Yes, that damn Train song is stuck in my head, thanks to an adorable fan-made music video of it:
I've been sick for the last couple days and haven't been blogging, so to make sure mine doesn't get lost in the abyss of forgotten blogs (man it's depressing hitting that "Next Blog" buttons!), I'm going to tell you something about Train:
Their lyrics are weird and don't make sense... and I love it.
"Drive By" is the epitome of "...wha?" But you know what makes it good? It's the fact that it flows. I think the point is not the words and their actual meanings, but how it sounds. Because God knows no girl wants their guy to compare their love to toilet paper and garbage bags.
I've got to give them credit for at least having a somewhat linear concept in "Drive By." I actually prefer their last hit, "Hey Soul Sister" (for personal reasons, reminds me of a great friend from college who sang it whenever something awesome happened), but that one... that song is an ADD squirrel after a six-pack of Red Bull random. But. I. Love. It.
In my line of work (as a music therapist), I have to be careful about what kind of music I play for clients. Before I bring in a song to the session, I put on my "Mommy Ears," in which I listen to the song through the ears of a very conservative mother of a young child. I usually work my way back from there, but it's a good starting point when choosing music for sessions.
Today I had a small debate with my Mommy Ears, or in this case, more like Mommy Eyes. A client of mine likes to play "DJ Hero" as part of his choice time. While I write his note, he plays a round and then when I'm finished, we play a round together. He was playing "Soulja Boy," which is a song he gets very excited about playing. While he was dancing and playing, I noticed he was grabbing his crotch. My Mommy Eyes were telling me to correct the behavior, but then I found myself battling against doing so. After all, isn't that how these artists behave? I mean, the ever-talented Michael Jackson did it. How could I tell him to stop his behavior while Soulja Boy was shouting out that he is to "Supersoak that hoe"?
In case you've been living under a rock and haven't heard this... much like the dad in the beginning...
It's a balance I'm often faced with, even in everyday situations, like I'm sure most people have to face. All have filters to a varying degree. Some have one so small it seems undetectable. Others make one wonder if they would faint at the sight of a lady's ankle. And so, we have to adjust our own. I've had to pitch songs that mention smoking for some clients, while playing a song every week with swearing for another. I use information like how the parents speak to the client, what kind of music the client listens to already, and so on. It can be a strange experience asking for input from two different parents on the same song.
I hear Mommy Eyes and Ears stick better once one begins to spawn and one becomes a mother. What about you? How often do you have to wear Mommy Ears (or Daddy Ears)? How about the parents out there? Did they become a more permanent fixture after kids?
Who's ready to have another history lesson?!... oh come on, it'll be fun!
The History
Yes, it is time to discuss the classical music sub genre, Classical. Starting in the Mid-Eighteenth Century, Classical emerged from new philosophies brought on in the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was the belief in natural law, in which people have individualized faith and rights, that practical morality reigns supreme over religion, that nature is cool and that everyone should get an equal share. Hmm, sounds familiar, don't you think? (This is me wildly gesturing to today's society). Church music, in no small part due to the Enlightenment, took a backseat. It began following music trends instead of being the frontiers.
The changes make sense in this context: music wasn't just for the rich anymore! A growing middle class began learning music as a leisure skill, not seen during the Baroque. With amateurs on the rise, so too demands for sheet music for keyboard, chamber ensemble, or voice. Keyboard music was very in vogue, especially with the new contraption, the pianoforte. Until this time, the only keyboards that were available were harpsichords, which plucked the string instead of hitting it, making it impossible to play with changes in volume, or "dynamics." That's actually where the name comes from: "pianoforte," literally meaning "soft loud." But now we just call it a piano.
"Dynamics! Hooray for me!!"
Along with these new thoughts of being green and socialist, people also were becoming more scientific. The belief that one stayed in a particular emotion until forcefully moved to another was debunked with their new understanding of the human psyche and philosophy. Emotion, they believed, is fluid, and that it's not only safe to move from emotion to emotion quickly but also healthy. And so, music became more gritty with raw emotion, and far less frill. They called the musical style galant (one "L"), which had become a catchword for things that were modern, chic, smooth, and sophisticated. If Baroque was a peacock, classical was a penguin.
We're so galant!
Unlike in the Baroque where you had to attend royal court to hear professional performances, the classical era gave birth to the public concert. It was so expensive though that it was usually just the elite who could go anyway, but it's the thought that counts, right?
What's it like?
If you're going from Baroque to Classical, you'll be quite happy for the changes. Since it comes from an culture similar to ours today, it sounds more familiar. That and you're going to come across plenty more music you've probably heard over and over again in your life. This is the era of Mozart, for cryin' out loud! Tunes like "Twinkle Twinkle," "A Little Night Music," "Figaro," and of course that squeaky aria from "The Magic Flute" will all be familiar music. It's going to be much easier to listen to and will keep your attention. It can be fun, it can be beautiful, it can be engrossing.
So... when should I listen to it?
Classical music has many modern-day equivalents. Having some friends over that are bored? Instead of playing a YouTube video on your snazzy new iPad, play them Eine Kleine Nachmusik on your snazzy new pianoforte! Want to go out for a night on the town? Instead of catching a movie, catch an opera instead!
I love this song. Nothing to say about it, I just wanted to share. Maybe I'll say more later.
"Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg
Ok, now I'm going to share more thoughts on this song.
Love comes in many different ways for different people. We're a diverse race, so why would we find love in the same way as well? For me though, this is how I've fallen in love. Some people just seem to know, that whole "love at first sight" thing. For me, falling in love is sneaky. It takes time for me to admit having fallen in love. That's why this is to me the song that best describes how I fall in love. He's shy about it. He won't outright admit that he's in love. He says that he "think[s] that possibly maybe [he's] fallen" in love. That's sincere, that's honest. Love is wonderful, but it's also scary.
People are often too eager to rush into things, I think. They find the first inkling of something and they run for it. When it comes to love (romantic, friendship, any kind of love), I fall gradually. Maybe it's just a personal thing, but it makes me feel safer to do it that way. You have a better idea of what you're getting yourself into. And why rush it? Go ahead and blush and stutter when you say those three little words. Allow yourself to take your time. If it isn't meant to be, it'll make it easier to remove yourself. If it is meant to be, it'll make the love grow even sweeter with time.
How do you fall in love? What's a love song to which you relate?
When I hear a song just a few lines away from being good, I get a little upset... no, correction, a lot upset. So it is with Bruno Mars's "Lazy Song." If I were given the lyrics to the song and he was like, "Yup, all done!" I'd have to slap his wrists with a ruler and tell him to get back to work. And if you even THINK about adding whistling in the chorus, so help me I will take that stupid hat of yours and feed it to a hungry pack of wolves.
When Adam read this, he had the perfect explanation: "Well of course the writing is lazy. The day he wrote it, he was feeling lazy."
Sniff... I... I sorry.
So here is Bruno's song if I were to edit it. ENJOY!
CHORUS:
G D C
Today I don't feel like doing anything
G D C
I just wanna lay in my bed
G D
Don't feel like picking up my phone
C
So leave a message at the tone
G B7 C
Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything
VERSE 1:
G D
Uh, I'm gonna kick my feet up and stare at the fan
C
Turn the TV on, get a television tan
G D C
Nobody's gonna tell me I can't, nah
G D
I'll be lying on the couch just watchin’ TV
C
Today’s the day that it’s all about me
G D C
Cause in my castle I'm the freakin man
PRE-CHORUS:
Am
Oh Oh, yes I said it
Bm
I said it
C D
I said it cause I can
CHORUS
Nothing at all
G D
Ooh hoo ooh hoo
C
Hoo ooh ooh, Nothing at all
G D
Ooh hoo ooh hoo
C
Hoo ooh ooh
VERSE 2:
G D
Tomorrow I wake up, no earlier than ten
C
Gonna longue around the house ‘til I don’t know when
G D C
And everything that day will go great
G D
I might mess around, finish a project or two
C
Then again, I might just hit snooze
G D C
I'm sorry work but you’ll have to wait
PRE-CHORUS
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
Am D
No I ain't gonna comb my hair
G D
Cause I ain't going anywhere
C Bm G
No no no no no no no no nooo
Am D
I'll just strut in my birthday suit
G D
And let everything hang loose
C Bm G Em
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahhh
CHORUS
Here's the original with the super-awesome music video
(NOT THE MONKEYS ONE... geez, what was he thinking?!)
Any songs you would re-write? Maybe requests? Let me know!
For those who have little to no interest in Doctor Who, read this anyway. I'll mostly using it as a means to talk about romantic relationships and will give you all the details you need to follow. If you ARE into Doctor Who and have not yet watched all the seasons with the Eleventh Doctor, well... SPOILERS!
Spoilers!
I'm a huge fan of the new Doctor Who. Nothing wrong with the old, I just haven't gone back yet to watch, what? 30 years worth of catching up? Anyway, for those who don't know what Doctor Who is all about, here's a brief summary (feel free to skip, I think you'll be fine with or without it):
Beginning in 2005, the Doctor has returned to earth after committing genocide twice over: once to kill his mortal enemy the Daleks (Nazi-like squidy aliens who live in tin cans) and twice by killing his own race, the Time Lords. Time Lords, as their name implies, travel through time and space in their TARDISes (Time and Relative Dimension in Space). Being the last of his kind, he's kind of a big deal. When watching the show, you may notice they have different actors playing him: this is because the Doctor regenerates, meaning when he dies, he gets a brand spanking new body, making the show, along with him, immortal, as we can rotate through actors to play the lead role (nifty, huh?). This is also true for his companions: when they either get sucked into a parallel universe, get really bad space amnesia, or just get tired of him not smooching them, he gets a new smexy girl to follow him around.
We good? Everyone caught up? Cool, let's talk about Pond.
Starting in 2010, Doctor Who got a whole new makeover: we got a new Doctor, new companion, new writer, even a new TARDIS interior. Amy's plot is (in my opinion) the most interesting of all the companions. She's certainly not the first to fancy the Doctor, but she is the first to have a husband along for the ride.
So in a lot of ways, it's been a love triangle. Amy loves both the Doctor and Rory (her boyfriend and later husband), but the two are very different. It's a classic tale: the Doctor is a smart, sexy, mad man who whisks her away on grand adventures. Rory is down to earth, sweet, loyal, and while he's not the best lookin' guy, he has his charms. Rory often has insecurities because he almost needs to compete with the Doctor for his woman.
But if you ask me, it's no contest. Why?... well, this is why: Amy and the Doctor travel back to ancient Rome where the Doctor is put on trial and sentenced to forever imprisonment in a box called the Pandorica. There they meet Rory who is now a plastic Roman robot (don't ask questions, either watch the show for the explanation or just go with it). Rory's Roman robot self takes over as he unwillingly shoots the love of his life. But wait! The Doctor tells him: put her in the Pandorica instead and she'll be safe for 2,000 years. Guard it with your life, he tells Rory, until we meet again in the 21st Century. Then I can save her.
And that's exactly what he does.
Oh. My. God. Can we say "loyal"?
Girls often find themselves in this verses: do I go with the sexy mad man with uber-baggage who will make my life exciting, or do I go with the average Joe who will love me more than life itself and will give me the every day? Personally I tried the mad man. It's not what it's cracked up to be, because it's not about you; it's about him. He just needs someone to admire him, that's all the mad man needs. He doesn't care who, just someone.
Me? I'll take a Rory any day. To quote Amy:
"You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful and then you actually talk to them and five minutes later they're as dull as a brick? Then there's other people, when you meet them you think, "Not bad. They're okay." And then you get to know them and... and their face just sort of becomes them. Like their personality's written all over it. And they just turn into something so beautiful.
Rory's the most beautiful man I've ever met."
Girls, tell me about guys you've dated. Have you ever had to choose between the Doctor and Rory? And who did you choose, if any?
PS: since this is a music blog, I wanted to include this song (this is actually what triggered my writing this one). This song, "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri apparently was written for the Twilight series (stupid Twilight is stupid). Me, like many other Whovians, thought of Amy and Rory instead. This song with these visuals... they make me cry every time.
