#1 – Lazarus

Artist – Porcupine Tree
Album – Deadwing
Year – 2005
Genre – Soft Alternative/Progressive

This is the song that introduced me to my favorite band. I also think it may have been one of the first songs I really REALLY cried during (I’ll admit it). In all my life I’ve never encountered a band with talent like Porcupine Tree. The band itself is a four piece progressive outfit consisting of Steven Wilson, the main guitarist and lyricist, Colin Edwin on bass, Gavin Harrison on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards. Wilson, as a whole, is one of the most brilliant musicians and lyricists I have ever come across, and you can definitely expect to see more of his projects’ songs on this blog.

That being said, the song itself is a gentle acoustic/piano track perfect for relaxing. It starts with a sweetly flowing piano line, and steadily builds into a beautifully layered track, with the full band contributing to building a sweeping, soaring chorus and taking that atmosphere the the very end of the track. Wilson’s voice is soft and very melodic, always keeping you captivated. The lyrics are wonderful as well, with a great sense of poetry about them. They actually describe a mother coming back from death as a ghost to comfort her son, but the beautiful thing about this song, and a lot of other of Wilson’s songs is that they are very much open to interpretation. It’s when the lyrics are put in the context of how you’re feeling on a personal level that they take on new meaning. When everything works together in this song, you definitely feel swept away by the instrumentation and vocals. It’s a great track to introduce this band. It’s accessible, well constructed, atmospheric, and dream-like. It’s a great track to just sit back, close your eyes and forget about the worries of the day with. If any of the other songs don’t catch you, I hope that this one does. Porcupine Tree is not a band you’re likely to forget if you love music.