sometimes you need commercials

Yesterday, a friend of mine sent me this.  It's a website about an ad for Europe set in San Fransico for a new LCD TV with fantastic color.  Or, as they say in the ad, colour.  The ad is oddly magical, but what cinches it is the music which plays over the top of the ad.

The song is "Heartbeats" by José González, somebody I'd never heard of before this ad and now I have everything he sells on iTunes.

I can't describe the music very well, because my reaction is more than just "it's nice" or "I like it" or "it inspires me."   It permeates me.  It's so quiet, so soft, and so it hypnotizes you because it seems innocuous.  And then you start listening.  It's like when you're really crazy busy in the middle of traffic or the mall or somewhere and some person, usually elderly or just someone who's smart enough to see a busy place like that and sit on a bench and be still and quiet -- when those people reach out and hand you something, or smile, or make some small comment that rocks you.

José does this to me.  He starts singing and I just want to lie in his lap and stare calmly out into the world, suddenly comfortable that it's safe now.  And he's such an artist: he has this thing for taking songs that are very harsh or syrupy and turns them into something magical.  "Heartbeats" is originally some hard 80's edge-rock synth-fest, and he covers "Hand On Your Heart" by Kylie Minogue, a song that is fine enough, but mostly silly and toss away.  He sings both and I sit very still and feel different when I'm done.

I think my favorite thing about this music is that I listen to it and imagine that this guy is a guru, some sort of saint come to Earth, who, if I met him, would be almost like meeting God.  And the thing is, he probably worries about gingivitis or hates his hair or can't keep a relationship going or something very human, just like everybody.  WHich means this music I hear IS the God in him, speaking to the God in me.

Anything that can play across an electronic device DURING AN AD and captivate me like this is proof enough for me that there is magic in the world.