This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.
Music discovery is often happenstance. At times, we can find music when we’re proactively searching for it. But most of the time, it’s about being in the right place at the right time with the right people when a song comes on and our minds are blown. A lot of the music I’ve discovered is thanks to the recommendations of friends and coworkers. One coworker, in particular, introduced me to The Cinematic Orchestra and “To Build a Home”. He called it the most beautiful song in history. And I don’t think that enormous claim is very far from the truth.
The track never charted in the U.S. or in the U.K. But it has become larger than life in many ways. Ironically, it has played a background role, serving as the soundtrack in countless television soundtracks, most notably in a gut-wrenching scene from This Is Us. It was also featured in a figure skating performance at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The irony is that it has been thrusted into the foreground, becoming intertwined with these TV show scenes and Olympic performances. It’s one of those songs that has the power to bring everything else around it to a standstill. Most beautiful song in history? I can get agree to that.
“This is a place where I don't feel alone. This is a place where I feel at home.”