Tag: music

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Water Cooler Musings: On Music

business group standing around water cooler.Haven’t you ever wondered where some people get their musical tastes from? I mean, every song, every artist someone likes probably has a story behind why they like the song or artist. I know for me I found some of my favorite singers/bands by some incredibly interesting ways, and their music spoke to me for a number of reasons.

I remember when I was 16 and I heard U2 for the first time (well, the first time when I realized it was them) on the radio on the way back from camp meeting that summer. The song was “Lemon,” and it was playing on an alternative music station, back when alt stations actually played music that wouldn’t have classified as mainstream. But I heard the song, and I was hooked. Now they’re my favorite band.

But you wouldn’t think I was a U2 fan if you just looked at me, because music is something that is personal, something internal that can’t be seen on the outside. That’s one of the things about music, that it can bring people together who wouldn’t otherwise have anything in common. It’s like magic, but you don’t know what music someone else likes unless you ask them or they tell you. Today, around the water cooler, we talked about what our music says about us.

Me: I bet I can tell what kind of music you listen to?

Teddy: Try me.

Me: I’m thinking you have a sensitive spirit, so maybe… 1970s groove, like Marvin Gaye.

Teddy: Guess again. I like that sensitive spirit stuff though.

Me: Marilyn Manson?

Teddy: Not quite.

LeRoy: I liked me some Marilyn Manson back in the day.

Me: Why doesn’t that surprise me?

LeRoy: So what else do I like?

Me: I’m thinking… Coldplay.

LeRoy: Keep thinking. Although I am a child of the 90s.

Me: Snoop Dogg? Continue reading “Water Cooler Musings: On Music”

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Jimmy Swaggart & Wintley Phipps

mzi.oumnppwt.600x600-75My dad had Jimmy Swaggart on his stereo. I remember the tape case with the man himself on the cover — smiling. And every time I would visit my dad’s apartment the great speaker would be on in the background, pleading for me to take Jesus into my heart. I didn’t know how I felt about it back then, but I knew he was sincere, and that changed the way I heard his music.

Then I would go back home and my mother would be listening to Wintley Phipps, the great gospel singer with the baritone voice. When I thought of him I recalled the mini-fro he wore on the cover of a few of his records. My mother owned them all, and at times it seemed like he was all she listened to.

Wintley Phipps came to my church one time when I was young, and I recognized his voice although he looked different from those record covers. It was my first brush with the faraway coming close enough to see in person, and I was struck by the fact that he honestly looked like any other man I had met in my life. Even though he was larger than life before that, when I only knew him through his voice and through his album covers.

And about the same time I met Wintley Phipps at my church the scandal regarding Jimmy Swaggart was just taking wing. It was vague enough to me, though I did realize he wasn’t played nearly as much at my dad’s apartment after that. I think I asked what was up, and my dad gave me the tape. I guess that was my answer. Continue reading “Jimmy Swaggart & Wintley Phipps”

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Idolatry

american-idolIt is early morning, and there are 3,500 people packed into a giant room, all waiting to be called so they can show their stuff. Every single one of the other 3,499 people who sit there are poseurs though, because you — you are the next American Idol, and you almost feel sorry for those whose dreams will be crushed on this day. Then your number is called. You are supremely confident as you strut — yes, strut — into the room where the judges currently sit, waiting to tell you what you’ve known since you were young. They listen attentively — for 30 seconds before a hand is raised into the air. Your verdict comes.

Damn them, you think as you leave the room with their “No”s still ringing in your ears. It is late afternoon and your entire life has been invalidated. By that one simple word, multiplied by the power of three. That one word made you doubt every single loved one who told you how amazing your voice sounded in the shower every morning, every friend who went with you to karaoke and exclaimed how good you were, and every stranger who heard you singing at work and said, “Right on.” All of your faith in yourself, gone in the blink of an eye.

That’s because you tied all of your belief system up to one pie-in-the-sky idea, to an occupation that is hit-or-miss at best, one that spits out even some of the best voices and makes gruel of them. And honestly, you’re no Adam Lambert. So, why did all those people say you were the best they’d ever heard? BECAUSE IT COST THEM ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO SAY IT. See, they would have done you a better service had they been like my mother and told the truth. At least then you wouldn’t be sitting there on the curb outside of the American Airlines Arena looking like your dog just died, and questioning everything you ever thought you knew. Continue reading “Idolatry”

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Sunday Shuffle

videos-musicales-de-los-90-nirvana-smells-like-teen-spiritMusic has always been my first love, so it’s always almost therapeutic for me to listen to songs that resonate, or that bring me back to an early time in my life, when I first discovered music. During my series of “Shuffles” I’ve been getting back to listening to songs in a random order on my iPod, and it’s been an interesting journey to say the least. So, here is the latest, my Sunday Shuffle…

1. Lucky Town – Darren Hayes

Darren Hayes was the voice of Savage Garden, that 90s group that gave us such anthems as “I Want You,” “I Knew I Loved You,” and “Truly Madly Deeply.” I miss that group, actually, but Hayes’ voice holds up very well in his solo career as well. This song is one of the special ones.

2. Get Down Like That – Ne-Yo
3. B*%ch Please – Snoop Dogg (feat. Xzibit)

I always love it when Snoop Dogg shows up on a shuffle because I know I’m always guaranteed some good  beats when it comes to the big Dogg.

4. On the Coast of Somewhere Beautiful (Live) – Kenny Chesney

This one was the first time Kenny Chesney ever played this song live, so it’s an amazing performance, a once-in-a-lifetime deal. I’ve always liked this song from the album, too, so I was glad it came on. It was good to groove to while I was writing my previous blog entry.

5. Stand Up Comedy – U2

Listening to this song, from the most recent U2 album, just makes me hungry for the new album, which I think will be coming sometime in the summer, hopefully. Getting to hear the new songs “Ordinary Love” and “Invisible” just make me excited as well. Continue reading “Sunday Shuffle”

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Sunday Shuffle

He really did love that trash.

Music has been such a huge part of my life since as far back as I can remember, from eight track tapes, to 45s, to audio cassettes, to CDs, and now to the digital files on my iPod. My first record was “I Love Trash,” the ubiquitous single by Oscar the Grouch, a floppy record that I kept worrying would tear so I handled it carefully while placing it on the phonograph machine. Eventually I wore it out playing it so much, but I really did love that song.

“And this is my mixed tape for her. It’s like I wrote every note with my own fingers.” -Jack’s Mannequin

The first mixed tape I ever got from a girl had “Here’s Where the Story Ends” on it, and I just knew that I would have never heard that song if it weren’t for that mixed tape. Even now I think back to it, and I think that the song meant so much to that girl (whose name I since forget) that she had to put it on a tape for me. And I think about what the songs I love say about me. Which ones I would put on a mixed tape for someone else now. Music is the soundtrack of our lives. Choose your soundtrack well. With that in mind, I’m firing up the ol’ iPod again. Listen with me, why don’t you? Shuffling…

1. Anything Goes – Melanie C

“In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking. But now, God knows, anything goes.”

2. Uncle Jonny – The Killers

“When everybody else refrained, my Uncle Jonny did cocaine. He’s convinced himself right in his brain that it helps to take away the pain.”

3. You So Fire – Usher

“Girl you’re so hot you burn everything in sight. You’re so fire.”

4. Lemon [Perfecto Mix] – U2

“She wore lemon to color in the cold, grey night. She had heaven, and she held on so tight.”

5. Going Back – Phil Collins

“Let everyone debate the true reality. I’d rather see my world the way it used to be. A little bit of courage is all we lack, so catch me if you can ’cause I’m going back.” Continue reading “Sunday Shuffle”

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Melodic

The song has no words It’s fragile like ice Melting in the sun Lyrically bereft Haunting in its melody Rife with contradiction Tangled up in blue All jazz riffs and vibe Tickling the ivories Intensely personal While the people move Caught up in its bliss Heavy with desire Drunk on emotion Cool in the evening … Continue reading Melodic