Song #20 – Pretty the World by Matt Nathanson
Clarification – Despite the fact that my beloved David Garza played on Beneath these Fireworks, we will be discussing Pretty the World from the “When Everything Meant Everything” EP.
Mei-Ling and I used to constantly go over our “Top 5.” Our list of artists, one for each finger on one hand, that we would see every single time they came, that we would always love and geek out over. Though its had a few changes here and there, our Top 5 is:
#1. Kyle Riabko
#2. Â Matt Nathanson
#3. David Garza
#4. Hanson
#5. Â Josh Kelley
{Mei-Ling says Kyle Riabko, Matt Nathanson, Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers, Hanson & Brandi Carlile}
We both definitely agree on Matt Nathanson.
Let me tell you about this one time we saw Matt Nathanson.
In February of 2005 {thanks to my master concert list I just rediscovered} we went on a few little mini-road trips to see Matt Nathanson, ending in Spokane… where we stayed at a really sketch hotel with a toilet seat that was abnormally close to the ground.
As we were making the drive from Spokane to Seattle, we listened to When Everything Meant Everything on repeat. over and over and over. We stopped in Moses Lake for lunch {where I got a lot of glares from the little kid birthday party parents because I was wearing a “Free Michael” shirt at the time of the Michael Jackson drama}. We stopped and admired the gorge…
{notice my home-made FREE MICHAEL shirt??}
and I’m pretty sure at the end of it my car got weird or something.
But back to the song.
Do you want to know how much I love this song? I love this song so much that I named my blog after it. And my other blog and my other blog and my other blog. That is no joke, either.
The chorus goes like this:
Show me how pretty the world is
cause I envy the way that you move
Show me how pretty the world is
cause I want something just a little bit louder
Later versions have the last line as “cause I want something a little bit louder.”
And the bridge.
I never thought that I could be who I am
I never thought that I could see where I was
I always thought that all this was just wasn’t me
I always thought that all this was could never be
What more can I say about this? I don’t think I can.
Thank you, Matt Nathanson, for creating a song that I will always gladly welcome listening to regardless of my emotions.
