I have always loved stars. I like looking at the night sky, I liked my college astronomy classes, I doodle stars all the time…on everything, and I have over a dozen stars tattooed all over my body. In my travels around the globe, I have met and become close with so many people that also draw stars almost compulsively. When I look down and see a constellation on a napkin or receipt, I know that this person, whoever it is, is my kind of people. It’s nice, like a secret handshake. We don’t even have to interact beyond the acknowledgment that we are, in some mysterious way, similar.
All of this being said, I am predisposed to like songs about stars…or at least to check them out and give them more than a fair chance to impress me. This last Friday, while listening to a mix of newly suggested songs, I heard the song Glisten by Wookey for the first time. I liked it well enough but I didn’t listen to the lyrics closely at all because I was busy getting ready for work and the spawn ready for school. On the second time through, because I hadn’t changed the playlist, the song caught my attention and I found myself paying a little closer attention to the way the singer used his voice. On the third time through, I heard the lyrics. The fourth time through saw me putting it on single song repeat for the rest of the afternoon. I broke the rules at work and streamed the video. I fell in love.
Wookey is a 22-year-old singer, rapper, and songwriter. He has a couple of songs floating around iTunes and Youtube, but Glisten is his official debut song. The lyrics are about how the stars are always there, being beautiful, but nobody really pays attention. They are taken for granted. This parallels with the idea that people are always around but we ignore them. The moment you actually start to pay attention to one, you fall in love. Gah. So good. It’s a really short song…clocking in at less than two and a half minutes…but seriously, enough happens in it that it remains satisfying. It’s got a steady, repetitive beat and the vocals are really rhythmic. I think that way the chorus and verses subtly shift from the beginning of the song to the end emphasizes the whole point of the song…once you start paying attention, you begin to see the richness of it and you get more and more addicted. It’s all very intentional.
There isn’t a lot of information on Wookey on my usual sites and a quick google search didn’t give me much more, but I can say that I will keep looking and following and learning. This fella has started his path to joining the ranks of Changmo, DPR Live, and Oh Hyuk, and a million other talented musician I can’t stand to live without.
Wookey, Glisten
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1B_RGmWai8
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