Ever hear "You and Me" by Penny & The Quarters? I love the rawness of the recording, which was apparently a demo. The guitar shimmies through highs while plump root notes feed the lead vocal, which shoots green right out of the dirt. The backing vocals, ambient in the recording, move in a three-spirit harmony. When the backing vocalists rise on the "me" in "you and me," they convey vulnerability. The vocal arrangement captures the joy of starting one of those meant-to-be relationships. That sense of joy and vulnerability, when heard by the life-weary listener, combine for poignant perfection.
"You and Me" by Penny & The Quarters played on a commercial a few months ago, but I first heard it while watching "Blue Valentine," the painfully moving 2010 American drama. The movie shows the exciting beginning and exhausted end of a serious long-term relationship that produced a child but starved for something more than love.
