30 Day Song Challenge - Day 7

Day 7: A song that reminds you of some event

As I elaborated on yesterday, these last few days have been somewhat difficult for me. Songs do not generally inspire concrete memories (with few exceptions), so I kind of had to wing it with most of these. Today is no exception, though there are a few that will remind me of events /sometimes/ (just not reliably or frequently), so I guess they'll just have to do.

Events in particular are tough because I remember so few events concretely. Fleeting images are often all I get, the occasional glimpse of something a little more detailed sometimes, but for the most part I have a poor memory for things like this.

As with the past few days, there are no winners (no song reminds me more of one thing than another of another thing, blah blah blah), just a list of applicable songs.

Take My Breath Away (Berlin) - Yay! More painful memories! This one reminds me (actually surprisingly strongly) of my senior prom since it was /the/ song of the prom. For obvious reasons, it's hard for me to listen to this song anymore.

Sunscreen (Bahz Luhrmann) - Ok, this one was not actually /played/ at my high school graduation, but it kind of makes me think of it all the same sometimes, again, for obvious reasons.

You might find it odd I have no songs that remind me of my wedding. I call it proof of a merciful and benevolant God.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit easier to pick some winners *checks* ...nope.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 6

Day 6: A song that reminds you of somewhere

I had to wrack my brain quite a bit for this one. Again, I don't know that I can pick a "winner" for the same reasons I listed yesterday (how can something remind you of something MORE than something else reminds you of something else?), but even considering that handicap, I really don't have that good a memory for places. Songs remind me of feelings, sometimes of people (I actually had to think for a couple days on yesterday's "winners), but rarely of places or events (tomorrow will be a pain as well).

In any case, since I am committed to this farce, I will just wing it. Here are the "winners":

Nobody (But You) (Wonder Girls) - Pardon the ads on this one. And the lack of lyrics. It's hard finding just the right version of this song as it is. So I settled for the English version, which somehow feels like cheating, but the opening skit is funnier if you understand it, I guess. In any case, this song reminds me of Taiwan, specifically the karaoke joint the teachers all visited together. I heard it there first and, like a horrible cancer, it infected me through the entire trip to the point that I would find myself humming it while working on my daily journals. In any case, it's a good song. Catchy. Like a disease. Did I already mention that?

Wake Me Up When September Ends (Green Day) - You know, this is a good song. I should like it. But they played it SO MUCH on the damned radio that it's hard to listen to it anymore without dryheaving. It's actually because of this that it kind of reminds me of the Ledger Newspapers offices where I used to work. It was there, sitting at my desk, that I heard it about fifty bajillion times a day and got sick of it. So, in a way, it kind of reminds me of there (or at least that situation).

Someone to Watch Over Me (George Gershwin) - I didn't bother finding a link for this one because it's actually a specific version of this song, but it reminds me of dancing in my ex-wife's house (to the point that I can't really listen to it anymore). It was the first song I "danced" to (with another person), so it kind of stuck in my memory for that reason. It's not really a "place" that it reminds me of, but I guess it will do. If you really don't know the song, just Youtube it. The version I have is a rather nice bluesy instrumental version. It's a shame it brings back so many painful memories. It's a good arrangement.

You may wonder why my "memory" songs are so weak. Well, as I mentioned before, songs rarely remind me of things specifically. Even in regards to people, I had to stretch it a bit. I don't literally hear a song and think of specific people, places, or events. Sometimes my mind may drift to them, but it's not really reliable. In truth, it's just that I heard these songs at these places so, when thinking of "winners," I kind of shoehorned them in there because it was mildly appropriate. I'm not even sure if I hear "Nobody" I actually think of Taiwan, and I really don't think of my ex's house when I hear "Someone to Watch Over Me," I think of the feelings the song inspires in me.

So, in short, take the above with a grain of salt. I was winging it. And with tomorrow's, most likely.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 5

Day 5 - A song that reminds you of someone

It's been a couple days I know, but I guess there's nothing in the rules that say the 30 days have to be consecutive. So I maintain that I am not out of line here and will not be doing multiple days to catch up.

So nyah.

Anyways, on to Day 5. Any good song is going to have a lot of memories behind it, so there are a lot of these. Particularly when it comes to people we've lost. "Blue" reminds me of a lot of people that have died in my life, but I don't know if I would say that counts. It's not really the memories of the person so much as their death, so I'd say that disqualifies it.

I can't really pick a "winner" of this category in my humble opinion. I don't know that any song "reminds me" of a person more than another song. So here are just a few that remind me of various people:

You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon) - Reminds me of my brother, Mark. Way back when I was a wee sprout, he declared that this was "our song" for some reason or another. I still to this day do not know why, but it's stuck with me all these years, so I think of him when I hear it.

After we watched the music video to this song, we went to Pizza Hut. Don't ask me how I remember that day. I just do.

Uprising (Muse) - This one reminds me of my friend Jake for reasons that are obvious to anyone should they know Jake. REVOLUTION.

In the Living Years (Mike and the Mechanics) - Again, for obvious reasons, this reminds me of my father. It's kind of indicative of how our relationship was, I think. I think dad and I were a lot more alike than we'd care to admit, and even though we "never saw eye to eye," I probably should have tried to be closer to him when he was still alive.

But I imagine these are typical regrets for most people. Hindsight and all that. I still think of him whenever I hear this song and though it reminds me of his death in some ways, I think more about our relationship during his life when I hear this song. So I'd say it counts.

Sky Chord (Tsuji Shion) - This one reminds me of another friend of mine who really likes this song. Since I heard it first thanks to her, I can't help but think of her whenever I hear it. Another similar song is Sayonara Solitia (Saeko Chiba).

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 4

Day 4: A song that makes you sad

Oh are there a lot of these. I do love a good sad song. Now, to be clear, there are many songs that make me cry--but for different reasons. Heck, "I Wanna Be," makes me cry sometimes, but just because of those aforementioned squishy feelings it makes me feel. Some songs, like Creek Mary's Blood (Nightwish)--the orchestral version, anyways--or the ending theme from Skies of Arcadia, which I maintain has the best ending of any song ever, make me cry because of the instrumentation. I get a little weepy at beautiful music.

But that's different from a song making me sad, of course. And there are still quite a few of these. As with my previous categories, I'm kind of limiting myself to songs that come to mind more or less immediately, and only one song hops right into my head:

Winner: Blue (Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts)

This is another animé song, but this one's in English, so nothing should be lost in translation. Sadly, the above link does not have the lyrics (I simply could not find one that did), but it's pretty easy to get them. I won't spoil the ending to this absolutely excellent series (Cowboy Bebop...anyone who enjoys animé needs to watch this. It is sublimely awesome in so many ways), but this is the final song from the series. Obviously the symbolism is thick throughout the whole song, and you don't need to know how it ends to understand the metaphors for death, redemption, and even life. It is my opinion that you don't need to see or even know the animé to appreciate this song. But it may still be one of those internal, personal things about music that makes this song connect to me.

But even still. I play this song every time someone I know dies. It is sad and hopeful all at once. So maybe it doesn't deserve to win the "sad" song award...but it's kind of bittersweet, so I think it belongs here.

"Everything is clearer now. Life is just a dream, you know, that's never-ending. I'm ascending."

And remember: "no black and white in the blue."

Runner Up: Into the West (Annie Lennox)

Ok, now...if I had thought of this one first, I may have made it my winner. But I'm relegating it to runner up because Blue popped into my head first. Even still, this song is one of the most sorrowful songs I've ever heard--possibly because it followed one of the saddest endings to any movie/book ever (Lord of the Rings, of course).

It bears noting, however, that this song and Blue share some (many) similarities. Both are about death quite clearly, but they oppose songs like "In This River" (Black Label Society) and "Asleep" (The Smiths). Each of those songs seem to almost linger on the actual death, which makes them sad, but in "Blue" and "Into the West," Kanno and Lennox go beyond death into metaphors of freedom and ascension. Those of you who know me best know I am not a religious person and do not necessarily believe or disbelieve that there is something after death--but the bittersweet nature of these songs, the metaphor and poeticism of them--make them clear top choices. They just have so much more power, so much more weight, than a song that just lingers on the stagnation of death (though "Asleep" quite clearly uses sleep as a metaphor for death--and in fact suicide--it's just never had as much weight to me). That being said, I would have to give "In This River" and "Asleep" honorable mentions. It also bears noting that "Into the West" reminds me a lot of the ending of Dragons of Summer Flame (Dragonlance) when all the Companions were finally reunited. Yeah, if you're not a Dragonlance fan, you have no idea what I'm talking about. But it made the song doubly relevant to me.

Honorable Mentions: Tong hua (Guang Liang) - I think this is the name of the song. I've heard it called Fairy Tale. It's in Chinese, but I think it's pretty clear from watching the video what it's about. I heard/saw it the first time in Taiwan at karaoke and I cried. In front of my students without even knowing what the lyrics meant. It was kind of embarrassing.

"In This River" (Black Label Society)

"Asleep" (The Smiths)

Hero of War (Rise Against)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 3

Note: Starting today I figured out how to work the url command in blogspot, so just click on the song title to go to the youtube video of the song.

Day 3: A song that makes you happy

This is going to be an odd one. I'll list the winner first and then give an explanation, because a lot of you are going to listen to this song and just...scratch your head.

Winner: I Wanna Be (Stance Punks)

Listen to this song first, then read my description below.

Ok, so, assuming you listened to the song, I can probably imagine what you're thinking. "It's just screaming. There's nothing musical about it. This is a horrible song!" This was pretty much my first impression of it. "I Wanna Be" is the first ending/credits theme from an animé called Soul Eater (one of my favorites). The first time I heard it, I went out of my way to avoid the ending credits of the series. But after a few episodes, a miraculous thing started to happen...I started to listen to it more and more.

There is something primal about this song, even before you get to the lyrics and the translation (I didn't even look up the translation for months after I started listening to the song). It has always sounded somewhat affirming--even defiant--to me, like the singers are screaming at everything that is bad and unpleasant in life, everything that would hold them back and tell them "you can't do this" or "you're not good enough". I can't help but be uplifted. I always imagine the singers saying "we can't sing, but screw that, we're going to do it and have fun with it!" (I imagine they are better singers than this song would have us believe, of course).

This probably means little to you, dear reader, but isn't that sort of what music is? Something deeply personal and internal to each of us? I don't expect you to understand. But try and give the song another listen, keeping in mind my feelings on it and see if you think the same. Here, I'll even give you the translation (thank you, animelyrics.com).

Edit: Due to formatting issues, the best I can do is link the lyrics and their translation. Click here.

I don't expect to have converted anyone to liking this song, really. It's one of those quirky things unique to me, I imagine (well, I'm sure there's others in the world who like this song, but I doubt anyone I know would). But in the end, this is a song that makes me feel happy and uplifted and even optimistic. So I would be remiss to not give this day to it.

Runner Up: Someday I'll Be Saturday Night (Bon Jovi)

For those of you who didn't like my previous choice (which I imagine is all of you...and I don't hold it against you. It's an acquired taste), you can feel free to imagine this song as my "winner". This one's a bit more straight forward. It's a lot of the same emotions as "I Wanna Be," but a little less obscure, a little less bizzare, a little more musical, and a little less Japanese. It's pretty straight forward. Life is hard. I'm down on my luck. But damnit, someday things are going to be ok.

Runner Up: Sunscreen (Baz Luhrman)

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 2

So here we go, day two of the 30-Day Song Challenge. Today's is relatively uninteresting:

Day 2: Your least favorite song

Ok, so...as with anyone, there are a lot of songs here that I could list. I can't really even think of many simply because I just don't listen to songs I don't like (funny how that works, in'it?). I could list a lot of artists I don't like (Bieber, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry...though even saying those artists, I can think of one or two of their songs I don't mind...well, except Bieber), but specific songs are elusive. One song always kind of stuck in my craw for a very specific reason, however, so I suppose I should give that one the award.

Winner: Follow Me (Uncle Kracker) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg4np7GUcSw

I hate this song, but it's not so much the song as the message, glorifying adultery, unfaithfulness, and cheating on one's spouse. My hatred for it has cooled over the years, and I do have to admit, the melody is catchy (which is part of the reason I hated/hate it...I don't want to remember this song, but I just can't get it out of my head!), but since I remembered, to this day, how much I once loathed this song, I guess it better get the award for my least favorite.

That being said, I did have to stop the Youtube video from playing...I still don't want to listen to it...

Runner Up: None that I can think of.

It may seem odd that I can't think of songs that I hate, but as I said before, I simply don't listen to songs that I don't like. I don't listen to the radio much, and when I do, I simply change the station quickly if I know I do not like the song I'm listening to. That being said, I'm sure there are plenty--rap music especially--that I dislike. They just aren't coming to mind.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 1

It's been awhile since I've "blogged". I warned you (all, what, two of you?) that I don't do well witht hings I am expected to update regularly, but here's something I saw that I kind of liked. It's something I found on Facebook (see, something good /can/ come out of Facebook!) thanks to my Sister, Amber, "participating". It's called the 30-day Song Challenge.

Now, along with video games, I am kind of a music nut. I'm not into the "pretentious" indie scene or heavy metal or rap or classic rock or classical or anything like that--except to say that, in a way, I'm into all of that stuff. I enjoy all music and have a rather extensive collection that I have gathered throughout the years (most legally...some less so). So this challenge tweaked my interest just right since I have so many songs to choose from. Besides that, I enjoy using music to enhance my moods and emotions and that's pretty much exactly what this is.

So, before I begin, here are the "rules". If you want to do it yourself on Facebook or whatever, I'll list the days and their themes. Play along at home!

Day 01 - Your favorite song

Day 02 - Your least favorite song

Day 03 - A song that makes you happy

Day 04 - A song that makes you sad

Day 05 - A song that reminds you of someone

Day 06 - A song that reminds you of somewhere

Day 07 - A song that reminds you of a certain event

Day 08 - A song that you know all the words to

Day 09 - A song that you can dance to

Day 10 - A song that makes you fall asleep

Day 11 - A song from your favorite band

Day 12 - A song from a band that you hate

Day 13 - A song that is a guilty pleasure

Day 14 - A song that no one would expect you to love

Day 15 - A song that describes you

Day 16 - A song that you used to love but now hate

Day 17 - A song that you hear often on the radio

Day 18 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio

Day 19 - A song from your favorite album

Day 20 - A song that you listen to when you’re angry

Day 21 - A song that you listen to when you’re happy

Day 22 - A song that you listen to when you’re sad

Day 23 - A song that you want to play at your wedding

Day 24 - A song that you want to play at your funeral

Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh

Day 26 - A song that you can play on an instrument

Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play

Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty

Day 29 - A song from your childhood

Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year

I was going to do this all in one day just as a single blog...but it turned into quite an undertaking and I got hung up at about Day 5, so I suppose I should stick to the rules and do one day at a time. I guess I didn't stop to think how long a single blog with 30 days of music and commentary would be.

So, without further ado:

Day 1: Your favorite song

I don't really like that this is the very first day. Ask anyone this question and I'll bet 90% of the people asked won't be able to answer unless you allow them a couple of picks, so, as will become a common theme in this list, I will give a couple of my "favorite" songs. After all, this changes every year, week, and most days. Generally, how I judge my "favorite song" (and I do often think about what songs are my favorites) starts with songs I rarely, if ever, skip on my MP3 player (or change the station on the few times I listen to the radio). You'd be surprised at just how much this narrows the field down...

"Winners": Drive (The Cars) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKdDLhtvls and Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-O3kYrDPbI

Both of these songs are just viral to me. The melodies have been in my head for years and I just can't help singing along with them. Nothing in particular about either of these songs resonatewith me, emotionally or whatever, they're just the kinds of songs are stuck in my head for days (and, as mentioned above, I rarely skip on my MP3 player--in fact, I often seek them out).

"Runners Up" - Iris (Goo Goo Dolls) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIYOzL3cp5k and Good Riddance (Green Day) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLOkbW9yCI

I call these my "runners up" because, until fairly recently (this year or last year, I suppose), I would have called them both my favorite songs (don't ask why my "favorites" come in pairs...I don't know). All of the comments above are relevant to these as well, though I think the lyrics of these two songs are more resonant with me. Particularly "Good Riddance," it's just such a good song for endings, so to speak. I think they both fell out of my top spot, however, when people continued to use them all the damn time at graduations and what have you. They just got overdone.

Still, I do enjoy both songs. I just don't seek them out to listen to them so much anymore. In any case, they still deserve a spot in my "favorites" for how long they were, in fact, my favorites.

Honorable Mentions:

Livin' on a Prayer (Bon Jovi) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXsmGSnq3lE

I Wanna Be (Stance Punks) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_WYx0jKc-M (more on this one later)

Savior (Rise Against) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zECISXSYOw

King of Wishful Thinking (Go West) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtoaK9EUjto

Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari (Supercell?) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONVd7nfKE3g

And these are just ones that came off the top of my head. Once again, my "favorite" song is prone to change at random. I am a whimsical guy. I may deign to inform you when it does...but I doubt it. It could be that I'm missing some just because I haven't gone through my extensive list of music...but it's my opinion that a person's "favorite" song should be one that they can rattle off without a great deal of thought.