music review: Ingrid Michaelson
I finally listened to "Be OK", the latest CD from Ingrid Michaelson. I had read that this was her 'best album ever', and already being a fan, I had high hopes. But I was a little disappointed, not by the performance, but by the repetition of some of the content. I should tell you first though: this CD was a charity effort to help cancer research, so I will enjoy it for what it is and appreciate it for why it exists. However it doesn't stop me from favoring her first album as her best, in my opinion.
Just six songs on the short eleven track CD were new. New, being written by Ingrid and having not appeared on any previous CD's or as singles. The repeats were enjoyable, but something I would expect from an EP album. "Over The Rainbow" is sung by Ingrid's high-reaching, prettily wavering vocals, accompanied only by her ukelele. Another classic she takes on is Elvis's "Can't Help Falling In Love". Her most popular song, "The Way I Am" is here as a live performance. What is probably her breakthrough due to being played on Grey's Anatomy, "Keep Breathing", and has been available as a single ever since, is here as well. The CD ends with an acoustic version of "Be OK", the title track, the most memorable of her new songs. "Be OK", though it is quick, upbeat, and lively, is actually a song sung by someone sad, someone hurt, trying to be optimistic. It's the song she wrote, from my understanding, directly for cancer patients. It is their ballad; a song with cheerful clapping that sounds lightheardedly hopeful while stating that they "just want to know today, know today, know today, know that maybe I will be okay," and, "Open me up and you will see, I'm a gallery of broken hearts ... just give me back my broken heart." The lyrics are pleading really, to simply be okay for today at least, while the melody blithely bounces in an uplifting tune.
It's a song I could play on repeat; at once feeling the combination of smiling while singing along to the catchy tune and also an aching sympathy for those facing a life-threatening illness, and empathy for those with a broken heart whatever the reason may be, remembering my own time of praying that things would just once more be okay.
That song alone makes the CD worthwhile. Ingrid is an artist who seems very genuine, but who, it feels, always keeps back something personal, something private. Her songs often run deeply emotional, dealing with lost love, rejection, and the difficulties of moving forward, and the listener wonders what her own stories hold. She plucks at her ukelele or sings haunting harmonies, sharing love and pain with songs that make things seem, even if she can't make any promises, that things really will be okay.
Just six songs on the short eleven track CD were new. New, being written by Ingrid and having not appeared on any previous CD's or as singles. The repeats were enjoyable, but something I would expect from an EP album. "Over The Rainbow" is sung by Ingrid's high-reaching, prettily wavering vocals, accompanied only by her ukelele. Another classic she takes on is Elvis's "Can't Help Falling In Love". Her most popular song, "The Way I Am" is here as a live performance. What is probably her breakthrough due to being played on Grey's Anatomy, "Keep Breathing", and has been available as a single ever since, is here as well. The CD ends with an acoustic version of "Be OK", the title track, the most memorable of her new songs. "Be OK", though it is quick, upbeat, and lively, is actually a song sung by someone sad, someone hurt, trying to be optimistic. It's the song she wrote, from my understanding, directly for cancer patients. It is their ballad; a song with cheerful clapping that sounds lightheardedly hopeful while stating that they "just want to know today, know today, know today, know that maybe I will be okay," and, "Open me up and you will see, I'm a gallery of broken hearts ... just give me back my broken heart." The lyrics are pleading really, to simply be okay for today at least, while the melody blithely bounces in an uplifting tune.
It's a song I could play on repeat; at once feeling the combination of smiling while singing along to the catchy tune and also an aching sympathy for those facing a life-threatening illness, and empathy for those with a broken heart whatever the reason may be, remembering my own time of praying that things would just once more be okay.
That song alone makes the CD worthwhile. Ingrid is an artist who seems very genuine, but who, it feels, always keeps back something personal, something private. Her songs often run deeply emotional, dealing with lost love, rejection, and the difficulties of moving forward, and the listener wonders what her own stories hold. She plucks at her ukelele or sings haunting harmonies, sharing love and pain with songs that make things seem, even if she can't make any promises, that things really will be okay.
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