The Sensory Dispensary

Sometimes an artist and album will seemingly come out of nowhere and be just exactly what you needed, exactly when you needed it. Such was the case with The Head and the Heart’s eponymously named debut from 2011.

When they released their follow-up Let’s Be Still in 2013 I had no idea how they were going to follow up the debut but damn if they didn’t make a go at it. Overall I don’t think it is as quite as strong as the debut, but it contains two of my very favorite songs from them, so they get extra points for that.

I previously posted “Gone” way back in January of 2025, which is just about a perfect song as has ever been written, but another favorite is the title track “Let’s Be Still”

With all that is happening in my life and in the world, this song is a reminder to bring a little bit of calm in to my world that can be otherwise very elusive:

“Just for a moment, let’s be still”

You can get lost in the music for hours
Honey, you can get lost in a room
We can play music for hours and hours
But the sun will still be coming up soon

The world’s just spinning a little too fast
If things don’t slow down soon, we might not last
So just for a moment, let’s be still

You can get lost in the music for hours
Honey, you can get lost in a room
We can play music for hours and hours
But the sun’ll still be coming up soon

The world’s not forgiving of everyone’s fears
The days turn into months, the months turn into years
So just for a moment, let’s be still

They’re tearing down so we can rebuild
And all of this time is just circles in my mind
So just for a moment, just for one moment
Just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still

Ain’t no time left for me
Got me seeing so clearly
Ain’t no time for me, no

The world’s just spinning a little too fast
If things don’t slow down soon, we might not last
The world’s not forgiving of everyone’s fears
The days turn into months, the months turn into years
So just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still

Just for a moment, let’s be still
Just for a moment, let’s be still

To show just how impactful these two albums were on me, here is a chart pulled from my last.fm profile indicating the albums that have the most plays. These don’t necessarily mean full, entire album in order, plays but rather indicate the number of times I have played a song from these albums. Remember, this goes all the way back to 2006.

So 15 and 13 years later these albums by The Head and the Heart retain their position in the top 2 spaces, among some pretty strong competition. Warren at Bonnaroo is inching up there though, and a full play through of the Roger Waters (which is, of course, the legally required way to listen to a Roger Water album) could do some shuffling of things as well.

Either way, both are essential and I still listen to them frequently.