I mostly just want to make this blog post to share a great song/band. There are few bands that I don't ever get sick of, and the smashing pumpkins are one of those. Their poetic lyrics, versatile sound, and unique vocals (ie Billy Corgan) make for an unforgettable sound that I always come back to. Billy Corgan's lyrics although may seem dark dreary always seem to connect with me. Its almost like he is stripping himself naked emotionally every song. He isn't out to make a buck, but it always seems to be about the music and the emotion involved. 

Artist:Smashing Pumpkins
Song:Set the Ray to Jerry
Album: Rotten Apples

Whose Gonna Love You When Your Looks Are Gone

  Over the weekend I have some experiences that have brought some things into perspective. I find it so easy to lose focus on what really is important to me personally. In other words, the things to me that mean the most that bring purpose and substance in life. The things that give me motivation to go to work and school and such. We are inundated with so much materialism and worrying. People can worry so much about appearance and reputation. Not to say that they don't hold any value, but that it is too much of a priority. Regardless of what someone may believe or what they choose to do in life,  a constant need for all humankind is the need to relationships. We seem to whither if we do not have healthy relationships. Its a must. But, we can lose focus of this when certain things, such as materialism, power, wealth, work, whatever shape or form it may be (which is different for everyone) comes between what we need and what we want. When short term things get in the way of our potentially lasting relationships we have a problem. So I have this great song that helps me to remember that I need to give most of my attention to those who are dear to me and not the "whatever" that has potential to pull me away from those I don't want to lose. My song selection comes from a classic musician Paul Simon. The song is called outrageous. 

Artist: Paul Simon
Song:Outrageous

  So when you are old and everything from your life that has transpired moves like a motion picture in your head, hopefully you will be able remember all the good people in your life. I would hope that we can learn to place more value in the way that we treat the ones that we love, than the money in our pocket or even seemingly great accomplishments. Its our relationships that bring us the most happiness at least that's what I have found in my life. Knowledge and actual things don't bring the same feeling of being connected and close to those we love. Besides, "whose gonna love you when you're looks are gone."

Keepin Up and Saving Face

  It may be strange to some why a Mormon kid like me would post this next song, but it happens to be one that I just love to listen to. I consider myself to be pretty tolerant and open-minded no matter who they may be or what they believe. Given my background and upbringing I have seen things in people that I admire and look to as a prototype of what to become or incorporate in my life. I guess that's what we all do to an extent, we pull different qualities from what we see and adopt them. Either that or we make a mental note to self to never become like that son of B*%$#, ha. I find it wise to be somewhat of an observer of those around me and try not to be biased or prejudice or anything in those categories. Isn't that hard for people to do? Lets face it, we are a people of judgment. With most it seems to be some of the first thoughts that just come second nature. First impressions are powerful. Which, if you ask me is not only inaccurate, but unrealistic. First few seconds of meeting someone and just like that we write people off as weird, a creep, and all the other messed up things we can fill the blanks in that we think of one another. 

  I like to be liked and such, but then some of us go to great lengths to save face and make sure we are "lookin good" even if means we are faking it. Are we so ridiculous that we can't see past all this... how do you say it? Bullshit. In my upbringing I have seen my share of fakeness and it seems to be an epidemic that spreads like a silent killer. I know that for the sake of being polite we aren't always going to be 100% honest, all I am saying is that you have those who you can tell are judging you based on small first impressions. In this society keeping up appearances seems to be pulling ahead of being sincere and being ourselves. 

  My main point is that we can be more tolerant, a little more understanding and not be so haughty about what "we" are. We should be thinking and focusing on figuring out "who" people are and understanding them. Arrogance, self-righteousness and saving face needs to take the back seat. There are great lessons and great people we can get to know by being more open-minded. Anyhow, this song help put into perspective what the effects are sometimes when we care too much about how we are looking rather than a human being in front of us that we can learn something from. 

Artist: A Perfect Circle
Song: The Noose
Album: Thirteenth Step

Never Enuff

  There's that saying that you are your worst critic. Not sure if that universally applies to everyone, let's say the egoists and such, nonetheless I'm sure it applies to a good sum of many. Its interesting how much music is apart of peoples lives these days, including my own. I've said it before and I feel it's true to an extent, and that is that music helps define us and describe us. So much that people do crazy and even stupid things just to get close to a sweaty stranger on a stage whom they know little or nothing about. Naive girls will go insane for a new boy band that doesn't sound too much different than the last one. Gullable? Maybe. It's all about the music though. 
  The song on this post is a great find. By the group Mansions, their lyrics hit the nerves and make you feel like they are singing in the same room in some songs.  I have to admit I am not so much impressed with a lot of main stream pop where "lookin good" is the aim. Raw opinion without a care for what the listeners might think is what I love. Not concerned with saving face. Mansions really capture those realities of life that come our way. Life ain't all peaches ya know, so it's refreshing hearing some real thoughts being played. A lot of times we can't and don't tell people what we are really thinking about. This group really has a talent for singing about things we are thinking about but don't say. When looking good is more important than showing who we are, I think we have a problem. Music tells the truth in perspective of the musician and in tells truth to the listener. That's the beauty of it all. It's a way to vent or talk without rebuttle, without being stopped, without a critical voice. It's one best forms of free speech in our day. 

Artist:Mansions
Song:Never Enuff
Album:Best of the Bees

You stopped believe in God
So he stopped believing in you
Told you to get a real job
Those days in the sand are through
And he swears that he isn’t mad
As he quietly let him down
It’s just that he tried to believe that?
But all that you say now is
“I don’t love you like I used to 
When people talk I don’t defend you
I tried so hard 
I paid my dues
But it was never enough
I was never enough for you”
Well you made a new friend
And it tears him apart
No, you just cant pretend
That youre not breaking his heart
When he sees you out at night
He tried his best to pick a fight 
But you’ll never be his and it’s time he realized
That nothing is alright
You say
“I don’t love you like I used to 
When people talk I don’t defend you
I tried so hard 
I paid my dues
But it was never enough
I was never enough for you”
And now
“I don’t love you like I used to 
When people talk I don’t defend you
Yeah all that shit you put me through
It was never enough
I was never enough for you”
Read more at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858747622/#Z58F6B8sLghcfsKW.99 

  It's a good thing we are all different and that we have a diversity of music to listen to. We are all so different yet we can be connected with music, the universal language. No matter who you are or where you are music makes sense, music lives on as we breathe. 




  

Connected

  So I was a little curious about the history of music and did a bit of research. I am sure there are more concrete answers that I have since I pulled some facts from Wikipedia, but its the idea that I am after more than the exact facts. Apparently there seems to be NO culture that we know of that doesn't have music. Pretty interesting, but not surprising. Looking at a few different sources, prehistoric music seems to have been around since 4,000 (first known song). In any case this proves a fact that music is much more than entertainment, it is a necessity to us as humans and evidently has been for centuries. Music can differ a great deal from culture to culture etc. but its everywhere. 
  One of the greatest things that we have in life is to be able to be understood and express ourselves. Music has evolved to provide us with this expression of emotion that cannot be replaced by anything else. In a way its something that I have always been able to count on. Relationships sometimes end but music has always been there. So here's and ode to music so to speak. 

Artist: I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business
Song: Connected 
Album: Gold Rush 

  In so many ways our lives are connected with music. Music affects us and can define us. It can describe us and explain us. Like a language unto itself it cannot be replaced nor can it stop. If music were to stop, I feel like a part of us as humans would die with it. Music is my best addiction. Its a necessity and it one of the most crucial forms of communication. 

Darkness Between the Fireflies

  About two years ago I went to Washington DC where for the first time in my life I saw fireflies. It was a pretty freakin cool and exciting thing to me since I can be juvenile in a lot of ways. The kid in me tends to come out sometimes, anyhow it was getting dark the forest where we were at the time and the darker it got the more fireflies you could see. It seemed pretty simple at the time, but later I heard this song by Mason Jennings titled, Darkness Between the Fireflies that my good friend shared with me. So it really got me thinking about it especially since the just recently I had a pretty bad experience with some friends that practically ended our relationship. Its easy to focus on the bad and negative things in life, since lets face it a lot crappy things happen. But there is a lesson that I learned from this song, take it as you will. Through the darkness and bad things we can find and appreciate the good things in life and our circumstances. Some bad things turn out to really be good things. 
  We have to be able to let go darkness in other peoples lives, particularly the ones close to us. It shows character if we can look past bad things that someone may have done and see them for who they really are and the potential they have to become. We need tolerance and understanding and then a lot of the times we see the fireflies in between the darkness. 

 Artist: Mason Jennings
Song: Darkness Between the Fireflies 

Lyrics:

I woke up before you in the total darkness
Early morning
I could hear the wind in the trees
I was looking for the light to bring you out
From the shadows
Redefine you now for only me
And honey i'm sure
That you've been in love before
Plenty of men have held high places in your eyes
And jealousy has got no use for me
The past is beautiful
Like the darkness between the fireflies
I was driving faster through the appalachians
I could see the world go out below me in the sun
You should know by now
That someone's always been there
Long before you
You're never going to be the only one
And honey i'm sure
That you've been in love before
Plenty of men have held high places in your eyes
But jealousy has got no use for me
The past is beautiful
Like the darkness between the fireflies
Beautiful like the darkness between the fireflies

  I wanted to post the lyrics on this one. Mason is one of my favorite artists. Our each individual past truly is beautiful. We can learn from and shouldn't be ashamed of it no matter what we have been through. 

Show Me How to Live

  In our jobs and school etc. we have instructions, an organized way of doing something. We are always striving for the more efficient way, the best way. But living and life itself is so much more complicated. It's different for everyone, since no one person is the same. Every one has his/her unique circumstances. We are all trying to figure things out as we go. Its a game of learning, trial and error, joy, and let-down. There is no guide book for life and so it makes it so abstract and hard to understand. But hey guess what? We have music which is a great way of attempting to make sense of this world that is nonsense. 

  I feel that I do pretty well with change. After all the the only thing that is truly constant is change. But every once in a while I feel so frustrated at things that are out of my control that makes my life harder. That's why I chose this song for my post. At times it feels like we are just along for the ride in our life. The good thing is we can make our own choices to a degree. 

Artist: Placebo

Song: The Extra

  There is a lot of voices and opinions that are available to us today with all this technology so easily available to us. One of the greatest things to me is how music is a very subtle way of expressing thoughts and opinions without it becoming so controversial. Not to say that people aren't offended by certain kinds of music, but its seems to be more of a free flow of expression that I think we take for granted. Music is a powerful medium of communication and has some messages that can affect us in good and bad ways. Life without music for me seems colorless and so bland. Let's not take it for granted. 

Tell My Why...

  Its interesting to me that as long as music has been around there is one main theme that is always repeating. Not hard to guess... love/relationships. Will we never get tired of the same daggum material? We won't, it will always be so, and it should be. 

  I'm not just talking about the love between girlfriend/boyfriend or marriages, its friends and family. We battle to not be alone and for our relationships to thrive. We are not made  to be alone. We have to have relationships bottom line. Sometimes we even get obsessed with other peoples lives and relationships. 

  So again it comes back to music and it's impact on us. We feel connected when we hear songs that we can relate to. It soothes our hurt, or loneliness or makes us excited. So when you break up listen to a good song to get over it. There is a certain amount of therapy for us the music provides. It's not just entertainment, it gives us support to reality. 

  So with that being said, how is it that when we have family and friends or a relationship, we can feel so lonely sometimes. What the freak? It's a paradox to me. The way we communicate with each other means a lot. Real lasting relationships take lots of effort work. We have these idealistic views of what we want and wish in a relationship, and yet reality has a way of coming along and tearing those into pieces. But even so I have found that reality shows us what we needed can find us and shows us that our wants can change. 

  So the song I want to share in this post has meaning to me since I have lived it. 

Artist:The Early November

Song:Tell Me Why

Album:In Currents

If You Ain't Got Love?

  Sickness has its way of putting things into perspective. Just a week ago I was able to run my normal routine of getting up at 5 am for work and then classes later in the day. I could go to the gym and feel pretty strong. Then without much notice my throat hurts, I can't hold down much food and before I know it I am as useful as small child, so to speak. It just strikes me how simple things can change so much. Needless to say I am more grateful for being well now and don't take for granted some of the great things in life like my food tasting good again or my throat not hurting constantly. Although responsibility doesn't get sick or take a break unfortunately so I have found myself getting somewhat stressed on top of being sick and not recovering near as fast as I want or need. So, in the midst of this I decided that sometimes we focus too much on the things that aren't as important. I mean, yeah I have to make sure that I am responsible so that I can succeed. That is obvious, but at least my state of mind can be better. 
  So this morning when I woke up (and am still sick) I decided to just appreciate the moment with my new wife before she left for work. And it made everything feel better. I still have just as much to do, but the load seemed lighter. So I was reminded of a great song by one of the greatest song writers I know of, Mason Jennings, who has a song called "If You Ain't Got Love?" 

Artist: Mason Jennings
Song: If You Ain't Got Love
Album: Boneclouds

  Best video I found to upload. Hopefully you get the gist. Mason Jennings has such a talent for capturing the simple and most important things in life. One of favorite touches to this song is how he ends it with
   Someday, someday soon
    You and I both be gone
     But lately, I can't help but think
    That the love we feel will live on

What do you got if you ain't got love?

 

Figure Out What You're Doing Here

  I want to just start my entry with just a few thoughts. First, we all have different things 

fighting for our attention daily. You know, we have to survive. In order to survive we have to work, earn some sort of income, go to school, just to name some of the biggies. What's your take on it all. Are they necessary evils? Maybe you love your job/career whatever it may be too much to the point of it being a detriment your other relationships with family or friends. Whatever it may be we also have this barrage of information and media coming our way. We have celebrities that we get attached to or musicians we idolize. Probably for good reason in our own minds. 

  Anyway, my point is that we have a lot to deal with and sometimes (meaning always) little time to get it done. My question is what are we doing here? I mean, what am I doing here? I found myself thinking that today. I wake up make decisions and it gets me places, sometimes places I want to be, and sometimes places I can't wait to leave. Most often the latter in my case. I seem to like the trial and error learning. When all is said and done what is our attitude with it all. I don't know about everyone else, but I get so tired of going through the motions without some sort of meaning behind it all. I have a song by Ace Enders who helps me to understand and feel what I am attempting to explain. This song is called emergency. Take time to really listen to the lyrics and get a feel for what the message is. I am sure it is different than mine in some way, but it is pretty clear I think. 

Artist: Ace Enders 

Album: When I hit the Ground

Song: Emergency

We need an emergency once in a while to figure out what we are doing here, and reflect on why we are the way we are and take time and think about why we do what we do. 

Why Music?

In our world of harsh reality and things to do sometimes life seems so bland and monotonous. Often I hear the saying, "life sucks and then you die." Personally I make a point not to say that even though we all know that it does sometimes. Case in point; Last week as I was getting pulled over by an animal control policeman, (yes, they can pull you over, lesson learned) I was thinking some pretty choice things about life and how it in fact does suck (not to mention I was literally one block from being home, so close). The reality and big picture, which I imagine to be the more positive outlook, is that life has it's suckiness and is filled with necessary evils, yet we can have fun in the journey and not take ourselves too seriously. The other great thing that we have is MUSIC. While we drive, while we walk, while we brush our teeth... maybe. I do, anyhow. So why and how does music make things so much better? Why do we listen to it all the time? Cause it sounds good and stuff? Yeah pretty much. But more than that music serves a very well-earned praise from us. It connects us. Is music a one way communication? I'm sure some would debate, but I say it's two way. We are emotional creatures who for some reason NEED and crave connectedness with one another. We are always trying to make sense of things, make sense of life and why we do what we do. I know I don't know why I do what I do sometimes. Not one of us is exactly alike in terms of being unique and individual, yet we are the same in terms of we need some sort of common ground and to be connected to one another. "Hey you like city and colour's music too? No freakin way, I do too?" 

  But that's why music is a necessity to us. It's a mass communication of connectedness (pretty sure that isn't a word, but it's my blog). We feel connected when we go see strangers at a concert. Why? they are strangers for cryin out loud, but we do. There is energy in having a same interest and we feel connected when we listen to a song that has lyrics do describe how we feel or how we have felt before. I changed the name of my blog cause I think it describes "us" as humans more accurately. We are emotional machines to some degree. 

  We have thoughts and feelings that are hard to describe sometimes. Music is a re-creation of those feelings or an interpretation of them. It's a different perspective that helps us to make sense of abstract emotions and thoughts that we go through and live each day. And of course it sounds cool and is entertaining. 

  So really, music is a communication that is so important. It helps us look at the big picture and bring life back into our daily lives. We all need to cope with stresses and demands life brings. So listen to some good tunes and relax, life isn't that bad. 

Artist: City and Colour (Dallas Green)

Song: ...Waiting

Album: Bring Me Your Love

This song pretty much speaks for itself. Its about not rushing into love and waiting even though its tough after a separation from someone. It's good to hold your head up high and not lose your head if something ends.

Intro

What kind of life would we have if we had no music? Music gives us so much to connect with and stimulates our imagination to cope with the daily routine of our lives. A coach might give his/her player the advice to "keep your head in the game." So I give the advice to keep your head in the music. Music helps me to cope with life and enjoy life to see the positive side of things. I will post a song weekly and give a brief description or insight to the artist or song. 

Artist-Thrice

Song- The Sky is Falling 

Album- Alchemy Index

  Thrice is one of my favorite artists. They grip some of the most poignant challenges of life. This song although may have different meanings, mainly focuses on our fear and how we have a choice not to fear, yet it's a struggle and a battle to not let fear overcome us. We can let the fear "fuel the hate machine," or decide to not let the fear "decide our fate."