James Blunt

I have loved James Blunt's music for a while ever since I heard the song, "You're Beatiful." It is such a good song. I guess I just like that the singer thinks the girl is beautiful in this song. It's just kind of lovey dovey which of course I love. It's also sad because it says, "And I don't know what to do 'cause I'll never be with you." I love the video, too. It's so weird because it looks like it's snowing and then he takes his clothes off. I like the fact that he has a guitar pick in his back pocket. I sometimes keep a guitar pick in my wallet. You can watch the video here.

Another song that I like of his is "Same Mistake." I feel like it has some relateable lyrics because it's talking about not learning from your mistakes. I feel like a lot of people can probably relate to maybe going back to the same harmful relationship or repeating that same bad habit. It happens to the best of us. "Give me reason, but don't give me choice 'cause I'll just make the same mistake again." It makes sense. Good song. Watch the video here. 

"Goodbye My Lover" is another sad song by him. It's about a relationship that's over but the singer is still in love with the person. "Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend. You have been the one, you have been the one for me." It's really sad, but it's really pretty. "I'd be the father of your child. I'd spend a lifetime with you...and I love you. I swear that's true." It's just about someone who doesn't have to let their lover go. It'd be really hard, I'm sure. I really like the piano part in this song, also. Most of the time he plays the guitar in his songs, but it really went with the song.

Folk and Country

So  I wanted to let you in on the fact that I love folk music. Good folk music that is. One of my favorite bands from back in the sixtie's, when they were popular, is Peter, Paul and Mary. They have so many songs that I love, but I'll just post a few of them.


This is a beautiful song. I know that it actually is a Bob Dylan song that they are covering, but I really like this version of the song. Mary has a really pretty voice and the harmonies sound really good, too. The lyrics are deep. They evoke deep thoughts about things that people really don't want to talk about.




Another good song that they did is "Leaving on a Jet Plane." This is a John Denver song, but they made it beautiful. I love their three-part harmony. It sounds soo good. It's a sad song about leaving someone. It's still nice in some parts though. "Kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you'll wait for me. Hold me like you'll never let me go." It's so romantic.



I like some country music. I'm really picky about the kind of country music that I listen to, though. Usually, I only like female country artists. One of the artists I like is Patsy Cline. She had a lot of hits back in the day. I like the song "Just a Closer Walk with Me" that she sang. It's very beautiful. I like the lyrics a lot, too. "I am weak, but thou art strong. Jesus, keep me from all wrong." This song just bring me so much joy. I'm pretty sure this song is a cover, also.



A country band that I like is the Dixie Chicks. They have made a lot of good music over the years. One song that I like of theirs is "Not Ready to Make Nice." It's a very strong message. The narrator in the song isn't going to just lie down and take what's given to her. I feel like it's another one of my go-to feminist songs. It also has a good melody. The violin sounds really good in this song, too.

Review of Brandon Flowers Concert

If you know me at all, you understand how much I love the Killers and Brandon Flowers' music. Both the band and Flowers' music are very good. I was able to see Brandon Flowers in concert at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on my birthday on Wednesday.

It was amazing to say the least. He sang pretty much all the songs on his album and the last song he sang was an acoustic version of "When You Were Young" which is a song by the Killers that I really like. All the songs he performed were really good. I enjoyed the entire concert. The lighting and the fact that I was about fifteen feet away from the performers was amazing.

After the concert, my brother, me and a couple other people went out to a bar. They had this ska band there who played. I love ska bands because they have horns which reminds me of the days back in high school when I was in band.

I was in band from the fourth grade until 12th grade. I don't regret one second of it even if that meant marching during half time on really cold nights and having to watch the football team lose yet another game. Not that winning a game would make it more interesting. I made friends through band and I went to band camp during the summer time for a week of marching and playing my instrument non-stop.

I feel like I would be a different person if I weren't a musician. My mother just asked, "Have you played your flute lately?" which is a good question. The answer is "No," sadly. I don't play it as much as I used to. It's just not something that I think about as much. I should, though. Playing the flute has always given me such joy. I have loved playing the flute and the bass flute and even the piccollo with its very out-of-tune high pitchiness.

Without music, I would be a different person. That's why it is really important that we have music in schools. If kids don't have arts programs, then what are they going to take, math and science classes? Neither of those are interesting to someone like me. I'm a language person and I have never had to take a math class during my entire college career.

I would encourage you to help save the music. All you have to do is go to the website and donate. It's the season for giving. If you're leary about donating, ask yourself this question: what would you do without music? If there are no musicians, then there is no one to make the music.

"Making It"

What does it mean to make it in the music world? Does it have to do with money, fame or getting all the hookers and drugs that you want whenever you want? I wanted to explore this topic since I went to a concert on Friday of a band who I have been a fan of for quite some time.

I am talking about the band, "Lifted." They are a band who come from Owosso and they are a trio. The band's members include Dan (vocals/ guitar), Brenda (bass/ backup vocals) and Dustin (drums). The band plays rock music that is heavy but not too heavy for my delicate eardrums.

I bought their new album, Red Raven, and I must say that I like it a lot. They did a really good job on it and it's really nice to hear songs of theirs that I've heard a lot, but the new songs are really good, too.

So what do they have to do with making it? Well, I feel like they are a good example of the gray areas that come up when talking about what it means to make it in the music world. They are a local band that doesn't exactly play to sold out shows at Madison Square Garden, but they do play at the Machine Shop in Flint. This is a venue that hosts many bands that have made it including Uncle Kracker and Gavin Rossdale from Bush (both of whom I wanted to see).

I guess that's another qualification to test if they have made it: if a band's song/s are on the radio. I haven't heard Lifted on the radio, but it's possible they were on the radio according to their myspace. They do have a music video which I really enjoyed seeing on Friday. It's a really good song and the video really goes along with the song which is always good. If you want to watch the video, you can go here.

So, to answer my own question, I would say that Lifted has made it in terms of underground music, but they haven't in terms of pop music that you hear everyday. It's okay, though, because that's way cooler. My previous band mate said that he would much rather be the former instead of the latter which you would understand if you had ever met him.

If you're curious about learning more about Lifted and their music, you should check them out on Facebook and Myspace.

Music is a Universal Language

For my Spanish class we are having to lip synch to songs that are in Spanish so I thought I'd talk about Latin American music for this post.

I have always loved Enrique Iglesias. He is an amazing artist. I don't really like "I like it" (ironically) that much. I don't think the lyrics are that great. I just wanted to interject that before talking about this next song. My favorite song of his is "Heroe" ( note the 'e'). This is the Spanish version of the song "Hero." It is a really good song. It's off the album Escape. It's a really good album. It has a lot of pop songs that I really like. There are a few songs that are done in Spanish but most of them are in English which works.





Another artist that I really like is of course, Selena. She was an amazing singer and she even broke into the American music market with her song, "Dreaming of You." I have always loved this song. I like some her songs in Spanish tonight, but those don't get played on the radio that I listen to, at least. I love the movie that was made about her. I thought that Jeniffer Lopez did a really good job of portraying her.



I have always enjoyed Shakira's music. She's been around for a while now and she has had a lot of good hits.The song that we're doing for my class is "La Tortura." It's a good song. In the song, it's talking about the guy who messes up. The girl in the song hurts a lot from what did. She also cries a lot. He basically says that he's not a saint and that he makes mistakes. He also talks about how it hurts him a lot which doesn't really make a lot of sense. Anyways.

Party Shuffle

That's what it's called on my droid. It's pretty fun. Anyways, I wanted to try shuffling the songs on my phone and seeing what happened.

Here goes...



I don't think I've talked too much about Green Day. I really like this song, though. It's what I listen to when I feel like listening to rock which isn't as much these days, but I do actually listen to it on occasion.



This is yet another amazing song from James Blunt off of his album, "Back to Bedlam" which is a very good album. I am really excited because his new album comes out TODAY! You cannot know how excited I am about this occurrence. James Blunt is one of my favorite artists. He's an amazing singer and musician.



There's actually a few songs on my phone that I haven't really listened to. This is one of them. I actually really like this song, though, now that I've listened to it. It's not like a lot of her other songs. I like the slowness and the very thought-provoking lyrics are really good, too.



Have I told you that I am in love with Sara Bareilles? Well, I am. Her music, at least. Her album, Kaleidoscope Heart is the best thing that has ever happened to me. This song, "Breathe Again" is really good. I love it. It's slow and soft and it makes me swoon. I love it. I don't know when I'm going to hear another album as good as this one. 



I love every song on the album, "Hot Fuss" by The Killers. They are an amazing band and they always put out good music including this song. "If the answer is no, can I change your mind?" is such a good lyric. The band always impresses me with their word choice, though.

That was a sampling of some of the music on my phone currently. Hope you liked it. 

More old school

There may be some overlap here because I sometimes like songs so much that I write about them twice so I apologize if that happens.

The first artist needs no introduction. She's a nineties artist who had a lot of good songs off her album, Jagged Little Pill. The song, "Ironic" is really good. It has a lot of good lyrics in it. It really sounds very angst-ridden which I really feel was a theme for the women of the nineties.

Watch the video here.

Another good song of Allanis Morissette's is her song, "Head Over Feet." I feel like if I went through a bad breakup, then I would write a song like this. It's so nineties, I love it. I wish I could transport myself back to this time period where we actually got to hear good music on the radio.




I love Gwen Stefani from back in the day when she was so much less "poppy." She had some good hits that she just doesn't seem to be able to replicate. Her few songs that were hits in the last few years were good, but they don't compare to her older stuff. Awesome song: "Hollaback Girl."



The band Smashmouth hasn't had too many hits recently. I do recall memorizing practically all the lyrics to the song, "All Star" back when they were more popular. I must say though, that I am really glad that I didn't watch music videos until I was older. Most of this stuff is way sexually explicit.



Another good song of theirs (cover technically) that they did was "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees. I really like their version of this song. It's really well done. I guess I like anything that's associated with the Shrek movies. I must admit, I think I've seen all those movies in theaters. They're really good movies.




One of the bands that I remember from my middle school dance days is Linkin Park. I remember loving the song, "In the End." I still love that song which is why I'm going to share it with you. If you want to reminisce about the good old days, click here.

I hope you enjoyed time traveling with me. Until next time.

Soundtracks

After putting in my Tarzan CD into my stereo today, I was reminded of how much I love soundtacks of movies, musicals and even television shows. TV show soundtracks are definitely at the bottom of the list, but they can sometimes have some good songs on the albums that they put out.

I'm not exactly sure what it is that I love about soundtracks to movies. It has something to do with the fact that I love associating a certain scene or part of a movie with a song. To this day, whenever I hear "Take my Breath Away," I always think of the sex scene in Top Gun. I can't help it. It's an association that will stick with me until the day I die.  Some of the movie soundtracks that I really like include, "Bruce Almighty," "You've Got Mail," and "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton." There are many more, but I'm not going to list all of them.

A lot of the soundtracks that I listen to even now have been Disney movie soundtracks. Some of the Disney movies that have really good soundtracks include "Pocahontas," "Mulan," "Tarzan," "The Little Mermaid," "The Lion King" and "Alladin." All of those movies had music in them that has remained timeless to those who were around during that time. These kinds of movies are the movies that we want to save and give to our children and to our children's children. The music in the movies always gets stuck in my head even if I hear the song only once. I'll leave you with some of my favorite Disney songs.




Hope you enjoyed looking back at some classic kid's movies with some awesome music!