post thirty-four. lyrics.

I overheard a conversation the other day about how people have stopped bothering to give their lyrics meaning, and how they wish that all lyrics were deep and philisophical like the ones from the seventies. If there's one thing I hate, it's generalisations.
Legendary bands had some beautiful lyrics, that's no lie. Some that stand out are:

• and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.
• try to realise it's all within yourself, no one else can make you change.
• but my dreams, they aren't as empty as my conscience seems to be.

And when you think about those, you say "yeah, wow, those lyrics are great compared to current bad lyrics". The lyrics people are thinking of when they say this are lyrics like:

• and i was like "baby baby baby oh".
• hey, i just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe.
• starships were meant to fly, hands up and touch the sky, can't stop cause we're so high, let's do this one more time.

But, there are some lyrics from earlier bands that aren't exactly philisophical.

• Love love me do, you know i love you, i'll always be true, so please love me do.
• babe x 32
• i've got a brand new pair of rollerskates, you've got a brand new key. i think that we should get together and try them out to see.
• the whole of rolling stones' "brown sugar".

And there are some lyrics from today FROM POPULAR that are more impressive than you think. A lot of them.

• you desired my attention, but denied my affections, so tell me now, where was my fault in loving you with my whole heart?
• you'll never love yourself half as much as i love you, you'll never treat yourself right, darling, but i want you to, if i let you know i'm here for you, maybe you'll love yourself like i love you.
• tell me with your mind, body, and spirit, i can make your tears fall down like the showers that are british, whether we're together or apart, we can both remove the masks, and admit we regret it from the start.
• a pebble in the water makes a ripple effect, every action in this world will bear a consequence, if you wade around forever you will surely drown.
• we are the everliving ghosts of what once was.
• you can be addicted to a certain kind of sadness.
• it's empty in the valley of your heart, the sun it rises slowly as you walk, away from all the fears and all the faults you left behind.
• white lips, pale face, breathe in snowflakes.
• don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire. the war outside your door keeps raging on. hold on to this lullabye, even when the music's gone.
• what am i supposed to say when i'm all choked up and you're okay, i'm falling to pieces.
• i never knew that everything was falling through, that everyone i knew was waiting on a queue to turn and run when all i needed was the truth.
• so here's to another banner year, we've crossed that thin line, don't try and hold us here, if for just this once you'd think of us, i hope you're happy with yourself.
• said i'd never leave her, cause her hands fit like my t-shirt, tongue tied over three words, cursed, running over thoughts that make my feet hurt, bodies intertwined with her lips.

That's a lot more than you thought, wasn't it? And guess what, that's just a small percentage.
So open your eyes, stop being so judgmental, and THINK, because  not everything current is bad, and you're not superior to anyone for criticising it because it's "mainstream". Wanna know something? Some of those songs were by One Direction. One was Taylor Swift. Not all bands only have one song. They can have good lyrics too. You just have to stop being so ignorant and LISTEN instead of generalising everything just because it's current.

post thirty-three: led zeppelin.

I'm going to start out by just coming out and saying that Led Zeppelin is the bomb. They're a legendary band with a well-deserved unforgettable reputation, and they had four of the greatest musicians of all time, notably Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.
I do have a few criticisms of Led Zeppelin and the album we listened to last week.
Led Zep is one of those artists that you need to have playing in the background sometimes on their more heavy songs. I can take twenty seconds of "babe" being sung over and over, but I can't take four minutes of just devoting all of my attention to "babe" being sung over and over.
People always say that Stairway to Heaven is an overrated and cliche song, which it might be, but it's personally one of my favourites. Just a thought.
While I admire Led Zeppelin for their musical talent, I do not admire them for some of their behaviours that they exhibited. It's well-known that not all rock bands were exactly clean when it came to alcohol, drug use, and general behaviour off stage, which is to be expected. But this group participated in some sexually explicit activities, and I'm not talking about intercourse, I'm talking about several incidents involving subjecting a female to extreme pain, and others than involve a red snapper and an octopus. Hearing about those incidents made me cringe, and lose a little bit more respect for the band.
All in all, they're one of my favourite bands, but sometimes their music is ruined for me when I think of the red-snapper incident. I'm not a prude by any means, and while I think it gave the band character and made them unique, I still don't think it was a very classy thing to do.

post thirty-two: this week's favourites.

Every week, I have some new favourite songs. Sometimes they're old songs that I'm just discovering, sometimes they're new. So every week, as one of my blog entries, I'm going to share some songs that have caught my attention lately and that I feel need to be shared.

This first song, I think I already shared. It's Mumford and Sons' new song, called I Will Wait. It displays the perfect amount of contrast and juxtaposition, as their other songs do, contrasting between soft verses and powerful choruses. It isn't as good as some of their others (my personal favourites being Little Lion Man, White Blank Page, The Cave, and Awake My Soul), but the constantly changing pace and volume keep you on your toes while giving you goosebumps at the same time. Marcus Mumford's voice is raw and worn, but it only adds positive aspects to the already deep, thought-provoking music with lyrics to die for. Give it a listen and observe the unbelievable dynamic.

The next song is old, but definitely one of my favourites. It's not exactly a new favourite, but I've forgotten about it until I recently listened to it again. George Harrison's cover of Bob Dylan's If Not For You is fantastic. You hear the Bob Dylan quality laced throughout the music, and that's a given, but George adds his own twist to it. He has an unmistakable voice, one that sends chills up my spine every time, with few exceptions. (Those being Got My Mind Set On You and Piggies.) This love song is full of emotion, and while he didn't write it, I personally think George's cover is better than Dylan's. He has a better voice, and it sounds like he means it more than Dylan does. So here it is, take a listen, and hopefully it will make a grin spread across your face like it does mine.

Another oldie but goodie that comes off of one of my favourite all-time albums (Rumours by Fleetwood Mac) is Songbird. The simple tune is catchy enough to get stuck in your head, and the accompanying lyrics make it a song that you WANT to get stuck in your head. Rumours is probably one of the most emotional albums in rock history, when you think about the conditions under which it was made. The band wasn't talking to each other. At all. They were on the verge of a breakup; the only time they ever spoke to one another was in the studio. So to be in such a dysfunctional place and still be able to write a love song like this is beyond me, which makes the song that much more emotional.





post thirty-one.

Mumford and Sons has a great new song called I Will Wait. It's gotten very popular lately and I think everyone should give it a listen. It's one of those songs where you have to close your eyes and listen and not focus on anything else. I really like those songs. They're so deep that you can't really focus on anything else. Maybe I'm the only one that understands that but it's true. There are several songs like that that are too important to be distracted while you listen to them.

This is just one example, emotional songs are very important to me.

post thirty.

Woodstock was the biggest music festival of all time. I thought it would be a lot of fun to attend, because everyone just seemed so chill and calm. They were all there for one reason, and that reason was to make music. (And do drugs). People came together to share one passion and it turned out to be one of the biggest events ever, and I think that's really moving and powerful at the same time.
Some people just see it as a bunch of hippies doing drugs but I think it was more than that, and I wish I could have attended Woodstock so I could be a part of the biggest music experience of all time.

Post twenty-eight.

The Beatles are kind of an ongoing theme in this class. They are consistently brought up and relate to several topics we cover. Which brings me to think: the Beatles were clearly a part of several types of rock if they come up in conversation. They have a bit of metal tones in songs like Helter Skelter, and they have some folk sound in songs like Blackbird, there is some jazz sounds in songs like You Like Me Too Much, and even some country sound in songs like iIve Just Seen A Far and Act Naturally.
They belong to nearly every group of music which is something very admirable about them, they can write and play nearly anything and it will sound good. That's the sign of a perfect band.

post twenty-nine: modern day talent.

When people say that artists aren't as talented these days, I definitely disagree. There are artists out there that are extremely talented, they sing with passion and their voices are beautiful and they're current. When someone uses Ke$ha or Justin Bieber to summarise talent for today, it bothers me, because they're only a small percentage, they're TWO ARTISTS. Look at the artists that actually do have talent, in my opinion, One Direction, they're famous and definitely talented. (Again, watch Little Things. Great video, great song, all acoustic, great voices, meaningful.) Ed Sheeran, Mumford and Sons, etc. Those are just three examples of really famous bands/artists that are fantastic, but no one notices them, they prefer to capitalise on what's bad and not notice what's good.

post twenty-seven: more current music.

I'M SO EXCITED BECAUSE I'M MEETING ED SHEERAN IN JANUARY.
Moving on from that, I'm going to talk about other bands that I'm into like I did in recent posts.
I know not a lot of people in this class like them, but One Direction just came out with their new album called Take Me Home, which is currently the fastest selling record ever. It's a fantastic album, they've really grown as a group. You can hear the maturity in their voices and through their lyrics because they're actually starting to write and not let producers do it for them.
Another thing I can't stop listening to is Keegan's "Change In My Condition". It's pretty pop-y, but again it's a guilty pleasure. Here it is below, take a listen.

Here's another band, they're not current but I love them so much, they're simple and sweet and they're called Herman's Hermits. A song I recommend is Can't You Hear My Heartbeat:

have fun listening, i hope you like them!

post twenty-six:music meaning.

I may have posted about this earlier, but I think musicians need to write with feeling instead of trying to one-up each other, like they did in the late sixties. The Doors tried to one-up Pink Floyd, who tried to beat Hendrix, who tried to beat The Beatles, who tried to one-up The Beach Boys, who also tried to one up The Beatles.
Music seems like it was more of a competition than anything, and while the business is very competitive, I don't think that you can have music without putting some kind of feeling into it. Because when you try to be better than someone else and lose the true meaning of song lyrics, it ends up being less music and more noise.

post twenty-five: across the universe.

Mr. A and I had a debate in class today about the musical Across The Universe, starring Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood. It's about a boy named Jude who moves to America in search of his father, meets his best friend (Max) and a girl (Lucy, who would later be his girlfriend), and the rest of the movie shows their struggles as the Vietnam War escalates. Max is drafted and comes back a completely different person, changed by war. Beatles songs are incorporated into the movie, helping to move the story along, and I think this is a good move. The Beatles were, after all, a band in the sixties, writing music when the Vietnam War took place. Applying their music to a movie not only adds to the plot, but also compares their music and parallels it to the cultural impact of the war.
If you don't think this musical has a plot, it does, and MOST of the covers are pretty good and placed well. It's a trippy movie, but it incorporates sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll into the plot, as well as the war, and that's what we've been learning about the whole time in this class. The sixties were sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, and later on, war. If all of that can be interwoven into the plot of a musical, it's gotta be pretty great.

post twenty-four.

Sometimes the less known songs by well known bands are the best ones. But since the popular ones are busy being hyped up, the other songs that could be just as good aren't given a chance. When someone hears Help!, they think of the song Help!, (obviously) or Ticket to Ride or Yesterday. But my favourite songs from that album aren't given enough credit. I'll post them below, they are gorgeous.

Tell Me What You See, You Like Me Too Much, and I Need you, respectively.
Another example is from the album Beatles for Sale. People will think Eight Days A Week, because that's the song everyone knows, but my favourites, again, aren't too well-known. I like Every Little Thing, I Don't Want To Spoil The Party, and Words of Love (made popular by Buddy Holly but The Beatles version isn't as popular.)

In my opinion, those songs are better than Eight Days A Week. They might be considered "throwaway" songs but I think they're better than that.
Last example is from With The Beatles; while everyone thinks of It Won't Be Long or All My Loving, my favourite songs, if I had to pick three, would be All I've Got To Do, Not A Second Time, and You Really Got A Hold On Me.

People should give every song a listen, in my opinion, and not just focus on the big ones.

post twenty-three; pink floyd, and early rock 'n roll deaths.

We listened to Pink Floyd in class today, and the response was apathetic. Lots of kids didn't like them, and I think I can see why. Syd Barrett's lyrics are ridiculous nonsense, the sound is trippy, and overall the music just doesn't make sense. I could make the argument and say "maybe his lyrics DID mean something deeper" but honestly I just believe he was really messed up. Misunderstood, maybe, but also insane and schizophrenic. Which isn't something that can be helped, but it showed in his songwriting. But, to be honest, I like Pink Floyd a lot. The Dark Side of the Moon is a fantastic album, most of the songs were written by Roger Waters and you could tell they had some sort of meaning, whereas Syd Barrett's lyrics were hopeless when it came to finding meaning. There was even a song on that album that was ABOUT Syd Barrett's mental struggles, along with the pressures from the rising elevation of fame. (Brain Damage) Don't fall asleep listening to that song, by the way. Listening to a song with lyrics like "the lunatic is on the grass, the lunatic is in the hall" at night isn't exactly the best way to sleep well. In fact, the album was mostly about Syd's leaving the band because he was so insane.
Syd Barrett is a prime example of someone who cracked under pressure, and eventually drove himself crazy, his schizophrenia being a contributing factor. Brian Wilson is also another example, but at least he pulled himself together. Syd Barrett was tragically institutionalized for the rest of his life.
----
As rock 'n roll progressed, so did drug use. As artists got more into the pressures of fame, some found themselves needing an escape from it all. And they found that in drugs; artists like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, and Jim Morrison are known for their drug use because they're part of what is known as the "27 Club". All of these artists died at age 27 with deaths that had something to do with drugs. Janis overdosed on heroin, Jimi choked on his own vomit as a result of being overly intoxicated, Jim Morrison's death was ruled as heart failure but drugs were a contributing factor, and Brian Jones' death was RULED "death by misadventure" but drugs had to have been a contributing factor as well.
As fame grows, so does the pressure.

post twenty-two; current favourites BESIDES the beatles and one direction.

I'm thinking that I complain too much about what kind of music I don't like, so in this post, I'm going to write down songs and artists that I DO like, and I think should be checked out.

Kate Nash is fairly popular, but I'm not sure how many people actually listen to her. Her music puts a smile on my face, and while the lyrics aren't too great, it's nice to listen to. One song in particular is Merry Happy; her accent is very distinct and there's a lot of repetition, but it's a nice, simple song that happens to last five or so minutes, but it's worth it.

Ed Sheeran is also FANTASTIC. I really recommend you check him out; lots of people say that he's too "mainstream" or he's overrated, but he's really not. He is literally the epitome of perfect lyricist, and he sings like an angel. I didn't think I would like his music at first, but when I actually took a listen to it, I really liked it. Here's one of his best songs, you may have heard it before, check it out! I chose a video with lyrics across the screen because I want to emphasize how great of a writer he is.



There's a song by the Script that EVERYONE knows, well, a lot of people do anyway. It's called Breakeven, and it's fairly popular, but I figured I'd put it up anyway. The vocal performance is outstanding and the lyrics, again, are amazing. Maybe I'm just especially drawn to songs with better lyrics, but here's Breakeven, take a listen if you haven't before.

The last song I'm going to put up that I feel needs to be mentioned is another Ed Sheeran song called "Drunk", and the lyrics are, once again, fantastic. It's very meaningful, and I can't believe it's not more popular than it is. I sound really redundant in this blog, but I'll be writing more about different things after this one. Anyway, here's Drunk.

I hope you enjoy these, comment and let me know what you think.

post twenty-one.

I just really don't like Taylor Swift.

She writes about the same thing over and over. It's always all about breakups or relationships. They even all sound the same, and she's been writing songs like that since I was in sixth grade, so... five years ago? Six years ago? All I hear from her is her whining about how a boy broke her heart, if she's gone through THAT MANY GUYS to put out multiple albums about breakups, it's gotta be her fault. No guy can break her heart that many times, it's gotta be her fault at some point.

I guess I'm just sick of artists that write the same stuff all the time and don't come out with any variety. The Beatles wrote about everything; girls, sex, drugs, family, even submarines; they had a ton of different things to write about and they milked that for all it was worth.

Like, you're a famous celebrity, Taylor. You have more things to write about than just boys. Because at this point in your life, you're out of your teens, you should have more important things to worry about.

post twenty.

I think lyrics are the most important thing in a song to me. I've mentioned it before in old posts, but lyrics really do make or break a song for me. The lyrics are like an ice cream sundae while the melody is just the sprinkles on top. If a song is "catchy", it's because people are hearing the melody. One of the catchiest songs out there is Call Me Maybe, in my opinion, because the melody is bouncy. But the lyrics are this: "Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe." Those aren't very deep lyrics, so while this is called a good song by people, it really isn't. Just because a song is catchy doesn't mean it's good, in my opinion. The plague was catchy, but that didn't exactly make it a good thing.
Songs are written, most of the time, from the heart of the author, they want you to feel what they're feeling, they want their songs to connect to you emotionally. (Usually). I mean, I'd rather listen to Within You Without You by the Beatles than listen to Love Me Do, purely because Love Me Do literally has 17 different words, while Within You Without You probably has some of the most meaningful lyrics I've ever heard.
I think that's why Little Things by One Direction, a song that I mentioned in an earlier post, spoke to me so much. It's like the writer (Ed Sheeran) looked into my brain and picked out what I was thinking and made it into a song, and that's why it connected to me so much. Songs are about relatability and content, and I think a good melody is only an extra added bonus.

post nineteen.

In class, we listened to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band all the way through. Fantastic album in my opinion, but also saddening. You can hear how Paul is starting to take over the group, because he has many songs on the album. Ringo has one song that he didn't even fully write, and George has one that is pushed aside because it's different. Personally, I love that song, because the lyrics are so deep, something I'll write about in the next post. "We were talking about the space between us all and the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion." Probably one of the best lyrics I've ever heard.
Also, you can hear John's decline slowly happening through the album. He has four songs on the entire thing, while two of them are absolutely GENIUS (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and A Day in the Life), it seems like he just didn't really have time for the album, like other things were more important, and they were. Heroin was more important to him, other drugs too, at this point.
But, Sgt Pepper's is a great album, and I applaud the Beatles on that for making yet another album that will go down in history.

post eighteen.

There are certain songs that you can tap into that just hit home. People don't understand why sometimes, but they do. There are few songs that make me cry, but some, when I hear them, just get under my skin and I feel it. That's what you're supposed to do with music, right? Feel what the artist is feeling? Well, I do.
This is going to sound stupid, but One Direction's new single came out today, and it's called Little Things. I thought it was going to be pop-sounding and catchy, like most of their other songs, but it wasn't. It was a ballad, a beautiful ballad, with no autotune, no editing, just the raw sound of the guitar playing and their voices. It was perfect. It addresses someone who's insecure about who they are, and they're singing to them. The song basically says "don't worry about your weight, don't worry about the things you don't like about yourself, because you're perfect to me." An example of a lyric is this: "I know you've never loved the crinkles by your eyes when you smile, you've never loved your stomach or your thighs, the dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine, but I'll love them endlessly."
It honestly hit home so hard, it felt like Ed Sheeran (who wrote the song, also a very good artist, go check him out) wrote the song straight to me, addressing my insecurities. And people write One Direction off as a stupid, untalented band, but if everyone could please take a listen to this song, you'll realize how it could easily hit home. Don't laugh and turn your head because it's One Direction. Give it a chance. The lyrics are perfect, I'll type them below.
"Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me, but bear this in mind, it was meant to be. And I'm joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheeks, and it all makes sense to me.
I know you've never loved the crinkles by your eyes when you smile, you've never loved your stomach or your thighs, the dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine, but I'll love them endlessly.
I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth, but if I do, it's you, oh it's you they add up to. I'm in love with you, and all these little things.
You can't go to bed without a cup of tea, and maybe that's the reason that you talk in your sleep, and all those conversations are the secrets that I keep, though it makes no sense to me.
I know you've never loved the sound of your voice on tape, you never want to know how much you weigh, you still have to squeeze into your jeans, but you're perfect to me.
I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth, but if it's true, it's you, it's you they add up to. I'm in love with you and all these little things.
You'll never love yourself half as much as I love you, you'll never treat yourself right darlin', but I want you to. If I let you know I'm here for you, maybe you'll love yourself like I love you.
I'll just let these little things slip out of my mouth, because it's you, oh it's you, it's you they add up to, and I'm in love with you, and all these little things."
If that's not fantastic writing by Ed Sheeran, and the boys sing it so well, I don't know what is. Because it hit home really hard for me, and it made me cry. So please, look it up on Youtube and give it a chance. You never know.
Anyway, songs can hit close to home, I know my best friend cries every time she hears "Breakeven" by The Script. I won't understand it, it sounds like a fairly happy song to me, but for some reason she taps into it emotionally, and has a different emotional reaction to it than I do. It's different for everyone, and that's what I find so beautiful about music.

post seventeen.

In class, we talked about misogyny in music and culture. We listened to the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" and "Stupid Girl", which blatantly degraded females (and in the case of the former, African-American girls) and somehow received little to no censorship, while songs like Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles, not at all about drugs, were banned from the radio. Mr. A said it's because the Stones were "the bad boys" of rock 'n roll, so it was somehow acceptable for them to sing these degrading lyrics about women. Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with that, I think it's just the fact that women weren't respected in the sixties, so no one really cared about the subject matter.
Women are degraded in many ways even now, for example, I brought up the restaurant Hooters, where the uniform is a tanktop that is very tight and low cut, and shorts that go maybe a few inches down the wearer's thighs. People don't go there for the food, let's be honest, they go there to ogle the women that are there in desperate hopes of making money, selling their bodies out to be stared out by middle aged men. Personally, I think that's degrading towards women, but it doesn't really matter what I think, because it's still out there and people think that's acceptable.

post sixteen.

Here's my other late post.
One of the things I think are really amazing are a capella pieces, and the fact that people can make such great music with just their voices astounds me. Observe this college group (UCLA Scattertones) covering a song from Mulan.

Honestly that sounds just as good as the real one in my opinion. People can make things sound so great if you combine the voices together the right way. Here's an example of another good one, performed on Glee, and when you put it together in your head that these are just voices and not instruments, it blows you away. 

So, I think that acapella music is beautiful. It's kind of going away from rock 'n roll and the purpose of the class for a second, but that's just my opinion on a type of music that really astounds me and makes me love music that much more.

post fifteen.

This post is a little bit late. Oh well.
I'd like to talk about the difference between listening to an album all the way through and listening to just part of a song before changing it. When you're really in the mood for an artist, maybe listening to a full album is the way to go. If you're feeling upbeat, and want to listen to The Beatles, maybe Please Please Me is the way to go. But if you're feeling distracted, and just want to listen to one part of a song, I understand wanting to change it in between. Sometimes sitting still and listening to a whole album can be frustrating, because there are songs coming up that you want to listen to, and you don't want to sit and wait for it to come on.
So there is obviously logic behind both, listening to the full album helps you get more into the music, get a better feel for it, while listening to one song can just satisfy the fact that maybe you're in the mood for more than one artist and not just one.

post fourteen.

There's a lot of mixed emotions flying around my head.
I mean, I'm a teenager, of course it's going to happen.
But I feel like I can feel truly happy when I'm playing my guitar, or my piano, or singing, or any of the other instruments I have. Music is the only true thing I have a connection with. Maybe this is too personal to be sharing on a blog for a high school music class.
But, as short as this blog entry is, it's just for me to get this one thing out:
I don't see how some people don't have a strong connection with music. It's the only thing that makes sense anymore, in my opinion. A lot of people say "eh, music's cool, but it's not really too interesting to me", and I really don't understand how the one thing that keeps me, and I'm sure a lot of other people, sane, is written off as unimportant to others.

post thirteen.

Some songs/artists just need to be left alone.
For example, we listened to Piece of My Heart in class today. We listened to the Janis version, which was so full of raw emotion and feelings. She meant what she was singing, she was ANGRY.
Then we listened to the Faith Hill version. Just alone, it's hard to imitate Janis's emotions and it's hard to put the same feeling into the song, but when you add a cheesy 90s music video and a soft, country voice, it's almost laughable. The song should be left alone, because no one can sing it like Janis.

Another example is Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I've never been a big fan of Nirvana, but I think that song should go untouched. It's too good to try to be imitated. Observe the version above by Miley Cyrus.
Covers are great in some cases, for example, The Byrds did a fantastic cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man". The Beatles did plenty of covers, and they were all good. Some songs, however, should remain untouched in my opinion, because they just have too much emotion that can't be imitated.

post twelve.

I honestly think it's kind of hard to listen to another band and evaluate them on the same day once you've been listening to The Beatles.
When you think about the question that was posed in class about either finishing Help!, or listening to more Rolling Stones, the answer was a unanimous Beatles. The Beatles are very easy to listen to and they appeal to any kind of audience, as displayed by the millions of fans all over the world. For example, they are my favourite band, and I'm 16. They are Mr. A's favourite band, and he's not a day over 30. They're my mom's favourite band, and she's 55. They appeal to all ages, which is why I think they're so popular among the class.
I also admire the people who choose to share their opinion if they don't like The Beatles. I think that sometimes people feel overwhelmed by the positive reception, so they don't want to say "I don't think The Beatles are all that great." Points go to anyone who shares their opinion, for me. Good or bad, sharing your opinion is always good to do, especially when it comes to music because there's so many different forms of it.

post eleven.

I've seen a lot of people who are turned off to The Beatles after they hear their stuff from Revolver on. When their looks started changing, when they moved away from pop and started moving towards more complex things. I'm not trying to dictate what a "true fan" is, but it disappoints me when I see stuff like this. The Beatles are the most important band in the world to me, they have so much to offer, and their talent, musicianship, and chemistry (up until about 1968) are remarkable, to say the least.
In Help!, you start noticing their transformation more and more. Their hair is getting longer, the humour is different, their music is changing, even the nature of the film is different, to say the least. The Beatles were introduced to marijuana, which played a big part in their music. In Girl, you can literally hear them inhaling marijuana smoke. Got To Get You Into My Life, one of their bigger hits on Revolver, is written about marijuana.
So, while drug use isn't something I condone, it really changed and affected The Beatles as a group, and altered their music as well, for the better in my opinion. (For the most part, I've got a few things to say about Revolution 9.)

post ten.

Personally, I think that people need to pay attention to all types of music. I might have talked about this before, but when they say "all mainstream music is terrible!" or "music nowadays is just disappointing."   No, you're talking about a select few songs/bands you don't like. Call Me Maybe, Justin Bieber, Somebody That I Used To Know, things like that. You CANNOT say that all music nowadays sucks. There are many bands that you've probably never even HEARD OF that are around today. Have you heard every single band that's around? Every single one? No, so you can't go around saying all mainstream music is bad. Or all current music for that matter.

post nine.

Listening to The Stones in class, compared to The Beatles, I didn't like them. Yeah, I'm a Stones fan, but you can't just listen to Beatles for Sale and then listen to 12x5 right after. It just doesn't compare at all. The Beatles take the lead for sure.
BUT. Once you get into the Stones later stuff, a favourite song of mine being Paint it Black, it's really great. But you have to listen to the music. I think people listen to the Rolling Stones because they feel like they SHOULD, because The Stones are so legendary. People just feel obligated to liking them. While I like the Stones, I think they're overrated and when they started, they were trying too hard to be like someone else, so they forgot what their real style was.

makeup blog (so... post six?)

This was my blog due last week that I didn't do because I forgot to. We were supposed to talk about our opinion on music, because I already wrote about the things we were doing in class.
I think that people are far too judgmental when it comes to music. I used to be like that, but then I turned thirteen. When some people hear stuff like One Direction, they automatically think "HAHA THEY'RE UNTALENTED THAT BAND IS FULL OF FAGS" and stuff like that. Being the biggest classic rock junkie there is, I like them. A lot. And people don't give them a chance, they just dismiss them because they're not old music, they're not classic rock.
What I can't stand is when people say "ew, mainstream music? Wow, that's so dumb and stupid." GIVE IT A CHANCE. They just sit there and dismiss everything about mainstream music which is completely idiotic and ignorant in my opinion. Chill out, calm down, and give it a chance.
Automatically, when someone hears the name Justin Bieber, they say HE'S GAY HE CAN'T SING HE'S DUMB. I don't like him at all, but I mean, he has to be doing something right if he's as famous as he is. To say he can't sing is false, if he couldn't sing, why did he get discovered on YouTube, with just bad quality videos of his voice, no autotune or anything? I'm not advocating for Justin Bieber, I personally can't stand him OR his music, but what I' m trying to get at is that people need to stop being so judgmental and be musically open minded.

post eight.

If you're looking for new music, Waterloo Records is definitely the place to go. I discovered a lot of the bands I listen to today just by going there and checking them all out, such as the Arctic Monkeys (people think they're lame, but I like them a lot), Del Amitri (Roll To Me is a FANTASTIC song), Halestorm, Kate Nash, and more. These are all fantastic people with phenomenal talent. Since I'm typing this at school, I can't really put YouTube links, so I'll just recommend some songs by these bands.
Arctic Monkeys, I recommend checking out Dangerous Animal, that's the song that got me hooked. A great song with excellent guitar and a rocking beat.
Del Amitri, definitely check out Roll To Me, you might have heard it before, and it's short but sweet.
Halestorm is a more explicit band, if you're more into hard rock/almost punk sound, this is good for you. I'd try Here's To Us, Innocence, and Dirty Work.
Kate Nash is GORGEOUS, and you can hear her thick British accent when she sings, which is very unique. I'd recommend Merry Happy, it's upbeat, but very repetitive, be warned.

post seven (which was supposed to be six but i forgot to do is so this is post seven.)

When we listened to Bob Dylan in class the other day, I wasn't surprised to hear Mr. A say that a lot of people didn't like him. Some people, like my mom, believe that his voice is awful. But I think a lot of people can agree that he's one hell of a songwriter. With works of lyrical genius like Blowin' In The Wind, Dylan is arguably one of the best lyricists in the music business. I would argue that he's one of the best MUSICIANS in the music business. His lyrics fit with his voice, he influenced many music artists (such as John Lennon, the song You've Got To Hide Your Love Away was literally Lennon TRYING to be like Dylan), and all in all, when it comes down to it at the end of the day, most households will know Dylan's name. He's made a big impact on the music business.
However, I think that some musicians, including Dylan need to know when to quit while they're ahead. The Beatles are a good example. They were fighting, not getting along, and needing to go their separate ways, and that's exactly what they did. They quit with Abbey Road, their last recorded album, while they were ahead. Artists like Aerosmith, The Stones, and The Who continue to play and record, which is great and everything, but they're trying to preserve their fame. They're going to be famous no matter what, and in my opinion, they should just quit while they're ahead. Personally, I thought The Who was going to go downhill when Keith Moon died. He was the best drummer they had, for sure, and no one could match up to him. Same with John Entwistle, who was arguably one of the best bassists in the music business. When a legend from the band died, there's really no point in trying to rekindle the fame.

post five.

In class, we're listening to The Beatles at the moment. The Beatles are my absolute favourite band. I have so many of their DVDs, movies, I have pretty much every song of theirs, their music has basically inspired me to play the five instruments I do today. They are above and beyond ANY band, in my opinion. Some people may not like them, and that's okay, but just every little thing they do can make me smile or make me feel happy. There are many reasons each Beatle was important to me, and the band as a whole.
Paul McCartney is the most talented bassist in the world, in my opinion. (A close tie with John Entwistle, actually.) He used to play guitar, he wasn't even supposed to play the bass. But he played it in an emergency situation (when Stu died) and continued to play it. The leftie was "the cute one" of the group, but along with his babyface, he also brought many other things to the band. Without Paul, there'd be no Blackbird, there'd be no Hey Jude or Let It Be, he wrote some of the greatest songs that The Beatles ever performed.
John Lennon is just as important. He was the other leading man of the group, playing rhythm guitar. His dark sense of humour also brought that sense of "scandal", almost, to the group. Lennon grew up with a terrible past, losing his mother and his best friend, and having to choose between his mother and father, AND eventually forced to live with his aunt. But he took the emotions from that terrible past and put it into song, most of which are on his solo career ("Mother", "My Mummy's Dead", etc.) Without him, we'd have no Help!, no Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, everything he did was very significant to the group.
George Harrison wasn't as noticed in the group, but he was just as important. Observe the solo in Till There Was You, or Can't Buy Me Love, or observe his ability to play the sitar, which he introduced to the group, and used on more than half of the songs in The Beatles' later years. Coming out with hits like Something, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and Think For Yourself, his contributions to the group were legendary and definitely life-changing.
Ringo Starr. The drummer. He wasn't the best drummer in the world, in my opinion, and didn't write many songs. But hey, no Ringo, no Beatles. He came up with the song title A Hard Days Night unknowingly, and he sang some songs as well, even if they weren't written by him. One of the best known Beatles songs (which happens to be one of the few songs I can't stand) was sung by him, Yellow Submarine. He brought just as much to the group as the other three, and I don't think he's given enough credit like Harrison, who are overshadowed by Lennon and McCartney.
The Beatles mean so much to me, and they each individually had an impact on me, and hopefully this will help people understand why.

post four.

Another artist I've been listening to a lot is a little less known. They're called The Steps, and they've broken up now, but they were a local Austin band. My brother's best friend was the bassist, and they can REALLY rock. Made up of four boys, they played at ACL and SXSW several times. When I hear one of their songs, I'm always tapping to the beat. The drums are great, the guitar riffs are gnarly, and the basslines are definitely rocking. They were HEAVILY influenced by The Beatles, if you take a look at their drum logo in the following video, you can see that.

The lyrics are VERY different, but interesting. They're definitely something I've never heard before, and I think everyone should at least try them out.

post three.

Today, in class, we listened to Buddy Holly. I agree with what the person said about not listening to Buddy Holly enough, so I'm going to talk about him a little more here. He's really a great musician and people don't give him enough credit for it, I think.
One of my favourite songs is "Everyday". I first heard it before I got into classic rock as much as I did, when watching the movie Stand By Me. No matter what mood I'm in, it puts a smile on my face.

The beat is so catchy and calming, honestly, it's a song I could probably fall asleep to, or a song I could listen to after something upsetting that has happened. And that's kind of what defines Buddy Holly's music for me in general. Most of it is calm and soothing to me. Just like this song, Words Of Love, which The Beatles also covered.

It's calming, mellow, and chill, in my opinion. Buddy Holly is a freaking genius and I don't think he's given enough credit for the great artist that he is. Gone too soon, yes, but he'll always be remembered.

post 2.

Regarding what we listened to in class: (Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis)
Chuck Berry is a genius, disregarding the fact that all of his intros sound the same. Even though some people say that his music is repetitive or boring, he must be doing something right if we're still listening to him today.
Little Richard has got to be another genius, the same thing applies to him. If people don't like him, it doesn't mean he's not a genius. He influenced The Beatles, if they felt influenced by him he must have been a musical genius or at least appealing.
Jerry Lee Lewis may have been a psycho, but he was a badass psycho. I've never seen anyone play music the way he did. And the delivery, the showmanship, that was all part of his music and his act, which made him 3 times better than he already was.
Personally, I like all of the music we listened to in class. I had already listened to it before, come on, gotta have my Jerry Lee Lewis on my iPod. I know there's more good music to come, and I've been thinking that rock 'n roll is more than just music, it's like Mr. A said: sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. I think it's more of a lifestyle that accompanies the music. Before rock and roll, of course people still had sex and did drugs. But it was the music that brought some sort of awareness to it, and that almost influenced people to be more open about it, to rebel, if you will. That's why rock 'n roll is so special and unique, I think.

post 1.

To be honest, I've been getting into a lot of new music lately. It's nothing compared to my favourite band, The Beatles. One of the bands I've started to like is One Direction. It sounds super lame, a super poppy boy band with dumb songs and stuff like that. But in my opinion what defines a good band to me is how they make ME feel. Not someone else's opinion on them or how popular they are.
If listening to One Direction makes me smile then whatever, if it makes me feel good and if I can listen to them on a bad day and have them cheer me up, then yeah, sure I like them. They actually do mean a lot to me, because even though their music doesn't have nearly as much emotional depth as The Beatles does, their music in all honesty makes me smile. A lot of people say, "what a bunch of fags, they can't sing, they're gay," etc. That's their opinion, but it won't affect mine.
When I was younger I didn't really pay attention to modern music. I was always like "Wow The Beatles exists nothing is good." But I'm actually liking more modern music now. Not SUPER modern. Mumford and Sons is one of my favourites, I really like A Day To Remember as well. My music taste is super broad, which I'm kind of thankful for. I'm no longer basing myself around just one band. Even though that band still remains to be my favourite after 6 years. (The Beatles.)