Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems to run over onto itself? Not necessarily bad, just really busy. Today seems to be one of those days for me. It is the kind of day where you wonder if there is ANY way to get everything done. In fact, it is really appropriate with the way my S-I-T-Head started this morning.
My eyes opened this morning with about ten songs in my head. They were all playing over and on top of each other. It was really quite strange, and kind of annoying. I couldn’t figure out how I would come up with a S-I-T-Head if I couldn’t key in on one song. However, it was the layering itself that lead me down a different path and pulled in another song. That was the one stuck. At that point I was listening to the music from Jonathan Larson’s rock opera, Rent.
Rent is set in New York City’s Lower East Side. It is the story of several young artists and musicians and their struggle to live, love, and survive. One of the main themes of the shows deals with living with, and coping with having to live with, AIDS. Many of the elements in the show are drawn from Puccini’s La Bohème. I was fortunate to see Rent twice. Once in New York City, where it ran on Broadway for 12 years before closing last September, and once in Boston. I really enjoy this show and recommend it highly. But, how did it get me to where I ended up on my journey for today’s S-I-T-Head?
Larson uses an interesting overlap kind of effect in quite a few of the numbers in the show, including the title number, Rent. However, for me, the one that sticks out the most is Christmas Bells. It seems like there are points where almost every actor on stage is singing different lyrics, and in some cases in different times. But even with all of that the sound just melds. As you listen to it you can start to discern the different components. From there you can pull parts of the story out that you may have missed after seeing/hearing it only once. Really cool stuff.
I wanted to include in this S-I-T-Head report the lyrics for this song as noted on lyrics007.com (http://www.lyrics007.com/Rent%20Lyrics/Christmas%20Bells%20Lyrics.html), just because that is how I roll. However, there is a lot going on in this number and the lyrics are really long. It just won’t do it justice unless you hear it. (And it would make this entry 10 pages!) So, the best that I can do is to give you the link to look at them. I really have to urge you to find a way to listen to it to really appreciate what I’m getting at.
I guess the point of my S-I-T-Head today is that life gets hectic. We all have so many things that overlap over each other. Like this song, we have to drill into the noise to find the story so we don’t miss out on something. It is up to us to figure out what is important and what is there to make it sound pretty. Unlike this song, however, we have to do all of this real time while singing along and we don’t often get a second chance to listen again to find out what we missed the first time around.
Here’s to finding your one song when your mind is swelling with 100 others that all want the spot in your S-I-T-Head!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009: Shinedown- "Second Chance"
Happy April Fool’s Day! I’ve been trying to think of a really good prank, but have been stumped…well, at least stumped for something that isn’t going to get me arrested, fired, or kicked out on the street. I did find a website called museumofhoaxes.com which is “dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes”. They have a posting which includes their “Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time”. (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/) There is some pretty funny stuff on there; you should give it a look.
April Fool’s Day is funny like that, though. There is a need to find a balance. A balance between what is funny and what is hurtful or dangerous. I’m a bit of a sick and twisted sod, so sometimes that line is blurred for me. I like to think that’s part of my charm though, that it is what keeps me interesting…maybe that’s just me though.
Balance is fitting when looking at my S-I-T-Head today. I actually half expected a different S-I-T-Head this morning because of what I had running through my head last night. That is the beauty of the S-I-T-Head, right? The music is in control. It tells us what it wants us to know…that’s creepy, right?
Even though today’s S-I-T-Head is off of their 3rd major release, I’ve only just started hearing Shinedown's work. That isn’t to say they aren’t a popular band, that’s just to say I don’t often recognize these things. Shinedown’s debut album, Leave a Whisper, was released in 2003 and has gone Platinum. Both of their subsequent studio releases, Us and Them (2005) and The Sound of Madness (2008), have gone Gold. By all the reviews I have seen, the experts are claiming that The Sound of Madness is their best album to date.
When I listened to some of the tracks on The Sound of Madness, especially in the album’s lead single Devour and its title track The Sound of Madness, I was reminded of a Metallica-style metal. However, the album has a well balanced mix of really strong rock ballads that make the tracks from this album appealing to a wide range of musical tastes. Second Chance is one of those ballads. Now, we’re not talking about a ballad that, to its core fan base, makes a band look like their soft and selling out to the mainstream (“Don’t Fear the Reaper”, anyone?). These are legit tracks that have a message true to the band’s base.
I seem to talk a lot lately about the “stickiness” of songs. For me, the chorus in Second Chance makes this one really sticky. The band’s lead singer, Brent Smith, really pours a lot of emotion into this one and the heavily stringed ballad really pulls you in. This morning I have had “Even the man in the moon disappeared…Somewhere in the stratosphere” running through my head over and over. As noted on lyricsmode.com (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/shinedown/second_chance.html), below are the lyrics for Shinedown’s Second Chance.
My eyes are open wide
By the way I made it through the day
I watch the world outside
By the way I'm leaving out today
Well I just saw Hailey's comet shooting,
Said "why you always running in place?
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere"
[Chorus]
Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize
This is my life
I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Please don't cry one tear for me
I'm not afraid of what I have to say
This is my one and only voice
So listen close, it's only for today
Well I just saw Hailey's comet shooting,
Said "why you always running in place?
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere"
[Chorus]
Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize
This is my life
I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Here is my chance
This is my chance
Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize
This is my life
I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Sometimes goodbye
Is a second chance [x3]
That’s all I have for today. I hope everyone has a good April Fool’s Day. Keep your eyes open for good pranks (please let me know about them!) and make sure to keep looking for your balance…in life, (in pranks…) and in music.
April Fool’s Day is funny like that, though. There is a need to find a balance. A balance between what is funny and what is hurtful or dangerous. I’m a bit of a sick and twisted sod, so sometimes that line is blurred for me. I like to think that’s part of my charm though, that it is what keeps me interesting…maybe that’s just me though.
Balance is fitting when looking at my S-I-T-Head today. I actually half expected a different S-I-T-Head this morning because of what I had running through my head last night. That is the beauty of the S-I-T-Head, right? The music is in control. It tells us what it wants us to know…that’s creepy, right?
Even though today’s S-I-T-Head is off of their 3rd major release, I’ve only just started hearing Shinedown's work. That isn’t to say they aren’t a popular band, that’s just to say I don’t often recognize these things. Shinedown’s debut album, Leave a Whisper, was released in 2003 and has gone Platinum. Both of their subsequent studio releases, Us and Them (2005) and The Sound of Madness (2008), have gone Gold. By all the reviews I have seen, the experts are claiming that The Sound of Madness is their best album to date.
When I listened to some of the tracks on The Sound of Madness, especially in the album’s lead single Devour and its title track The Sound of Madness, I was reminded of a Metallica-style metal. However, the album has a well balanced mix of really strong rock ballads that make the tracks from this album appealing to a wide range of musical tastes. Second Chance is one of those ballads. Now, we’re not talking about a ballad that, to its core fan base, makes a band look like their soft and selling out to the mainstream (“Don’t Fear the Reaper”, anyone?). These are legit tracks that have a message true to the band’s base.
I seem to talk a lot lately about the “stickiness” of songs. For me, the chorus in Second Chance makes this one really sticky. The band’s lead singer, Brent Smith, really pours a lot of emotion into this one and the heavily stringed ballad really pulls you in. This morning I have had “Even the man in the moon disappeared…Somewhere in the stratosphere” running through my head over and over. As noted on lyricsmode.com (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/shinedown/second_chance.html), below are the lyrics for Shinedown’s Second Chance.
My eyes are open wide
By the way I made it through the day
I watch the world outside
By the way I'm leaving out today
Well I just saw Hailey's comet shooting,
Said "why you always running in place?
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere"
[Chorus]
Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize
This is my life
I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Please don't cry one tear for me
I'm not afraid of what I have to say
This is my one and only voice
So listen close, it's only for today
Well I just saw Hailey's comet shooting,
Said "why you always running in place?
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere"
[Chorus]
Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize
This is my life
I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Here is my chance
This is my chance
Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize
This is my life
I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Sometimes goodbye
Is a second chance [x3]
That’s all I have for today. I hope everyone has a good April Fool’s Day. Keep your eyes open for good pranks (please let me know about them!) and make sure to keep looking for your balance…in life, (in pranks…) and in music.
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