What You Want

“Do what you what you want, you don’t have to lay your life down
(it isn’t over)
Do what you what you want till you find what you’re looking for
(got to remember who you really are)
But every hour slipping by screams that I have failed you

Hello, hello remember me?
I’m everything you can’t control
Somewhere beyond the pain there must be a way to believe”

What You Want – Evanescence

This song has a very important message in it: you should forget what others say and forget those thoughts which haunt you and do what you want until you succeed, because you can overcome your doubt and negativity. If you want more on these kinds of musings, check out my blogs I Will Not Bow and We Weren’t Born To Follow. These are dedicated to inspiring you to meet your dreams without tripping over on your way to the top. You see, there is another very important aspect of Evanescence which I want to touch upon here and What You Want also happens to sum this up perfectly.

Amy Lee is a babe.

Yes, my precious blog readers, I want to bring to your attention how hot the lead singer of Evanescence is. Girl. Crush. Alert.

I love Amy Lee for a variety of reasons, the first of which being her beautifully haunting voice which is rare in the music industry. She’s built herself a huge fan base through her writing, singing and overall style – a weird hybrid of old school glam gothic pop rock which no one but Amy Lee would ever be able to pull off. Furthermore her overall attitude which she portrays through her music is fabulous, whether she is telling us to follow our dreams or kicking her ex, Seether’s Shaun Morgan, to the curb in the song Call Me When You’re Sober. And, who could forget, she’s classically trained in piano making her equal parts talented and gorgeous. Her overall persona makes me believe her when she tells us to do what we want while remembering who we really are. And look at her – she has clearly done what she wants through music and style, and what we know of her personal life, and come out on top. Amy Lee? I idolise her.

Or rather, I idolise the image she portrays. See, I can muse all day long on here about how great she is, but the bottom line is I will probably never get the chance to meet her and see what she is like in real life. And while I’m fairly confident she will be as wonderful as I’ve just described, it is likely I will never know.

A few weeks ago I was listening to the radio and the host suggested idols are someone we know and can be mentored by. I took his point, and since then I’ve started to feel a bit torn about whom I consider idols – from Amy Lee to Sally Pearson to Princess Diana, these are people who inspire me but I can never meet. Even past family members who made achievements but are long gone and I cannot meet, meaning I would technically not be able to idolise their heroics. And if I never meet them, I am just idolising what I’ve read and heard about them and thus being inspired by an image.

It’s a bit tricky and I’m not sure where it leaves me. Sure, I can continue to be inspired by these famous people and take the lessons they publically give, but perhaps not idolise them in the same way I once did.  

 

 

 

Just thought I'd include a picture of Amy Lee so you be reminded of what a babe she is.

 

Feel Inside (and stuff like that)

“Children getting sicker,
Drinking too much bubble mixture, 
They all just wanna be bubbles, 
They all just wanna be bubbles.

There must be something we can do,
To stop these kids from doing spews.

Feel inside,
And stuff like that,
Open up the lids,
Helpa helpa helpa the kids”

Feel Inside (and stuff like that) – Flights of the Conchords and Friends

As with any charity events in which the aim is to raise money for those who need it and are unable to cover the means by themselves, a great charity song with a number of well known artists is needed. There are hundreds of charity songs for many different causes which raise both money and awareness – Stand Up To Cancer, Do They Know It’s Christmas etc.

When it came to Red Nose Day and Comedy for Cure Kids here in New Zealand, a comedy song inevitable. As much as I love a good charity awareness ballad, I don’t think society and the kids themselves needed to be reminded of the sad truth there are hundreds of sick kids in society. Rather, someone smart who was involved with Comedy for Cure Kids made a fantastic choice to continue with the comedy theme and Flight of the Conchords were called to provide the amusement. They could have come up with a funny song off the bat, but they got stuck in and took it a step further.

The Conchords duo – Bret and Jermaine – headed back to school to meet with children and they chatted about what kids thought being sick meant and how they should raise more money. It was your typically fantastic children answers. From the girl who ate bubble mixture because she wanted to turn into a bubble to the boy who said John Key was spending all of New Zealand’s money on furniture, not forgetting school kids were adamant sick children needed juice, pizza and plasma TVs to help make them better.

Bret and Jermaine took these answers and turned them into lyrics, and thus Feel Inside (and stuff like that), was born, and it’s hands down the best charity song I have ever heard. Flight of the Conchords then teamed up with some fantastic Kiwi musicians – Brooke Fraser, Kids of 88, Zowie, Hayley Westenra and Savage to name a few. The result was a song which was funny but still made the point clearly: kids were sick and money was needed. You can buy the song of iTunes if you haven’t already – in my opinion, it’s the best was to open the lid and helpa helpa helpa the kids.  

And here's the full length video including the children's answers 

Wandering Eye

“...can't help but spy from my wandering eye
something beginning with the capital cool
capital you, if you could only check my view

we come to do it yeah, yeah

I got the wandering eye
Mmm
I got the wandering eye”

Wandering Eye – Fat Freddy’s Drop

It’s that time of year when all my friends start bugging with the one question I dread. It’s the most difficult question I have ever come across and I wish it didn’t come up every year, because I never know the answer and, to be honest, I just wish someone else would sort it out for me because I’m far too lazy and too busy to think much further ahead than next week. Yes, it’s that question: what are you doing for New Years?

It’s AUGUST!

But no, we have been bombarded with advertisements and line up announcements and *gulp* ticket prices to convince you to spend the night which sees in the new year with their particular show, and, if your (fabulous) friends are like mine, they all have a different idea on what to do.

To be fair, the line ups for these shows look pretty sweet. Last year I headed to Coromandel Gold (incidentally, which I decided to go to in early December and not July), and spent two great nights listening to Fat Freddy’s Drop – quite possible the leading act when it comes to New Zealand New Year festivals and hence the reason I specifically blogged on them - Shapeshifter and Shihad. The Coro Gold line up takes on these same bands this year, along with Sola Rosa, Katchafire and Kora. These Kiwi bands remind me of summer; it’s just a shame Coro Gold tickets have already sold out for 2012 / 2013 and I won’t be able to nab one the month before.  

Then there’s the biggest NZ New Year’s festival, Rhythm and Vines. This is four or so nights camping in Gisbourne. I’ve never been, but heard it’s the grottiest camp ground you could possibly find. However, if you can handle this and drinking from 9am until 5pm, when you’ll head to the music stage and hear artists like Kimbra, Logistics, Ruby Frost and Six 60 until you crawl back into your tent (or someone’s tent) before doing it all again. While this does not quite sound like my cup of tea, I’ve heard it is fantastic. The campground tickets are sold out but there’s still a few just to see the bands if you can find your own accommodation.

Finally, La De Da is on in Martinborough over New Years and has more wicked Kiwi artists like Shapeshifter – who are doing the hard yards at two festivals this year - Concord Dawn and David Dallas, so if you’re down that way for New Years I’d say check this one out. It appears to be the least recognised festival out of the three I mentioned, so you should be in for a not so squashed and not so scummy camp site over New Years.

To be honest, as much as I love music and have been getting excited by these line ups while writing this blog, I doubt I’ll know what I’ll be doing for New Years by December 20.

So stop asking me!

Ps. Hey, Fat Freddy’s Drop, what was with not playing Wandering Eye at Coro Gold last year? I dig this song!

Blue

“Blue his house
With a blue little window
And a blue corvette
And everything is blue for him
And his self
And everybody around
'Cause he ain't got nobody to listen...

I'm blue, da ba de, da ba die ..."

Blue – Eiffel 65

What the fuck are the lyrics to this song?

After 30 odd blogs, I thought it was time to get my critical face on and give you something which I don’t quite agree with. As much as music is challenging and thought provoking and tells stories and brings out emotions, I don’t think there is much point to it if you can’t understand it.

According to trusty Google, the lyrics are da ba de / da ba die / da ba de / da ba die. What does this even mean? And, the further problem I have with this song is for a long time no one really believed these were the lyrics, so versions such as I’m blue / If that was me I would die / I’m in need of a guy / If I was green I would die / I’m gonna beat up a guy / I’m gonna eat up that pie fulfilled my childhood and made me so much more confused.

Apparently this song is about being depressed; that is, feeling blue and lonely all the time. I suppose it can be taken from the angle that no one understands how this guy is feeling (being that depression in itself is hard to understand) so Eiffel 65 came out with a whole lot of garbled words as symbolism. But I think this is a bit of a stretch of analysis into a pop song.

To be fair, and give some credit to Eiffel 65, Blue probably wasn’t designed to be the most symbolic and thought provoking songs. Eiffel 65 were more about experimenting with auto tune and pitch correction, as seen in Blue. And so, I have to admit to myself that not every artist is out to change the world with their lyrics. So maybe it is a bit harsh to call Blue pointless; and instead we should be congratulating Blue on their pioneering auto tune sound which has “helped” many pop artists along the way.  

Unless ... is the point of Blue not to make sense and confuse every listener and this is why it was such a hit because it is always a talking point over what the lyrics are? Tricky, Eiffel 65; you are tricky just like Alanis Morissette with her not so ironic Ironic song. 

Evacuate the Dancefloor

“Everybody in the club
Evacuate the dancefloor
Oh, oh, I'm infected by the sound
Everybody in the club
Stop, this beat is killing me
Hey, Dr. DJ lets burn the place down to the ground”

Evacuate the Dancefloor – Cascada

From a casual head incline per drum beat to all out flailing arms and legs, music makes us jump, dance and shake, or whatever more personal move you may have to the rhythm. I love a good dance, whether it’s in my room alone before dinner or with a bunch of girlfriends at the club.

I like Evacuate the Dancefloor because it talks about dance music being this infection which comes over you and takes you somewhere else – some people can handle it and some people just want to burn the place to the ground, it’s so intense. Okay, maybe that’s a song exaggeration, but you get the idea.

When it comes to dance music I find it hard to define exactly what kind of music is considered dance appropriate. There are your standard R&B tracks which pump around clubs for a few months; I’m thinking Usher, Pitbull, Rihanna etc. Then there’s the pop music – from Lady Gaga to Katy Perry to, dare I say it, S Club Seven and Backstreet Boys.  Yes, those 1990’s pop songs are pretty sweet to get your grove on to. Then there’s the umpteen remixes of all those songs which I just mentioned which make you dance but also make you go – DJ WHY YOU RUIN MY SONG? (I secretly hate club remixes, but for the purpose of this blog I will give them a mention).

With R&B and pop tracks the standard dance songs, where does that leave my favourite genre – the rock songs? They don’t scream dance, but I’ve been to so many parties where a rock song has come on and the people have started dancing along like it’s the latest Katy Perry hit. In my personal party dance song viewing, Jet’s Are You Gonna Be My Girl and Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer are high priorities on the playlist and they have no cheesy bubblegum pop or “let’s make love in this club” line in them. Hell, even Smells Like Teen Spirit and Bohemian Rhapsody make good dance songs. Though, I suppose any song with a sweet beat can make you move. Let’s take Pearl Jam – while you probably won’t be busting out your best moves for Last Kiss, you could probably find a way to dance to Better Man. In fact, I challenge you to pull out Eddie Vedder at your next house party and see if Better Man can make a few people move.

So this just leaves one question: what is a dance song? A trance remix with no lyrics? Or simply a song which one dances to?

Ironic

” And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures”

Ironic – Alanis Morissette

I have a friend who hates this song. Every time it comes on the radio or someone mention the song she starts going on about how the song doesn’t make any sense. Her argument – and it’s a fair and true argument – is that none of the things which Alanis Morissette says are ironic are actually ironic. Oxford dictionary defines “ironic” as “happening in a way contrary to what is expected, and typically causing wry amusement because of this”. Therefore, the events in Ironic aren’t actually ironic, they are just misfortunate. And so, Alanis wants us to think it is ironic, but the real irony is that it is not ironic but we think it is ironic and this creates the wry amusement.

Follow me?

Probably not. But if music didn’t make us think then it would get old and boring pretty fast. I like the straightforward, somewhat meaningless fun songs for a good time, but I also like a challenge. Hidden messages which only a few people will understand and many people will misinterpret are all around us in music. I refer to this example a lot, but I feel it is one of the best – Hotel California by The Eagles appears to be about California but it’s really about the downward spiral of drug abuse. A fair few people would pick that up after a couple of listens, but there are more which are likely to think it is simply about a creepy hotel in the middle of California.

Returning to Ironic, Alanis then, as if to make us all the more confused, throws out a completely obscure video clip which has nothing to do with irony. Instead, there are four Alanis Morissettes singing about how everything which isn’t ironic is ironic. And all four Alanis Morissettes are looking rather sad about the misfortunate events. So is the irony of this song that everything in life seems so rosy but then we find out the truth or something happens to make our lives misfortunate? Is Alanis actually saying that all those little incidents are ironic, but really she’s saying if all those things happen to one person when they thought everything was okay ironic?

I’m confused.

I think I might go listen to some no nonsense, straight forward, commercially marketed to be easily absorbed without messing with minds music from One Direction. 

London Calling

“London calling to the faraway towns
Now that war is declared-and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, all you boys and girls
London calling, now don't look at us
All that phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain't got no swing
'Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing”

London Calling – The Clash

This blog is not about the actual meaning of London Calling – which is said to be about world events including "a nuclear error" to the incident at Three Mile Island, which occurred earlier in 1979. No, this blog is jumping on the bandwagon of the biggest sports event right now – the 2012 London Olympics.

I’m so excited the Olympics are here. As one of many, many self-confessed sports nuts in the world, there is no better place to see high level sports action than the Olympics. These are the elite, the best of the best, and the ones who are dedicated enough to spend hours training, overcoming disappointment and injury, and competing to qualify, who have made it to the top of the world sports stage. And then there are a few events between them and that long time dreamed of podium finish. From rowing to athletics, field hockey to cycling, there are 10,000 athletes competing. And, noticed I picked four sports us Kiwi’s are expected to excel at? Yep, the Olympics are the time to get behind your country and show your support. Is there any better feeling of national pride than hearing your country’s national anthem following a gold medal win?

Speaking of anthems, did anyone pick up on the fantastic British songs spanning 100 years used in the opening ceremony? Paul McCartney singing Hey Jude (despite a bit of a mess up), Dizzee Rascal, The Beatles and Sex Pistols. It almost turned the opening ceremony into more of a musical spectacle – almost, except the flaming Olympic Rings were soon to remind us what we were celebrating. Music was just a fantastic accompaniment.

But that’s just what music can be – an assistance, an enhancement, a thing to fill in a bit of time. Whether you need to music to help you do the dusting, raise a societal point like The Clash, or take your London 2012 Olympic Ceremony to the next level, music is your go to, number one, and most reliable best friend. 

And .... Go New Zealand!!!