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.
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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.