“Cheers Darlin’,” by Damien Rice is just one of those songs that get’s under my skin. Haven’t we all been there? What began as just friends with a guy or girl somehow, on your part, became something more? There you are, friends for years and years and years, and then one morning you wake up after dreaming about them, and you want something else. Because before then, it never occurred to you that he or she might be just what you wanted, but you don’t tell them, because you’re too shy. You’re afraid of losing them, so you keep quiet. Well, I’ve been there, and this song was such an awakening for me. So much so that I found somewhere in my wimpy heart to be brave enough to tell my long time friend that I did care about him. It’s just that in Damien Rice’s song, not telling her, he ended up at her wedding to someone else. And when she was given away to another man, she still belonged in every way to his heart. I couldn’t imagine wanting someone as much as he did, only to watch them married away. Even married away, he’ll wait forever for her. He’ll wait until her husband dies or until they divorce or until, by some work of the universe, he can be with her. This song reminds me of something whiter wrote which says, “God pity them both! and pity us all, / who vainly the dreams of youth recall./ For of all sad words of tongue and pen,/ The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” This song has become so many people’s lives. They loved, and were too afraid to tell the person what he or she meant to them, and they look back to think, “what might have been!” I never want to be that person. I never want to look back and wonder what if.
Brett Dennen's song "Heaven" offers the conceptions and misconceptions of heaven and offers a message of hope in reaching heaven. A lot of the lyrics in the song portray some of my own personal beliefs and faiths about my religion, as well as my sense of wonderment about heaven. To me it's something real that has been wrapped with myth simply because of our inability as humans, to conceive a place like heaven, and we create barriers or codes or structures in order to better materialize what we imagine "Is there a home for the homeless? Is there hope for the hopeless"-these lyrics preach that heaven has its doors open to everyone, no matter their condition. There is a misconception that you have to complete certain deeds or know certain codes to get into heaven, and this song expresses that when it comes to heaven and leaving what we know here in our lives now, that we can't rely on our "earthly possessions" or what we trust in like governments, prisons, police. At the end of the song, Brett sings of mighty structures crumbling, but that failure keeps us humble and leads us closer to peace. So when approaching heaven, it's not about what earthly things we've conquered or what our status is, it's about crumbling down to who we are and to what's in our soul. I appreciate this song so much because it gives such a real and simple insight into what all of us wish, ponder, fear, and hope for. Heaven.
When I was a younger, my Mom always say "You are my sunshine" to me. I know that probably isn't a normal song to choose - but when it comes down to songs that mean something to you, it doesn't get much more personal than this. There are so many home videos of my Mom singing this song to me and at one point, I only responded if I was called "Sunshine." When it comes down to lyrics, "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls is a song that means a lot to me. My family never lived close to the rest of our immediate family, so we've been doing roadtrips since before I can remember. Music in the car would rotate from my parents' choice to mine and my sister's - so we would go from Backstreet Boys to The Black Crowes to The Spice Girls to the Indigo Girls. The song "Closer to Fine" always brings me back to those long car rides with my sister, singing the lyrics and making up dances to each song. My favorite line is "I'm trying to tell you something about my life, Maybe give me insight between black and white, The best thing you've ever done for me, Is to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all" because that's exactly what my sister has done for me. She's always been the one person who I can be truly silly with and she always reminds me that in two years I won't remember how much I stressed over this one test or paper or whatever. I hope everyone has that one person who reminds them to take life less seriously.
"Demons" by Guster is by far one of my favorite songs. I'm a sucker for a chick flick, some might call me a love muffin, so I chose a song which discusses a relationship. However this relationship is full of lies and deception which are often seen as the thoughts of our demons. But for some odd reason I love this song. To me, it's about how people sometimes are afraid to be sincere and truthful about who they are. They constantly have their guard up, allowing no one into their life fully, no matter how perfect they could be for them. These feelings often come from being hurt in the past and making sure it never happens again. With this fear, we often avoid and mislead people deliberately. "Honest is easy, fiction is where genius lies," might be the coolest line of all time. Basically because it's easier to not take risks, to not allow yourself to get hurt, lying almost becomes a game. Even in other realms away from relationships, people are still afraid to be themselves whether it be in the workplace or the classroom, people go through their everyday lives hiding behind a mask.
"Konstantine" by Something Corporate is a song I haven't listened to at least a year, but it was the first that came to my head when we got this assignment. Maybe it's because it has so much in common with the two songs we talked about on Wednesday, especially "The Pretender"-- to me it's all about losing dreams. We have big hopes, always, foolish as we are: this is true of relationships more than anything else. "Konstantine" talks about the distance between loving someone and being good for them, wanting to understand someone and actually doing so, the chasm between goodness and those awful things we want because we're selfish and that's how we work.
The line I'll always remember-- "It's to dying in another's arms and why I had to try it". I remember sitting in my Suzuki XL7 on a Saturday night, parked in my driveway, sometime during my junior year of high school. It was the moment I realized I couldn't stay young forever, and that eventually our innocence gets swallowed up by life to some degree. I felt painful in my age, then, and that was four years ago. This is what "Konstantine" reminds me of-- that we cannot be eternal, that beauty does not come with a preservative that will let it keep forever.
I read, once, that the lead singer for Something Corporate changes the end to this song every time he sings it live, based on the real-life situation with this girl in the story. It only seems right.
This was such a hard one to choose, because there are so many songs that resonate with me, and have stayed with me because of the wonderful memories they bring to the surface. And even though I have so many songs that remind me of different people I love, there is one song that actually reminds me of me, and not other people. So I chose "Giving It Up For You" by Holly Brook. I really love this song because even thought it is about her career in music and sacraficing for her music career, it means something a little different to me. Which I think is the beauty of music, you can listen to it the way you want, and it can mean something totally different to each person. When I first heard this song I was in a very dark place in my life, I was throwing away my life with partying, and I very young. My self image was extremely low, and I was destroying my life, but pretending it was all perfect by being part of every sport and every club in high school. I heard this song, and I couldn't help but think that I have so much more coming in my life that I shouldn't be wasting it, and I should embrace it. I shouldn't be punishing myself because I'm not perfect, I should stop fighting, and accept my flaws to see myself as perfectly me. Which to me was the line, "trading all my armor for a crown". And to me, "giving it up for you" wasn't giving it up for someone else, or for something, it was giving up all my bad habits for me, a better me.
I sort of agree with Tiffanee. Picking a song, just one song, is incredibly difficult. I think one of my favorite things about music is that some times a song can come to represent and entire segment of your life. For example...
I was once completely exhausted. You know what I mean. That worn out to the bone, just want to collapse in the floor and sleep for days kind of tired. I was at a camp up in North Carolina, and I was trying to get away from everyone, so I went into the music room. The guys who were playing for the weekend were warming up for that night, and one of them started strumming out Pink Floyd's "How I Wish You Were Here". I just lay flat on my back, stared at the ceiling, and listened to the words and the guitar. It was probably the most beautiful music that I've ever heard. The first few words, "So, So you think you can tell? Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain? Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail, a smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?" I just remember being refreshed by the way that the song captures the loneliness that we all hide, and I remember my soul being filled and rejuvenated by the idea that people are connected even in their pain. I love how an artist's words and the sounds that they pair with those words can capture ideas and feelings that the words or sounds separated cannot capture. I think that's what moved me that day. Those words and sounds expressed my inexpressible exhaustion, and they connected me to something outside of myself.
I often envision my soul as being made up mostly of songs. There are songs for various moods, songs that represent different periods in my life, and songs for each person that I love - and sometimes for those I’m not so fond of. But if there is one song that best encompasses me, it is Celtic Woman’s Caledonia. To me, “Caledonia” the place being sung about, means the deep place where things like childhood memories, archetypal tales, and emotions I cannot even articulate, much less share with almost anyone else reside, and the place from whence imagination springs. It is the inner life that sometimes I ignore, but is always there when I turn back to it. It has a sense of nostalgia - “telling old stories, singing songs, that make me think about where I come from” - but also one of no regrets - “I have moved and I’ve kept on moving, proved the points that I needed proving, lost the friends that I needed losing, found others on the way.” It is the emotional equivalent of the house one grew up in - something I never had physically. More than anything else, it is “home” for my soul. As the last line of the chorus states “Caledonia’s been everything I’ve ever had.”
I really enjoy the song when the world ends by Dave Mathews Band. I think it's about living life and loving someone as if there's not going to be any tomorrow. I really enjoy this song because it's calming and enjoyable even though the world is ending. I think DMB is tapping into people's yearning to have something happen. Oftentimes life seems to be long and very boring. It's this boredom and lack of adventure I believe that causes many problems in people's personal lives. Husbands and wives often cheat because of the adventure not the sex and When the word ends is a way to escape the unrelenting sameness by falling into a picture in which the world ends and your with your love, someone you love so completely that it's ok that the world's ending because your with her.
The song "The Night" by Morphine speaks to me in a lot of ways. In it, the singer compares this woman, Lilah, to the night. More than that, he simply states that "You're the night, Lilah," which to means that this woman is a total mystery to him (and who can't relate to that). While she is a total mystery to him, she is still a comforting presence in his life, hence the line "You're a bedtime story, the one that keeps the curtains closed, and I hope you're waiting for me, 'cause I can make it on my own." The song, to me, is about meeting a mysterious other, and wanting to know them, to be with them, but not necessarily being able to make that connection, which I think we can all relate to.
Akin to "The Pretender," 3EB's "Ode to Maybe" investigates the nature of longing for circumstances exterior to the current. In desiring a one-night stand with this girl he sees at the laundromat, the narrator expresses his dissatisfaction with his reality by presenting an eclectic view of his (unfulfilled) dreams and desires. While it presents a bleak outlook on the lack within his life, there is an undertone of possibility--"if I could bottle my hopes / in a store bought scent / they'd be nutmeg peach / and they'd pay the rent"--showing that despite the grindstone effect on hope, the ability to dream ultimately prevails; humanity is preserved. Naturally, I think about the generally dissatisfying state of my life everyday and how I'm probably never going to get anywhere with an English degree, how futile writing is when I watch the news reporting America's last atrocities--but I still can dream.
For the past several years, mewithoutYou's "The Soviet" has been a sort of lyrical refuge for me. I always seem to come back to it and the entire album "Catch for Us the Foxes" because of a certain quality I have never found in any other. I identify with every line of the song, but what strikes me most about it are the reflections of the album title. I love how it expresses our inherently flawed nature, but our warring against the evil that lives inside our chest. Perhaps the most devastatingly brilliant element of the song lie in the final verse which speaks to the mystery of our twisted intentions. “They only come out when it’s quiet/Their tails brushin’ over our eyelids [...] Or the fur that they shed that's gonna lay on your bed/In a delicate orange-ish cinnamon red... ah, but I don't need this!” Gets me, man! The foxes spoken of throughout are those things that creep in and destroy our good intentions, our right-path striving. I suppose that what I truly admire about the song is how well it mirros doubts I have about the authenticity of my motives and actions. And then, the finale – “For I have my loves... I don't need this” – the ultimate victor is Love.
The song I chose is "Vienna" by Billy Joel. I feel like many college students can relate to the theme of having so much to do and having so much expected of you. The line "if you're so smart tell me why are you still so afraid?" really speaks to me. I feel that oftentimes the very things I give others advice on are the things I am too terrified to face head on. Also the line "dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true" is very accessible. As a child we are told to dream big. We aren't told about the harsh realities we will face. The older we get the more we lose that innocence. This line is suggesting a balance. It's ok to dream, but don't get your hopes up too high. Basically this song is about how a great place awaits you, even only in your mind. Also, the sooner we realize that there is more out there, the happier we will be.
A Beatle’s song as being the most meaningful to someone may be a bit superficial at first. They were known to write off spontaneity and heavily influenced by drugs. People loved them for their originality, and their basic uncorrupted truthfulness that we hardly see in music anymore. I think some of the best writing comes from not knowing what your writing, not having a heavy and structured meaning to your work, but writing what you feel and then discovering what it means. In my opinion, that is what the Beatle’s did the best. Many people have connected “Blackbird” to the civil rights movement in America. Yet Paul admits to writing the song before the death of MLK in 1968 which incited the race riots. The song, Paul is on record saying, is one of his best examples of spontaneous writing, along with “Yesterday”. As a kid my father would sit in the living room and play songs to me and my sister on his acoustic guitar. We would dance around to “Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” by Simon and Garfunkel, or sing along to “Revolution”. But my absolute favorite, even as a nine year old, was “Blackbird”. I requested it every night as the last song, even though I refused to sing along. Instead I would sit cross legged on the living room floor, swaying back and forth to the music like a stoned hippie sitting in the grass at Woodstock. The music was simple and melancholy, a sad soft array of chords that somehow seemed to mean something to me. As I got older the words became clearer and took on a different meaning. It was a beautiful song about being broken and learning from it. It was a song about flying when you were alone in the “dark black night”. With such a sad sound and melancholy melody, the song somehow inspired hope. Just the other day as I was parking outside my apartment the song came on the radio. Without question I turned up the volume and sat alone in my car for an extra 3 minutes to listen before going inside.
A song that has come to mean something to me while I have progressed through college is "The General" by Dispatch. This song depicts a general telling his soldiers to back away from the battle, to save themselves from the horrors of armed conflict. Instead of fighting, the soldiers should just live their lives. It is a simple, somewhat naive message, but my experience has taught me that struggling with mundane annoyances just wastes time. Especially with all the different people with different priorities that you meet in college, being antagonistic or downright hostile doesn't seem to allow you to have much joy in life. A person who just cut me off on College street doesn't deserve a yell, a honk, and a middle-finger salute. Clothes left in the washer and dryer isn't that big of deal, no matter if it delays my day. And I definitely don't care if a beer happens to spill on me in a crowd. As the song says, I'm a young man and I must be living.
I think that the song that means something to me is "Near to You" by A Fine Frenzy. It is a song that I think we all can relate to. It about moving on and the tasks that it takes to do so. It can be painful sometimes but if we have that person that will be near us then we know that it will all be ok. It is song about the process of healing and knowing that the pain and the memories that come with moving on are what it takes to get to the point where you are over something. Knowing that the pain is only going to last for a little while. It is about the grown up decisions that we have to make when move on.
The song "Hometown Glory" by Adele is on that stayed with me from the very first time I heard it. Since we have been talking about pauses in life I have been trying to notice them when I can, and to me this song is just that. Through the song I believe she is realizing her pauses and embracing it. '"Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I can call? No and thank you, please Madam. I ain't lost, just wandering"' In most of our pauses I believe we too are just wandering. I relate to this song because I appreciate my hometown, the people through my life, and all the wonderful things of the world. She also talks about how the government is divided, but yet we are united. It is amazing to realize all the wonders of the world, the people in it, and the connections that we all share.
What I lack in quality I compensate with quantity-A.K.A--nonsensical rambling
“Little Lion Man”, by Pedro Mumford and Sons is today’s choice. The assignment inspired me to ponder the abundance of “break-up” songs, as well as the reasons for their high demand-- the “why”, of the phenomenal relation between heart-break and music. Because I know myself more thoroughly than any other, I’ll consider my own past circumstances and then project. I guess that’s all anybody is doing anyway. Before dating, before trying to care, I thought myself brave. I daydreamed about miraculously saving damsels and was convinced that in the event of a “real life” rescue opportunity, that I would gallantly produce myself as the hero. After two relationships I’ve realized that courage has nothing to do with fire or physical strength, but rather the ability rely. That ability is one that I am still searching for, and one that has cost a couple young ladies much joy. I chose “Little Lion Man”, because the defining element of relationship to this point, in my life, has been a sort of self-loathing or guilt following each attempt at romance. While I’m guilty of the stereotypical boyfriend flaws(1), it’s the conviction that through subconscious manipulative behavior, I lead loving, trusting, beautiful, daughters to places of hurt. I began these relationships with the fear that they would end where they did. I warned the girls of my past, my wicked flesh, and my cowardice. But these warnings inspire the very trust that I love and fear… the trust that makes me think; this time, this time I’m different. I’m going to encourage her thoughts and feelings and I will love her for her differences. I will not mold her identity and I will not create a narrow passage she must go through to have my care. But each “this time” is costly. I’m the fire, not the fireman. I’m the flat-tire, not the seat-belt. Because I couldn’t hold her bravely, he does.
1)Farting. Looking at other girls asses. Leaving my beard clippings in the sink. Mock quoting gay lines from bad “chick flicks”. Laziness. Lack of perception. Forgetting of “important” dates/her friends names/what we talked about that one time. Smoking before we see her mom. Making patriarchal jokes.
“Little Lion Man”, by Pedro Mumford and Sons is today’s choice. The assignment inspired me to ponder the abundance of “break-up” songs, as well as the reasons for their high demand-- the “why”, of the phenomenal relation between heart-break and music. Because I know myself more thoroughly than any other, I’ll consider my own past circumstances and then project. I guess that’s all anybody is doing anyway. Before dating, before trying to care, I thought myself brave. I daydreamed about miraculously saving damsels and was convinced that in the event of a “real life” rescue opportunity, that I would gallantly produce myself as the hero. After two relationships I’ve realized that courage has nothing to do with fire or physical strength, but rather the ability rely. That ability is one that I am still searching for, and one that has cost a couple young ladies much joy. I chose “Little Lion Man”, because the defining element of relationship to this point, in my life, has been a sort of self-loathing or guilt following each attempt at romance. While I’m guilty of the stereotypical boyfriend flaws(1), it’s the conviction that through subconscious manipulative behavior, I lead loving, trusting, beautiful, daughters to places of hurt. I began these relationships with the fear that they would end where they did. I warned the girls of my past, my wicked flesh, and my cowardice. But these warnings inspire the very trust that I love and fear… the trust that makes me think; this time, this time I’m different. I’m going to encourage her thoughts and feelings and I will love her for her differences. I will not mold her identity and I will not create a narrow passage she must go through to have my care.But each “this time” is costly. I’m the fire, not the fireman. I’m the flat-tire, not the seat-belt. Because I couldn’t hold her bravely, he does. 1)Farting. Leaving my beard clippings in the sink. Mock quoting gay lines from bad “chick flicks”. Laziness. Lack of perception. Forgetting of “important” dates/her friends names/what we talked about that one time.
I chose “Little Lion Man”, because the defining element of relationship to this point, in my life, has been a sort of self-loathing or guilt following each attempt at romance. While I’m guilty of the stereotypical boyfriend flaws(1), it’s the conviction that through subconscious manipulative behavior, I lead loving, trusting, beautiful, daughters to places of hurt. I began these relationships with the fear that they would end where they did. I warned the girls of my past, my wicked flesh, and my cowardice. But these warnings inspire the very trust that I love and fear… the trust that makes me think; this time, this time I’m different. I’m going to encourage her thoughts and feelings and I will love her for her differences. I will not mold her identity and I will not create a narrow passage she must go through to have my care. But each “this time” is costly. I’m the fire, not the fireman. I’m the flat-tire, not the seat-belt. Because I couldn’t hold her bravely, he does.
1)Farting. Leaving my beard clippings in the sink. Mock quoting gay lines from bad “chick flicks”. Laziness. Lack of perception. Forgetting of “important” dates/her friends names/what we talked about that one time.
I really don't like to limit myself to one song that "defines" me or anything like that, but I do have several songs that mean something to me. It usually varies week to week, but I think one song that has stayed with me since January of this year is "One Way Out" by the Allman Brothers Band. The song is about "hanging out" with a taken woman and not getting caught. Now, let me clarify, I am not saying that I spend my time finding women who have boyfriends and finagle with them. That should be expressed right away and upfront. However, I have had about 5 or 6 different instances where I have been with a girl at a bar or at a party (just talking or dancing or something) and her ex-boyfriend (or existing boyfriend which she "forgot to mention") has found out about it and either a) threatened me on the phone or b) gotten into a physical fight with me in public. It's just nothing but trouble. Don't ask me why; I guess I'm just at the wrong place at the wrong time. So naturally, I love this song for several reasons. First of all, it's the Allman Brothers. Do I even need a reason? They are perhaps the most badass band I've ever heard. They emit coolness in every song (especially when there is a slide guitar involved. Thank you, Duane Allman, RIP). Second, this song is all about being at the wrong place at the wrong time and that feeling of trying to get out alive makes me feel like I'm in a movie or something: "Lord, there's a man down there...might be your man, I don't know..." The guy in the song isn't really looking for trouble, but he finds it pretty quickly. It's just a fun song and I think it expresses the mindset that I have now when I'm with the guys downtown: that girl "might have a man, I don't know."
I think Elton John's "Circle of Life," is a song that can touch so many people in so many different ways.
Here are the lyrics: From the day we arrive on the planet And blinking, step into the sun There's more to be seen than can ever be seen More to do than can ever be done
Some say eat or be eaten Some say live and let live But all are agreed as they join the stampede You should never take more than you give
(Chorus) In the Circle of Life It's the wheel of fortune It's the leap of faith It's the band of hope Till we find our place On the path unwinding In the Circle, the Circle of Life
Some of us fall by the wayside And some of us soar to the stars And some of us sail through our troubles And some have to live with the scars
There's far too much to take in here More to find than can ever be found But the sun rolling high Through the sapphire sky Keeps the great and small on the endless round
(Chorus repeats)
On the path unwinding In the Circle, the Circle of Life.
I think God gave us our 20's for something so much more than just the passing of age.This is the time of our lives where we either make it or break it. For the most part, it is our first time to be on our own and it's time for us to make our own rules. It's like a fork in the road and it is all up to you which life path you choose. Most people believe we have "hills and valleys" to symbolize the highs and lows in life. But I think it is more like 2 railroad tracks that are going in opposite directions. There is always 1 good thing and there is always 1 bad thing going on in life, but it's all about perspective and how you handle it.
My favorite lines in this song are: It's the leap of faith It's the band of hope Till we find our place
Alright, I'm going to go there. I am going to be the classical music nerd. I love songs with good lyrics as much as the next girl, but the music itself can be equally, if not more moving.
Take for instance the master of emotion, Ludwig van Beethoven. I'm almost 100% positive that everyone has heard the first movement of "Moonlight Sonata" at some point in their lives. I played the first and not as popular second movement in a piano competition when I was a Junior in high school (I was a semi-finalist...ain't no thang).
This piece provides more depth and pure emotion to me than any song with lyrics could, ever. The music alone expresses agony, despair, loneliness, hope, memory, happiness, etc. The low octaves in the bass line create the dark, miserable feelings of losing something or someone that really matters to you. Then the melody comes through, a series of sustained notes among the building triads that almost sounds like crying.
The second movement is a complete 180. The syncopated rhthym depicts the pure joy and excitement of love. The lilting makes your heart skip. The fact that these two movements are polar opposites in the emotion that they are conveying represents the healing process. At first, he is sad about losing his love, and then remembering his love. Then, he is lifted up by the prospects of new love.
Hats off to Beethoven for showing us raw emotion without words.
Well, I know I am a little late but the song I am thinking of is “A Mess” by Anthony Hamilton. The song is about that crazy never-ending pause you feel where you are going insane after a bad break up. You know the type where you are not yourself and have so many unanswered questions and just don’t see an end to the tears? Yeah, it is that kind of song. Anthony Hamilton has one of those soulful voices that could hit you hard and really take you to another level.
“I'm a mess right now, I can't eat can't sleep Bills are piling high ain't worked in three weeks Ain't bathed can't shave cause my heart is so tender like living in a blender I'm shaken and I'm stirred You and me were meant to last forever And empty walls can't hold this house together We were meant to lie and die together And now you're gone and I'm alone Baby come on home”
This section really reminds me of how when one bad thing happens it seems that everything else goes wrong at the exact same time. This song not only gets to me because I can relate, but because I can actually feel the emotions on the one singing it. It's nice to see guys go through the same depressed state that females do.
“Cheers Darlin’,” by Damien Rice is just one of those songs that get’s under my skin. Haven’t we all been there? What began as just friends with a guy or girl somehow, on your part, became something more? There you are, friends for years and years and years, and then one morning you wake up after dreaming about them, and you want something else. Because before then, it never occurred to you that he or she might be just what you wanted, but you don’t tell them, because you’re too shy. You’re afraid of losing them, so you keep quiet. Well, I’ve been there, and this song was such an awakening for me. So much so that I found somewhere in my wimpy heart to be brave enough to tell my long time friend that I did care about him. It’s just that in Damien Rice’s song, not telling her, he ended up at her wedding to someone else. And when she was given away to another man, she still belonged in every way to his heart. I couldn’t imagine wanting someone as much as he did, only to watch them married away. Even married away, he’ll wait forever for her. He’ll wait until her husband dies or until they divorce or until, by some work of the universe, he can be with her. This song reminds me of something whiter wrote which says, “God pity them both! and pity us all, / who vainly the dreams of youth recall./ For of all sad words of tongue and pen,/ The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” This song has become so many people’s lives. They loved, and were too afraid to tell the person what he or she meant to them, and they look back to think, “what might have been!” I never want to be that person. I never want to look back and wonder what if.
ReplyDeleteBrett Dennen's song "Heaven" offers the conceptions and misconceptions of heaven and offers a message of hope in reaching heaven. A lot of the lyrics in the song portray some of my own personal beliefs and faiths about my religion, as well as my sense of wonderment about heaven. To me it's something real that has been wrapped with myth simply because of our inability as humans, to conceive a place like heaven, and we create barriers or codes or structures in order to better materialize what we imagine
ReplyDelete"Is there a home for the homeless? Is there hope for the hopeless"-these lyrics preach that heaven has its doors open to everyone, no matter their condition. There is a misconception that you have to complete certain deeds or know certain codes to get into heaven, and this song expresses that when it comes to heaven and leaving what we know here in our lives now, that we can't rely on our "earthly possessions" or what we trust in like governments, prisons, police.
At the end of the song, Brett sings of mighty structures crumbling, but that failure keeps us humble and leads us closer to peace. So when approaching heaven, it's not about what earthly things we've conquered or what our status is, it's about crumbling down to who we are and to what's in our soul. I appreciate this song so much because it gives such a real and simple insight into what all of us wish, ponder, fear, and hope for. Heaven.
When I was a younger, my Mom always say "You are my sunshine" to me. I know that probably isn't a normal song to choose - but when it comes down to songs that mean something to you, it doesn't get much more personal than this. There are so many home videos of my Mom singing this song to me and at one point, I only responded if I was called "Sunshine." When it comes down to lyrics, "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls is a song that means a lot to me. My family never lived close to the rest of our immediate family, so we've been doing roadtrips since before I can remember. Music in the car would rotate from my parents' choice to mine and my sister's - so we would go from Backstreet Boys to The Black Crowes to The Spice Girls to the Indigo Girls. The song "Closer to Fine" always brings me back to those long car rides with my sister, singing the lyrics and making up dances to each song. My favorite line is "I'm trying to tell you something about my life, Maybe give me insight between black and white, The best thing you've ever done for me, Is to help me take my life less seriously, it's only life after all" because that's exactly what my sister has done for me. She's always been the one person who I can be truly silly with and she always reminds me that in two years I won't remember how much I stressed over this one test or paper or whatever. I hope everyone has that one person who reminds them to take life less seriously.
ReplyDelete"Demons" by Guster is by far one of my favorite songs. I'm a sucker for a chick flick, some might call me a love muffin, so I chose a song which discusses a relationship. However this relationship is full of lies and deception which are often seen as the thoughts of our demons. But for some odd reason I love this song. To me, it's about how people sometimes are afraid to be sincere and truthful about who they are. They constantly have their guard up, allowing no one into their life fully, no matter how perfect they could be for them. These feelings often come from being hurt in the past and making sure it never happens again. With this fear, we often avoid and mislead people deliberately. "Honest is easy, fiction is where genius lies," might be the coolest line of all time. Basically because it's easier to not take risks, to not allow yourself to get hurt, lying almost becomes a game. Even in other realms away from relationships, people are still afraid to be themselves whether it be in the workplace or the classroom, people go through their everyday lives hiding behind a mask.
ReplyDelete"Konstantine" by Something Corporate is a song I haven't listened to at least a year, but it was the first that came to my head when we got this assignment. Maybe it's because it has so much in common with the two songs we talked about on Wednesday, especially "The Pretender"-- to me it's all about losing dreams. We have big hopes, always, foolish as we are: this is true of relationships more than anything else. "Konstantine" talks about the distance between loving someone and being good for them, wanting to understand someone and actually doing so, the chasm between goodness and those awful things we want because we're selfish and that's how we work.
ReplyDeleteThe line I'll always remember-- "It's to dying in another's arms and why I had to try it". I remember sitting in my Suzuki XL7 on a Saturday night, parked in my driveway, sometime during my junior year of high school. It was the moment I realized I couldn't stay young forever, and that eventually our innocence gets swallowed up by life to some degree. I felt painful in my age, then, and that was four years ago. This is what "Konstantine" reminds me of-- that we cannot be eternal, that beauty does not come with a preservative that will let it keep forever.
I read, once, that the lead singer for Something Corporate changes the end to this song every time he sings it live, based on the real-life situation with this girl in the story. It only seems right.
This was such a hard one to choose, because there are so many songs that resonate with me, and have stayed with me because of the wonderful memories they bring to the surface. And even though I have so many songs that remind me of different people I love, there is one song that actually reminds me of me, and not other people.
ReplyDeleteSo I chose "Giving It Up For You" by Holly Brook. I really love this song because even thought it is about her career in music and sacraficing for her music career, it means something a little different to me. Which I think is the beauty of music, you can listen to it the way you want, and it can mean something totally different to each person. When I first heard this song I was in a very dark place in my life, I was throwing away my life with partying, and I very young. My self image was extremely low, and I was destroying my life, but pretending it was all perfect by being part of every sport and every club in high school. I heard this song, and I couldn't help but think that I have so much more coming in my life that I shouldn't be wasting it, and I should embrace it. I shouldn't be punishing myself because I'm not perfect, I should stop fighting, and accept my flaws to see myself as perfectly me. Which to me was the line, "trading all my armor for a crown". And to me, "giving it up for you" wasn't giving it up for someone else, or for something, it was giving up all my bad habits for me, a better me.
I sort of agree with Tiffanee. Picking a song, just one song, is incredibly difficult. I think one of my favorite things about music is that some times a song can come to represent and entire segment of your life. For example...
ReplyDeleteI was once completely exhausted. You know what I mean. That worn out to the bone, just want to collapse in the floor and sleep for days kind of tired. I was at a camp up in North Carolina, and I was trying to get away from everyone, so I went into the music room. The guys who were playing for the weekend were warming up for that night, and one of them started strumming out Pink Floyd's "How I Wish You Were Here". I just lay flat on my back, stared at the ceiling, and listened to the words and the guitar. It was probably the most beautiful music that I've ever heard. The first few words, "So, So you think you can tell? Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain? Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail, a smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?" I just remember being refreshed by the way that the song captures the loneliness that we all hide, and I remember my soul being filled and rejuvenated by the idea that people are connected even in their pain. I love how an artist's words and the sounds that they pair with those words can capture ideas and feelings that the words or sounds separated cannot capture. I think that's what moved me that day. Those words and sounds expressed my inexpressible exhaustion, and they connected me to something outside of myself.
I often envision my soul as being made up mostly of songs. There are songs for various moods, songs that represent different periods in my life, and songs for each person that I love - and sometimes for those I’m not so fond of. But if there is one song that best encompasses me, it is Celtic Woman’s Caledonia. To me, “Caledonia” the place being sung about, means the deep place where things like childhood memories, archetypal tales, and emotions I cannot even articulate, much less share with almost anyone else reside, and the place from whence imagination springs. It is the inner life that sometimes I ignore, but is always there when I turn back to it. It has a sense of nostalgia - “telling old stories, singing songs, that make me think about where I come from” - but also one of no regrets - “I have moved and I’ve kept on moving, proved the points that I needed proving, lost the friends that I needed losing, found others on the way.” It is the emotional equivalent of the house one grew up in - something I never had physically. More than anything else, it is “home” for my soul. As the last line of the chorus states “Caledonia’s been everything I’ve ever had.”
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the song when the world ends by Dave Mathews Band. I think it's about living life and loving someone as if there's not going to be any tomorrow. I really enjoy this song because it's calming and enjoyable even though the world is ending. I think DMB is tapping into people's yearning to have something happen. Oftentimes life seems to be long and very boring. It's this boredom and lack of adventure I believe that causes many problems in people's personal lives. Husbands and wives often cheat because of the adventure not the sex and When the word ends is a way to escape the unrelenting sameness by falling into a picture in which the world ends and your with your love, someone you love so completely that it's ok that the world's ending because your with her.
ReplyDeleteThe song "The Night" by Morphine speaks to me in a lot of ways. In it, the singer compares this woman, Lilah, to the night. More than that, he simply states that "You're the night, Lilah," which to means that this woman is a total mystery to him (and who can't relate to that). While she is a total mystery to him, she is still a comforting presence in his life, hence the line "You're a bedtime story, the one that keeps the curtains closed, and I hope you're waiting for me, 'cause I can make it on my own." The song, to me, is about meeting a mysterious other, and wanting to know them, to be with them, but not necessarily being able to make that connection, which I think we can all relate to.
ReplyDeleteAkin to "The Pretender," 3EB's "Ode to Maybe" investigates the nature of longing for circumstances exterior to the current. In desiring a one-night stand with this girl he sees at the laundromat, the narrator expresses his dissatisfaction with his reality by presenting an eclectic view of his (unfulfilled) dreams and desires. While it presents a bleak outlook on the lack within his life, there is an undertone of possibility--"if I could bottle my hopes / in a store bought scent / they'd be nutmeg peach / and they'd pay the rent"--showing that despite the grindstone effect on hope, the ability to dream ultimately prevails; humanity is preserved. Naturally, I think about the generally dissatisfying state of my life everyday and how I'm probably never going to get anywhere with an English degree, how futile writing is when I watch the news reporting America's last atrocities--but I still can dream.
ReplyDeleteFor the past several years, mewithoutYou's "The Soviet" has been a sort of lyrical refuge for me. I always seem to come back to it and the entire album "Catch for Us the Foxes" because of a certain quality I have never found in any other. I identify with every line of the song, but what strikes me most about it are the reflections of the album title. I love how it expresses our inherently flawed nature, but our warring against the evil that lives inside our chest. Perhaps the most devastatingly brilliant element of the song lie in the final verse which speaks to the mystery of our twisted intentions. “They only come out when it’s quiet/Their tails brushin’ over our eyelids [...] Or the fur that they shed that's gonna lay on your bed/In a delicate orange-ish cinnamon red... ah, but I don't need this!” Gets me, man! The foxes spoken of throughout are those things that creep in and destroy our good intentions, our right-path striving. I suppose that what I truly admire about the song is how well it mirros doubts I have about the authenticity of my motives and actions. And then, the finale – “For I have my loves... I don't need this” – the ultimate victor is Love.
ReplyDeleteThe song I chose is "Vienna" by Billy Joel. I feel like many college students can relate to the theme of having so much to do and having so much expected of you. The line "if you're so smart tell me why are you still so afraid?" really speaks to me. I feel that oftentimes the very things I give others advice on are the things I am too terrified to face head on. Also the line "dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true" is very accessible. As a child we are told to dream big. We aren't told about the harsh realities we will face. The older we get the more we lose that innocence. This line is suggesting a balance. It's ok to dream, but don't get your hopes up too high. Basically this song is about how a great place awaits you, even only in your mind. Also, the sooner we realize that there is more out there, the happier we will be.
ReplyDeleteA Beatle’s song as being the most meaningful to someone may be a bit superficial at first. They were known to write off spontaneity and heavily influenced by drugs. People loved them for their originality, and their basic uncorrupted truthfulness that we hardly see in music anymore. I think some of the best writing comes from not knowing what your writing, not having a heavy and structured meaning to your work, but writing what you feel and then discovering what it means. In my opinion, that is what the Beatle’s did the best. Many people have connected “Blackbird” to the civil rights movement in America. Yet Paul admits to writing the song before the death of MLK in 1968 which incited the race riots. The song, Paul is on record saying, is one of his best examples of spontaneous writing, along with “Yesterday”. As a kid my father would sit in the living room and play songs to me and my sister on his acoustic guitar. We would dance around to “Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” by Simon and Garfunkel, or sing along to “Revolution”. But my absolute favorite, even as a nine year old, was “Blackbird”. I requested it every night as the last song, even though I refused to sing along. Instead I would sit cross legged on the living room floor, swaying back and forth to the music like a stoned hippie sitting in the grass at Woodstock. The music was simple and melancholy, a sad soft array of chords that somehow seemed to mean something to me. As I got older the words became clearer and took on a different meaning. It was a beautiful song about being broken and learning from it. It was a song about flying when you were alone in the “dark black night”. With such a sad sound and melancholy melody, the song somehow inspired hope. Just the other day as I was parking outside my apartment the song came on the radio. Without question I turned up the volume and sat alone in my car for an extra 3 minutes to listen before going inside.
ReplyDeleteA song that has come to mean something to me while I have progressed through college is "The General" by Dispatch. This song depicts a general telling his soldiers to back away from the battle, to save themselves from the horrors of armed conflict. Instead of fighting, the soldiers should just live their lives. It is a simple, somewhat naive message, but my experience has taught me that struggling with mundane annoyances just wastes time. Especially with all the different people with different priorities that you meet in college, being antagonistic or downright hostile doesn't seem to allow you to have much joy in life. A person who just cut me off on College street doesn't deserve a yell, a honk, and a middle-finger salute. Clothes left in the washer and dryer isn't that big of deal, no matter if it delays my day. And I definitely don't care if a beer happens to spill on me in a crowd. As the song says, I'm a young man and I must be living.
ReplyDeleteI think that the song that means something to me is "Near to You" by A Fine Frenzy. It is a song that I think we all can relate to. It about moving on and the tasks that it takes to do so. It can be painful sometimes but if we have that person that will be near us then we know that it will all be ok. It is song about the process of healing and knowing that the pain and the memories that come with moving on are what it takes to get to the point where you are over something. Knowing that the pain is only going to last for a little while. It is about the grown up decisions that we have to make when move on.
ReplyDeleteThe song "Hometown Glory" by Adele is on that stayed with me from the very first time I heard it. Since we have been talking about pauses in life I have been trying to notice them when I can, and to me this song is just that. Through the song I believe she is realizing her pauses and embracing it.
ReplyDelete'"Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I can call? No and thank you, please Madam. I ain't lost, just wandering"' In most of our pauses I believe we too are just wandering. I relate to this song because I appreciate my hometown, the people through my life, and all the wonderful things of the world. She also talks about how the government is divided, but yet we are united. It is amazing to realize all the wonders of the world, the people in it, and the connections that we all share.
What I lack in quality I compensate with quantity-A.K.A--nonsensical rambling
ReplyDelete“Little Lion Man”, by Pedro Mumford and Sons is today’s choice. The assignment inspired me to ponder the abundance of “break-up” songs, as well as the reasons for their high demand-- the “why”, of the phenomenal relation between heart-break and music. Because I know myself more thoroughly than any other, I’ll consider my own past circumstances and then project. I guess that’s all anybody is doing anyway. Before dating, before trying to care, I thought myself brave. I daydreamed about miraculously saving damsels and was convinced that in the event of a “real life” rescue opportunity, that I would gallantly produce myself as the hero.
After two relationships I’ve realized that courage has nothing to do with fire or physical strength, but rather the ability rely. That ability is one that I am still searching for, and one that has cost a couple young ladies much joy. I chose “Little Lion Man”, because the defining element of relationship to this point, in my life, has been a sort of self-loathing or guilt following each attempt at romance. While I’m guilty of the stereotypical boyfriend flaws(1), it’s the conviction that through subconscious manipulative behavior, I lead loving, trusting, beautiful, daughters to places of hurt. I began these relationships with the fear that they would end where they did. I warned the girls of my past, my wicked flesh, and my cowardice. But these warnings inspire the very trust that I love and fear… the trust that makes me think; this time, this time I’m different. I’m going to encourage her thoughts and feelings and I will love her for her differences. I will not mold her identity and I will not create a narrow passage she must go through to have my care.
But each “this time” is costly. I’m the fire, not the fireman. I’m the flat-tire, not the seat-belt. Because I couldn’t hold her bravely, he does.
1)Farting. Looking at other girls asses. Leaving my beard clippings in the sink. Mock quoting gay lines from bad “chick flicks”. Laziness. Lack of perception. Forgetting of “important” dates/her friends names/what we talked about that one time. Smoking before we see her mom. Making patriarchal jokes.
“Little Lion Man”, by Pedro Mumford and Sons is today’s choice. The assignment inspired me to ponder the abundance of “break-up” songs, as well as the reasons for their high demand-- the “why”, of the phenomenal relation between heart-break and music. Because I know myself more thoroughly than any other, I’ll consider my own past circumstances and then project. I guess that’s all anybody is doing anyway. Before dating, before trying to care, I thought myself brave. I daydreamed about miraculously saving damsels and was convinced that in the event of a “real life” rescue opportunity, that I would gallantly produce myself as the hero. After two relationships I’ve realized that courage has nothing to do with fire or physical strength, but rather the ability rely. That ability is one that I am still searching for, and one that has cost a couple young ladies much joy. I chose “Little Lion Man”, because the defining element of relationship to this point, in my life, has been a sort of self-loathing or guilt following each attempt at romance. While I’m guilty of the stereotypical boyfriend flaws(1), it’s the conviction that through subconscious manipulative behavior, I lead loving, trusting, beautiful, daughters to places of hurt. I began these relationships with the fear that they would end where they did. I warned the girls of my past, my wicked flesh, and my cowardice. But these warnings inspire the very trust that I love and fear… the trust that makes me think; this time, this time I’m different. I’m going to encourage her thoughts and feelings and I will love her for her differences. I will not mold her identity and I will not create a narrow passage she must go through to have my care.But each “this time” is costly. I’m the fire, not the fireman. I’m the flat-tire, not the seat-belt. Because I couldn’t hold her bravely, he does.
ReplyDelete1)Farting. Leaving my beard clippings in the sink. Mock quoting gay lines from bad “chick flicks”. Laziness. Lack of perception. Forgetting of “important” dates/her friends names/what we talked about that one time.
I chose “Little Lion Man”, because the defining element of relationship to this point, in my life, has been a sort of self-loathing or guilt following each attempt at romance. While I’m guilty of the stereotypical boyfriend flaws(1), it’s the conviction that through subconscious manipulative behavior, I lead loving, trusting, beautiful, daughters to places of hurt. I began these relationships with the fear that they would end where they did. I warned the girls of my past, my wicked flesh, and my cowardice. But these warnings inspire the very trust that I love and fear… the trust that makes me think; this time, this time I’m different. I’m going to encourage her thoughts and feelings and I will love her for her differences. I will not mold her identity and I will not create a narrow passage she must go through to have my care. But each “this time” is costly. I’m the fire, not the fireman. I’m the flat-tire, not the seat-belt. Because I couldn’t hold her bravely, he does.
ReplyDelete1)Farting. Leaving my beard clippings in the sink. Mock quoting gay lines from bad “chick flicks”. Laziness. Lack of perception. Forgetting of “important” dates/her friends names/what we talked about that one time.
"Little Lion Man" is by Mumford and Sons and the chorus is:
ReplyDeletebut it was not your fault but mine
and it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
didn't I, my dear?
didn't I, my dear?
I really don't like to limit myself to one song that "defines" me or anything like that, but I do have several songs that mean something to me. It usually varies week to week, but I think one song that has stayed with me since January of this year is "One Way Out" by the Allman Brothers Band. The song is about "hanging out" with a taken woman and not getting caught. Now, let me clarify, I am not saying that I spend my time finding women who have boyfriends and finagle with them. That should be expressed right away and upfront. However, I have had about 5 or 6 different instances where I have been with a girl at a bar or at a party (just talking or dancing or something) and her ex-boyfriend (or existing boyfriend which she "forgot to mention") has found out about it and either a) threatened me on the phone or b) gotten into a physical fight with me in public. It's just nothing but trouble. Don't ask me why; I guess I'm just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
ReplyDeleteSo naturally, I love this song for several reasons. First of all, it's the Allman Brothers. Do I even need a reason? They are perhaps the most badass band I've ever heard. They emit coolness in every song (especially when there is a slide guitar involved. Thank you, Duane Allman, RIP). Second, this song is all about being at the wrong place at the wrong time and that feeling of trying to get out alive makes me feel like I'm in a movie or something: "Lord, there's a man down there...might be your man, I don't know..." The guy in the song isn't really looking for trouble, but he finds it pretty quickly. It's just a fun song and I think it expresses the mindset that I have now when I'm with the guys downtown: that girl "might have a man, I don't know."
But most of the time, she does.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think Elton John's "Circle of Life," is a song that can touch so many people in so many different ways.
ReplyDeleteHere are the lyrics:
From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to be seen than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
Some say eat or be eaten
Some say live and let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give
(Chorus)
In the Circle of Life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle, the Circle of Life
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with the scars
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps the great and small on the endless round
(Chorus repeats)
On the path unwinding
In the Circle, the Circle of Life.
I think God gave us our 20's for something so much more than just the passing of age.This is the time of our lives where we either make it or break it. For the most part, it is our first time to be on our own and it's time for us to make our own rules. It's like a fork in the road and it is all up to you which life path you choose.
Most people believe we have "hills and valleys" to symbolize the highs and lows in life. But I think it is more like 2 railroad tracks that are going in opposite directions. There is always 1 good thing and there is always 1 bad thing going on in life, but it's all about perspective and how you handle it.
My favorite lines in this song are:
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
Alright, I'm going to go there. I am going to be the classical music nerd. I love songs with good lyrics as much as the next girl, but the music itself can be equally, if not more moving.
ReplyDeleteTake for instance the master of emotion, Ludwig van Beethoven. I'm almost 100% positive that everyone has heard the first movement of "Moonlight Sonata" at some point in their lives. I played the first and not as popular second movement in a piano competition when I was a Junior in high school (I was a semi-finalist...ain't no thang).
This piece provides more depth and pure emotion to me than any song with lyrics could, ever. The music alone expresses agony, despair, loneliness, hope, memory, happiness, etc. The low octaves in the bass line create the dark, miserable feelings of losing something or someone that really matters to you. Then the melody comes through, a series of sustained notes among the building triads that almost sounds like crying.
The second movement is a complete 180. The syncopated rhthym depicts the pure joy and excitement of love. The lilting makes your heart skip. The fact that these two movements are polar opposites in the emotion that they are conveying represents the healing process. At first, he is sad about losing his love, and then remembering his love. Then, he is lifted up by the prospects of new love.
Hats off to Beethoven for showing us raw emotion without words.
Well, I know I am a little late but the song I am thinking of is “A Mess” by Anthony Hamilton. The song is about that crazy never-ending pause you feel where you are going insane after a bad break up. You know the type where you are not yourself and have so many unanswered questions and just don’t see an end to the tears? Yeah, it is that kind of song. Anthony Hamilton has one of those soulful voices that could hit you hard and really take you to another level.
ReplyDelete“I'm a mess right now, I can't eat can't sleep
Bills are piling high ain't worked in three weeks
Ain't bathed can't shave cause my heart is so tender like living in a blender
I'm shaken and I'm stirred
You and me were meant to last forever
And empty walls can't hold this house together
We were meant to lie and die together
And now you're gone and I'm alone
Baby come on home”
This section really reminds me of how when one bad thing happens it seems that everything else goes wrong at the exact same time. This song not only gets to me because I can relate, but because I can actually feel the emotions on the one singing it. It's nice to see guys go through the same depressed state that females do.
I went through and listened to everyone's song. There are some really awesome songs on here...that's it. so some of you will now be on my ipod
ReplyDelete