(Belated) Music Friday: "Little Lights" plus "Look Up"

I'm way late with this post. The boy and I drove over to the Cincinnati area on Friday for my daughter's dance competition. The ladies de Nasty had already gone over there on Wednesday, and we came later because the boy had rookie league games on Wednesday and late Thursday. 

But enough of my excuses. Let's get to the music. 

If you look at the back of the cd case of the Punch Brothers' The Phosphorescent Blues, you'll find all members of the band starting at smart phones with their faces illuminated. 

"Little Lights" closes the band's recent opus. 

While I guess you can read the lyrics as being positive, I see the song as negative and morose, a commentary on our "connectedness" via technology. Turkle's Alone Together comes to mind. 

These verses support my reading: "Look at us we're glowing/ tripping the dark fantastic," "I can love it all to distraction/," Look at us hold each other spellbound/ Every moment a polished silver/ link in a chain forever," and "Guide us back to where we are/ From where we wanna be." 

Here are the full lyrics to the song: 

"Little Lights"

Look at us we're glowing
Tripping the dark fantastic
Singing the phosphorescent 
pinks and blues
To beloved tunes
In beloved rooms
I can love it all to distraction
With this...

Look at us hold each other spellbound
Every moment a polished silver
link in a chain forever
rattling through
Our beloved tunes
In our beloved rooms
God I've loved you all to distraction
With this

This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine

Shine little lights of ours
Like Orion's belt of stars
Connected only from afar
Shine little lights of ours
Like Orion's belt of stars
Guide us back to where we are
From where we wanna be

The tune reminds me of the video "Look Up," which I got introduced to this year at one of my daughter's other dance competitions when a large group of ladies danced to the audio of the video. See below.