been in love with her and her songs for many years. She always brings me with her in the world she creates in her music and today I’m inviting you to come along. So please, join Regi and me on this musical adventure.

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1 – Baobabs (Begin To Hope, 2006)

I love The Little Prince and Regina Spektor. This is a song by Regina Spektor based on the book The Little Prince. Best song ever.

2 – Ghost Of Corporate Future (Soviet Kitsch, 2004)

“People are just people, they shouldn’t make you nervous”. This is a great piece of advice.

3 – Dance Anthem Of The 80’s (Far, 2009)

This song is just super fun. Once again, my appreciation for songs about casual sex shows.

4 – Samson (Begin To Hope)

It could make me cry for it is so beautiful. She’s rewriting the Bible, we discover the alternative ending for Samson and Delilah.

5 – Bleeding Heart (Remember Us To Life, 2016)

Different atmosphere for Bleeding Heart. Regi is reminding us what it was like to be a teenager – yuck.

6 – Consequence Of Sounds (Mary Ann meets the gravediggers and other short stories by regina spektor, 2004)

This is the closest thing to a rap I can sing. This song originally appeared on her second self-released album Songs. Both self-released albums – Songs and 11:11 – are unfortunately unavailable on Spotify; they are definitely worth a listen.

7 – Call Them Brothers (feat. Only Son – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats (deluxe version), 2012)

I love singing both parts of this duet. There is a version of this song with cello and violin instead of guitar and bass which I love even more than this one. It is not available on Spotify, but it is on Regi’s Youtube channel, so here it is.

8 – Pound Of Flesh (Live at Bull Moose EP, 2005)

The hammered high chords with the low big bass give a sense of urgency and impending doom as she sings “death, death, death”. Chilling.

9 – Poor Little Rich Boy (Soviet Kitsch)

She plays the rhythm stick like a pro and the vocals are a bit bonkers; killer combo.

10 – Ballad Of A Politician (What We Saw From The Cheap Seats)

She’s basically calling politicians dirty whores and she does it with style.

11 – Us (Soviet Kitsch)

You might have heard this one in the film 500 Days of Summer – it’s not bad. The video for this song is quite beautiful, it’s inspired by a Méliès – French cinema pioneer, for those not following in the back – short film.

12 – Scarecrow & Fungus (Us EP, 2005)

I’m not quite sure what this song is about, but it sure sounds good and I do like the line “he’s got enough money to buy a new father”.

13 – Hero (Begin To Hope)

Every time I hear this song, I just think “My oh my, Regina is not scared of repetition”. The repetition is precisely what I like in this song, it just really sinks in.

And here is just one more!! You know because you can never get enough of Regina. Modern Girls And Old Fashion Men was on the Reptilia single (2003) from the Strokes, it’s just a really cool tune.