You Are My Sunshine

Aaron Marsh sings like a girl. This is something that is regarded as true, especially lately. Just ask my sister, who burst into laughter after hearing only a few seconds of Copeland's new album You Are My Sunshine. But I don't care. While liking Copeland may not add any points to my manliness scale, I still can't seem to keep myself from being transfixed with their music.

Not that I am trying. I have been a Copeland fan for several years now, ever since Beneath Medicine Tree was my favorite album for whatever year it was that it came out. For the longest time "When Paula Sparks" was the best song I had ever heard, and the rest of that album was almost as good. But that was way back when Copeland was more of a rock band. That was when crash cymbals and distorted electric guitars were heard a lot more than piano and other keyboard-like sounds. Even back then, I still remember thinking they were a much heavier band live when we saw them live at Furnace Fest.

But as time has gone on and their sound has evolved, Copeland has gone from a rock band to a genre that I don't know if I can name. I just don't know what to call it. They've gotten a lot softer and developed their own sound. Aaron sings even more like a girl, and he uses his high falsetto voice more than ever. They have written a lot more slow songs and have effectively defended the title I give them as "band most likely to make you fall asleep."

That's not a bad thing, though, and that's what I'm trying to get at. I bought the new CD the other day and I find myself constantly going back and listening to it. On the same day I bought You Are My Sunshine I got Anberlin's new album New Surrender, which is more rock/pop and a heck of a lot catchier. But I haven't listened to Anberlin nearly as much as I listened to Copeland. Why is that?

Originality.

Over time I have learned that what I value more than anything in my choice of music is the fact that it's unique or original. This is why I am such a big fan of bands like Lovedrug, Counting Crows, mewithoutYou, Norma Jean, Caedmon's Call, and Copeland to name a few. All of these bands have a unique quality about them that I haven't found anywhere else. And while they are all capable of writing good music, they also are so creative and unique in their sounds that I find myself drawn to their tunes more than just a catchy, typical rock band.

This is one of the reasons that I am so turned off by current Christian contemporary music, especially what's on the radio. There is absolutely no originality and little creativity in many of these songs. The lyrics are cliche, the tunes sound like something that was good 20 years ago trying to fit in and be cool with the modern music of today, and it just isn't working.

But I digress. I just don't want to hear the same stuff recycled and fed to me over and over, and that's why I like bands like Copeland who continue to experiment and evolve their sound. I really didn't expect to like their album nearly as much as I do.

Aaron, thanks for singing like a girl. Not many males do it but you do it and you do it well. I'd rather hear that than Mac Powell's overrated voice any day.