The Belfast Review Team | 22 February, 2024
Week 1: Memory & Experience
Featured songwriter: Madelinksi
Welcome to Week 1 of our Spring Blog (February - May 2024). Each week we feature a small selection of artists, photographers, writers, poets, and song writers, with works relating to certain themes. Certain days of the week will focus on different creative forms, for example:
'Feast Your Eyes' Sundays (art, media, photography), 'Wordy' Tuesdays (fiction, nonfiction, flash), and 'Rhythm-Verse' Thursdays (poetry and song lyrics).
This week we're exploring the theme of 'Memory & Experience' with featured creatives whose work interrogates or portrays the use of memory and personal experience in the arts.
We were struck by this songwriter's lyrics for bringing an original take on the notion of unrequited love. The imagery weaves in Cupid's arrow, the pain of being love-struck, and the sting of realising one has been pulled into the web of a negligent lover. In a way it links in with our Wordy Tuesday (20 Feb) post featuring "tarnished but so grand" by Carol McGill, discussing the legacy of Taylor Swift whose own body of work relies on the well established tradition of female songwriters elevating their experience into art. We're delighted to feature this piece as a worthy example of an up-and-coming voice treading a path pioneered by other brave souls.
Be prepared - this one hits the mark.
Archery
MADELINKSI
I get a lot done when you’re not around
You’re constantly standing in my way
I wish that you’d leave my table
I get a lot done when you’re not on my mind
I guess inadequacy is a term that you know
‘cuz you’re feeding me lines in the back of my throat
I am only a person when you say I am
So not today, not today.
I get a lot done when you’re not around
You’re constantly standing over my shoulder
I wish that you’d find somebody else to haunt
I get a lot done when I’m not thinking what you want
I guess archery was your medaling sport
‘cuz your arrows in me are attuned to the point
I am only a lover when you deem I’m worth it
So not today, not today.
Why’d you come by? Why’d you come by?
Why’d you come by today?
So what if I cry? What if I cry today?
I guess you’re the best at finding hearts that stay open
‘cuz I feel like the hallway you’re dragging the dirt in
I am only myself when I forget you’re breathing
So not today, not today
I guess I was a target you couldn’t resist
I’ve got splinters in hand from the shots you don’t miss
I am always in love with the person i could be
And she’s today! She’s today
I get a lot done when you’re not around
I get a lot done when you’re not around
I guess you’re the best at finding hearts that stay open
ARTIST BIO
Madelinksi (she/her) is a singer songwriter based out of Brussels, Belgium. When she's not singing in her bedroom, she's studying to be a linguist. Find her at madelinksi.com or @madelinksi on social platforms.
Special thanks to the writer for trusting us with her work.
Thanks to all of you readers for reading! Be sure to like, follow, and share.
Be sure to check out this weeks other posts:
Feast Your Eyes Sunday (18 Feb) with new art from Laura Davis
Wordy Tuesday (20 Feb) with nonfiction from Carol McGill and Christina Hennemann
Rhythm-Verse Thursday (22 Feb) with poetry by Diarmuid Cawley
This is our last blog post for this week - but stay tuned for more amazing voices in Week 2, starting 25 February with another Feast Your Eyes Sunday.
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