Ellie Goulding returns to the blog, two and a half years since her last Random Weekend appearance. The English singer-songwriter released four albums between 2010 and 2020, but her debut Lights remains the only one I’ve heard.
I haven’t really heard this one either, to be honest. Lights is in my iTunes library because my wife bought it back in 2011. I’ve never shared her appreciation of Goulding (and, despite her early interest, I don’t think she has listened to this album in years).
Happy Birthday to my father, who turns 76 today! Last year I posted a Frank Sinatra video to honor my dad’s 75th birthday, so I have little confidence that this year’s Random Weekend selection will live up to that.
But let’s spin the wheel and see what the Random iTunes Fairy has in mind for my father.
OK… a cover of Elton John’s classic ‘Your Song’ by English pop singer Ellie Goulding. He could have done far worse.
I’ve come to blame Ellie Goulding for the vocal style of pretty much every female singer I hear on the radio these days.
I call it the “wispy unicorn” sound. The words are whispered and slurred, making these women sound like laryngitic drunks.
Goulding isn’t the worst offender, but she’s the first I noticed. I can’t even name all of the current culprits because I switch the dial quickly every time I hear one of them. Continue reading
My only association with this Ellie Goulding song, from her 2010 debut album Lights, is my impersonation of its opening lines. My wife was (is?) a fan of this album, while I would pass up no chance to make fun of it.
My schoolyard taunts included saying Goulding sounds like a “wispy unicorn,” mocking her pronunciation of “this love” as “this loaf” and singing the beginning of this song as “a toy a too a tee a toe” in my best Ellie Goulding accent.
Today is my wife’s birthday, so I’m celebrating the occasion by featuring an artist she has recently discovered.
It’s rare that my wife seeks out music on her own… she generally listens to the same albums (or singles, more often) that she has listened to for years. Or she’ll pick up on something I’ve been listening to and adopt it as her own (Miranda Lambert, for example).
Meet Me In Montauk 