No Song is Safe From Us

No Song Is Safe From Us - The NYFOS Blog
 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

During my recent trip to Brazil, and having been a fan of Brazilian Bossa Nova/Samba since being introduced to it by Steve a number of years ago, I was eager to hear what BRAZILIANS listen to in BRAZIL. None of this Gringo mess. Turns out they listen to the Gringo mess but ALSO quite a […]




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

If any of you saw the newest A Star Is Born, you may have walked out humming one of the many romantic, tear-jerker power ballads crooned throughout the evening. I however was taken with a song only briefly sung by Bradley Cooper’s character towards the beginning of the film. It walks the line between 60s […]




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

Given the current political climate I feel it would be remiss of me to not include at least one good political song. For some reason this choral piece I sang at the University of Michigan popped into my head and I gave it a little re-listen and was pleased that I found it as impactful […]




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

I love me a good cover, and I found this particular cover (not to mention the many other covers found on this album) to be some of the more interesting, jazzy, clever, and gaudy covers I’ve heard in recent memory. I chose “In my room” not only cause, well, I particularly like it, but because […]




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

The last couple of months I spent a significant amount of time in South America, and the majority in Chile. Unsurprisingly, the legacy of the dictatorship is still very present in the politics and culture of the country, and specifically on the streets of Santiago where during the wintertime students and other activists take to the streets.




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

This is a song called “Seriously” written by Sara Bareilles and performed by Leslie Odom Jr. It’s supposed to be an imagining of what then president Barack Obama might have been thinking during the 2016 election but was not at liberty to say.




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

For my first song I’d love you to listen to “Abortion Is Illegal by Hanns Eisler/Brecht. For me it is shocking that this was written in the 1930s, not because it was necessarily so ahead of its time, but because it could have been written today as well.




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

In my search I did happen to find one song which very few people know (a YouTube search garners only a few results, for example) but I find it to be absolutely gorgeous, captivating, and original. The song is “An Emma” and it’s a beautiful example of how even a short song can take you on a journey, explore a dizzying array of ideas and thoughts, and leave you both satisfied and wanting more.




 |  Rebecca Jo Loeb

It affected me on some sort of primal level (as music often does). But now that I’ve lived a bit longer, been very close to death, wondered about life and existence in a way that one only can when one sees the light die from someone’s eyes… well, now I think the song is just damn incredible.