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Sky Nails by Jamie McKendrick (Themed Playlist)


Jamie McKendrick - Sky Nails

That first day, to break me in, 
my hardened comrades sent me scampering like a marmoset
from the topmost parapet 
to the foreman's hut 
for a bag of sky nails. 
The foreman wondered which precise 
shade of blue I had in mind. 
It's still sky nails I need today 
with their faint threads and unbreakable heads 
that will nail anything
 to nothing 
and make it stay. 

There are a few interpretations of Sky Nails that seem plausible. For me, it's the last three lines that really tell me what it is I find so compelling about it...nailing "anything to nothing and mak[ing] it stay" for me means that the sky nails the protagonist has fetched from the mysterious "foreman" (a deity of some kind?) are the tools needed to keep themselves together; they represent the psychological means for a desperately struggling person (perhaps, particularly, someone who has some sort of mental illness) to hold on. 

1. Kate Bush - Running Up that Hill (A Deal With God)  ||  Art Pop, Progressive Pop  ||  1985  ||  UK

2. Emma Ruth Rundle - Shadows Of My Name  ||  Contemporary Folk, Dream  Pop, Singer/Songwriter  ||  2014  ||  USA

3. Arca - Desafío  ||  Ambient Pop  ||  2017  ||  Venezuela

4. Sigur Rós - Yfirborð  ||  Post-Rock  ||  2013  ||  Iceland

5. Björk - It's Not Up to You  ||  Electronic, Art Pop, Minimalist Pop  ||  2001  ||  Iceland

6. Lift to Experience - The Ground So Soft  ||  Post-Rock  ||  2001  ||  USA

7. Spinetta - Lejísimo  ||  Art Rock, Pop Rock, Sophisti-Pop  ||  1988  ||  Argentina

8. Denali - Normal Days  ||  Indie Rock  ||  2003  ||  USA

9. Kendrick Lamar - These Walls  ||  Hip Hop, Neo-Soul  ||  2015  ||  USA

10. The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows  ||  Pop Rock, Psychedelic Rock  ||  1966  ||  UK

11. Julia Holter - Sea Calls Me Home  ||  Art Pop, Chamber Pop  ||  2015  ||  USA

12. 椎名林檎 [Sheena Ringo] - 罪と罰  ||  Art Pop, J-Rock  ||  2000  ||  Japan

13. Stars of the Lid - Even If You're Never Awake (Deuxième)  ||  Ambient  ||  2007  ||  USA

14. Pharoah Sanders - The Creator Has a Master Plan  ||  Spiritual Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz  ||  1969  ||  USA

15. The Cure - Plainsong  ||  Post-Punk, Gothic Rock  ||  1989  ||  UK

16. Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up  ||  Chicago Soul  ||  1970  ||  USA

17. Candy Claws - Into the Deep Time (One Sun)  ||  Neo-Psychedelia  ||  2013  ||  USA

18. MJ Lenderman - Left Your Smile  ||  Alt-Country, Slowcore, Slacker Rock  ||  2019  ||  USA

19. David Bowie - Blackstar  ||  Art Rock, Experimental Rock, Post-Rock, Jazz Rock  ||  2016  ||  UK

20. 高木正勝 [Masakatsu Takagi] - おおはる  ||  Chamber Folk, Neoclassical New Age  ||  2014  ||  Japan

21. Radiohead - Glass Eyes  ||  Art Pop  ||  2016  ||  UK

22. Todd Rundgren - International Feel  ||  Art Pop, Experimental Rock, Progressive Pop  ||  1973  ||  USA

23. Cockney Rebel - Mr. Soft  ||  Glam Rock, Art Rock  ||  1974  ||  UK

24. Julia Holter - In the Green Wild  ||  Art Pop, Ambient Pop  ||  2013  ||  USA

25. Henryk Mikołaj Górecki - II. Lento e largo - Tranquillissimo  ||  Contemporary Classical, Minimalism  ||  1976  ||  Poland

26. The Beatles - For No One  ||  Pop Rock  ||  1966  ||  UK

27. Gustavo Cerati - Tabú  ||  Trip Hop, Downtempo, Art Pop, Neo-Psychedelia  ||  1999  ||  Argentina

28. Björk - Unison  ||  Art Pop, Electronic, Minimalistic Pop  ||  2001  ||  Iceland

29. Natalia Lafourcade - De todas las flores  ||  Singer/Songwriter, Chamber Folk, Vocal Jazz  ||  2022  ||  Mexico

30. Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio  ||  Folk Rock, Singer/Songwriter  ||  2003  ||  USA

31. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Antennas to Heaven  ||  Post-Rock  ||  2000  ||  Canada

32. Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent)  ||  Space Ambient  ||  1983  ||  UK

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