The Greek language has six words for love. The way you love a pizza is not the same way you love your Mother, which throws the whole unnuanced act of loving in this language into question. If there isn’t a word for it, a sound to put the feeling to, can we ever really feel it? We simply might not have the tools.
Flo Morrissey has a voice like that, one that signals lifetimes in countries where you don’t speak the language, filled with remarkable, wise, incomprehensible thoughts and feelings that sit always at the tip of the tongue. She is also an incredibly kind, lovely and generous person who sang songs for us last month in the lobby at Ace Hotel New York for 5 at 5, our live music series. (Our soul-stealing friends at Show Cobra caught it on tape.)Â
Flo chatted with us before the show about her morning rituals, Britney Spears and how our brains are our best friends and our worst enemies.
Hi Flo. People always talk about you in interviews as having an “old soul,” so we won’t do that. But you do have a wisdom, a kind of sagacity in your music that’s rare. How do you feel about being referred to in this way? Does it ring true for you?
I empathize with that description, I guess. I’ve always felt older than I am, though I find it embarrassing to say so. It’s nothing personal, it’s not like an innate feeling in me. I think I’m understanding the songs more as I get older, too, which is really interesting for me. Part of me wants to keep a kind of an innocence and I think it’s important as we get older to retain that but then there’s another part of me which feels kind of old. So, I don’t know, it’s a weird one but it’s definitely something that I think defines my music properly.
Do you have a different relationship now with the songs you wrote when you were younger?
Yeah, specifically “Show Me.” That’s the oldest one. I wrote it when I was fifteen and the lyrics were saying things like, “Show me the places where we died” and I didn’t really know what I was writing about. I think sometimes that’s when the best things come. My friend a few weeks ago said “I really feel that song is kind of about you becoming a woman.” I didn’t see it in that light then, but it almost makes more sense to me now and I feel a stronger connection to singing that song now than ever before. Also, playing the song for people brings it out in a new way. I hadn’t ever toured before this year, so it’s been really special to see that.
That must be a really bewildering experience. What’s that like? And how does the process of writing the songs differ from performing them?
It’s strange because every show is so different you really have to adapt yourself to the audience and try and engage with them wherever they are and meet them half way. The audience in Europe versus the States is quite different. I feel in the States they’re a bit more open, almost. I like that. Maybe because it’s more like home I feel it’s more daunting to play in Europe than the States. Every show is so different I couldn’t really have a formula for each show.
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