Song: Heavenly Day
Album: Children Running Through
Performer: Patty Griffin
Writer: Patty Grifin
Year: 2007

This song may have been one of the first more modern folk/Americana/singer-songwriter sounding women I had ever heard with the exception of Joan Baez. I think I first heard this song sometime in high school. Something that perplexes me is the fact that I never thought “oh, I should find more music by this person.” I think part of it was a bit of a lack of resources. I didn’t have much money of my own and the money I did have was largely saved. I would buy songs on iTunes but it was (and still sometimes is) a bit of an agonizing decision because I want to make sure I get music that I will enjoy. There’s also the thought of having rent and food to pay for. Also, my options for getting CDs back in middle/high school were Wal-Mart and an FYE about half an hour away. So, I guess it just wasn’t my first instinct to go buy music. Spotify really broadened my horizons. I realize that there are issues with musician compensation and I do try to buy music/attend concerts when I am able to. But it really has facilitated discovery of music for someone with limited monetary resources.

But anyway, I really loved this song when I heard it.

It paints a really pretty picture lyrically of the narrator consciously staying present in a moment outside. She talks about setting aside everything that might be on her mind and any responsibility she might have just to be there with another person (actually, her dog, as Griffin has introduced the song as being the first love song she ever wrote – about her dog) enjoying everything that day and that other being has to offer. The song is basically saying, “maybe this great moment won’t exist tomorrow, but it exists right now. So, let’s just take full advantage of that.”

I enjoy the song musically as well. It has a pretty simple chord progression (a lot of 1 6- 4 5), starts with acoustic guitar, adds piano, bass, light drums and at the end there’s some string arrangement. I’m not normally a huge fan of string sections on songs, they have to be done well. This one I really like. It doesn’t sound over-produced and feels pretty organic. I think that string sections in commercial music can err on the side of sounding almost like a synthesizer, but this song definitely avoids that.