I don’t have a list of top-ten favourite words, but if I ever make one (and I might, now that I think of it) effervescent will probably be on it.
It’s a word with a lot going for it: more graceful than the average English word, lengthy without being overly difficult to pronounce…and all this with only one vowel. It’s even been adapted as an advertising tagline to sell soft drinks.
It also has the interesting feature of being capable of describing either people or liquids. Sure, some other words can do that too (bubbly, cold, gassy) but if I had the choice, I’d rather be described as effervescent than those other options.
When I heard “Two Birds” by Feiler for the first time, I was very happy to hear one of my favourite words make an appearance just three words into the song. And I was intrigued to hear it used as a way to describe the sky. I happened to be outside at the time, and the sky above me was a pretty radiant blue. I stopped walking, craned my neck to trace the line of a vapour trail across the sky, said the word effervescent quietly to myself, and kept walking.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The singer, Austin Smith, has a voice that might be described as Sufjanescent.
2. In the chorus, two guitars strum slightly different patterns in each headphone, an effect that I like to call rightandleftent.
3. By the end, the harmonies are piled on like layers of comfy winter clothes, giving a feeling that I hereby choose to describe as sweatervestent.
Recommended listening activity:
Watching the sky change colours really early in the morning.