Miles (2011) – Christina Perri

Kiss me on my shoulder
Tell me it’s not over
I promised to always come home to you
Remind me that I’m older
To be brave smart, sweet and bolder
And don’t give up on what we’re trying to do

It’s been way too long since I’ve presented a Christina Perri track here and that makes me blue. I have got a stack of newbies from her earmarked to download. Miles is one such song.
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed my blog that Perri is my favourite female music artist, balladeer and troubadour. There is no other music which turns my eyes glassy and induces tears as quickly and assuredly as hers. Take for example today’s song – Miles. Perri will always deliver a brilliant catch phrase and / or intonation of a word which just makes my heart melt and Miles is choc-full of these.
She wrote in Miles:

And don’t give up on what we’re trying to do.

There is so much to unpack in just that one-line that you could write a book on it. Also, you don’t hear words and expressions like that from other young artists of the modern era. Perri is promoting and aiming for a ‘love’ based on unity, fortitude and resilience, not on infatuations and caprices. Also, her ability to shape a ‘new’ sound with her instinctive inflections or raising the octave (at 3:30) despite the overall ‘tranquil’ and resolute tone is something to behold.

At 00:37 seconds a ‘seemingly’ skimpy piano prances onto the scene and like the rest of the song reflects so much method and tact in the modest and humble manner of her delivery and music production. I find it impossible not to get lost in Perri land at that point. This sound leads into the following prechorus:

I won’t make it alone
I need something to hold

I’m not usually a fan of ‘bridges’ in songs but we’re talking Perri here and she nails it at 2:18 and the follow-up instrumental is superb:

And these are words I wish you said
But that’s not how it went
Cause you gave up on us in the end

Miles was released on Christina Perri’s 2011 debut album Lovestrong. She revealed the following about the album’s track listing:

I believe I picked the best ones—the ones I need to get out into the world. The ones I need to get through. The ones I want to sing to you every night. And the ones I can only hope make you feel something too.

Her influences of the album include Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, James Taylor, Elton John, and The Beatles. Amongst other promotional performances for Lovestrong Perri announced fourteen tour dates with James Blunt in spring 2011. The album debuted on the US chart for Digital Albums at number three. In Canada, it debuted at number nine on the Canadian Albums Chart and Australia peaked at number five.

The following biography was sourced from the second referenced article below:

Christina was born Christina Judith Perri at Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA, on August 19, 1986, into a religious household. While her father, Dante Perri, is of Italian origin, her mother, Mary, is of Polish origin. Christina grew up with her older brother Nick Perri, who was a music enthusiast. Nick, who later went on to become a famous guitarist, was Christina’s only inspiration during her childhood.

Her parents worked as hairdressers and the family struggled with finances. They used to visit the church regularly and Perri had the opportunity to sing during a communion when she was 6 years old. That changed her life forever as she realized that she had the ability to sing well.

Pleased by her interest in music, her parents enrolled her for piano lessons when she was 8. However, she was expelled from the piano class as she had her own way of ending the songs, which wasn’t liked by her teacher. You can read more here.

Reference:
1. Lovestrong – Wikipedia
2. Christina Perri – The Famous People