Florence + The Machine

     One of my favorite artists is Florence Welch of the band "Florence + The Machine". Florence has such an amazing and unique voice. Its range seems incomparable, and her vibrato is fantastic! The songs she sings are all so beautiful because of the passion and effort she places in them. Often her songs have to do with love, both good and bad. As you can probably guess, love is a great topic for writing songs.

     "You've Got The Love" is one of my favorites. The song can be interpreted as (though the music video doesn't seem to suggest it) talking about God's unfailing love for us, even when we reach a point when we're ready to just throw in the towel. For me, it's beautiful because it's a constant reminder of how great God truly is; he'll never give up on us, no matter our doubts or transgressions. Another part of the beauty is the amount of passion that Florence puts into this song. It truly feels like she is singing with all her might and that she believes in God with all her heart and soul.

     God is bigger than any of our problems.

     Another of my favorites is "Cosmic Love". Florence conveys a very complicated relationship with a man in a very unique way. She describes the love she has for this man as blinding and is consumed with this feeling, claiming she's lost in darkness, overwhelmed by her love:

"A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes
I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind"

"And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I became"

     However, she feels the man doesn't feel the same way and ends up trying to move on from him:

"I took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back"

     In the process of doing so, however, she discovers that he does indeed feel the same way as she does:

"Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too
So I stayed in the darkness with you"

     "Cosmic Love" gets its beauty from the unique relay of Florence's emotions. When listening to it, I feel like I'm watching a short movie of two lovers oblivious to their mutual feelings. Florence really just puts beauty in all her work in my opinion.