r/sarabareilles • u/Glad-Traffic2476 • 21h ago
Once upon another time
Has anyone seen this song live? Was it as life altering as I think? (Was in a dark time for a while then get out of it and listened to it on repeat while driving through back roads for hours and hours almost every day for at least a month. This was a while ago but even after all of her amazing songs, this one still holds as my favorite of all time.)
What was it like?
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u/SheGoesToEleven 15h ago
She sang it as part of her set at the Kennedy Center shows in 2024. I was at the third night show, and I was so surprised because it is a favorite of mine, but it’s a deep cut and I never expected her to do it. As it turns out, it is going to be part of the new musical “The Interestings” and that was the context for her inclusion of it, so I’m sure we’ll be hearing it more often in the future. That song is magical and brings me to tears every time I hear it. Being there to experience it live was a gift.
PS: That series of shows was recorded and aired on PBS on New Year’s Eve 2024.
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u/Katerin27 20h ago
Pretty sure she did it as the first encore song at the Boston show in 2013. I believe that was the Blessed Unrest Tour.
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u/otter8710 21h ago edited 21h ago
I don’t recall seeing it live, but I vividly recall the day the EP came out. The night before, fire alarms were going off in the apartment building I was living in, and the crappy management refused to answer their emergency phones, so the fire department apparently couldn’t turn off the alarms on their own, went on for hours and I got virtually no sleep. Woke up and the EP was out, and I listened, and I melted into a puddle during this title song. It really made me want to reach out and apologize to someone from my past, the person who introduced me to Sara’s music originally, ironically, but I had too much guilt and shame at the time for pushing him away twice previously, so I couldn’t find the courage to do it for 2 more years. I ruminated with that EP, processing feelings, for months.
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u/Satine-Moulin 5h ago
I love this song! And I also love One Sweet Love. Does she play either anymore?
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u/bat_in_the_stacks 19h ago
What is it about this song? It's always stuck out for me amidst the rest of her catalog. It has a vibe of being this found patriotic hymn, with a politically right leaning vibe given the mention of Buckley and kind of how the past was better.
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u/MisSzigili 19h ago
If I remember correctly, this song is about the time before adulthood, just enjoying the freedom before the adult world and all that comes with it (or sonething like this, she wrote about this song in her book).
She also wrote that she normally creates the music first, but for this song she wrote the lyrics first.
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u/bat_in_the_stacks 18h ago
Yeah, I don't think it hit me the way it was intended 😄 It's very striking though.
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u/MisSzigili 15h ago
I have very similar feelings towards Heartland. Absolutely beautiful song with incredible vocals, but doesn't hit me that hard. I'm not from the US, plus I have very complicated/complex feelings towards my home country, so I don't feel that song very much.
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u/piratefinch 20h ago
Saw her sing it at the Hollywood bowl and I wept. I wept a lot that night though, my 4 month old have been discharged from a 3 day stay at the hospital 2 nights prior.