Remember When We Broke Up...The First Time!

I am struggling with what song to write about this week. Every other week there has been one song that has been stuck in my head and I have been loving, but this week there is nothing. I haven’t really listened to a lot of music, and there hasn’t been a song that has inspired me to write about it at all. I guess that I should have known that this would happen at some point, but I hoped that with the amount of music that I have on iPod it wouldn’t have to happen at all!

At the moment, I am sitting at work, I know I shouldn’t be writing a blog at work but it’s slow and I am trying very hard to stay awake, and I am listening to CHUM FM. This really makes it difficult to pick a good song to write about because all I hear are the pop songs that I just don’t like. Most of the time I am able to allow the music fade into the background and ignore it, but there are times when it drives me crazy. One of the “this station is driving me crazy” moments happened frequently about a month ago. This was when CHUM would play Someone That I Use to Know, We Are Young, You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful, And I’m Glad You Came about three times each every day. Every time one of those songs came on the radio all I wanted to do was bang my head against the wall. It drives me crazy how often CHUM, and other stations I’m sure, play the same songs. I really would like some variation, especially since I listen to the station every day between 8-4.  

I will admit the music isn’t all bad all the time, sometimes they play an older song, like the Michael Jackson song that is playing right now, or a song that is a guilty pleasure. As strange as this might sound I really enjoy it when they play Taylor Swift on the radio. I have a sort of soft spot for Taylor’s music and have really been loving her new song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, which is just a lot of fun! Taylor Swift seems to have two types of songs one being sentimental songs that make you go “awww”, and two: something awesome and fun that makes you go “YHEA!” or maybe that is just me.

Anyway, I think that for this week I will leave you with Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. The video is actually pretty fun, it was shot in one take and Taylor changes outfit about 6 times which amazes me, and if costume changes aren’t your thing then the woodland animal band should amuse you.

 

The Symbol For And (&)

“And sometimes in the staff room I catch your eye with “why’d it have to end?” But I know from how you worry at your wedding band that I’m just your little “&.” At the last conjunction, after every other “and,” I was just your little “&.””

When it comes to lyricists John K. Samson is by far one of the best. There are times when I am listening to his songs and I start to think about the words that he is singing and am blow away. JKS, as my family like to refer to him as, writes about life. Now, I know what you are thinking, isn’t that what everyone writes about? Yes, but JKS can write about simple everyday things and make them sound heartbreaking, and he is able to write about more complex issues in such a way that make you understand. The words that he uses paint beautiful pictures about life that I’ve never heard from any other artist, he truly is unique.

In the end it is hard to explain how amazing a John K. Samson’s lyrics are without sitting everyone of down to listen to some of his songs, or to read is book titled Lyrics and Poems. Alright, this isn’t lyrics of the week so let’s talk about the music. In the song that I have chosen for this week’s offering, The Last And, JKS displays his ability to write beautiful music to display the words that he has penned.  The Last And projects the feeling of sadness that the lyrics are trying to convey. I love the way that JKS is able to weave the two elements in such a way that create a perfect harmonious story.

I think that The Last And is probably one of the best songs to demonstrate what I am trying to say about John K. Samson’s writing. It is one of my favourite songs off of his solo album and some of all-time favourite lyrics. If you haven’t even listened to JKS number one, you should, and number two, check out either his solo album, Provincial, or any of the albums that he has done with his band The Weakerthans.

 

P.S. I don't get the cups of coffee/tea in the video either it was just what I could find.

 

Good Morning Bird, Good Nightingale

On Sunday night I was on a bus driving back to the city from a weekend up in Parry Sound and as I was heading into the city, the lights beginning to surround me, Caught a Long Wind by Feist came on my iPod. It sort of caught me off guard just how good the sound of the song expressed how I always feel when I am on the bus late at night. It was such great moment; I love it when music surprises me.

Caught a Long Wind has a sort of ethereal quality to it; the way starts quietly with a little hum and acoustic guitar. The guitar plays really nicely with a piano, both moving forward with a steady pace. The instrumentation in this song it so great, there are very few instruments, used in a very specific way, that create such an interesting soundscape. I have always loved Feist’s voice, although I do wish that she would enunciate better, and this song really showcases what she can do vocally. The Lyrics are also pretty cool. The first thing that I ever really noticed about this song, lyrically, was when she sang “Little Chick-a-Dee”. It caught my attention, and then I noticed that she used more birds in the lyrics and I ended up loving it.

Metals is such a great album and I could have picked any number of songs to write about, and I probably will write about them in the future, but I really love Caught a Long Wind. I have been a kind of fan of Feist for a while now but Metals is the album that really solidified my love of her, if you haven’t heard it yet please buy it, you’ll love it!

Check out Caught a Long Wind by Feist of off Metals.

 

I've Been Meaning to Call You, Then I Do

“Phone rings once

Phone rings twice

Phone rings three times”

Once, years ago, I had a stroke of genius concerning the ringtone on my cell phone. I had just got a phone that came with a program that allowed me to edit a song so that I could have a certain part, instead of just the beginning, play whenever I received a phone call. My brilliant idea was to use the four lines that are written just above this paragraph, which are from the song In View by The Tragically Hip. Yesterday, I heard this song on the radio and immediately began to wonder if I would be able to put the ringtone from years ago on to my new Blackberry. The experiment was a success and I now get to hear Phone rings once…every time my phone rings.

When World Container came out back in 2006 I remember that everyone thought that it sounded so different from what The Tragically Hip usually offers, but mostly I remember loving In View most of all. The song starts out with something that sounds like a synthesizer or a strange setting on a keyboard, which sets the tone. The music is great, it makes me want to dance, and the melody gets stuck in my head very easily. The lyrics are probably my favourite part and at first you think that it is just about a guy who keeps forgetting to call a girl back, but after you listen to it a bit more you hear that it is not just about meaning to call someone but also about the relationship between the caller and the person being called.

The music video for In View is also pretty great. It was filmed in China and follows Gord Downie through the day. It gets really funny when Gord is having lunch and snatches a cell phone off the table next to him and then is chased through the street of Shanghai. I can’t help but smile every time I hear In View, it is such a happy, fun song, and if you want to get me out of a bad mood just turn it on and turn it up! I firmly believe that it is one of those songs that once you hear it you’ll love it, even if you not the biggest Hip fan!

Check out In View by The Tragically Hip off the album World Container.

 

I Left My Home and Started to Roam

“I’m getting use to being alone

I’m getting use to it out on my own

For a long while I thought I would break

But now I know that it just takes a while” 

There are times when the minimalistic approach is a really powerful tool for songwriting, and Heartless Bastards have perfected this in their song Low Low Low. In Low Low Low there are two acoustic guitars, minimal drumming, and vocals and yet this is one of the most emotionally driven songs I have ever heard. I love the simplicity of the music and how it showcases the vocals. It is the vocals that make this song special to me; I love the way the singer sings in a lower range and doesn’t need to embellish her notes to make the song sound emotional. I also love that the song begins quiet, sort of mellow, and then slowly grows louder and more expressive. It makes the song more realistic and as though someone is actually thinking or saying these words to someone.

I love the lyrics of Low Low Low the most. The lyrics really hit home for me, and sometimes I feel like this song was written about some of the experiences that I have had in my life. I think that is the way to tell that it is a really great song; you are able to relate to the song on a realistic level. I think that the word choices are well done; they are simple everyday language that makes sense. The problems and conclusions that are described in the song are done so in a way that make you feel optimistic at the end of the song. Things haven’t been the greatest, but things will get better.

Low Low Low is one of those songs that I could listen to over and over again and never get sick of, in fact I have just listened to it about ten times right now. I just love it when a songwriter is bang on with the subject that they are writing about. This song was somewhat of a surprise to me, after listening to it a few times it just hit me over the head one day and made me love it. I love it when a song does that; makes you realize how amazing it is and was all along.

Check out Low Low Low by Heartless Bastards from their album Arrow.

La La La

If you have ever watched the Gilmore Girls then you have heard some of Sam Phillips music. All of the cues between scenes were done by Sam Phillips and even some of her full length songs make appearances at times. Being a long time super fan of the Gilmore Girls I always loved the music that was used in the show; this is how I first discovered Sam Phillips, from the credits. It didn’t take long for me to look up Sam and her music; I loved it right away and downloaded everything that I could.

Recently I have been obsessed with Sam Phillips album The Indescribable Wow which I think is the most Gilmore Girl sound out of all her albums. The song that I haven’t been able to get out of my head this week is I don’t Want to Fall in Love. This song is so great; it is peppy and mellow at the same time with a different sort of instrumentation. I love Sam Phillips voice it is so unique, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone who sounds like her.

Sam Phillips is one of those underrated artists that I believe that everyone should love. Her songs are different and amazing. Whenever I hear Sam I can’t help but to think of the Gilmore Girls and that always puts a huge smile on my face.

Check out I Don’t Want to Fall in Love by Sam Phillips off of The Indescribable Wow

I'll Send This Message to You

Hear me calling

On Fridays when I am leaving work I like to put something on that will get me pumped for the weekend. Today a song immediately popped into my head and I had to put it on, from that moment until I got home I had some pretty heavy rock blasting into my ears. It made me excited to have some time to myself to do whatever I wanted, and it put me a great mood.

The song was This is Yr Captain by C’Mon, and this is a pretty awesome song. It has this guitar riff that makes you want to jump around and head bang and I definitely did some head bobbing on the streetcar. The guitar is so distorted and hard hitting that when I hear it I want to run or something. I’m not really explaining this very well, but there is a reason that people play these sorts of songs before they play sports. I think that the thing that I love the most is that it is catchy without having a lyrical hook. There are a lot of bands/artists that rely on the lyrics and melody to bring people in, but This is Yr Captain is so guitar driven that you don’t need that same sort of hook to make people interested.

I suppose that This is Yr Captain is one of those songs that you have to hear to understand, and not everyone will like it I’m sure, but give it try it might surprise you. And if you get pumped up for whatever event is happening next then all the better!

Check out This is Yr Captain by C’Mon off of In the Heat of the Moment