31 Days of Song {22/30} – David Garza

#1. This is super embarrassing. A few days ago I made this giant update and I completely jumped from #15 to #17. Poor #16… so I will attach that one to a later post.

#2. Be forewarned – this post is a bunch of mush.

#3. Song #22 – David Garza {Dah-veed Garza}

I cannot write to you about one David Garza song.
because I just want to write to you about David Garza.
and trying to write to you about ONE DG song is absurd.

So here’s the story.

May of 2004. DG plays some songs on his guitar for us outside of the Tractor because we’re not old enough to get in. He ironically played “Lullabye of Barland,” which talks about the girls in the bars. July of 2004. I drove from camp to Portland just in time to hear his last song for his instore. So he took myself and Melissa outside and played for us and let us read out of his lyric book. and then he got us into his 21+ show.

and that, my friends, was the beginning of something that I am struggling to put words to because any words I say will fall short of describing the most beautiful human being I know.

I have seen DG so many times – he’s used his magic to get me into shows of his I wasn’t old enough to get into, he once played for Mei-Ling and I on the stage of an empty Showbox, opening for Fiona Apple – and sometimes I haven’t been able to see him play but it’s enough to just sit next to him and enjoy that our lives are intersecting.

If I could, I would just somehow squish some of my love for David out of my heart and send it to all of you and maybe you could understand.

David is so creative it’s sometimes hard to take. For awhile he did a residency at Mississippi Studios in Portland, so I saw him roughly every other week and I was eased into his music that way. There’s so much of it and its so eclectic that it can really be overwhelming. Instead of writing about 1 DG song I choose instead to write about DG and then leave you a list of his songs that you should probably listen to.

There are plenty of people who have been waiting for me to give them a little list like this, because I want everyone to listen to David Garza but I would never send someone in without marking some favorites. Even though I am about five weeks behind on putting things in the mail, if any of you would like me to make you a mix CD of these songs, drop a comment and I will GLADLY send one your way.

1. Foul Jasmine
2. How Much Does Your Heart Beat for Me
3. For Keeps
4. Outloud
5. Rhymes for Honeys & Beats for Boys
6. What Do I Know
7. Cold World
8. Alone
9. Dancefloor
10. Lullabye of Barland
11. Discoball World
12. Drone

—

The last time DG was in town, we left after his show and I had an emotional break down because I didn’t want to leave him just yet. When I saw him in the parking lot, I ran over to him and told him how I didn’t want him to leave. He gave me a picture he drew. I immediately framed it and hung it above my bed.

The lyrics in David’s box set are all in his handwriting, and as a gift Mei-Ling once blew up and framed the lyrics to my {consistently} favorite DG song.

The two things I always notice in my room are two of the things closest to my heart. and it’s funny that I always notice them because they are the only two colorless things in my room.

I love David Garza. and now I miss him and wish I knew when I would see him again.

ps – after seeing the gift Mei-Ling gave me, you’re probably thinking I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a friend that completely understands me. True. But there’s another one. Jess gave me this little guy as a gift. He’s slept on my bed with me for years. His name is Blue Bear. and yes I know the bear is white.

I’m so lucky that even though my words often fail at describing how much David Garza means to me – and sometimes my love for DG seems completely out of place in my life – I have friends who get it. and even feel it, too.