Songful Style: “A Thousand Years”

“A Thousand Years”

I think fall weather is on the way. Mother Nature uses a calendar about as much as I do! That calendar may say one thing, but Mother Natures does her own thing! We have warm days and blessedly cool nights. Nigel and I washed windows and took out the screens. That lets in so much more light so we left the screens out. That means I haven’t opened the windows. But, I may break down and put one back in to get some fresh air inside! Anyway, welcome to the last Monday in September and another edition of Songful Style! Suzy and Shelbee decided to riff (see what I did there) on Style Imitating Art only with music! Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, Suzy of The Grey Brunette, and I make up the bloggers in this group. You can find all of us on our blogs and Instagram.  Our ensembles (pun intended) may be inspired by the lyrics of a song, the artwork of the album cover, maybe the MTV video, or even a memory the song evokes. Suzy chose this month’s song. Last month, I selected “Heart of Glass.” Oh, and there’s a link party, too!

The artist…

Christina Perri has one of those voice I think could be described as that of an angel. I first heard her singing “Jar of Hearts.” I would play it over and over again as I fixed dinner or did dishes! Of course, I sang right along with her! Christina Judith Perri was born in Bensalem, Pennsylvania on August 19, 1986. Even though she can claim both Italian and Polish heritage, Perri describes her family as “very Italian.” She attended Saint Ephrem Catholic School, Archbishop Ryan High School, and the University of the Arts but did not graduate.

A little more…

Perri moved to Los Angeles on her 21st birthday to make it big in the music business. She married and began producing music videos. When her marriage ended, she moved to a small apartment in order to focus on her own musical career. By 2009, Perri was in Philadelphia where she wrote “Jar of Hearts.” She returned to Los Angeles, waitressed at the Melrose Cafe and worked on her music at night. Luckily, Perri had friends in high places when Keltie Knight passed “Jar of Hearts” onto the show choreographer of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Her song premiered on the show June 30, 2010. That led to signing with Atlantic Records on July 21, 2010!

Still more…

On October 18, 2011, “A Thousand Years” was released. It is most famously associated with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1. The song broke onto the Billboard Hot 100 at number 63 and reached number 31. The song, probably due to its association with the Twilight movie, has been certified 4x platinum with sales over 4 million sales in the United States. It is her most successful song to date.

A skosh more…

Perri continues to record though it does not appear she tours much at this time. On December 12, 2017, Perri and Paul Costabile married. The pair have two daughters. Perri miscarried once, and another daughter was stillborn in 2020. Perri has released two lullaby albums, “Songs for Rosie” and “Songs for Carmella (source).”

The song…

What does it mean…

This is another song that has a relatively simple explanation…or does it? Christina Perri and David Hodges wrote this song specifically for the wedding of Bella and Edward of the Twilight series. At first gander, the song is talking about falling so deeply in love you just know you will love that person for, metaphorically, 1000 years. There are moments in the song where you understand this love has not been a necessarily easy thing. But, then, when is love easy, right? There is hesitancy and then the realization that this is a love that will never end. Of course, given the context of its writing, I would be remiss not to remind you that Edward and, eventually, Bella are immortal as vampires. That means their love could, literally, last for 1000 years.

The video…

Interesting covers…

This cover doesn’t really do much for me. It says it’s a rock version, but it’s also AI. I don’t mind the AI part, but it would have been better to intersperse some of the vocalist/band in it, too.

The vocalist in this duo has a lovely, dusky voice. With only the guitar to back her up, she really conveys the soul of the song.

I really like this guy’s take on the song. He accompanies himself on guitar so you can really focus on his voice and the lyrics. It’s another beautiful version.

Oh, this is another beautiful cover done by a guy. He has a beautiful voice as well as a unique little something at the end…he whistles the melody!

This rendition will not only cover you in goosebumps, it will bring you to tears. Honestly, I like this stripped down version as much, if not a skosh more, than Christina Perri’s. The vocalist has an amazing voice. I hope you’ll listen to this one because it is truly beautiful.

My interpretation…

OK. I know you’re all thinking, “And, how does this have anything at all to do with this song?” Well, I’ll fill you in on the details. I actually attended a wedding where the grooms walked down the aisle to this song. And, I thought about wearing the outfit I had worn that day. The problem, however, is I don’t know where the dress is, and it wouldn’t fit right now, anyway. So, I decided to take a non-traditional (for the blog at any rate) approach. When these books came out, two of my besties were obsessed with them. I read them when they’d finished with the book. And, of course, we went to the movies as they came out. I can remember standing in line late one Friday night and laughing with the other women waiting to buy their tickets. As I recall there were more older women than teenagers in line! I decided to go with a look I would have worn to one of those movies! Out of all the items I’m wearing, only two are not from my teaching days! The shell (does anyone still call them that) from Coldwater Creek is one of the few I kept. I had them in every color because the bottom was lace. The jacket (limited sizes) is from J Jill. But, it is definitely something I would have worn back then. The other new-ish item is my pair of soft pants from Athleta. I can’t find a link to those.

The Lewk!

I always think of these as my milkmaid clogs. I’m not sure why. They’ve appeared on the blog many times and are some of my most comfortable shoes. They are by Born and are close to 15 years old. In keeping with my interpretation, these are shoes I wore when teaching. The earrings and necklace are from Coldwater Creek. Interestingly, I never wore them together because I “lost” the earrings and didn’t find them until after I had retired from teaching! They’d gotten stuffed into a non-jewelry place!

Wrap it up, Marsha!

I really do love Christina Perri’s voice. I’m going to check out those lullaby albums. I think those songs would be lovely. I hope you enjoyed a peak into my schoolteacher fashion! So, can we talk? Were you a fan of the Twilight books and/or music? Were you Team Jacob or Team Edward? What do you think of the various covers? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as soon as possible.

Affiliate links and such:

Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. As of right now, I also have an affiliate code for Kantha Bae! Use MarshaintheMiddle in the promo code box for $5 off any order (excluding Bestie restocks)! I have also become a Halftee Partner. Use the code, MARSHA2098, for 20% off any purchase. I am also an affiliate with Clara Sunwoo. You can use my code, MARSHA10, for 10% off your entire order. I am an April Cornell Brand Ambassador for another season. You can use my code, MARSHA10, for 10% off any order over $75. For the Zuvi Halo Hair Dryer, use Marsha12 to get 12% off your order at this link: https://www.zuvilife.com/products/buy-zuvi-halo-hair-dryer?sca_ref=4039595.v4RNNsWxxF. If items are on sale, you can use Marsha5 for an extra 5% off sale prices. In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, and Style Splash. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

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