songs about a dear friend

Timory's grave marker in River View Cemetery in Portland. Taken by a photographer who did not know her, but appreciated the marker's uniqueness.

Nearly twelve years ago, my friend Timory Hyde was killed when she and a friend fell from a third story window during a party on (but not for) her twenty-third birthday. Timory was from Oregon, and we knew each other from the MDA summer camp there, but coincidentally, the accident happened while she was attending college in Rhode Island, the state where I had found Chris and would eventually end up living. In fact, Chris and I had been here in Rhode Island visiting his family, and had seen Timory and had dinner with her, just a week before she died.

Timory was an aspiring musician... a singer and songwriter, who also played the guitar, the piano, and the didgeridoo. She was studying music at Brown University. There is no doubt in my mind that were she alive today, you would know her name.

The reason I'm writing about this now? It all has to do with a discovery Chris made, quite by accident, while surfing the web one night last week.

Chris has trouble staying awake when we watch TV at night, so to keep himself awake he often opens up his laptop and plays around on the internet. So it was on this particular night. For whatever reason, he decided to search for information on the band OK Go. I've listened to their music for a couple of years, but it's typical for Chris to think my tastes in music are weird until he takes an interest in the same stuff 2-3 years later. Anyway, he found a discussion on the meaning behind one of the band's songs, and that's when his proverbial jaw dropped.

I remember Timory telling me about a friend from college, a fellow musician, named Damian. Damian, it turns out, is Damian Kulash, lead singer of OK Go. And the song, Return, a song I've heard a hundred times and never thought anything of it other than it's a good song... well, it's about her. It's about Timory.

And that's not the only song that's been written about her. Just before OK Go was formed, Damian released an album called Appendices. On it is a song called T's Song, which from what I've gathered, he wrote for and performed at Timory's funeral. Also on the album is a song, Last December, which Timory and Damian recorded together (she did the vocals) before she died. Unfortunately, this album isn't commercially available, and I've been unable to find the songs anywhere online.

Timory was also close friends with Ted Leo of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. Ted wrote a song about three friends of his who have passed, Timory being one of them. The song is called Timorous Me. In the video below, he performs Timorous Me, transitioning into another song, Walking to Do.

So, yeah. This beautiful and talented friend of mine has had at least three songs written about her... one of which I'd heard so many times before and never realized it. And that's the kind of person she was - the kind you write songs about.

February 26, 2009 at 10:49am via confoozled.com · Share on Facebook · Share on Twitter

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