Recently I talked about the reasons why I listen to so much sad music. Having a bit of a contrarian streak, I naturally decided the thing to do with the next Song of the Month installment was to post one of the few genuinely uplifting songs I listen to.

I also feel that my life — hopefully — is going through some real positive change at the moment, so posting something happy seems appropriate.

On the occasions when I want some more positive music, I usually look to the British Columbian two-piece known as Dear Rouge. Composed of the husband and wife team of Danielle and Drew McTaggart, Dear Rouge tends toward earnest songs with simple but positive messaging.

My favourite of theirs is likely the title track from their first album, Black to Gold. I’m not very confident in my ability to correctly interpret song lyrics, so perhaps this wasn’t the band’s intention, but I tend to view Black to Gold as being about overcoming hardship and having one’s trials be rewarded.

On that note, while I usually try to limit myself to one song in these posts, if you want the best experience I recommend listening to another Dear Rogue song, Live Through the Night, beforehand. For all that they came out in the opposite order, I consider Live Through the Night the perfect prelude to Black to Gold. It’s the darkness before Black to Gold’s dawn.