Monday Morning Smile: "Falling Slowly" (Live) - The Swell Season

I can now associate 3 goose-bump moments with "Falling Slowly" from the move Once. The first two I mentioned here -- hearing it for the first time when I saw the movie 2 1/2 years ago, and seeing it win Best Song at the Oscars a couple years ago.

The third? Well, it's courtesy of Strict Joy, the latest album from The Swell Season, the duo of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. It's a fine album (recommended for all those who dug the Once soundtrack), and some versions of the album come packaged with a live CD and DVD recorded for a show in Milwaukee in May 2008. The live album is excellent, too, and features, of course, a take of "Falling Slowly."

Featuring an 8th grade school choir.

On DVD (and to a lesser extent on the CD), the audio is too heavily weighted toward the band, which means the full effect of the choir is muted. Thankfully, low-grade video that isn't miked into the soundboard captures it a lot better. Yay, YouTube!

The Swell Season - "Falling Slowly" (Live, featuring the Whitefish Bay 8th Grade Choir) [YouTube]

Seriously, this one little gesture may do as much to nurture a lifelong interest in the arts in those kids as hundreds of hours of music classes. (Recognizing, of course, that they wouldn't have had the opportunity to do this without, collectively, hundreds of hours of music classes.)

After the jump, they cover a Pixies song. One of my favorites, and one I would not have been expecting to feature on Zooglobble. (Warning: possibly a dubious choice to cover with an 8th grade choir.)
The Swell Season - "Gigantic" (Live, featuring the Whitefish Bay 8th Grade Choir) [YouTube]

Comments

[Katy L]

Yup--that's pretty darn cool. Thanks for sharing!

[Ann Torralba]

Thanks for sharing. I've seen them a couple of times. I love Glen's infectious banter. He did Gigantic at the Hideout Block Party. It rocked. Great to see this version with the kids though.