A television war between the cynics and the saints

Sometimes, I become disheartened with the world or the people around me.  There are so many things that challenge our morals and beliefs.  There's always those "hot button" issues that have extreme sides.  So few of us, in these issues, can come to the middle and say it's not that I'm right and you're wrong, but maybe we both have valid points.   We grow confident when we are the majority, but some shout even louder when very few stand with them.

Our interconnected always plugged in nature only emphasizes the issues, the arguments and sometimes, the hate.  I have to hold my tongue (or fingers) when it comes to reacting to the opinions of the people around me.

Of course, around election time is nearly unbearable.  At one point, I saw an App that claimed to filter your Facebook friends to Red vs. Blue to determine what posts made it to a news feed.  Let me tell you - I seriously considered signing up for it.  And to be honest, I have unfriended or "unsubscribed" from friends solely because of their opposing political view.  I'm not sorry I did it either.

In my 30 Day Music Challenge, I have been listening to older songs in my collection.  I came across "Affirmation" by Savage Garden, which I have already written about here.

And I'm saddened that so many of the issues set forward in 2000 are still unresolved today.  (But on a lighter note - I'm super glad that bleached hair look went out of style.)

The only thing I can hang on to, to get me through the trying times is positive affirmations ... like this song, inspiring quotes or the positive people around me.  And I hope that one day we can work together create a better place where equality and peace are more important than agendas and greed.

Take a chance and don't ever look back

The original 30 Day Song List Challenge lists Day 27 as a Song You Wish You Could Play, but of course for me, that's any song.  I'm cheating again.  I found a different list so here goes:

Day 27 (Amended): A Song that You Discovered After Everyone Else

So here's my dirty little secret: I don't listen to the radio.  I can't remember when the last time I listened to music on the radio.  When in the car I listen to ESPN Radio.  At work I listen to Pandora or podcasts.  At home I listen to Spotify, my music library or books on tape.  I just get bored with Top 40 radio (and the constant repeating) too quickly.  In other words, I have no idea what the top songs are right now.  The only way I hear these songs is through popular culture: television, commercials, links from friends on social media.

I learn about most of the Top 40 songs way past when they are first aired or even after they've become hits. For the most part I don't think I'm missing out on anything.  I do get into music ruts here and there, but that's not anything that the likes of Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga could fix anyway.

According to Wikipedia,  Katy Perry released "Teenage Dream" August 2010.  I listened to The Rescue's cover ... some time after that.

Teenage Dream, The Rescues, Single - Katy Perry Cover, 2010

I heard this cover before I heard Katy Perry's version   And I love this cover so much more than Katy Perry's.  I have this thing when I listen to music, I like to pick out the harmonies and zone in on the individual instruments.  Our local Ear Nose and Throat specialist told me it's because of my sonic hearing.  This song is great for that, they have beautiful harmonies and unique sound.  I dig the artsy black and white video, and every time I watch it, I notice something new.

I have never listened to The Rescues before this song, but after this single I tuned into their music.  This winter I saw one of the members, AG, live - she's a very awesome solo artist as well.

Tune in for Day 28: A Song that Makes You Feel Guilty

Eternity is so beautifully cold, I wonder if angels ever feel old

I'm going to cheat on Day 26 of the 30 Day Song Challenge.  My original list called for a song that I can play.  However, I am very musically inept   I'm more interested in the flow of the words or the cover art than how to actually play the music.  I even screwed up "Hot Cross Buns" on the recorder in grade school.

Originally when I had started this (eh-hem two years ago), I was able to find another list that had a different option for Day 26.

Amended Day 26 - A Great Song You Just Discovered

The song I keep coming back to in my collection that I most recently discovered is:

Until the End, Quietdrive, Self-titled, 2010

I saw this band about a month ago live.  To tell the truth, I really didn't want to go to the concert.  I was having a really busy week and just wanted a night at home.  I had added their music and the music of the other musician who was performing to my playlist to see if they were any good.  I thought they were like background music, I totally tuned out and really couldn't pick out anything I liked. (Turns out I don't think I actually listened to their music, I must have had it set to random).

Then the day before the show I read in a newspaper article that they were a punk group, so I decided to go. This was a nice change of pace.  I found myself sort of melting into the songs, listening to the lyrics, enjoying picking out the individual instruments, especially since they were playing acoustically.  The sound was a mix between The Killers, Panic at the Disco and Fall Out Boy. The lyrics are clever and fast-paced.  I vaguely remember "Until the End" at the concert and it was okay, the lyric "until the end, there and back" reminds me of "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" (A Hobbit's Tale: There and Back Again).

I bought their Self-titled CD (even though I had just said I wasn't going to), and it has a lot of great songs, but I always have to skip to "Until the End" and listen to it at least twice whenever I listen to their music.


Next ... Day 27: A Song You Discovered After Everyone Else

Hear the voices in my head I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring

I was mulling around a couple of different options for Day 25: A Song that Makes You Laugh.

That's a pretty odd category for songs.  Songs that make me laugh don't really make it into my favorite rotation.  They are the weird songs that come around and are popular for two or three months but then you can't even remember them the next year.  And if you do, you're embarrassed you enjoyed it as much as you did.

This song is a little more significant to me than those fad songs.  Although, I would wager it was a fad song in it's time.  It has a special place in my music library because it was one of the first punk songs that caught my ear.  It has all the key elements of what makes a good song in my head:  distinct beat that sticks with you, clever lyrics, not all one tone - it's fast and slow, loud and quiet (I hate songs that sound the same all the way through), it's a little bit naughty.

Flagpole Sitta, Harvey Danger, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?, 1998

1998?  I was a Freshman in high school, this may have been my first punk song, predating Blink 182.

This is another song I'd like to sing at the top of my lungs when all alone in the wee hours of the morning.  I know I have it on a mixed cd somewhere in my collection.

Day 26: A Song You Can Play on an Instrument

Check out Day 25 or start from the beginning with Day 1.

In fact, I am told that a lot

I had a hard week.  A couple of reasons that are unavoidable ... weather, the calendar, etc., etc.  I realized that I miss writing for fun.  I don't write as much anymore because it's what I do (in part) for a living.  My brain is so damn tired when I get home that the last thing I want to do is think (and things I don't want to do at night when I get home is a very long list!)

So, I thought I would pick up on the 30 day song challenge that I failed miserably at ... I stalled at Day 24 because life got in the way.  I got a new job and my grandfather died ... but with nearly two years past, I think it's okay that I pick it back up for a "mindless" writing session.

With out further ado:  30 Day Song Challenge - Day 24: A Song that You Want Played at Your Funeral

The song I'm choosing for Day 24 is a sweet, yet melancholy song.  

I don't know what it means that I had to wrack my brain for most of these songs, but I instantly knew the song I wanted played at my funeral.

The Luckiest,  Ben Folds, Rockin the Suburbs, 2001

I go back and forth with this song ... sometimes it feels like a love song, other times it feels like one last gasp from a deathbed.  I suppose, it can be both at the same time.

The rhythm is slow and contemplative   The piano is lonely and hopeful.  This song is a reflection on the good memories and missed opportunities that make up a life of moments that are meant to be.

This song is a lesson that it's the people around you that make a life special, not possessions  accomplishments or money.  Love, family and friends are the things that span all time and space.

Rockin the Suburbs (also a great song you should check out) was released on September 11, 2001.  Wow, way to not be relevant.  But I would contend it makes "The Luckiest" even more meaningful.

Catch up ... Day 23 is here or if you'd like to start from the beginning, try Day 1.