Turn It Up!: Jay Brannan - Blue Haired Lady (Music Video)

  "Release me from this flesh and bone but don't let me die alone."

 Damn you, Jay Brannan, you've done it again. This is yet another song by this masterful artist in which the lyrics rip right into my heart and soul and reduce me to tears. I've listened to this song at least 30 times or more since it's video's release and it still gets me all choked up.

 Blue Haired Lady is the first single from Jay's third (and latest) original LP "Always, Then & Now" which was just released about a month ago, and chronicles the final days of an elderly woman's life as she looks back and reflects on the family she has made and the paths she has chosen. The songs imagery and dialogue are so relatable and that's what I've always loved about Jay's music.

 For me in particular, this song reminds me of my maternal Grandmother's passing. My grandmother had had a stroke so she couldn't really speak aside from a few words, but the most beautiful thing was when we would play the old Scottish folk tunes that she listened to in her younger years, she would sing along with them word for word, clear as a bell. In the end, she fell into a coma and was in that state for a week or so, my family surrounded her during these days because we all wanted to be with her when the time came. My Mom even slept in a chair at the nursing home where she stayed in order to be there. The strange thing is, of the countless hours by her side that she could have passed, she ended up passing at around 5 in the morning (July 1st, 2011 Canada Day) during a 5 minute period where my Mom had left her side to go get a wash clothe to wipe her brow. We all seem to think that she was waiting for a moment to be alone in order to let go, thereby making it easier on us.

So, when, in the lyrics of this song, Jay sings...

  "I trained you up how you should go 
loved you hard, it's clear you know 
but let the songs and wailing cease 
children let me die in peace"

 .... and the juxtaposition between the first choruses stating that she doesn't want to die alone and the final chorus pleading for the opposite... yeah, you best believe I'm all teared up right now. Ugh, he kills me.

 So, long story short, I have no idea how I'm going to get through this song without crying when I see him live in Toronto in September, but it will be a welcomed challenge (and one that I will gladly lose). Please play this, Jay, and thank you for this beautiful music.

 Everyone buy Jay's new album Always, Then & Now (available on i-Tunes), it is a wonderfully crafted collection.

 Side note: It took me about 2 weeks to write this post lol. I kept getting halfway through, crying and then coming back to it and erasing things. It was worth it though. The other thing is, I know I didn't talk much about the video itself (directed by Rich Dorato and Adam Franklin, there you go lol), but I wanted to make this post more personal.

Have a good day readers, and maybe give a hug to the ones you're with!