To all of you in desperate need of a snow day out there - here's another of my oldies-but-goodies, '90s edition. I received Hoku's one and only album sometime in the early '00s and was immediately hooked. I not only loved her music and probably drove my parents crazy by playing it on repeat countless times, I wanted to be her. Hawaii, surfboards, hippie clothes - all of it awesome. I used to put her in my Walkman when we went skiing so I could listen to the upbeat music and pretend I was in some kind of kitschy, colorful Disney montage or something. It made me feel like life could be better in what, to me, felt like depressing times. (Middle school. UGH.)
I continue to have a soft squishy spot in my heart for Hoku. She was one of my heroes as a kid. Not a superhero or someone I worshipped by any means, but a sort of silent hero, someone I could look up to. Heroes come in all shapes and forms for different people, and one of mine just happened to be a beautiful blonde hippie singer. Surprisingly it may seem shallow, but it's what you do with that inspiration that counts. What's important is what gives you hope. If anyone else has any unconventional (or not) heroes, I'd love to hear about them! :)
This is my first request song: 'Fidelity' by Regina Spektor. It doesn't necessarily relate to my life at the moment, but it's still a great song! This one is for my cousin, Danny Kieleszewski, who has asked me to play it at an event he'll be holding in possibly March of next year. Just thought I'd share- it's a good one!
I'm posting three songs today because of my severe musical lagging since I got married :).
The first song is called 'Head Over Feet' by Alanis Morissette. As some of you know, I kind of sang this song at our wedding reception with my dad and his friend, who were kind of playing back-up and kind of trying to fix the microphone :). The reason that I chose to sing this song for Johnathan is because this is the first song he has ever really heard me sing. This took place two summers ago, right after we'd first met. We were on our way to a U2 concert, listening to angry girl rock most of the way there :). He still talks about hearing me sing then for the first time and how great he thought it was.
The second song is actually John's favorite song that I sing (I think). It is almost always his request. Also, it's BA: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part 1 by The Flaming Lips. God, I wish I worked for the city: disciplining my body, taking lots of vitamins and defeating some major pink robot behind.
The third in the trilogy may seem somewhat out of place. Most of you probably know it, 'cause let's face it it's an ultimate '90s classic, The Sign by Ace of Base. Recording and posting this one was actually inspired by an a severely cryptic dream I had last night, in addition to the fact that it's a declaration that I've been meaning to state for a while now. It's about letting go of the past, letting the new take you over, letting love heal you... a metamorphosis. In resolve we are reborn, and forever together.
Lastly, I'd like to top it all off with a sincere thank you to all of our amazing friends and family members who came to support us in our marriage, and also to all of whom were there in spirit. Thank you for believing in our love, we will not let you down. We love you.
Here's another Halloween-inspired one, from one of my absolute favorite movies of the holiday. I actually sang this at a voice recital a few years back, and now here it is revisited, with ukulele.
In honor of one of my favorite holidays of all (and also the newest season of The Walking Dead :)), this is Zombie by The Cranberries, one of my most favoritest Irish bands.
Obviously, the song isn't actually about zombies, but war. It's emotional. If I didn't just come back from hot yoga, I might have more to say on it, but as such is the case, I am too tired to ramble about it today. I'll leave it at this: I almost cry sometimes when I sing it, it's such moving stuff.
But anyway- have a safe and wonderfully spooky, awesome, crazy, legendary Halloween... I know I will!!! :)
(My wedding is the following morning, that's why!)
Anyone who knows me knows that I have this problem with current media and celebrities. I can get scary callous and bitter while expressing these sentiments, so I'm going to stick to the positive. This song "Royals", and most of you may have heard it, was written by Lorde from New Zealand, age 17 (Age 17!!), and was released earlier this year.
I have such refreshing respect and gratefulness for this girl for understanding and dismissing the gilded lifestyle rampant among young celebrities (and not-so-young). The song shines a glimmer of hope upon the future of popular music and the health and well-being of the younger generations... hopefully, as Lorde has said, they can see through the "b*******" strung about in popular music these days, and decide to chase a "different kind of buzz".
For me, the "high on life" phrase strikes a chord. Good music, the beauty of nature, true love, art... I've always craved a different kind of buzz, and have always been so mind-numbingly confused as to why others refuse to see it.
This song is somewhat spiritual for me, and anyone that knows me well can most likely guess why. Besides the obvious lupine reasons, this song brilliantly and beautifully paints the abstract picture, in the simplest of colors (blues and greens and grays) and in the blink of an eye (more like a reel of images), a marriage becoming a family. Breathing with the lungs of nature, the woods and the mountains, and the sea, this song melds together from all cardinal directions and embraces all the elements in describing the act of a woman becoming a mother, and a man becoming a father.
This song captures exactly how I feel about parenthood. It's something life and perception-changing, and something so uniquely beautiful that it is nature's alone to achieve. It happens in its own time, when stars nestle silently into place and caressing, gripping winds decide it is to be so.
With all of the beautiful new babies coming in to my family, I thought it fitting. :) Congratulations to all of you. You are remarkable.
And though I'm not quite there yet, I believe that our babies wait for us in the sea. Swimming in the sea until we know what to call them now.
First of all, you'll have to excuse me for not posting for a while... I've been sick :(. It's hard to sing when you are sick.
But moving forward! This is my favorite song by another of my favorite female artists. It's called 'Sinkin' Soon' by Norah Jones. The lyrics have no direct parallel to my life at the moment, but I was fairly obsessed with this song back in April of this year... remember, the month where it just would not quit raining?
For whatever reason, and I have no idea of nor have I really dug into what this song is about, it spurs very strong, reminiscent imagery for me that is very difficult to tack down. It is clearly a song fit for the changing of seasons, which makes it a great song for Fall. (Something else to note- back in April when I was listening to this song on repeat for untold lengths of time, I had just seen the live actor movie 'Popeye' starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, and the post-viewing abstract, Dadaist haze in which that film can leave you, could have something to do with that obscure, evasive imagery I'm sensing).
In particular, I love the intricacies of the scene that she creates, and the imagery that she submits as a result of her word choice. For example, the entire opening verse, the mention of tea and coffee being sweetened with sugar cubes (which are sort of outdated to be honest) give it a vintage, homey, familiar feel. The mention of the apple pie sends you right into the soft leaves and winds of Autumn, and the description of the moon as a wheel of cheese is reminiscent of a fairytale or a child's bedtime story. The whole crux of the song of the ship sinking and no one is doing anything about it feels sort of like a bad dream, and we've all had that feeling... the nice part about it is, however, that we wake up from bad dreams, and then there's just the tea and the coffee and the sugar cubes...
So overall, it's just a fun one to listen to, to play, and to dwell upon :). So thank you, and enjoy! :)
This is one of my favorite songs by Jewel. The song itself doesn't have a very personal meaning for me, other than the following...
The other day, John and I were walking through Meijer and having a philosophical discussion about modern music and how it shapes relationships. I was proposing that the music we hear most often (for example, on the radio) during pivotal sexual developmental stages (around 6 - 12 years old) has a direct effect on how we judge, relate to, define, and insert ourselves into relationships when we are older.
For me, this would have been mid to late '90s music. I was wondering if we, as a generation, idolize certain elements that we may hear in a song or songs as defining a relationship as good or bad. An example of this would be the "coffee house romance" (touched on by Jewel in "Meant For Me", among others, not to mention the show 'Friends'). I've even heard of coffee used as a metaphor for relationships, as "addicting and bitter". From Buffy. Secondly, there's the whole "caught in the rain" idea, symbolic of the possession of a carefree, restless, rebellious and impulsive spirit, touched on in this song.
Longwinded as this preface may be, Jewel seems to be a big contributor to my own, personal mindset when it comes to relationships. She seems to romanticize the banalities of relationships, and tries to recreate them in her private life. Examples of this would be the mention of eggs and pancakes, reading the newspaper, going to a matinee movie, reading a book before bed, getting caught in the rain, calling her mom, etc (Meant For Me).
In my love life, this translates into focusing in on those tiny details, those seemingly unimportant moments and embracing them as special and unique to my own relationship (which is also evident in my photography style...hm...). Also, I love coffee. And coffee houses. But with regard to that, I had no chance as a '90s child.
Just some food for thought. It's fun to reflect on, if you like that kind of thing. :) I encourage you to analyze your own ideas and idolizations when it comes to romance as shaped by music, and to share them with me and your friends! (PS- Advance warning: there is a slight audio malfunction about 2/3 of the way through... my computer beeped... meh heh...)
This is a special song for me, and it's dedicated to the woman who sang it to my brother and I all of those years growing up, and to the women that sang it before her, and who will sing it after her. This song still floats through my mind as I fall asleep on warm summer nights, and I meditate on it, and I radiate it back out into the night. The blissfulness of it goes and settles somewhere quietly in the pleasant, dark evening of the future, and waits for me. The summertime is always with me.
I know, another Alanis Morissette. It's just the time of year. Come late summer, early fall, I'm all about the '90s music. (Which isn't that different from the rest of the year as well, but you know what I mean.)
This song, the first song on her 'Jagged Little Pill' album, is weird and awesome. Those are my best adjectives for it. It's very feminist (surprise, surprise), and I love the disorientation present in the lyrics. It's like she's telling you what she really wants, but also reminding herself, getting lost in immature moments along the way ('sweater's on backwards and inside out'), where she gets sucked into attempting to glean attention from others. It's just a good, head-screwed-on-right, don't-be-an-idiot song. And very bluntly stated.
Beyond that though, it's a song about doing whatever you want and being whoever you want. And that's super rock n' roll, and a message that not enough people hear, or listen to.
There's no real personal meaning behind this one for me, I mean, I've already met my soul-mate (someone else to catch this drift). I just love the album, love the song, love rocking out, and, oh yeah, the high notes at the very end. Haha. Yes. :)
I just posted this one to facebook, but I was advised to add it here as well :).
This tribute is owed to the following:
I turned 24 this past Saturday, and this song describes very well the phenomenal, fantastical flow that's woven its colorful threads into my present day-to-day as of late. I'd describe it as kind of like an awakening of sorts. Let's just say, I'm feeling a little peculiar :). That being said, I'm feeling a little peculiar in such an amazing (and sometimes kind of scary) way. Not only am I learning more about the world and my place in it every single day, I'm also counting down the days until I get to marry my anam cara :) (Gaelic for 'soul-mate'). Most days I feel that I am the luckiest person alive.
Sometimes we do things that others don't understand, but have faith in us, because we're loving life and we're living it well. We're not just praying for that revolution but finding a way to be a part of it by living the way we believe we're meant to, by exploring every opportunity that presents itself. It's a new Bohemia, and it's driven by the pursuit of real and attainable happiness, the humility of forgiveness, the peace of a cool head, and most importantly, the unconditional submersion into true and honest love. Flying high with eyes outside the lines of financial suppression and outdated success paradigms.
Lastly, much love to 4 Non-Blondes, even though I am not one. :)
This premier video post is one of my favorite ever, ever, ever songs. It's called 'Thank You' by Alanis Morissette. I figured, why not start off a blog about being naked by hailing to the goddess of nakedness (and ooey-gooey, wrap me up in a fringed woolen native-print shawl, melt into plaid flannel, torn up jeans and unnatural color casts '90s awesomeness) by covering the song as a result of which she was crowned this title? (Don't remember the video? Yeah, totally naked. Whole song. Check it out.)
Additionally, this song is about enlightenment (and something called "kudo" which, I discovered, is an actual word meaning "honor, "glory", "acclaim", or "approval", just in case you were curious), and I can't help feeling this way when I play it, or hear it. So I hope you enjoy, and remember to be thankful. If you want to.
This is a blog that comments on the nature (and philosophy) of music. (And life.) Music starts in the soul, and the soul sets it coursing through your veins. The soul sets music coursing through your veins and then the soul pushes it out through your fingertips, your voice, your toes; and into the ears and minds of others, reverberating and dissipating into earthly space. Music, in its primitive state, is raw, it's real, and it's naked. Or, at least, it should be.
The music you'll find here is naked music. I play it because I want to, I play it because I need to. When it comes to music (and life), I don't believe in hiding behind things. Auto-tune, make-up, fancy clothes, fancy instruments. They don't exist. What you'll find here is music played in a single shot, and there will be mistakes, because that's the honesty of life. We do our best, we move forward, we never stop.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting me :). Enjoy.
