Students do not see teachers as human beings. Often they don’t see anyone who is significantly older than them as having the same range of emotions and challenges that they do. This is why when students see their teachers in the outside world (outside of school), they usually freak out a little, “WHAT? What are you doing in the…GROCERY STORE?!!” Yes, teachers eat food too and need to go to the grocery store too, and the reason why such a mundane task can be mind-blowing is that most students don’t see teachers as being anything but a teacher.
There are times I let them into part of who I am. Almost all of my students know about my dog, Buffy, and many of them have seen pictures and videos of my son as a baby. These glimpses into other facets of who I am, helps make me more relatable, more interesting and more human. For the most part this is a good thing, but it’s not always a slam-dunk.
Sometimes students have fixated on Buffy and keep bringing her up in class at inappropriate times. I’ve had other classes that simply could not transition from watching a funny Buffy video to doing work in class, so I’ve had to cut out sharing these things. I’m always a little sad when classes can’t handle these things, but it’s part of being a teacher your kids need you to be.
While distance between teachers and students is necessary, efforts to cross gap in appropriate ways is important to help the student see some depth in who their teachers are and build empathy for them as human beings.
The fact that students do not see us fully as human being is essential to remember when students do things or say things that feel hurtful. I’ve had my share of students say things about me to me and behind my back that weren’t nice. Also, I am constantly seeing students do things like tear apart a bulletin board display that I worked hard to create. It’s hard to not take these offenses personally.
As teachers we spend our energy to empathize with our students and take care of them. When students, the other party in this relationship don’t show empathy to teachers or don’t seem to care about how their actions might make a teacher feel, it can really sting. However as teachers we must remember that none of these things, no matter how personal they might feel in the moment, is about you as a human being, it’s about you as a teacher. And if, (which they shouldn’t) students saw and knew you as a full human being, they probably wouldn’t do things as often that are received as being hurtful.
Knowing this doesn’t meant that we don’t call kids out and push them to speak with more care and empathy, and knowing this doesn’t mean things that kids do, don’t hurt, even after a decade of doing this gig. Sometimes we show that pain to our kids, but more often than not we need to mute it and let them see it in a way that we can control. This is hard a lot of time and takes a great deal of energy all of the time. It's what we do for our students, but it is what makes it essential that we have the rest of our lives outside of teaching to be known and cared for as a human being.
Showing posts with label 1990s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1990s. Show all posts
Friday, June 2, 2017
Friday, August 21, 2015
Walls (Circus) - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
We walk through guarded. We learn as we grow up that we need to be cautious, that sometimes we can’t fully be ourselves with the people in our world. We put walls to protect ourselves.
Every time we have an emotional connection with someone, a brick of that wall evaporates. Sometimes it’s because we take a chance to share something about ourselves and other times it’s because we take the effort to look further beyond the wall.
I’ve been listening to Tom Petty’s “Walls (Circus)" non-stop since my wife and I had to say goodbye to a dear friend who was moving way. “Walls (Circus)” has always been my favorite Tom Petty song. It’s from 1996, the age when movie soundtracks ruled the charts and while I didn’t even see the Jennifer Anniston film She’s the One that this song is from, I’ve never forgotten this song.
There are times when a song so perfectly matches how you feel that even though you don’t fully understand what you are feeling. And by listening to the song that somehow fits, everything just makes more sense.
The lyrics don't perfectly describe this person and our relationship. However, there are lines that resonate. Our friend does has have a huge heart, and the lines about things being over and things moving on really do seem to speak to this difficult transitions in all our lives.
This song is about the dichotomies in life and how difficult it is to make it through. It’s about how we have these barricades and walls not only between people we meet but also with difficulties we face in life. It’s an important reminded that as distant as we may feel from the people around us and as difficult as life can be, walls do fall down.
This song is about more than hope. It’s about believing that with the love we share, joy in life is inevitable.
Distance has been a part of relationships in my life for as long as I can remember. I had family in Taiwan, I moved away from college and after college people moved away from me. It doesn't get easier. You can choose to keep your distance from people for fear that they will move away or that a friendship will end. It's so easy to game out how something will not work and it's so hard to look past these doubts. It's a choice, and the hard choice is what life is all about. Every time you take down a wall with someone else, it makes it that much easier to do it again and embrace the people in your life.
There is a wall between who you see yourself as and who you really are and only with the love of people who really see you, can you bring down that wall and love yourself.
The distance between our friend will cause challenges, but it is a wall that will fall down. Once upon a time, all I knew of this person was her name, and less than two years later, I'm having trouble imagining her not being around. As past walls fell down, I know this new one will fall as well.
Some days are diamonds and some days are rocks. But these days while lived apart, are more meaningful and beautiful, because we know there is someone out there thinking of us as we hold them in our hearts.
Every time we have an emotional connection with someone, a brick of that wall evaporates. Sometimes it’s because we take a chance to share something about ourselves and other times it’s because we take the effort to look further beyond the wall.
I’ve been listening to Tom Petty’s “Walls (Circus)" non-stop since my wife and I had to say goodbye to a dear friend who was moving way. “Walls (Circus)” has always been my favorite Tom Petty song. It’s from 1996, the age when movie soundtracks ruled the charts and while I didn’t even see the Jennifer Anniston film She’s the One that this song is from, I’ve never forgotten this song.
There are times when a song so perfectly matches how you feel that even though you don’t fully understand what you are feeling. And by listening to the song that somehow fits, everything just makes more sense.
The lyrics don't perfectly describe this person and our relationship. However, there are lines that resonate. Our friend does has have a huge heart, and the lines about things being over and things moving on really do seem to speak to this difficult transitions in all our lives.
This song is about the dichotomies in life and how difficult it is to make it through. It’s about how we have these barricades and walls not only between people we meet but also with difficulties we face in life. It’s an important reminded that as distant as we may feel from the people around us and as difficult as life can be, walls do fall down.
This song is about more than hope. It’s about believing that with the love we share, joy in life is inevitable.
Distance has been a part of relationships in my life for as long as I can remember. I had family in Taiwan, I moved away from college and after college people moved away from me. It doesn't get easier. You can choose to keep your distance from people for fear that they will move away or that a friendship will end. It's so easy to game out how something will not work and it's so hard to look past these doubts. It's a choice, and the hard choice is what life is all about. Every time you take down a wall with someone else, it makes it that much easier to do it again and embrace the people in your life.
There is a wall between who you see yourself as and who you really are and only with the love of people who really see you, can you bring down that wall and love yourself.
The distance between our friend will cause challenges, but it is a wall that will fall down. Once upon a time, all I knew of this person was her name, and less than two years later, I'm having trouble imagining her not being around. As past walls fell down, I know this new one will fall as well.
Some days are diamonds and some days are rocks. But these days while lived apart, are more meaningful and beautiful, because we know there is someone out there thinking of us as we hold them in our hearts.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Monday, August 26, 2013
If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time by R. Kelly
Conversation between me and Diana as we were sorting through storage boxes:
D: Do you want this cd?
K: prob not. . . Wait a sec. . . OH MY GOD! Yes!!
D: Are you sure? I mean it's not . . .
K: Give it to me NOW!.
The CD in question was “Now That’s What I Call Music 3.”
For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, the “Now That’s What I Call Music” was a series of compilation CD’s of current popular songs. If you watched MTV and VH1 regularly like I did growing up, you were used to seeing television commercials for these CDs ALL of the time.
Believe it or not the series is still going on and is up to number 43. While the television commercials don’t seem as prevalent, someone out there must still be buying these things.
After listening to this CD over the past week.,I’ve come to the some conclusions about the state of pop music as represented by this CD in 1999.
Enrique Iglesias is shockingly sensual. “Bailamos” is absolutely astounding in its level of “heat.”
I still don’t care about what Limp Bizkit will do for the “Nookie.” This song is all immature bravado and doesn’t describe any real substance.
Oh, K-Ci & Jojo, I believe that you want to hear that it’s real.
And then there’s R. Kelly – Mr. “Trapped In the Closet, went on trial for doing things that I get creeped out even thinking about thinking about, wave around arms like just weird conducting that choir in the end of the “I Believe I Can Fly” video.”
“If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time” was not a huge hit for R. Kelly. However this song, a beautiful mixture of “Unchained Melody” and 1970s soul is a powerful, emotional and touching ballad. R. Kelly’s schmaltz can be a bit much and it definitely feels melodramatic but this is an example of when this was done right.
The sentiment in this song of regret is instantly relatable (unlike the call for needing a city like Gotham).
Instead of projecting a “playa” image, R. Kelly portrays a man who feels at a loss, who has weakness and surprisingly vulnerability. The reflections that R. Kelly makes are simple but insightful. For example, “You had enough love for the both of us” is a powerful realization of how much his partner had to give and how little he gave. Also this describes how blind he was to the blessings in his life.
What really feels timeless about this song is that if Jimmy Ruffin sang this song in the 1960s or Adele sang it right now, it would be a hit.
R. Kelly through his career sometimes seems to have become a caricature of himself. It’s easy to forget that behind the bravado and the controversy, you have a great singer who understands his place in popular music. As “Now That’s What I Call Music 3,” takes me back to another time in my life, there’s some things that I’m glad I forgot about like “Nookie,” but others things I’m glad I rediscovered.
D: Do you want this cd?
K: prob not. . . Wait a sec. . . OH MY GOD! Yes!!
D: Are you sure? I mean it's not . . .
K: Give it to me NOW!.
The CD in question was “Now That’s What I Call Music 3.”
For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, the “Now That’s What I Call Music” was a series of compilation CD’s of current popular songs. If you watched MTV and VH1 regularly like I did growing up, you were used to seeing television commercials for these CDs ALL of the time.
Believe it or not the series is still going on and is up to number 43. While the television commercials don’t seem as prevalent, someone out there must still be buying these things.
After listening to this CD over the past week.,I’ve come to the some conclusions about the state of pop music as represented by this CD in 1999.
Enrique Iglesias is shockingly sensual. “Bailamos” is absolutely astounding in its level of “heat.”
I still don’t care about what Limp Bizkit will do for the “Nookie.” This song is all immature bravado and doesn’t describe any real substance.
Oh, K-Ci & Jojo, I believe that you want to hear that it’s real.
And then there’s R. Kelly – Mr. “Trapped In the Closet, went on trial for doing things that I get creeped out even thinking about thinking about, wave around arms like just weird conducting that choir in the end of the “I Believe I Can Fly” video.”
“If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time” was not a huge hit for R. Kelly. However this song, a beautiful mixture of “Unchained Melody” and 1970s soul is a powerful, emotional and touching ballad. R. Kelly’s schmaltz can be a bit much and it definitely feels melodramatic but this is an example of when this was done right.
The sentiment in this song of regret is instantly relatable (unlike the call for needing a city like Gotham).
Instead of projecting a “playa” image, R. Kelly portrays a man who feels at a loss, who has weakness and surprisingly vulnerability. The reflections that R. Kelly makes are simple but insightful. For example, “You had enough love for the both of us” is a powerful realization of how much his partner had to give and how little he gave. Also this describes how blind he was to the blessings in his life.
What really feels timeless about this song is that if Jimmy Ruffin sang this song in the 1960s or Adele sang it right now, it would be a hit.
R. Kelly through his career sometimes seems to have become a caricature of himself. It’s easy to forget that behind the bravado and the controversy, you have a great singer who understands his place in popular music. As “Now That’s What I Call Music 3,” takes me back to another time in my life, there’s some things that I’m glad I forgot about like “Nookie,” but others things I’m glad I rediscovered.
Monday, August 12, 2013
I Don’t Wanna Fight by Tina Turner
What is a normal amount of fighting in a relationship? Is a screaming match healthy if it happens once a month or once a week? Is it okay if the fighting goes beyond the verbal to the physical?
People have a wide variety of what they consider a “normal” amount of fighting. These expectations are usually set up from observing their parent’s relationship. In my view physical fitting is never okay and which most people agree with but at the I also think that it’s never okay to raise your voice to someone you love. Some families and yelling isn’t necessarily out of bounds, but its’ just not something that my wife and I feel is appropriate.
I’ve been thinking a lot about conflict in relationships lately. Tina Tuner’s reflective and powerful call for understanding, “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” has helped me put some things in perspective.
“I Don’t Wanna Fight,” was part of the soundtrack to the biopic about Turner, What’s Love Got To Do With It. This film, one of the best films about a musician, shows Turner’s rise to stardom but also the abusive relationship she endured with Ike Turner and how she broke free and reinvented herself.
There are so many remarkable things about Tina Turner and the message of “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” showcases the most amazing part of her story. Turner has every right to be better, hateful and angry not only at Ike for the troubles in her life but also God and the cosmos for putting her through what she endured. Her response instead is that “it’s time for letting go.”
When someone has wronged you, they can apologize and you can be mad at them. You can fight it out and scream at each other but after all the dust is settled, it’s your responsibility to let go of the past, the hurt emotions, the bitterness and move on with your life. If you don’t the anger will fester in your soul and continue to make you unhappy. The only person who can do anything about that is you.
Letting go is one of the hardest things to learn how to do in life, but it’s one of the most important.
Fighting and winning is overrated. When you best someone you love in a fight, you may win and that’s great but it’s at the price of someone you care about loosing. If you enjoy conflict and have a winning spirit, that’s great, go play basketball, however keep this out of your relationship. Even when you win against your partner you lose.
If fighting helps you and your partner be more open and honest with each other, great, than have it out. Here’s the thing though, for most of us, fighting an is unproductive expression of insecurities, hurt and misunderstanding. No one really wants to fight. So stop it.
People have a wide variety of what they consider a “normal” amount of fighting. These expectations are usually set up from observing their parent’s relationship. In my view physical fitting is never okay and which most people agree with but at the I also think that it’s never okay to raise your voice to someone you love. Some families and yelling isn’t necessarily out of bounds, but its’ just not something that my wife and I feel is appropriate.
I’ve been thinking a lot about conflict in relationships lately. Tina Tuner’s reflective and powerful call for understanding, “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” has helped me put some things in perspective.
“I Don’t Wanna Fight,” was part of the soundtrack to the biopic about Turner, What’s Love Got To Do With It. This film, one of the best films about a musician, shows Turner’s rise to stardom but also the abusive relationship she endured with Ike Turner and how she broke free and reinvented herself.
There are so many remarkable things about Tina Turner and the message of “I Don’t Wanna Fight,” showcases the most amazing part of her story. Turner has every right to be better, hateful and angry not only at Ike for the troubles in her life but also God and the cosmos for putting her through what she endured. Her response instead is that “it’s time for letting go.”
When someone has wronged you, they can apologize and you can be mad at them. You can fight it out and scream at each other but after all the dust is settled, it’s your responsibility to let go of the past, the hurt emotions, the bitterness and move on with your life. If you don’t the anger will fester in your soul and continue to make you unhappy. The only person who can do anything about that is you.
Letting go is one of the hardest things to learn how to do in life, but it’s one of the most important.
Fighting and winning is overrated. When you best someone you love in a fight, you may win and that’s great but it’s at the price of someone you care about loosing. If you enjoy conflict and have a winning spirit, that’s great, go play basketball, however keep this out of your relationship. Even when you win against your partner you lose.
If fighting helps you and your partner be more open and honest with each other, great, than have it out. Here’s the thing though, for most of us, fighting an is unproductive expression of insecurities, hurt and misunderstanding. No one really wants to fight. So stop it.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Year 3: Week 33 – One Day More
One of the signs of a healthy school is that once in a while the teachers and administrators get together to have some fun and show the student body that while they take their jobs seriously, they don’t take themselves too seriously.
At my school there’s the annual M&D show. It’s a combination of mash-ups, sketches and music videos. Two years ago, I was in a music video, last year I helped arrange a rap song on elementary school music instruments and this year I taught a group of seniors, juniors, administrators, teachers and staff members a parody of “One Day More” from Les Miserables.
“One Day More” is the “everyone sing about the conflicts they are currently dealing with at the same time”-song which echoes back to Bernstein’s “Tonight,” from West Side Story.
This was literally the last idea I came up with for the finale of this show. When the people organizing the show asked for some ideas I came up with about twenty and on a whim, I threw in “On Day More.” And of course it ended up being the one they wanted to do.
So we met a couple times and re-wrote the lyrics. The seniors were going to sing about leaving the school and the juniors were going to sing about becoming seniors. The administration and staff sang about the fact that they have to work over the summer when the teachers and students are away and the teachers sang about finishing their grade reports. (I walk on from the left side of the screen at 1:50, in a dark blue vest and red tie).
Teaching juniors and seniors was kind of refreshing, even though we met an hour before school started. I taught high school for two years at my first teaching job and I was pleasantly surprised at their attention and the how quickly they learned the music.
The administration, staff members and teachers were a different story. It wasn’t that they didn’t learn the music well. It was just tricky to teach them. I couldn’t really “teacher" them, because I wasn’t acting so much as a teacher but something completely different.
We wanted to have the adults sound good on stage but the rehearsals needed to be fun. We met multiple times early before school and it was important that this time was productive but also fun. This was our time to bond, to catch up and to really enjoy being together as a community by doing something kind of absurd.
Instead of waiting for everyone to be quiet before starting as I would with kids, I just barreled through conversations. Between repetitions, I let the group chat and I didn’t try to quell laughter when someone would made a joke. With some sarcastic yelling coming from me, weird analogies and over the top conducting we got it done and put on a good performance.
While it was a challenge to teach the group this song, it was a lot of fun. It’s a weird feeling to teach teachers, but it’s also really rewarding because they get what you are trying to do. Putting this together took a lot of time and some people may think that we are crazy for spending so much time on something like this. They're wrong, because it's doing things like this that makes a school a community and brings meaning to what we teach.
At my school there’s the annual M&D show. It’s a combination of mash-ups, sketches and music videos. Two years ago, I was in a music video, last year I helped arrange a rap song on elementary school music instruments and this year I taught a group of seniors, juniors, administrators, teachers and staff members a parody of “One Day More” from Les Miserables.
“One Day More” is the “everyone sing about the conflicts they are currently dealing with at the same time”-song which echoes back to Bernstein’s “Tonight,” from West Side Story.
This was literally the last idea I came up with for the finale of this show. When the people organizing the show asked for some ideas I came up with about twenty and on a whim, I threw in “On Day More.” And of course it ended up being the one they wanted to do.
So we met a couple times and re-wrote the lyrics. The seniors were going to sing about leaving the school and the juniors were going to sing about becoming seniors. The administration and staff sang about the fact that they have to work over the summer when the teachers and students are away and the teachers sang about finishing their grade reports. (I walk on from the left side of the screen at 1:50, in a dark blue vest and red tie).
Teaching juniors and seniors was kind of refreshing, even though we met an hour before school started. I taught high school for two years at my first teaching job and I was pleasantly surprised at their attention and the how quickly they learned the music.
The administration, staff members and teachers were a different story. It wasn’t that they didn’t learn the music well. It was just tricky to teach them. I couldn’t really “teacher" them, because I wasn’t acting so much as a teacher but something completely different.
We wanted to have the adults sound good on stage but the rehearsals needed to be fun. We met multiple times early before school and it was important that this time was productive but also fun. This was our time to bond, to catch up and to really enjoy being together as a community by doing something kind of absurd.
Instead of waiting for everyone to be quiet before starting as I would with kids, I just barreled through conversations. Between repetitions, I let the group chat and I didn’t try to quell laughter when someone would made a joke. With some sarcastic yelling coming from me, weird analogies and over the top conducting we got it done and put on a good performance.
While it was a challenge to teach the group this song, it was a lot of fun. It’s a weird feeling to teach teachers, but it’s also really rewarding because they get what you are trying to do. Putting this together took a lot of time and some people may think that we are crazy for spending so much time on something like this. They're wrong, because it's doing things like this that makes a school a community and brings meaning to what we teach.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Father of Mine by Everclear
“The classic parent attitude with a kid is like, ‘I brought you into this world, I gave you life.’ . . . I just think completely opposite, my kids gave me life."
-Flea of the Red Hot Chili PeppersSome say that we are destined to become like our parents when we become parents ourselves. This is a scary for many people, even those who have great parents that they love. The things we hate about our parents are the things we don’t like about ourselves and in becoming a parent we are forced to face these insecurities.
Thankfully for kids all over the world, people can fight that destiny and become better than their parents when they step into that role. The film The Other F Word takes a look at punk rock musicians dealing with fatherhood.
At first this film simply seems like a comical look at seeing guys with tattoos deal with doing ordinary things like helping their daughters pick out clothes for the day. What is revealed however is that this is a group of men defying destiny to become great dads.
Punk is a genre of music that takes the rebellious themes of rock music and amplifies them with anger, hatred and an uncomfortable rawness. A lot of these emotions come out of the fact that these musicians had absent, abusive or emotionally distant fathers. This bitterness and anger led to their music but also their choices as fathers.
Art Alexakis of Everclear is featured playing “Father of Mine,” in this film as he tells the story of the relationship he had with his father.
This song tells the story of his father, leaving Art and his mother at a young age. Art fills out this story in the film talking about sexual abuse he suffered as a kid and the feelings of never being sane or safe which he sings about in the song.
You can hear anger in this song but there’s more than that. There’s a sadness and a determination as he sings towards the end, “With a child of my own . . . I swear I’m not going to let her know all the pain I have known. “ It’s seems somehow tragic but also triumphant as Art unpacks his feelings but then turns this frustration and hate into love.
The most powerful thing about "Father Of Mine," and The Other F Word is that shows us that no matter what we are born into, we are not destined to repeat the sins of our fathers. It's not easy but its possible. Abandoned children can become great parents, outcasts can contribute to our society by raising great children and anger can become love.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) by Billy Joel
Almost ten years ago, Billy Joel released his last pop album, River Of Dreams. In the eleven albums leading up to River Of Dreams, Joel created an astonishing catalog of popular music and left and unforgettable mark on popular music.
Joel’s music grew out of his working class background and developed through the nostalgia he had of the 1960s, the cynicism of the 1970s and the complexities of the 1980s. When the 1990s hit, Joel’s artistic maturity hit a peak and we got some of his most powerful and personal works of his life.
Joel was no longer an angry young man or a piano lounge singer. He found himself in the 1990s a husband a father. To express this sentiment, he took a instrumental piano prelude that he developed into a Latin chant and turned it into one of the most famous lullabies in popular music.
Billy Joel often speaks of the influence of western classical art music on his compositions. This is very clear in this song with harmonies and piano writing that echoes the works of Beethoven and Chopin. He is writing in a monophonic style where most of the parts of moving together in the same rhythm as the harmonies progress.
Just listening to the piano part itself, it seems like an odd choice to put lullabye lyrics to it but this juxtaposition really works. The formality in character of the piano part presents these words from the perspective of an older generation. Having these tender and intimate lyrics come from a voice which does not normally express such sentiment makes the song feel that much more special.
The lyrics demonstrate the struggle of parenthood. In the first verse, he’s not able to answer all of her questions. In the second verse, he’s left with so many more things he wants to say. In his child, Joel realizes what he doesn’t understand and what he can’t explain. Instead of focusing on this failure, he reassures his daughter of his love.
Joel writes lyrics that when you first hear them have a clear meaning. Then later, other lyrics make those previous words in retrospect mean something very different. In the first verse he promises, “no matter where you are, I never will be far away. “ This seems like a comforting reassurance to a child that isn’t necessarily true in the literal sense. Then later in the song he sings, “someday your child may cry and if you sing this lullaby . . . there will always be a part of me.” Joel ends the song acknowledge that he will be gone and it is in the lullabye that they will be together.
I have so many questions about life. I know my son will have even more questions than I do, and there will probably be many times I will not have answers. "Lullabye" reminds us that this is okay. We don't have to always know what to say as long as we share our love with the angels in our lives.
Joel’s music grew out of his working class background and developed through the nostalgia he had of the 1960s, the cynicism of the 1970s and the complexities of the 1980s. When the 1990s hit, Joel’s artistic maturity hit a peak and we got some of his most powerful and personal works of his life.
Joel was no longer an angry young man or a piano lounge singer. He found himself in the 1990s a husband a father. To express this sentiment, he took a instrumental piano prelude that he developed into a Latin chant and turned it into one of the most famous lullabies in popular music.
Billy Joel often speaks of the influence of western classical art music on his compositions. This is very clear in this song with harmonies and piano writing that echoes the works of Beethoven and Chopin. He is writing in a monophonic style where most of the parts of moving together in the same rhythm as the harmonies progress.
Just listening to the piano part itself, it seems like an odd choice to put lullabye lyrics to it but this juxtaposition really works. The formality in character of the piano part presents these words from the perspective of an older generation. Having these tender and intimate lyrics come from a voice which does not normally express such sentiment makes the song feel that much more special.
The lyrics demonstrate the struggle of parenthood. In the first verse, he’s not able to answer all of her questions. In the second verse, he’s left with so many more things he wants to say. In his child, Joel realizes what he doesn’t understand and what he can’t explain. Instead of focusing on this failure, he reassures his daughter of his love.
Joel writes lyrics that when you first hear them have a clear meaning. Then later, other lyrics make those previous words in retrospect mean something very different. In the first verse he promises, “no matter where you are, I never will be far away. “ This seems like a comforting reassurance to a child that isn’t necessarily true in the literal sense. Then later in the song he sings, “someday your child may cry and if you sing this lullaby . . . there will always be a part of me.” Joel ends the song acknowledge that he will be gone and it is in the lullabye that they will be together.
I have so many questions about life. I know my son will have even more questions than I do, and there will probably be many times I will not have answers. "Lullabye" reminds us that this is okay. We don't have to always know what to say as long as we share our love with the angels in our lives.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Gettin' Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith
“That’s not really rap music. It doesn’t have any swearing.”My students seem to have the most misconceptions about the music they like the best. One of those genres that many of my students talk about with some authority is rap music. When I teach about rap music I usually open up the conversation to get some ideas about what kids think about rap music. Some common misconceptions they tell me are that rap artists are only men, all rap music is about being a" gangsta" and that all rap needs utlizes explicit language.
-8th grade student
I dispute all of these things and use The Beastie Boys to teach about rap (which I talk about in this post ). The thing that astounded me this year was that some of my students argued that The Beastie Boys were not actually performing rap music. I patiently explained to them the The Beastie Boys were in fact one of the most important and influential rap groups of all time, though I’m not sure they believed me.
I wonder what they would say if I told them about how Will Smith used to be the Fresh Prince and how he still rocks the mic with mad skills (while keeping it clean).
When teaching about rap music, I often consider using some of Will Smith’s works, but the problem is that he work is too complex. Unlike “Intergalactic,” Smith places his rhymes of different beats, changes rhymes schemes quickly and adjusts phrase lengths within verses. One great example of this is with his 1998 smash “Gettin' Jiggy wit It.”
He immediately his the first verse with a clever phrase with rhymes almost every other word.: “Let’s go, dance floor pro, I know, you know, I go psy-cho.” He throws the accents on the off beat and come out of this pattern as easily as he get into.
The beginning of the second stanza is just a slick:
Everybody lookin' at me,Instead of creating pauses when he hits a rhyme, he goes straight into the next line rapping between the phrases as opposed to simply landing on them. When you analyze the different ways he places rhymes on beats, it’s dizzying.
Glancin' the kid,
wishin' they was dancin' a jig
Here with this handsome kid
It’s amazing how well Will Smith performs. He’s moving around the stage with so much energy and personality. Smith is a rapper that makes what he does seem so easy, but when you try to do it just like him, you might fall trying to do what he did.
I grew up watching Will Smith on television and listening to him as a rap artist. I respect his success as a film actor, but I can’t wait for him to pick up the mic and return as rap’s most important royalty.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Blame It On The Rain by Milli Vanilli
At first the story of Milli Vanilli was one of triumph. Then it became one of scandal and finally it ended in tragedy.
When Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus signed on to be the faces of the pop group Milli Vanilli, they had no idea how it would change their lives.
Producer Frank Farian, after recording an pop album, felt that he needed a more marketable duo so he hired Fab and Rob. The album Girl You Know It’s True went on to be a Grammy winning success.
Then during a live performance, the track they were lip-syncing to started to skip and the truth about the record came out. Then the scandal erupted and they had to give their Grammy’s back. After being butt of jokes for years and finally being able to tell their side of the story on VH1’s Behind The Music, Milli Vanilli began work on an new album that would feature their own voice. Sadly on Arpil 2, 1998, Rob Pilatus was found dead in a hotel. His death was ruled and accidental drug and alcohol overdose.
When I think about Milli Vanilli, it always makes me sad. People overreacted. Look, I know they lied and they mislead the public, but we’re talking lip-syncing. It would be one thing it they performed on stage as classical musicians. These are pop musicians who are dancing around in a way that makes it nigh impossible for them to sing well without at least a backing track.
Getting offended or surprised by a pop singer lip-syncing, is like getting angry about the fact the McDonalds is selling you previously frozen food. Yes, Milli Vanilli took it one step further by not even singing on the original recording but in the world of music scandals (which includes murder, shootings and extortion), this is a pretty minor offense.
The lead single “Girl You Know It’s True,” is really silly and campy. It’s dated, the rap is contrived and is pretty forgettable, but the other single from their album “Blame It On The Rain” really has heart.
I came across this video of Fab performing this song live and it was really touching. After everything Fab has been through, he’s making it happen on stage. These guys were put through such a ridiculous media storm and all they were doing was trying to entertain people.
There’s really not a more perfect song than “Blame It On The Rain,” to reflect about the legacy of Milli Vanilli. Sometimes focusing on who’s to blame isn’t the important thing. Did Fab and Rob deserve to be punished for what they did? I’m not sure, but they did get punished. I’m not saying that we should take blame for Rob’s death, but our reaction couldn’t have helped.
The reason we look for blame is to provide us a way to move forward. Sometimes we can do this without beating ourselves up or punishing someone else. No, that’s not a cop-out, sometimes it’s the best thing to do, because mistakes lie with the people who make them whether or not we can see that clearly.
Producer Frank Farian, after recording an pop album, felt that he needed a more marketable duo so he hired Fab and Rob. The album Girl You Know It’s True went on to be a Grammy winning success.
Then during a live performance, the track they were lip-syncing to started to skip and the truth about the record came out. Then the scandal erupted and they had to give their Grammy’s back. After being butt of jokes for years and finally being able to tell their side of the story on VH1’s Behind The Music, Milli Vanilli began work on an new album that would feature their own voice. Sadly on Arpil 2, 1998, Rob Pilatus was found dead in a hotel. His death was ruled and accidental drug and alcohol overdose.
When I think about Milli Vanilli, it always makes me sad. People overreacted. Look, I know they lied and they mislead the public, but we’re talking lip-syncing. It would be one thing it they performed on stage as classical musicians. These are pop musicians who are dancing around in a way that makes it nigh impossible for them to sing well without at least a backing track.
Getting offended or surprised by a pop singer lip-syncing, is like getting angry about the fact the McDonalds is selling you previously frozen food. Yes, Milli Vanilli took it one step further by not even singing on the original recording but in the world of music scandals (which includes murder, shootings and extortion), this is a pretty minor offense.
The lead single “Girl You Know It’s True,” is really silly and campy. It’s dated, the rap is contrived and is pretty forgettable, but the other single from their album “Blame It On The Rain” really has heart.
I came across this video of Fab performing this song live and it was really touching. After everything Fab has been through, he’s making it happen on stage. These guys were put through such a ridiculous media storm and all they were doing was trying to entertain people.
There’s really not a more perfect song than “Blame It On The Rain,” to reflect about the legacy of Milli Vanilli. Sometimes focusing on who’s to blame isn’t the important thing. Did Fab and Rob deserve to be punished for what they did? I’m not sure, but they did get punished. I’m not saying that we should take blame for Rob’s death, but our reaction couldn’t have helped.
The reason we look for blame is to provide us a way to move forward. Sometimes we can do this without beating ourselves up or punishing someone else. No, that’s not a cop-out, sometimes it’s the best thing to do, because mistakes lie with the people who make them whether or not we can see that clearly.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Again by Janet Jackson
Michael Jackson’s little sister grew up before our eyes.
First there was her time as a child actress and then there was her evolution as a pop music icon. The moment when Janet Jackson became more than simply Michael’s younger sister was in 1993 when she released Janet.
The album cover, first seen on the cover of Rolling Stone shocked the world. I still remember a girl in my middle school who came to school with a t-shirt that had this image, being sent to the principal’s office and being forced to wear that shirt inside out for the rest of the day.
Janet backed up the controversy surrounding this image with great music. “If,” is a thunderous and aggressive dance song with a clever sample of a Motown classic and “That’s The Way Love Goes,” is a groovy, relaxed and unforgettable R & B classic. These songs demonstrated a strength and confidence but the song that always got to me was “Again,” which showed a more vulnerable and sensitive side of Janet.
As a middle school boy, this video blew my mind. There was something about this video that combined Janet’s beauty with a gentle sensuality that was so much more memorable and powerful than many “sexy,” videos of that time or that I’ve seen sense. There’s giggling, there’s fun, there’s anticipation and then there’s the quiet moments, a look in that eye that lingers in the memory like a ghost that you want to go away but you hope never leaves.
There’s not a lot of songs that deal with the aftereffects of a break-up this way. We don’t’ want to show that we actually want to get back together with that person after its over. The strength is in being “Stronger,” like Kelly Clarkson, but the reality is that most break-ups involve the feelings that Janet deals with in “Again.”
She’s conflicted. Janet sings about the tears and the pain, and while she seems to resolves that she’s not going to go through this again, she doesn’t know if she’s strong enough to not fall in love again.
The songs climax’s as Janet sings with anger “Don't you stand there and then tell me, you love me, then leave again!” Then with a trembling voice Janet realizes that she is falling in love again.
There's strength in walking away from a relationship but there's also strength in facing your feelings and taking a chance. It's not easy to open yourself up to somebody because the more open you are, the more likely that you will get hurt. Do people deserve a second chance like Janet's love in "Again"? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the circumstance. However we should always strive for the strength to give ourselves a second chance and take a chance for love.
First there was her time as a child actress and then there was her evolution as a pop music icon. The moment when Janet Jackson became more than simply Michael’s younger sister was in 1993 when she released Janet.
The album cover, first seen on the cover of Rolling Stone shocked the world. I still remember a girl in my middle school who came to school with a t-shirt that had this image, being sent to the principal’s office and being forced to wear that shirt inside out for the rest of the day.
Janet backed up the controversy surrounding this image with great music. “If,” is a thunderous and aggressive dance song with a clever sample of a Motown classic and “That’s The Way Love Goes,” is a groovy, relaxed and unforgettable R & B classic. These songs demonstrated a strength and confidence but the song that always got to me was “Again,” which showed a more vulnerable and sensitive side of Janet.
As a middle school boy, this video blew my mind. There was something about this video that combined Janet’s beauty with a gentle sensuality that was so much more memorable and powerful than many “sexy,” videos of that time or that I’ve seen sense. There’s giggling, there’s fun, there’s anticipation and then there’s the quiet moments, a look in that eye that lingers in the memory like a ghost that you want to go away but you hope never leaves.
There’s not a lot of songs that deal with the aftereffects of a break-up this way. We don’t’ want to show that we actually want to get back together with that person after its over. The strength is in being “Stronger,” like Kelly Clarkson, but the reality is that most break-ups involve the feelings that Janet deals with in “Again.”
She’s conflicted. Janet sings about the tears and the pain, and while she seems to resolves that she’s not going to go through this again, she doesn’t know if she’s strong enough to not fall in love again.
The songs climax’s as Janet sings with anger “Don't you stand there and then tell me, you love me, then leave again!” Then with a trembling voice Janet realizes that she is falling in love again.
There's strength in walking away from a relationship but there's also strength in facing your feelings and taking a chance. It's not easy to open yourself up to somebody because the more open you are, the more likely that you will get hurt. Do people deserve a second chance like Janet's love in "Again"? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the circumstance. However we should always strive for the strength to give ourselves a second chance and take a chance for love.
Monday, January 14, 2013
On My Own by Samantha Barks (from Les Misérables)
“I’m on TEAM EPONINE!”
Like the Edward, Jacob and Bella debate, the Internet erupted in a similar Eponine, Cosette and Marius discussion with the release of the film version of Les Misérables (which I discussed in this earlier post).
Okay, actually there really wasn’t really much of that but I wish there was.
The story of Cosette, Eponine and Marius could be made into a musical or film by itself. Cosette was raised by Eponine’s corrupt parents. As children, Eponine was treated well as Cosette was basically treated like a slave. Cosette sing the heartbreaking “Castle On The Cloud,” song as she dreams of a better life.
Then things flip around dramatically. Cosette gets taken away by Jean Valjean and is raised in luxury while Eponine stays with her parents and is raised on the streets. While Cosette lives in wealth and comfort, Eponine is subject to helping her parents in a life of crime.
Eponine pines after her friend Marius, who then falls in love with Cosette and the once fascinating character becomes an infatuated lover without any true depth (and no interesting songs in the second half). Eponine's story comes forth as one of the most powerful and tragic parts of the musical.
This turn occurs with the song “On My Own.”
So much talk around Les Misérables is focused on Anne Hathaways’s portrayal of Fatine and her performance of “I Dreamed A Dream,” and its well deserved, however Samantha Bark’s Eponine and virtuosic “On My Own,” is just as amazing and deserves as much fanfare.
Samantha Bark’s was discovered on the BBC talent show, I’d Do Anything in 2008. She went on to play Eponine in the London production of Les Misérables and played this part in the 2010, 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables.
She did this part on Broadway and did the jump to the film which is a challenging thing to do as the different mediums require very different skills.
She’s the real deal.
“On My Own,” is a self-reflective and conflicted song full of hope and the harsh realities of life. The song opens with Eponine fantasizing about being with Marius. The world seems beautiful and magical as she lives in this fantasy and Bark’s eye light up as she sings the words, “on my own,” as only her solitude can bring her the joy of this fantasy.
She almost giggles with the lyrics “he has found me.” There’s a teenage-like glee in her voice, but also a dark maturity. In many ways she has been forced to grow up but there is still this girl inside of her.
Then reality sets in. In the middle of the songs, Eponine shakes off the fantasy and she tells herself the truth about Marius and her own life. She hold sback tears as she angrily beats herself down as she sings “talking to my self. . . ” but somehow she feels that there is still hope.
She is renewed with the words, “I love him,” but that is quickly dashed away. The world that once seemed magical, is nothing special, “the river is just a river.” The song climaxes, not with hope, but with sadness of a spirit unfulfilled. By the end of the song the words “on my own,” are no longer a place to find happiness, but a curse, because only on her own can love Marius.
Barks does a remarkable job of hitting the variety of emotions in this song and taking the audience on a journey. We get a sense that her love for Marius is not some teenage infatuation but the representation of something more. Marius is Eponine's hope for a better life, a way out of her misery and for Cosette is something very different.
What Eponine ends up doing for Marius is heart-breaking. Barks’ portrays her Eponine's final moments in the film beautifully creating the most powerful death scene in the film (spoiler: everyone in Les Misérables dies).
Reconsider Samantha Barks. She's a young, talented singer and actress who has an incredible potential.
Maybe it's not so much that I'm on TEAM EPONINE, but rather TEAM SAMANTHA!
Like the Edward, Jacob and Bella debate, the Internet erupted in a similar Eponine, Cosette and Marius discussion with the release of the film version of Les Misérables (which I discussed in this earlier post).
Okay, actually there really wasn’t really much of that but I wish there was.
The story of Cosette, Eponine and Marius could be made into a musical or film by itself. Cosette was raised by Eponine’s corrupt parents. As children, Eponine was treated well as Cosette was basically treated like a slave. Cosette sing the heartbreaking “Castle On The Cloud,” song as she dreams of a better life.
Then things flip around dramatically. Cosette gets taken away by Jean Valjean and is raised in luxury while Eponine stays with her parents and is raised on the streets. While Cosette lives in wealth and comfort, Eponine is subject to helping her parents in a life of crime.
Eponine pines after her friend Marius, who then falls in love with Cosette and the once fascinating character becomes an infatuated lover without any true depth (and no interesting songs in the second half). Eponine's story comes forth as one of the most powerful and tragic parts of the musical.
This turn occurs with the song “On My Own.”
So much talk around Les Misérables is focused on Anne Hathaways’s portrayal of Fatine and her performance of “I Dreamed A Dream,” and its well deserved, however Samantha Bark’s Eponine and virtuosic “On My Own,” is just as amazing and deserves as much fanfare.
Samantha Bark’s was discovered on the BBC talent show, I’d Do Anything in 2008. She went on to play Eponine in the London production of Les Misérables and played this part in the 2010, 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables.
She did this part on Broadway and did the jump to the film which is a challenging thing to do as the different mediums require very different skills.
She’s the real deal.
“On My Own,” is a self-reflective and conflicted song full of hope and the harsh realities of life. The song opens with Eponine fantasizing about being with Marius. The world seems beautiful and magical as she lives in this fantasy and Bark’s eye light up as she sings the words, “on my own,” as only her solitude can bring her the joy of this fantasy.
She almost giggles with the lyrics “he has found me.” There’s a teenage-like glee in her voice, but also a dark maturity. In many ways she has been forced to grow up but there is still this girl inside of her.
Then reality sets in. In the middle of the songs, Eponine shakes off the fantasy and she tells herself the truth about Marius and her own life. She hold sback tears as she angrily beats herself down as she sings “talking to my self. . . ” but somehow she feels that there is still hope.
She is renewed with the words, “I love him,” but that is quickly dashed away. The world that once seemed magical, is nothing special, “the river is just a river.” The song climaxes, not with hope, but with sadness of a spirit unfulfilled. By the end of the song the words “on my own,” are no longer a place to find happiness, but a curse, because only on her own can love Marius.
Barks does a remarkable job of hitting the variety of emotions in this song and taking the audience on a journey. We get a sense that her love for Marius is not some teenage infatuation but the representation of something more. Marius is Eponine's hope for a better life, a way out of her misery and for Cosette is something very different.
What Eponine ends up doing for Marius is heart-breaking. Barks’ portrays her Eponine's final moments in the film beautifully creating the most powerful death scene in the film (spoiler: everyone in Les Misérables dies).
Reconsider Samantha Barks. She's a young, talented singer and actress who has an incredible potential.
Maybe it's not so much that I'm on TEAM EPONINE, but rather TEAM SAMANTHA!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) by The Proclaimers
Would you walk 500 miles to be with someone that you love?
Okay, let’s break this down. 500 miles is roughly the distance from Chicago, Illinois to Willmar, Minnesota. According to google maps it would take 165 hours to walk that distance. So let’s say seven miles of walking a day, and we have 23 days of walking. That’s like three weeks of doing nothing but walking!?!
I would totally walk for three weeks to fall down at my wife’s door, but I’m not sure I would walk 500 more. That’s like 6 weeks of walking. I’ve never done anything consistently in my life for six hours, so forget six weeks.
People making totally unrealistic statements of what they will do for someone they are in love with is something that makes absolutely no sense until you’ve been in love with someone. It’s not like people who are in love have reached some higher plain of understanding, it’s quite the opposite. Somewhere between love-drunk and over-romanticized ideas of love there’s a level of passion that pushes logic aside and convince people like Romeo and Juliet that getting married in hiding and faking death will end well.
As being “in love” simmers into “loving” someone, logic enters back into the picture and people are able to make educated decisions about their future, hence why you should wait a reasonable amount of time before getting married.
Here’s the thing, as weird and crazy as that "in-love" stage is, it’s kind of fun which is why songs like “I’m Gonna Be,” stick with us. We want to go back to that crazy feeling and remember what it feels like to think that we would do anything for our love.
Something about this song has simmered in our pop culture like in this appearance from Family Guy:
To one of my favorite episodes, "Arrivederci, Fiero," from How I Met Your Mother, which prominently featured this song.
Even though the delivery of this song is a little forceful, it’s really catchy and it’s hard to believe that it was originally released so long ago in 1988.
What really works about this song is not so much the chorus that stretches logic but confidence in the verse of how he will be with her. This isn’t a question or something to ponder about. He will be next to her through the good and the bad. That’s not unrealistic and the craziness of walking for three weeks makes it even more powerful.
If you've been in love and understand this song then have fun with it. If you haven't had that moment when all logic escapes your mind in the eyes of another, then come back to this song when that moments hits and you'll be singing along with this song.
Okay, let’s break this down. 500 miles is roughly the distance from Chicago, Illinois to Willmar, Minnesota. According to google maps it would take 165 hours to walk that distance. So let’s say seven miles of walking a day, and we have 23 days of walking. That’s like three weeks of doing nothing but walking!?!
I would totally walk for three weeks to fall down at my wife’s door, but I’m not sure I would walk 500 more. That’s like 6 weeks of walking. I’ve never done anything consistently in my life for six hours, so forget six weeks.
People making totally unrealistic statements of what they will do for someone they are in love with is something that makes absolutely no sense until you’ve been in love with someone. It’s not like people who are in love have reached some higher plain of understanding, it’s quite the opposite. Somewhere between love-drunk and over-romanticized ideas of love there’s a level of passion that pushes logic aside and convince people like Romeo and Juliet that getting married in hiding and faking death will end well.
As being “in love” simmers into “loving” someone, logic enters back into the picture and people are able to make educated decisions about their future, hence why you should wait a reasonable amount of time before getting married.
Here’s the thing, as weird and crazy as that "in-love" stage is, it’s kind of fun which is why songs like “I’m Gonna Be,” stick with us. We want to go back to that crazy feeling and remember what it feels like to think that we would do anything for our love.
Something about this song has simmered in our pop culture like in this appearance from Family Guy:
To one of my favorite episodes, "Arrivederci, Fiero," from How I Met Your Mother, which prominently featured this song.
Even though the delivery of this song is a little forceful, it’s really catchy and it’s hard to believe that it was originally released so long ago in 1988.
What really works about this song is not so much the chorus that stretches logic but confidence in the verse of how he will be with her. This isn’t a question or something to ponder about. He will be next to her through the good and the bad. That’s not unrealistic and the craziness of walking for three weeks makes it even more powerful.
If you've been in love and understand this song then have fun with it. If you haven't had that moment when all logic escapes your mind in the eyes of another, then come back to this song when that moments hits and you'll be singing along with this song.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) by Meat Loaf
Somewhere between Broadway show tunes, 1970s rock, and the melodrama of opera there is Meat Loaf.
I genuinely love Meat Loaf as a musician and actor. Sometimes articles about Meat Loaf and reviews look at him as a guilty pleasure, something that you know is not very good but you enjoy regardless.
The more I think about it, the more I dislike the idea of a guilty pleasure. It implies that you are ashamed of liking something. The only way that you can explain your love of a guilty pleasure is by admitting to people it isn’t very good so you aren’t embarrassed. But you should never feel embarrassed for enjoying a piece of art. And if someone makes fun of you for liking something they think is garbage, it’s there loss.
I’m here to say that Meat Loaf is a fantastic singer and his music, most of which was written by Jim Steinmen (who was also responsible for “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” and “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”) creates masterful, remarkable and powerful pop music. I don’t us the term “pop music” as a derogatory term but rather as a way approach this piece of art. Art needs to be analyzed for what it is, not what it’s not. The strength of a song is determined by uncovering the intention of an artist and then, figuring out how well they did that.
If someone is making a horror film and it’s really scary, it’s a great movie. If someone intends to make a romantic comedy and you analyze it as a horror movie, it’s not going to get very good reviews.
The reason why I’m starting my look at Meat Loaf with “I Would Do Anything For Love” is because this was my introduction to Meat Loaf and the world of Jim Steinmen. I agree that Bat Out Of Hell is a better album, but it was Bat Out Of Hell II and the lead single “I Would Do Anything For Love” that captured my imagination as an 11-year-old as one of the most influential albums in my life.
Let me get the obvious and over-discussed question out of the way. When Meat Loaf sings, “I would do anything for love but I won’t do that,” he is saying he would do anything to feel love and be loved except for cheat on his girlfriend and have an affair. Meat Loaf played around with this during interviews of the time but it doesn’t really take much explication to figure out what this song is about.
The lyrics are very straightforward. In other songs like “Bat Out Of Hell,” Steinmen layers imagery and symbolism to create passionate melodrama. In this song, it’s just one person stating his commitment to love and the lines he’s not willing to cross. In describing there’s something he wouldn’t do for love, it defines what love truly is and the relationship that he holds sacred.
Yes, this is a long song. The trimmed down single version is about eight minutes and the album version is twelve minutes long. Is that too long? I find it interesting when people talk about how big a deal a song longer than five minutes is in pop music when movements in classical music often are at longer lengths. Yes, it can be reasonably argued that there are places that this song could be cut down, but if you put aside any expectations of length and let this song reveal itself, it really works at its longer length.
Meat Loaf is a powerful singer and a magnetic performer. Here is a performer who can’t possibly put more into every note he sings. His rich, intense, tortured voice is unlike anything in pop music. “I Would Do Anything For Love” is the perfect marriage of a song to a performer. There’s no one else who could really sell the melodrama of this song. When Meat Loaf sings “no one else can save me now but you,” it’s heartbreaking.
I’m convinced that often we stand in the way of letting ourselves enjoy art. We tell ourselves that things aren’t good, or that because something fits within a stereotype that we won’t like it. When we do this we make it so that we can’t enjoy something. If all you do in life is focus on the multitude of reason to not enjoy something, than that’s all you are left with.
If you don’t like this song. That’s fine, but make sure that you don’t like it for the right reasons.
People didn’t want to admit that they loved this song when it was out. I didn’t understand back then why people couldn’t celebrate their love of this song and I still don’t quite get it. Be proud. Music is not about being cool or going with the crowd. It’s about reveling in your own passion and through someone else’s expression, experiencing part of yourself.
I’m proud to say that Meat Loaf’s music continues to take me to that beautiful place where passion and love reigns supreme. There’s no social commentary and there’s no instruments or musical techniques that draw attention to themselves as musical innovations. It’s a fantasy world where all you need is love and the power of melodrama sweeps away cynicism and leaves you with the grandeur and magic of rock music.
I genuinely love Meat Loaf as a musician and actor. Sometimes articles about Meat Loaf and reviews look at him as a guilty pleasure, something that you know is not very good but you enjoy regardless.
The more I think about it, the more I dislike the idea of a guilty pleasure. It implies that you are ashamed of liking something. The only way that you can explain your love of a guilty pleasure is by admitting to people it isn’t very good so you aren’t embarrassed. But you should never feel embarrassed for enjoying a piece of art. And if someone makes fun of you for liking something they think is garbage, it’s there loss.
I’m here to say that Meat Loaf is a fantastic singer and his music, most of which was written by Jim Steinmen (who was also responsible for “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” and “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”) creates masterful, remarkable and powerful pop music. I don’t us the term “pop music” as a derogatory term but rather as a way approach this piece of art. Art needs to be analyzed for what it is, not what it’s not. The strength of a song is determined by uncovering the intention of an artist and then, figuring out how well they did that.
If someone is making a horror film and it’s really scary, it’s a great movie. If someone intends to make a romantic comedy and you analyze it as a horror movie, it’s not going to get very good reviews.
The reason why I’m starting my look at Meat Loaf with “I Would Do Anything For Love” is because this was my introduction to Meat Loaf and the world of Jim Steinmen. I agree that Bat Out Of Hell is a better album, but it was Bat Out Of Hell II and the lead single “I Would Do Anything For Love” that captured my imagination as an 11-year-old as one of the most influential albums in my life.
Let me get the obvious and over-discussed question out of the way. When Meat Loaf sings, “I would do anything for love but I won’t do that,” he is saying he would do anything to feel love and be loved except for cheat on his girlfriend and have an affair. Meat Loaf played around with this during interviews of the time but it doesn’t really take much explication to figure out what this song is about.
The lyrics are very straightforward. In other songs like “Bat Out Of Hell,” Steinmen layers imagery and symbolism to create passionate melodrama. In this song, it’s just one person stating his commitment to love and the lines he’s not willing to cross. In describing there’s something he wouldn’t do for love, it defines what love truly is and the relationship that he holds sacred.
Yes, this is a long song. The trimmed down single version is about eight minutes and the album version is twelve minutes long. Is that too long? I find it interesting when people talk about how big a deal a song longer than five minutes is in pop music when movements in classical music often are at longer lengths. Yes, it can be reasonably argued that there are places that this song could be cut down, but if you put aside any expectations of length and let this song reveal itself, it really works at its longer length.
Meat Loaf is a powerful singer and a magnetic performer. Here is a performer who can’t possibly put more into every note he sings. His rich, intense, tortured voice is unlike anything in pop music. “I Would Do Anything For Love” is the perfect marriage of a song to a performer. There’s no one else who could really sell the melodrama of this song. When Meat Loaf sings “no one else can save me now but you,” it’s heartbreaking.
I’m convinced that often we stand in the way of letting ourselves enjoy art. We tell ourselves that things aren’t good, or that because something fits within a stereotype that we won’t like it. When we do this we make it so that we can’t enjoy something. If all you do in life is focus on the multitude of reason to not enjoy something, than that’s all you are left with.
If you don’t like this song. That’s fine, but make sure that you don’t like it for the right reasons.
People didn’t want to admit that they loved this song when it was out. I didn’t understand back then why people couldn’t celebrate their love of this song and I still don’t quite get it. Be proud. Music is not about being cool or going with the crowd. It’s about reveling in your own passion and through someone else’s expression, experiencing part of yourself.
I’m proud to say that Meat Loaf’s music continues to take me to that beautiful place where passion and love reigns supreme. There’s no social commentary and there’s no instruments or musical techniques that draw attention to themselves as musical innovations. It’s a fantasy world where all you need is love and the power of melodrama sweeps away cynicism and leaves you with the grandeur and magic of rock music.
Friday, June 22, 2012
One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
To mourn the death of my goldfish Winston Tang, my brother and I posted songs about death on his facebook page. Buffy’s contribution to this remembrance was “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Care & Boyz II Men.
SRY, I HAS NEVR TOLD U,
ALL I WANTD 2 SAY
AN NAO IZ 2 LATE 2 HOLD U
CAUSE UVE FLOWN AWAY SO FAR AWAY
You know how there are songs that if you don’t know means that you literally lived under a rock during a certain time period? “One Sweet Day” is one of those songs. Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men joined forces at the peak of their popularity to record this unforgettable song of mourning in 1995. “One Sweet Day” topped the charts for a record 16-weeks making it the longest running number 1 song ever. It sold over two million units making it one of the most successful pop songs of the year and the decade.
Carey, Boyz II Men and Walter Afanasieff wrote this song about people in their lives they had lost to AIDs. Instead of creating a depressing song focusing on the sorrow of death, Carey and Boyz II Men made a joyous expression about looking forward to that “One Sweet Day” when they would be reunited with the ones that they loved.
The production of this song is slick and clean. It has that 1990s sheen that so much pop music had back then. Sometimes this comes off as cheesy and dated but something about this song makes it work. Mariah does a beautiful job of adapting her voice to this song stripping away any level of sensuality to a more personal and soulful performance.
Three of the Boyz II Men take solos. The one that always gets to me is Wanya. Usually I prefer Nathan’s, who opens this song, but there’s something about Wanya’s bridge. I’m not a big fan of huge gospel glissandos between phrases but Wanya makes it work. He never looses sight of the main melody and the way he ends the phrase is a perfect transition into Carey’s voice.
Yeah, I used this song as a joke. This probably was due to the overexposure I experienced listening to this song in the 90s. Coming back to this song years later, after loosing people in my life, I am grateful for this song. The best music doesn’t always rise to the top in the music industry but “One Sweet Day” is an example of a song that did. The song is well-crafted, the singing is strong and the meaning behind the song is beautiful.
SRY, I HAS NEVR TOLD U,
ALL I WANTD 2 SAY
AN NAO IZ 2 LATE 2 HOLD U
CAUSE UVE FLOWN AWAY SO FAR AWAY
You know how there are songs that if you don’t know means that you literally lived under a rock during a certain time period? “One Sweet Day” is one of those songs. Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men joined forces at the peak of their popularity to record this unforgettable song of mourning in 1995. “One Sweet Day” topped the charts for a record 16-weeks making it the longest running number 1 song ever. It sold over two million units making it one of the most successful pop songs of the year and the decade.
Carey, Boyz II Men and Walter Afanasieff wrote this song about people in their lives they had lost to AIDs. Instead of creating a depressing song focusing on the sorrow of death, Carey and Boyz II Men made a joyous expression about looking forward to that “One Sweet Day” when they would be reunited with the ones that they loved.
The production of this song is slick and clean. It has that 1990s sheen that so much pop music had back then. Sometimes this comes off as cheesy and dated but something about this song makes it work. Mariah does a beautiful job of adapting her voice to this song stripping away any level of sensuality to a more personal and soulful performance.
Three of the Boyz II Men take solos. The one that always gets to me is Wanya. Usually I prefer Nathan’s, who opens this song, but there’s something about Wanya’s bridge. I’m not a big fan of huge gospel glissandos between phrases but Wanya makes it work. He never looses sight of the main melody and the way he ends the phrase is a perfect transition into Carey’s voice.
Yeah, I used this song as a joke. This probably was due to the overexposure I experienced listening to this song in the 90s. Coming back to this song years later, after loosing people in my life, I am grateful for this song. The best music doesn’t always rise to the top in the music industry but “One Sweet Day” is an example of a song that did. The song is well-crafted, the singing is strong and the meaning behind the song is beautiful.
Although, the sun will never shine the same,
I'll always look to a brighter day.
Monday, May 21, 2012
You Gotta Be by Des’ree
As graduation season comes into full swing people start thinking about songs to address this transition in life. Often people think about “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) by Green Day or “Seasons Of Love” from the musical rent (which my 8th graders are singing for their graduation).
One of my favorite “advice” songs is Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be,” a beautiful song full of love and encouragement from 1994.
This is Des’ree’s most popular song. Other notable recordings she made include “Kissing You,” the love song from Baz Luhrman’s Romeo And Juliet.
The phrase “you gotta be,” seems to have a sense of urgency, but Des’ree sings it with such calm that its meaning changes. Usually this phrase is followed with an or statement, like “you gotta study for the test or you will fail.” So what is the consequence if you aren’t all these things?
Des’ree never says it straight out but what you begin to realize when listening to this song is that she is saying that you gotta take an active role in your life or else you will miss out on what life’s all about.
Des’ree sings about opening your eyes to the world, thinking about your parents and not getting bothered by other people’s lives. She talks about being “bad,” which goes beyond the 1980s slang to another meaning. This is more about speaking truth to power and being a little mischievous to accomplish great things in life.
While she encourages us to be strong, she also sings about embracing the pain in life and working through fears. It’s a viewpoint that accepts the dynamics of who we are but doesn’t accept the idea that we can’t do anything to change our position in life.
Des’ree sings this song with confidence and power. She’s not aggressive in her strength but rather cool and calm. Through her rich and soulful voice you believe that she truly is everything that she is singing about.
Songs that give this kind of message don’t seem to come around very often, but we need them so badly. Des’ree represents the best of what pop music can say to a wide audience. Yes, songs that have controversial lyrics get a lot of attention but it’s the ones that truly have soul and a life-affirming message that stay with us. Des’ree reminds us of the great potential in pop music and what we should strive for every day in our lives.
One of my favorite “advice” songs is Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be,” a beautiful song full of love and encouragement from 1994.
This is Des’ree’s most popular song. Other notable recordings she made include “Kissing You,” the love song from Baz Luhrman’s Romeo And Juliet.
The phrase “you gotta be,” seems to have a sense of urgency, but Des’ree sings it with such calm that its meaning changes. Usually this phrase is followed with an or statement, like “you gotta study for the test or you will fail.” So what is the consequence if you aren’t all these things?
Des’ree never says it straight out but what you begin to realize when listening to this song is that she is saying that you gotta take an active role in your life or else you will miss out on what life’s all about.
Des’ree sings about opening your eyes to the world, thinking about your parents and not getting bothered by other people’s lives. She talks about being “bad,” which goes beyond the 1980s slang to another meaning. This is more about speaking truth to power and being a little mischievous to accomplish great things in life.
While she encourages us to be strong, she also sings about embracing the pain in life and working through fears. It’s a viewpoint that accepts the dynamics of who we are but doesn’t accept the idea that we can’t do anything to change our position in life.
Des’ree sings this song with confidence and power. She’s not aggressive in her strength but rather cool and calm. Through her rich and soulful voice you believe that she truly is everything that she is singing about.
Songs that give this kind of message don’t seem to come around very often, but we need them so badly. Des’ree represents the best of what pop music can say to a wide audience. Yes, songs that have controversial lyrics get a lot of attention but it’s the ones that truly have soul and a life-affirming message that stay with us. Des’ree reminds us of the great potential in pop music and what we should strive for every day in our lives.
Monday, May 14, 2012
One by U2
Why do we have conflict as human beings? Why do we fight with each other? These are questions that define the human experience as much as the search for meaning in life.
“One” by U2, one of the most famous songs in popular music, provides one answer. Like many of U2’s works, this is a complex song full of drama, tension, pessimism and hope.
There are two voices in this song, one that is bitter and one that responds in love. The opening lines question someone’s happiness now that they can blame someone else. The response to this is “one love,” and a warning that if he doesn’t care for this love it will go away.
The response in the second verse is even more angry, “you act like you never had love, and you want me to go without.” He states it’s too late to bring up the crimes of the past and while he acknowledges they are one, they are not the same.
The argument continues in the next verse as he pleads: “did I ask too much . . . you gave me nothing now that’s all I got.” After stating the pain they cause each other, the other person is allowed to respond saying, “love is a temple, love is a higher law.” This almost biblical viewpoint of love is immediately bashed down with the climactic lines:
As angry as we get with each other, it is impossible to ignore that we are connected. Wee as humanity share one blood, one life and are connected in more ways that we want to admit to ourselves. And yes, we can break-up with each other but it’s hard because in those moments we have to reconcile the bitterness with that deep and very real human connection we have with everybody on this planet.
If we weren’t connected as a human race, we wouldn’t fight with each other. It’s because we share so much with each other that can’t let things go. The conflict we have with others is a reflection of our own thoughts. In this way “One” is as much an argument between two people as a conflict within ourselves.
What is “one” saying? Is it arguing that we should be bitter about these ties that draw us into conflict or is it saying that we need to focus on what we share to look past our differences? Watching performances you get the sense that many people look to the chorus with a sense of hope. This is a valid interpretation but it doesn’t fully look at the depth of what U2 is expressing.
U2 created this song while they were on the verge of breaking up in 1991. You hear that conflict in the words but you also here an expression of something that they share, that they are one.
This is the conflict of "With Or Without You" (I wrote about in this early post) broadened to all of our lives. We can't live without each other because we are one but it's so hard to live with each other because those times draw us together in ways that put us at odds with each other.
This tension is a necessary part of life but it doesn't have to define our lives. Even in the bitterness of the arguments, Bono sings, “we get to carry each other.” We get to take care of each other and maybe that is our salvation. In our conflict, we express the love we share and through that the burden of being one becomes connections that define who we are as human beings.
“One” by U2, one of the most famous songs in popular music, provides one answer. Like many of U2’s works, this is a complex song full of drama, tension, pessimism and hope.
There are two voices in this song, one that is bitter and one that responds in love. The opening lines question someone’s happiness now that they can blame someone else. The response to this is “one love,” and a warning that if he doesn’t care for this love it will go away.
The response in the second verse is even more angry, “you act like you never had love, and you want me to go without.” He states it’s too late to bring up the crimes of the past and while he acknowledges they are one, they are not the same.
The argument continues in the next verse as he pleads: “did I ask too much . . . you gave me nothing now that’s all I got.” After stating the pain they cause each other, the other person is allowed to respond saying, “love is a temple, love is a higher law.” This almost biblical viewpoint of love is immediately bashed down with the climactic lines:
You ask me to enter,At the end the anger becomes acceptance, “one life, you got to do what you should.” And while they are different they are sisters and brothers who through their connections have to take care of each other.
But then you make me crawl.
And I can't be holding on,
To what you got,
When all you got is hurt.
As angry as we get with each other, it is impossible to ignore that we are connected. Wee as humanity share one blood, one life and are connected in more ways that we want to admit to ourselves. And yes, we can break-up with each other but it’s hard because in those moments we have to reconcile the bitterness with that deep and very real human connection we have with everybody on this planet.
If we weren’t connected as a human race, we wouldn’t fight with each other. It’s because we share so much with each other that can’t let things go. The conflict we have with others is a reflection of our own thoughts. In this way “One” is as much an argument between two people as a conflict within ourselves.
What is “one” saying? Is it arguing that we should be bitter about these ties that draw us into conflict or is it saying that we need to focus on what we share to look past our differences? Watching performances you get the sense that many people look to the chorus with a sense of hope. This is a valid interpretation but it doesn’t fully look at the depth of what U2 is expressing.
U2 created this song while they were on the verge of breaking up in 1991. You hear that conflict in the words but you also here an expression of something that they share, that they are one.
This is the conflict of "With Or Without You" (I wrote about in this early post) broadened to all of our lives. We can't live without each other because we are one but it's so hard to live with each other because those times draw us together in ways that put us at odds with each other.
This tension is a necessary part of life but it doesn't have to define our lives. Even in the bitterness of the arguments, Bono sings, “we get to carry each other.” We get to take care of each other and maybe that is our salvation. In our conflict, we express the love we share and through that the burden of being one becomes connections that define who we are as human beings.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Top 5 Girl Groups
I discussed Boy Bands last week, so it's only fair to show the ladies some love. Here's some of my favorite Girl Groups songs
5. "Whatta Man" by Salt-n-Pepa featuring En Vogue
This is what was great about music in the 1990s. An incredible rap girl group with one of the greatest female vocal groups of the time. This song exudes confidence, fun and attitude and features an irresistible beat and an unforgettable hook.
4. "Goodbye" by The Spice Girls
After Ginger Spice left, The Spice Girls recorded this heartfelt song about the transitions in life. The Spice Girls invigorated pop music in the 1990s. Recent tours have proved that they weren't just a flash in the pan and that their message of Girl Power truly had meaning (this earlier post discussed "Wannabe."
3. "Celebrity Skin" by Hole
This movie trailer about the drummer from Hole reminds us the importance of this band.
This was a great band and while "Celebrity Skin" may be one of their more mainstream songs, it's a delightful but dark confession by Courtney Love that was part of her come back after the death of her husband and rock legend Kurt Cobain.
2. "Wide Open Spaces" by The Dixie Chicks
One of the comments people often say about the Dixie Chicks is about how well they can play. I wrote this earlier post about their powerful song "Not Ready To Be Nice," about their controversial statements about President Bush (as well as this post about "Easy Silence"). My first exposure to this ladies was "Wide Open Spaces" a beautiful tribute to nature. The most amazing thing about this song is musically it sounds so beautiful and open you can almost feel the sunshine.
1. "There's No Stopping Us Now" by The Supremes
Most people know The Supremes from "You Can't Hurry Love" (which I discussed in this earlier post). "There's No Stopping Us Now" shows Diana Ross opening up with the elegant Supremes providing Heavenly back-up.
5. "Whatta Man" by Salt-n-Pepa featuring En Vogue
This is what was great about music in the 1990s. An incredible rap girl group with one of the greatest female vocal groups of the time. This song exudes confidence, fun and attitude and features an irresistible beat and an unforgettable hook.
4. "Goodbye" by The Spice Girls
After Ginger Spice left, The Spice Girls recorded this heartfelt song about the transitions in life. The Spice Girls invigorated pop music in the 1990s. Recent tours have proved that they weren't just a flash in the pan and that their message of Girl Power truly had meaning (this earlier post discussed "Wannabe."
3. "Celebrity Skin" by Hole
This movie trailer about the drummer from Hole reminds us the importance of this band.
This was a great band and while "Celebrity Skin" may be one of their more mainstream songs, it's a delightful but dark confession by Courtney Love that was part of her come back after the death of her husband and rock legend Kurt Cobain.
2. "Wide Open Spaces" by The Dixie Chicks
One of the comments people often say about the Dixie Chicks is about how well they can play. I wrote this earlier post about their powerful song "Not Ready To Be Nice," about their controversial statements about President Bush (as well as this post about "Easy Silence"). My first exposure to this ladies was "Wide Open Spaces" a beautiful tribute to nature. The most amazing thing about this song is musically it sounds so beautiful and open you can almost feel the sunshine.
1. "There's No Stopping Us Now" by The Supremes
Most people know The Supremes from "You Can't Hurry Love" (which I discussed in this earlier post). "There's No Stopping Us Now" shows Diana Ross opening up with the elegant Supremes providing Heavenly back-up.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Top 5 Boy Bands Songs
Before I take some time to consider the new boy band One Direction, let's take a look at my personal 5 favorite boy bands songs:
5. "Shape Of My Heart" by The Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys ushered in a new era in Boy Bands in the early 1990s. While they didn't dance as well as some other groups they had charisma and were able to turn standard pop fair into enormous hits. Oh, and they could actually sing which is demonstrated in the performance above. "Shape Of My Heart" is a later hit that is "I Want It That Way" with lyrics that make a little bit more sense and an amazing bridge.
4. "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men
This was the lead single off of their first album. Before they scored hits with slow songs and expressions of how they would make love to you (check out this post), these boyz could really rock.
3. "Tearing Up My Heart" by 'N Sync
A beautifully crafted song, this song starts out with a solo calling out an awesome hook. We all knew there was something special about the break-down of this song, little did we know that it was Justin Timberlake and the artist he would become.
2. "Just A Little Misunderstanding" by The Jackson 5
This song was an album cut. AN ALBUM cut! This means they recorded this song and didn't think it was very good so they didn't release it as a single. Seriously. Any boy band that has album cuts this strong is truly amazing.
1. "Twist And Shout" by The Beatles
The Beatles were important for many reasons and one of them was because they were the first boy band in pop music. Yes, the Beatles became so much more than a boy band but watching this performance it becomes clear what every boy band tries to capture. Like so many other things in pop music The Beatles did it first and they did it best.
5. "Shape Of My Heart" by The Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys ushered in a new era in Boy Bands in the early 1990s. While they didn't dance as well as some other groups they had charisma and were able to turn standard pop fair into enormous hits. Oh, and they could actually sing which is demonstrated in the performance above. "Shape Of My Heart" is a later hit that is "I Want It That Way" with lyrics that make a little bit more sense and an amazing bridge.
4. "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men
This was the lead single off of their first album. Before they scored hits with slow songs and expressions of how they would make love to you (check out this post), these boyz could really rock.
3. "Tearing Up My Heart" by 'N Sync
A beautifully crafted song, this song starts out with a solo calling out an awesome hook. We all knew there was something special about the break-down of this song, little did we know that it was Justin Timberlake and the artist he would become.
2. "Just A Little Misunderstanding" by The Jackson 5
This song was an album cut. AN ALBUM cut! This means they recorded this song and didn't think it was very good so they didn't release it as a single. Seriously. Any boy band that has album cuts this strong is truly amazing.
1. "Twist And Shout" by The Beatles
The Beatles were important for many reasons and one of them was because they were the first boy band in pop music. Yes, the Beatles became so much more than a boy band but watching this performance it becomes clear what every boy band tries to capture. Like so many other things in pop music The Beatles did it first and they did it best.
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Sign by Ace of Base
What does the “The Sign” mean to you?
To my wife, it’s a song that came out when she was around 9 years old. For a talent show her and a couple of her friends came up with a dance for this song and performed it. My wife’s understanding of this song back then wasn’t very deep. She thought that this song was literally about a sign.
This song was huge. “The Sign” was the #1 one song of 1994 and sold over nine million copies in America alone. Part of it’s appeal was its drum beat but also that this song had layers beyond the idea of a “printed sign.”
For me, the song is about someone seeing a sign in the sense of an action revealing something deeper. Like when you are going out on a date with someone who is constantly texting throughout dinner, that’s a “sign,” that he or she is not that into you and lacks elementary social skills.
What’s the sign in this song? They never say. It’s kind of like Meat Loaf ‘s “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). People don’t seem to know what “that” is (even though the song pretty clearly lays out that it is cheating/adultery). “The Sign” doesn’t really help us in a literal sense understand the sing but we get an emotional sense what finally seeing the sign feels like.
You get a sense of this in the way that the chorus of this song opens up harmonically. But the best part that describes this and my favorite part of the song is when the song modulates (suddenly changes keys). This occurs at the end of the instrumental break after the second chorus: “I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes and I am happy not living without you. . . ”
There’s a beautiful sense of freedom that happens in that moment. The song changes from that point on from a contemplation of circumstance to a celebration. While I love this moment and this song, I don’t know if the song is strong enough to appeal outside of my memories.
Is this song notable for any other reason than nostalgia? I don’t know. I’m too biased having grown up with this song in my life to know for sure. I can’t help but wonder if pop music that means so little to me actually means a lot to the younger generation and will continue to mean something to them as they grow up. It’s hard to say, but songs like “The Sign,” make me take pause before I criticize the latest pop music trend, because sometimes nostalgia is enough of a reason to make a song meaningful.
To my wife, it’s a song that came out when she was around 9 years old. For a talent show her and a couple of her friends came up with a dance for this song and performed it. My wife’s understanding of this song back then wasn’t very deep. She thought that this song was literally about a sign.
This song was huge. “The Sign” was the #1 one song of 1994 and sold over nine million copies in America alone. Part of it’s appeal was its drum beat but also that this song had layers beyond the idea of a “printed sign.”
For me, the song is about someone seeing a sign in the sense of an action revealing something deeper. Like when you are going out on a date with someone who is constantly texting throughout dinner, that’s a “sign,” that he or she is not that into you and lacks elementary social skills.
What’s the sign in this song? They never say. It’s kind of like Meat Loaf ‘s “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). People don’t seem to know what “that” is (even though the song pretty clearly lays out that it is cheating/adultery). “The Sign” doesn’t really help us in a literal sense understand the sing but we get an emotional sense what finally seeing the sign feels like.
You get a sense of this in the way that the chorus of this song opens up harmonically. But the best part that describes this and my favorite part of the song is when the song modulates (suddenly changes keys). This occurs at the end of the instrumental break after the second chorus: “I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes and I am happy not living without you. . . ”
There’s a beautiful sense of freedom that happens in that moment. The song changes from that point on from a contemplation of circumstance to a celebration. While I love this moment and this song, I don’t know if the song is strong enough to appeal outside of my memories.
Is this song notable for any other reason than nostalgia? I don’t know. I’m too biased having grown up with this song in my life to know for sure. I can’t help but wonder if pop music that means so little to me actually means a lot to the younger generation and will continue to mean something to them as they grow up. It’s hard to say, but songs like “The Sign,” make me take pause before I criticize the latest pop music trend, because sometimes nostalgia is enough of a reason to make a song meaningful.
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