Becky Hawkins

Postcards: Strong Songs and Girls5Eva

Added 2024-08-29 05:48:46 +0000 UTC

Strong Songs is the musical deep dive I didn't know I needed! It feels so good listening to someone get super enthusiastic about chord changes, instrumentation, vocal choices, recording techniques, and what the Dies Irae has to do with The Nightmare Before Christmas. Highly recommend.

The Kate Bush/Wuthering Heights episode of Strong Songs was bouncing around my head so wonderfully that I had to draw it immediately. I felt like a teenager, staying up past my bedtime on a work night because I was excited about new-to-me music. I also get a kick out of this postcard being a cartoon inspired by a podcast episode inspired by a song inspired by a BBC adaptation of a novel. That's a lot of enthusiasm and work spread over ~175 years!

I thought about not watching the iconic "red dress" music video for Wuthering Heights until after I'd finished this postcard, so that I'd definitely be drawing my visual interpretation of the song. Instead, panel 1 is the inside of my head, as well as I could fit it on 4"x6" paper while listening to the song on repeat. Panel 2 is Shoulder Angel mimicking the music video.

Naomi's and my current after-dinner show is Girls5Eva. It's about a 90s girl group that reunites in present-day to try and restart their musical careers. It's full of musical parodies and the cast includes Sara Bareilles and Renée Elise Goldsberry, if that's also your cup of tea! I only have one minor quibble: