Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile - Top Book Pick!
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Memoir
Rating: 9/10
“If you find me in my work, I haven’t done my job. If you find yourself, I’m an artist.”
I love music, not as much as books (like that’s remotely attainable) but I do. Unlike reads, I am lousy at finding new or untapped listens. My roundabout way of getting there? A curated, themed playlist. You know how much I love my lists!
That’s I how stumbled upon the impressive and lovely vocal stylings of one Brandi Carlile. When I added her cover of Black Hole Sun to my Gotcha Covered playlist, I made a mental note to go back and check out her music. Before I did that, I was researching some great books on audio and this, her memoir, was on it. What made it great? That she sings acoustic songs at the end of each chapter. Mic drop, I was in!
Despite fitting perfectly into the musically gifted family into which she was born, Brandi Carlile didn’t fit as well into expectations that the world formed for her. Bravely living as an openly gay teenager taught her many things, none of them easy. Yet she never lost her ability to believe in joy and faith.
It should come as no surprise that a beautiful songwriter can pivot those skills to book writing, but I thought it deserved a little reinforcement. Set to music or not, Brandi Carlile is a gifted writer. With piercing honesty, she weaves together stories of things that break us and those with the power to parse us back together. She considers herself a misfit. I knew I loved misfits.
The Story – Written by Phil Hanseroth, enduring friend & bandmate
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, I was made for you
I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby, I broke them all for you
Oh, because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do, and I was made for you
You see the smile that's on my mouth
It's hiding the words that don't come out
And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know my head is a mess
No, they don't know who I really am
And they don't know what I've been through like you do
And I was made for you
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
Oh, but these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, I was made for you
Oh, yeah, well it's true that I was made for you
Footnote: you may be wondering I didn’t include a song written by Ms. Carlile, of which there are many. I felt this perfectly suited the book and the book telling.
Book Pairing(s):): Talking To My Angels by Melissa Etheridge, Songteller: My Life In Lyrics by Dolly Parton, Gold Dust Woman: Biography Of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis
