I'm a bit of a lyric junkie...not that I can always sing along to every song, but I love to figure out the lyrics of songs...think about them...wonder what the writer was thinking about when they wrote it...assuming many times that it was something deeply profound only to find out later it was written about a crazy cat around the corner from their cousin's house...but whatever...it's still fun!
I'm always amazed at people who love a song but really have no clue what the lyrics are or what the song's about. I get liking a song for the music...there are certainly some that fall into that category for me...but sometimes, once I know the lyrics, I can't listen anymore...sometimes the lyrics ruin a song.
Anyway, just for fun...let's play a game...can you guess the song these lyrics are from? What about the artist? Have fun!
Song #1: His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
Song #2: Did I waste it? Not so much I couldn't taste it Life should be fragrant Rooftop to the basement
Song #3: Waitin', watchin' the clock, it's four o'clock, it's got to stop Tell him, take no more, she practices her speech As he opens the door, she rolls over... Pretends to sleep as he looks her over
Song #4: Well, I put so much thought into getting ready Now I know that was the best part It's so easy to get caught up in what I'm regretting Forget what I got from a wounded heart
Song #5: Give me a revelation Show me what to do 'Cause I've been trying to find my way I haven't got a clue
Okay. No need to answer that. I just love that there's a song on the radio called "My Life Would Suck Without You". I mean, how great is that? It's what we want to say, and not some flowery romanticized sentiment. It's real life. Real.
I've always loved Kelly Clarkson because she's so real. As the first American Idol, she has obviously had more time than anyone else to become a star, and she's done it...without going crazy and going down the road of Britney or other silly pop stars. She's pop - pure and simple. She's what AI was always intended to be. Many will argue that Carrie Underwood is the most successful Idol, but I disagree. She is COUNTRY. American Idol was supposed to be a pop show. She should NOT have won. But I'm not bitter...
So Kelly's latest album dropped this week...yes, I said album and I said dropped. That's how I roll. The first single (referenced above) is pure, unadulterated pop, and I LOVE IT!!! The album is great, and I highly recommend it. Her last album was, well, an "experiment". I just recently downloaded it, and it's certainly not awful, but it is fairly useless compared to the new one and the one prior to it.
I've read a couple of semi-snotty reviews of her new album...commercialized, remake of her last popular album...blah-blah-blah. And? So? Why is it bad to be commercialized and revisit the formulas that work for you? Obviously there are people who like it, so what's the big deal? I've never understood this. Why must everything be new and on the edge and whatever? Her experiment clearly didn't work well, so she stepped back and said, okay, I'm going back to my bread and butter of pop. Good for her I say! I know I've been listening to the album pretty much non-stop since I downloaded it Tuesday night...and there are not many artists I do that with.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure my life would suck without you...so thanks for taking some time to read this silly little anti-blog. Hope you enjoyed!
I'm in LA...at the Hilton. I've stayed here before, and it's an older Hilton, but it's been remodeled, so it's nice...but the rooms are, well, they're all a little bit off. The last time I stayed here, the only room they had for me was an accessible one. No big deal, right? I'd stayed in them before at other hotels. But this room was weird...almost too small. I really wondered if a person really needing the accessible features would be able to use this room. That was a couple of years ago.
Today, I checked in, and paid $5 extra to be upgraded to a junior suite. Sweet deal, right? This room is crazy big and bizarrely laid out. I can't really describe it, so take a look at the crazy pictures below...and hey, if you know what the crazy little corner area is, let me know!
That's my friend Amy posing for the photos...one too many mimosas at her birthday brunch. ;-)
In case you missed it, the new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon, came out this week. IT IS YAY!!! It only took 2 or 3 years...I've lost track. But, it was worth the wait. While I'm not sure it's quite as good as the prior album (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), I really like it's theme and the sound is vintage U2. I can't wait for the tour!
Buying this album got me thinking about the whole art of buying cds vs. downloading music. When it's U2, there's no question I'll buy the cd. I have every other album on actual cd (some on vinyl!)...I can't break the chain now, and I love to have the liner notes/booklet thing. When a friend asked if I was going to download it or buy a hard copy, it really wasn't a question for me.
There are a few other artists I feel this way about (Third Day, Switchfoot, Coldplay...I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I am thinking of right now...). However, there are many others I have no problem downloading...not because I think any less of the album, but because I started collecting their music via iTunes, and now, it just seems like the right thing to do.
What about you? Are there some artists whose album you actually need to touch, to hold, to feel?
One great thing about the real cd is that when you play it, it plays in order...in the order the artist wished for it to be played in. In this day of digital music, we really lose that concept and many times we lose the theme an artist was going for with their whole album...not just a particular song.
The shuffle in iTunes and on iPods is great...I absolutely LOVE it! But whenever I download/load a new album, I have to turn it off and listen to the album in its delivered order. To me, it really makes a difference in what the songs say and how I feel about them. Once I've listened to the album in this way a number of times, I go back to the shuffle and let the songs show up however the Pod thinks they should. I usually don't think about it again...except this week, after I loaded the new U2 album, I actually listened to the last album in its delivered order too, and it was more awesome than I remembered. I may have to be unshuffled for a while and go old school with my music listening. Am I alone in this? Does anyone else out there feel the same way I do?
One more thing before I go...thinking about the possibility of U2 coming in concert got me thinking about concerts in general and how far I'd travel to see someone...since no one ever comes to play in San Jose - ANNOYING!!! What's the limit on how far you'd travel to see your favorite band? Are some bands worth a longer distance than others?
For me, the list is U2, Third Day and Matt Nathanson - I would drive multiple hours for all of them. I'd go see them on any night, no matter what was happening the next day. Some close seconds would be Switchfoot and Bon Jovi. As luck would have it, those of us in San Jose get to make these kinds of decsions on a regular basis since so few bands come to our land. If i haven't mentioned it before, I'll mention it now...ANNOYING!!!
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