A gorgeous ballad by a gorgeous girl

I had a few Katie Melua songs in my library for a while now, but hadn’t really given her music a good listen. I assumed she was just another independent female artist with a few good songs, just waiting to be used at the end of a Grey’s Anatomy episode. I also kept confusing her with Kate Walsh. And then I decided to look her up. Turns out she’s kind of a big deal in the U.K. and Europe.

Because I have so much music, I don’t get a chance to listen closely to many songs. So at a superficial level, I look for catchy melodies or instrumentation before I give a song a closer look. One of Melua’s songs is called “Nine Million Bicycles,” and it didn’t stand out to me at first. But after my interest in her grew, I finally gave the song a good listen, and it is beautiful. In the song, she tells how her one true love provides her a sense of security and assurance in the face of the intimidating size and uncertainty of the universe. I also like the ironic juxtaposition of insignificant (but intimidating) facts with an important one – “I will love you until I die.”

There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That’s a fact
It’s a thing we can’t deny
Like the fact that I will love you ’til I die

We are twelve billion light years from the edge
That’s a guess
No-one can ever say it’s true
But I know that I will always be with you

I’m warmed by the fire of your love everyday
So don’t call me a liar
Just believe everything that I say

There are six billion people in the world
More or less
And it makes me feel quite small
But you’re the one I love the most of all

We’re high on the wire
With the world in our sight
And I’ll never tire
Of the love that you give me every night

There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That’s a fact
It’s a thing we can’t deny
Like the fact that I will love you ’til I die

And there are nine million bicycles in Beijing
And you know that I will love you ’til I die