Hot N Cold by Katy Perry

"Hot N Cold" music video

My 17 year-old brother-in-law, Matt, loves “Hot N Cold.” He told me that he is totally into this song regardless of the how rocking out to this song may reflect on his masculinity and the fact that it’s a girly pop song. The first time I heard it in the car when he was driving me a couple weeks ago, I noted the catchy nature of the song but did not understand why he liked this song so much. After he dropped me off at my place, I went on youtube.com, found the video, watched it, and was even more baffled the appeal of the song to a senior guy in high school.

I didn’t think much about Katy Perry for a couple weeks and a few days ago, Matt recommended that I do a post on “Hot N Cold.” So, I gave this song another chance, and after listening to it for the past 4 days and I got to admit, this is a fun song. I mean, it’s not something that is changing my perspective on art or life, but I find myself singing this song as I’m walking around and like a really good joke I can’t help but smile when I think about this song.

The awesome thing about Katy Perry is that her stage persona is exactly the same as the personality that you sense listening to “Hot N Cold.” Here is this cute, quirky, sarcastic and fun song and when you see pictures of her and watch her videos, you realize that there is no one who is having as much with this music as she is. She’s like a typical Generation X girl who has gotten over herself and decided to have some fun with life. I don't understand her fascination with watermelons but I got to admit it's pretty entertaining.

The first two lines are insults that a guy would to describe a girlfriend that he is annoyed with, “You change your mind, Like a girl changes clothes. Yeah you, PMS like a b****, I would know.” I grew up in the 1990s and I know that comparing someone to girl as an insult is sexist and stereotypes woman. Saying that someone “throws like a girl” implies that girls are inferior in strength and reinforces the stereotype that men are better then woman at sports. I know better having witnessed incredible physical and mental strength in the woman in my life and the fact is that most people, girls or boys can throw a ball better then me proving this stereotype false.

Ok, I’ll admit that when I’m hanging out with a bunch of guys sometimes these kinds of insults still come out, “Oh you enjoyed High School Music 3? Oh I didn’t realize that you were pre-teen girl and by the way, how’s that training bra working out for.” It’s different because it’s said in jest and I can make stupid jokes like that in the confidence of my friends because they know me well enough to know that I don’t make a habit of objectifying woman and that I’m not a chauvinistic pig. I know there are still men and woman out there who believe strong negative stereotypes about the opposite sex but the thing is, with people in my circle making these kinds of comments is more an exercise in ridiculousness rather then a reflection of true feelings.

Is Katy Perry propagating sexist ideas by utilizing sexist insults? No, c’mon, seriously, all she is asking the guy to do is to stop acting like a false stereotype of a woman It’s funny and effective because she’s using language that a guy would use to describe such annoyances. The first line “You change your mind, like a girl changes clothes” can easily pictured with a group of guys and maybe if some guy is being a pain, maybe another guy would ask if he is PMS’ing. The hilarious part of the opening is that Katy says “I would know” when talking about PMS’ing reminding us that she knows first hand what it’s like to PMS, acknowledging that it causes her to not be the best partner in the relationship and more to the point, she’s telling the guy to cut it out.

She ends the first verse, talking about how he over thinks things and speaks cryptically. Now all of you have relationships with woman and I’m sure you’ve encountered passive-aggressive behavior. It’s asking your wife if she needs help with the dishes and she says no, but the way she says it, you know that she wants your help. This can get annoying and we think "if you she wants help, why doesn’t she asks for it?" Well, she wants you to do it without her having to tell you. There is a level of care and initiative that she wants you to express but ladies, seriously, if that's what you want just ask for it.

Now, in my experience, guys (including me) do not pick up on hints very well, and much frustration will ensue from both parties if this kind of passive behavior is the basis for the communication in the relationship. The above situation is just an example and in no ways do I believe that all women have passive-aggressive tendencies and there are plenty of guys who display passive-aggressive behavior as well.

Katy is being the exact opposite of passive-aggressive in this song. She is telling her boyfriend exactly how she feels and what annoys her about this guy. For some guys, who have had the misfortune of being in relationships with girls who are passive-aggressive, this is a fantasy: a girl telling what is actually on her mind.

The song utilizes synthesized songs that harkens back to the electronic experimentation of the 1980s. This sense of nostalgia brings a sense of comfort and the modern way that the music is put together gives us something we are familiar with in a way that we don’t expect. “Hot N Cold” feels like a breath a fresh air, both comforting and exhilarating.

I think I get what is awesome about this song. It speaks with a language that appeals to both guys and girls. Her singing is more focused on expressing her attitude rather than artful signing which may be off-putting for some but for me makes the music more accessible and interesting.

Sometimes I wish I could always have a witty comment or an interesting observation like people do in sit-coms on television. If you have hung out with me, you know that I try, often unsuccessfully. I wish I could express myself as Katy does in this song with a level of sarcasm, using old insults in new ways, and in the end, helping people understand their mistakes and not to take themselves too seriously.

Will this song stand the test of time? I don’t know, but it’s always going to stay with me because really, who could possibly forget a 17 year-old guy rocking out to this song in sheer delight? Is this really that weird? Well, maybe not, but this is coming from a 26 year-old guy who just spent has been rocking out to this song for the past four days and loving every second of it.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted by Joan Osborne and the Funk Brothers

"What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" live performance

You never know when you’re going to find a song that you fall in love with. Sometimes it’s when you’re watching television, sometimes it’s over the radio and there even have been times when I’ve been in the mall and heard a song being used as Muzak that caught my attention.

I was thrilled when I first saw the trailer for the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. The film is a documentary about the Funk Brothers who were the house band for Motown records during the late 1950s and 1960s. The tag line in the trailer is, “The Funk Brothers were the biggest hit machine in the history of music with more #1 hits than the Beatles, the Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley . . . combined.” This remarkable group of musicians created the Motown sounds, catapulted great artists like the Temptations and Stevie Wonder while creating timeless music that is some of the most influential music in American history.

Looking forward to the watching the film, I expected to hear some interesting stories from these musicians, get some musical insights and see some interesting performance footage from their reunion concert. I remember not really thinking too much of the reunion concert that was part of the film because it featured current singers performing old Motown songs instead of the singers who originally sang the songs in the 1960s.

I went to see this film with my dad who had grown up with this music. It wasn’t playing in a multiplex but rather a small art house theater. I remember sitting there as watching the film, loving every minute of it and seeing a scene where Joan Osborne is talking about how much Motown music meant to her.

Wait, Joan Osborne? The curly-haired, nose-ring girl from the 1990s who had that song "One Of Us."



What business did she have being in this film? Wait, she’s talking about “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?” That song is amazing and what is the “What if God was one of us”-girl going to do to this song? I remember thinking all of that and dreading her performance. My expectations were completely wrong and as I watched Joan Osborne sing “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?” I realized I was witnessing something truly remarkable.

Jimmy Ruffin originally recorded and released “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?” in 1966 (check out his awesome collar). The narrator of the song questions what happens to people who have had their heart broken. He is questioning this as much for other people as well as himself. This song combines sad lyrics with a lush and hopeful melody and instrumentation. The melody rises up through the verse arriving at a sense of understanding with the words “What becomes of broken hearted?” Through the pain there is determination, “I know I’ve got to find, some kind of peace of mind” and much as the narrator has experienced grief he is not giving up on his search for love. Their search is difficult, treacherous and opens up the possibility of being hurt again but it is a journey that must be taken.

Jimmy Ruffin is the older brother of David Ruffin, one of the lead singers of the Temptations who sang lead on “My Girl.” They both shared a similar rasp to the voice. David had a melodramatic extroverted passion in his voice while Jimmy’s performance on “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?” reflects an internal torment through a more subtle performance. Though Jimmy’s voice is what most people relate to this song, numerous artists including Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker and Vonda Shepard have covered it.

Joan Osborne’s voice has a slight raspy edge but that doesn’t stop her from flowing through the melody with a effortless elegance. It’s like this song was written just for her and you feel like she is singing it just for you. There is a dramatic flair to her voice but it always seems genuine. It’s not so much that she is singing the song but that she is re-experiencing the feelings behind the song.

The song follows the form of the original recording until the part where Jimmy Ruffin’s song fades out and Osborne takes it to a whole different level (2:50 into the song). The band drops, letting Osborn’s voice carry the line accenting “tell me” bringing forth the desire and desperation in the song. Like a master orator, she repeats herself building up to two more powerful explanations of “tell me.” Then she pulls it down and starts one final time building up to three impassioned repetitions of “tell me” arriving at a raw and soulful held not which soars over the band and back-up singers.

You believe at last section of the song that Joan Osborne is giving all that she has. Everything has seen, everything she has felt and everything that she hopes for comes out as she pushes her voice to its limit. There are few times in my life when I’ve heard a song and was left stunned and speechless. It’s a feeling of being emotionally drained. It’s going through something so powerful and transformative that it demands a moments of reflection. It’s witnessing something that makes you feel an indescribable mix of emotions that can only be experienced through that one unique way.

There are things parts of the human condition that only certain art forms can express. It’s not so much that music is better then other art forms but it can do things that a painting for example can’t and the reverse is true as well. Leaving that theater after watching Standing in the Shadows of Motown, I knew that this was something special. This song has stayed with me over the years as reminder of how wrong are my expectations can be, how amazing it feels to experience something magical for the first time and how amazing music can make us feel.

Look closely at Joan Osborne in the introduction of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" You see her just grooving to the music with a look of pure bliss and utter contentment as she experiences all of the magic that is going on behind her?

That's exactly how this song makes me feel and that's why I love this song.

Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield

When I was in college I was in marching band and each instrument section bonded as a family as we not only spent a lot of time working together but we also had a down time during the seasons where we would get to know each other. One game we used to play was “Never, Never Have I Ever.” We would sit in a circle and everyone would open up their hand using his or her five fingers as counters. People would take a turn around the circle. When it was your turn, you would think of something that you had never done and say it: “never, never have I ever went skinning-dipping.” Then all the people in the circle who had done it would put down a finger. The goal was either to be the first one with all their fingers down or the last, depending on how you viewed the game. The way we played it was that if you got all of your fingers down, you had to explain the stories behind the activities that got your fingers down. Depending on the people you played the game with, the statements could be as innocent as “not eaten lobster” or descriptions of sexual and/or drug-related activities. With people of the appropriate age, this also works as a great drinking game. Here’s a demo of how this game is played.

Whenever we would play this game, there would always be that one person that we would never imagine as having done anything bad, naughty, or inappropriate. This was that person who always seemed together, never made off-color or sexual jokes and was a quiet but effective member of the section. We’d sit down and play this game and someone would say they have never something outrageous that no one else even thought of doing and then this quiet person would slowly put down their finger trying not to make a big deal out of it and shock us all.

“Son of a Preacher Man” is that finger going down. This song revealed the naughty, sexual and soulful side of the British pop queen, Dusty Springfield. After four albums, she wanted to make a change. Springfield had recorded lush orchestrated pop songs like "I Only Want To Be With You."



While other singers skirts seemed to crawl further north of the knee, Springfield maintained a Donna Reed like image, singing songs of love and female devotion. There no nothing hint of sexuality behind the idealized version of teenage love that permitted 1960s popular music.

I’m not saying that Dusty’s earlier albums are bad, no, they are fantastic. They featured great melodies within well-crafted songs. Dusty’s voice uniquely combines her clear energetic tone with a slight depth and belt that gave it richness. You can hear slight soul tendencies, as she plays around behind the beat and when she opens up her sound, you realize that this British girl had a little gospel in her.

Springfield admired American soul singers like Aretha Franklin and Wilson Picket and she took chance deciding to record a southern soul album. Rarely do artist cross genres in this way, so Dusty hired Jerry Wexler, who had produced the soul music she had loved and agreed to record in Memphis.

Wexler chose eighty gospel and soul songs and Dusty rejected every single one. A couple months later, she came around and chose fifteen. When they went to the studio, it was completely different from what Dusty was used to. She usually recorded in big professional studios with full orchestras, what she found in Memphis was a stripped down, bare-bones studio with a small house band. She felt so intimidated by the idea of even singing in the same studio as her soul heroes Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin that she refused to sing during the sessions in Memphis.

They moved the recording sessions back to Manhattan after recording most of the instrumental tracks. Springfield insisted that they turn up the backing tracks that she listened to when she recorded to a ridiculously loud volume while she recorded and out of her insecurities came some of the most remarkable recordings in pop music.

I enjoy when art works on different levels. Not only is “Son of a Preacher Man” a revealing look at a Dusty’s sexual side but the song itself is about a the son of a preacher man, who people expect to be moral and upright pushing the boundaries of sexuality with the narrator of the song. No worries, he isn’t doing anything that she is not yearning for which becomes clear when she sings “being good isn’t always easy” and you can hear a devilish smile in her voice.

The background instruments almost seem like they in the foreground. Many times the way that singers make themselves be heard over instruments is by singing out with a full tone but what Dusty does instead is sing with almost a whisper to her voice which draws us in like she’s sharing a dirty little secret. When the verse builds to “my surprise” she opens up and floats over the notes like a person softly sighing maintaining her soft focus and ease when the notes get higher.

If you think sexuality in music is a creation of artist from the 1990s, then listen carefully to the bridge of “Son of a Preacher Man.” Many artists have described sex in their songs using explicit lyrics and artists continue to feature moans meant to emulate sounds that people make sex. However, back in 1968 Dusty Springfield showed us how an orgasm felt in the bridge of “Son of a Preacher Man.”

She starts with “How well I remember” and the pace of the lyrics begin to build. Dusty in accompanied by louder and more aggressive backgrounds, which push her slowly with a sense of strength. When Dusty gets “Taking time to make time, telling me that he’s all mine,” she doesn’t so much sing the words “time” and “mine” but moans them sensuously. She climaxes in ecstasy when she opens up and sings, “looking to see how much we’ve grown.” The feeling of relief and joy at the last verse is like that feeling when you can’t help but smile when you are overcome with warmth throughout your entire body having just experienced something truly amazing.

This song celebrates what is real and great about sexuality. It’s a little naughty, abut it’s not profane, it doesn’t objectify or trivialize the action, instead it celebrates the truly beautiful feelings that only sex can bring people.

Never, ever have I ever felt the sexual awakening of girl in a song.

Y’all can now put one finger down.

Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen

"Born To Run" music video

In the past 29 posts, I've discussed the meaning in music and I believe that the songs I chose are meaningful because they hold personal meaning to me. We can never truly articulate why a song means what it does but by gaining a deeper understanding of the work like getting to know a great friend, that meaning becomes more powerful. Sometimes, with people in our lives that meaning runs so close to our hearts that it is something that can't be articulated, it is something that can be only felt and that's why those people are so special.

There is one artists, whose music I've not discussed which may come to a surprise to anyone who knows me. If you’re know me well, you know that my favorite rock group is the Beatles, I never get tired of listening to Motown music and the artist that means the most to me, the singer who has not only changed the way I listen to music but also the way I define an artist: Bruce Springsteen.

I’m not going to argue that Springsteen is the greatest artist in popular music or that “Born To Run” is the single most important song in the history of rock. First off, trying to decide the quality of song in comparison to each other may be a fun discussion but is at best only partially an objective discussion. Therefore, any discussion ranking artists and their art is inconclusive. Don’t get me wrong, I use the lists the Rolling Stone makes all the time as way to gauge the general feeling of critics and the trends in our culture but as a ranking it’s a flawed exercise at best.

Being told that a film is great or that a piece of art is historically important does not make a piece of art personally meaningful. Art is not important in our lives because we are told it’s great or because it’s on a list. We hold art close to us because it somehow speaks to us in a way that makes us feel connected to the human race. I would love for everyone to feel that every day and the best way that I can help make music more meaningful to you is to explain why it means so much to me.

The first time I Bruce Springsteen spoke to me was with the song he performed for the film Philadelphia, “Streets of Philadelphia.” I still remember watching this music video for the first time when I was 11 years old and simply being astounding at how sad and hopeless the song sounded. I bought the soundtrack album to Philadelphia and I thought it was a great song and I didn’t think that Springsteen had much more to him beyond the somber image of him walking through the streets in the music video.

A couple years later Springsteen did another song for a film, and this time it was “Secret Garden” for the Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire. This song had some lighter colors to it and it was included in CD of Springsteen’s hits so I picked that up and skipped right to that song and that was about as deep as I delved into his catalogue until I got to college five years later.

Then there was the concert. Shaun, a friend of mine, invited me to go to a Springsteen concert with him, and I agreed to go. When the day came around I almost backed out because I wasn’t really excited about the idea of going to a baseball stadium to listen to a Rock concert. I had never been to a Rock concert. My whole my parents took my brother and I to classical music concerts all the time when I was growing up which I loved and somehow the idea of a Rock concert seemed below me.

I studied classical music all my life, violin from age 6, piano from age 8 and by 10 years old I was actively composing classical music. I enjoyed popular music but it didn’t seem to mean as much or be as deep as classical music. I had seen the greats artist like Yo-Yo Ma and Itzak Perlman and I felt seen the pinnacle of musicianship and experienced all that music had to offer. I could not have been more wrong.

There is no feeling like the ecstasy of being in a crowd with tens of thousands of people singing along with a band on stage. Feeling that many people with that much positive energy focused on a band singing together, and sharing a musical experience is something that changes you. When I saw Bruce that warm summer night, I saw a band on stage work harder for the crowd than any other musician I had seen or have seen sense. It was not the audience having the privilege to witness a great artist at work. It was a musician understanding that people paid their hard-earned cash to see them and the musicians working as hard as they could to give the people the experience of a lifetime. After Bruce Springsteen and the E Street played for three hours and forty minutes, it all started to mean something important and very personal.

We hear about artist selling a million copies of their album and it almost doesn’t seem like a big deal anymore, but when you’re in a stadium full of people who are all passionate about the same music, you realize how amazing that a small group of people have touched so many people’s lives. During the concert people sang along to songs and Rocked out throughout the concert but when the beginning to “Born To Run” started the crowd went crazy and you could a rush of energy flow through the crowd and I couldn’t help but be caught up in the enthusiasm.

What is it about “Born To Run?” This song speaks to the hope we all have as we work through the struggles in our lives. It elevates Rock music in the way it expresses emotions that we share in a raw and revealing way. “Born To Run” is symphonic and epic in it’s form but there is no sense of pretension. As much as this song was crafted in the studio, there is a sense of that raw energy that you can only get in a live performance. Each instruments has strength and a sense of convection expressing of what is real and right about our feelings and the way we love the people around us.

When I listen “Born To Run” it is almost too much to handle. I think of when I saw Springsteen live. I’m reminded of the comfort that I get when I’m with my friends knowing that I don’t have to hide anything. I experience the hope of knowing that as hard as life is that I can overcome anything. I see the love in my wife’s eyes, but most of all I feel alive.

You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC

Once upon a time, Rock 'n Roll could simply be explained as a song that utilized a blues progression with sped up boogie-woogie bass line. In that form, pioneers like Little Richard showed us the attitude and the feel of rock. Then the electric guitar became a lead instrument with artists like Chuck Berry in the 1950s. The 1960s were a time of exploration and growth of rock utilizing classical instrument, expanding the form of songs and drawing from different genres to innovate the Rock genre of music.

As art evolves and becomes more complicated there are always artist who react to this by focusing on the core of the genre. After bands like the Beatles raised the bar of Rock music to high art, some musicians decided to get back to the basics. These groups went back to the original components of what rock was. They focused on feel instead of complexity, riffs instead of form and anthems instead of monologues. Rock had redefined itself and AC/DC was there to remind the world of the definition of Rock.

If you take Rock music and distill it down to its purest form, you are left with is AC/DC. You have the instrumentation defined by the Beatles with a drum set, bass guitar, two electric guitars (rhythm and lead) and the vocalist, nothing more, nothing less. There are no effects besides some distortion in the guitars, no additional instruments and no fancy studio tricks. Every instrument can clearly heard when it is plays throughout the song, while working together to create one of the finest examples of a Rock groove.

The basic rock drum beat has the bass drum on beat 1, followed by a snare drum hit on beat 2, two more bass drum hits on beat 3 followed by another snare drum hit on beat 4.,. What Phil Rudd, the drummer of AC/DC understands is that playing that pattern alone is not enough to drive the groove. Like a melody, each beat needs to lead somewhere and the drums in this song work towards beat 4. Rudd, drops the first bass drum hit on beat 3 which throws more momentum into beat 4, creating a feeling of motion. The extra weight on beat 4 is like a jump off of a diving board bringing energy into beat 1.

The drum’s emphasis on beat 4 brings out the most interesting rhythmic part of the guitar riff. The guitar riff plays every other measure but it starts after beat 4, right before beat 1. The drum hit on beat 4 that highlights this offbeat. The drums are steady and uncompromising while the guitar riff somehow feels relaxed This tension is exactly what creates the feel of this song The guitar riff and the drums create an attitude in the beginning, which through its simplicity somehow captures a sense of cool, filled with attitude, a slight snarl and a feeling of celebration.

When AC/DC’s lead singer Bon Scot died of alcohol poisoning many worried that AC/DC would never find a replacement. They hired Brian Johnson song and recorded Back In Black the album that featured “You Shook Me All Night Long” as a tribute to Scot. Johnson has ability to sing high with raspy and energetic tone. It’s not a pretty voice but it’s a very real voice. It’s how most guys sound after a little too much beer combined screaming at a football game for five hours, except Johnson manages to make that sound musical and meaningful. This voice is not meant to sing a long with, but rather scream along with, masculine, rugged, raw and unapologetic. A unique voice in Rock, Johnson’s voice is the perfect compliment to the hard-edge groove created by the drums and the guitars.

“You Shook Me All Night Long” is about the power of a woman’s sexuality as being almost too much for the narrator to handle. This is as much a teenage fantasy as a reflection on an actually experience. The metaphors are not especially deep reflecting a general feeling of masculinity and bravado more than a true reflection of a woman. What is interesting is that this song is not chauvinistic and it doesn’t objective the woman. Instead, but rather it is a celebration of the woman’s sexual prowess with a sense of thanksgiving and reverence.

The verses are organized with an AABA rhyming scheme and though the lyrics are not all entirely clear (what the heck are “sightless eyes” and how is that appealing?) the ends of the phrases slow down the accentuated certain lyrics. This brings out such fragments as:

-American thighs
- already there
-mine all mine
-come back for more
-take another swing

You may not know all of the lyrics but I’m sure you can make out those parts of the song giving you plenty to sing along. The best part is that these lines provide the basic meaning of the song.

My favorite memory of “You Shook Me All Night Long” is rocking out to this song during my junior year of college rocking out to this song at my fraternity’s formal dance. Rocking out is not much dancing, but head-banging, grooving, air guitar playing and screaming along with the lyrics. It’s about that feeling of being in a crowd and getting lost in the ecstasy of the music.

Though we may not find time in our lives to party ev-er-y day, it’s important for us to find moments to Rock ‘n Roll all night or at least once a day, maybe while driving to work.

Rock on.

Day After Day by Badfinger

The story of Badfinger is one of triumph, change, conflict and tragedy. Badfinger started as the Panthers, a band playing in clubs in South Wales. They hit the London circuit, known as the Iveys and became known for their fantastic covers of Motown and Beatles songs. Mal Evans an employee of Apple Records, the Beatles’ newly formed record label heard the band and thought the band had potential. He introduced Badfinger to the Beatles and they became the first band the Beatles signed to their label in 1968.

Badfinger worked with other Apple artist, recording “Come And Get It” a Paul McCartney composition for the soundtrack to the film, The Magic Christian and playing on George Harrison’s solo albums. Badfinger had success with their first two albums with Apple and toured American with great reviews though. In 1971, they began work on their third album Straight Up. This album featured Badfinger’s most well-known song “Day After Day” which included George Harrison as not only the producer but as a featured guitar soloist.

Badfinger eventually left Apple Records and internal conflict within the band started to tear the group apart. In 1975, Peter Ham committed suicide and stating in his suicide note that his fellow band member “Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. I will take him with me.” Unable to resolve conflicts within the band, during the 1980s two bands both called Badfinger toured. These bands were headed up by Tom Evans and Joey Molland both members of the band when they were singed with Apple records. These tours caused legal conflict and further strife between the original members of the group. In November of 1983, Tom Evans and Joey Molland engaged in an intense argument over finances of income from Badfinger’s music over the phone. After the argument, which was left unresolved, Evans committed suicide in his home.

“Day After Day” stand by itself as a work of art separate from the tragic story of Badfinger, however knowing he story behind the musicians that created the art adds a layer of meaning to the song. Some people believe strongly in separating the art from the artists while others find them interconnected. Music does live on its own merit but the humanistic nature of the emotions described in music, it can’t help but be an expression of the artist who created it and therefore in studying art we are studying the artist.

The slide guitar throughout the song played by George Harrison combines the soaring melody with the harsh and mournful tone of the guitar. The sound becomes constant reminder throughout this is a song of longing and regret.

The first verse is reflects feelings of solitude as the narrator sings about how he thinks about a girl day after day in his lonely room. The chorus lightens up the sound of the song and when the verse ends on “to you” the combinations of the harmony, piano, and solo voice brings of happiness as the narrator not only recalls his devotion to the girl but the love that she brings to him. In a different context, this line could have meant something very different, but because it’s preceded by a longing musical landscape it becomes something poignant, revealing and sad.

In the second verse, the narrator reminisces about holding his girl while they slept and says that he is empathetic to her pain feeling the tears that she is crying. Instead of looking out from his room, he states that he is looking out from his lonely gloom, a emotion space as opposed to a physical space. This brings to the mind how the sadness and depressions sometimes feels like a cage.

The third verse uses the same lyrics as the first verse but with different instrumentation. In the first verse the bass, drums and piano play together at the beginning and end of each phrase. These instrument toll like a bell with a lot of weight providing harmony and suspense while staying out of the way of the vocals. This allows us to focus in on the melody and the lyrics to gain a general meaning of the song early on. During the second verse the bass, drums and piano play more consistently creating not only a groove but also a steadier feeling less dramatic feeling as the singer provides more details about the relationship.

Badfinger varies the third verse featuring back-ups singers, who previously only sang in the choruses, harmonizing the melody and the slide guitar filling in the space between the phrases. The change in texture in the third verse provides variety in the song but give the verse a feeling of strength and resolves.

I listened to “Day After Day” casually when I heard it on the local oldies station when my dad drove me to school. Last weekend, my brother suggested use this song for my blog and what struck me about this song is the moment at the end of the chorus on the words “to me.” Every time this part of the song appears it focuses the meaning of this song.

At the end of the day, it is not what we have gotten from the world but what we have given. That is what lasts in our hearts and our feelings. I don’t think that the idea that giving is better then receiving is some ploy to make kids less bratty around the holiday season, I believe it’s true. “Day After Day” is something that a group of people gave to the world. It’s not the most important piece of art in the world and but it’s something that has brought enjoying to generations.

Music is a gift that people share with the world and it’s sad to think that situations that stemmed from the creation of music led to two unfortunate suicides. At the end of the story there is the music that stays with us day after day that brings us some meaning to the tragedy and a deeper understanding of what is truly important in our lives.

Stan by Eminem

"Stan" music video

What does the jazz music of Duke Ellington, the rock ‘n roll of Elvis Presley, the folk music of Bob Dylan, the theatrical rock of Kiss, the punk music of the Sex Pistols and pop music of Madonna have in common? Parent groups criticized all of this music as having a dangerous influence on youth, disseminating non-Christian values and as being examples of insidious, worthless and bad art. People even put into questions whether this art was even music. All of these styles music threatened people so much that some even concluded that it was the work of the Devil himself.

This type of music criticism seems silly to us now. It’s hard to believe that anyone thought the way Elvis danced was too sexual for the eyes of youth and that people honestly took Kiss records away from their children because the believed them to be “Knights In Satan’s Service.” Did these people even listen to this music? There biggest hit, “Beth” is about as threatening as a Care Bear. It seems every generation has a style of music that their parents just don’t understand. This lack of understanding brings up the same criticisms and one of the most polarization genres of music between my generation and my parents’ generation is rap music.

The common complaints about rap music are that it uses explicit language, it glorifies an undesirable culture, and that it takes little skills and musical creativity to produce. These broad generalizations do describe some rap music. However criticizing a whole genre of music based on its worst examples is like calling all classical music trite, repetitive, unoriginal and lacking music skill because I just heard an 6 year old play “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on a violin.

Yes, a lot of rap music includes swears word and explicit descriptions of sexual activity. Some rap music does describe gang and drug culture in a favorable and sentimental way. And I have heard some rap music that seems to have been put together with as much a skill and creativity as a 3 year old making a house out of Duplo blocks. Including explicit language does not mean that something is automatically “bad” art (i.e. Pulp Fiction) and just because the subject and the perspective of a piece of art is not one that you agree with does not mean that it is worthless. If we judged everything in this world as bad because we don’t get it, we’d live is a very dark and narrow-minded world.

“Stan” by Eminem, one of his most effective works, is a unique song that tells the story of a crazed fan named Stan, whose obsession with Eminem leads him to commits suicide and kill his pregnant wife in the process. Like many rap songs, “Stan” includes a sample from another song that is used for the chorus and the bass line during the verses. Most rap music sample music from 1970s funk music and Eminem takes an unusual approach taking him sample from the British pop singer, Dido (who is featured in the music video for “Stan.”). Eminem utilizes the beginning of the first verse from Dido’s hit “Thanks You”.

My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all
the morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all
And even if I could it'd all be grey, but your picture on my wall
it reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad.

The original song is a simple and intimate statement of gratitude that starts with a level of darkness and opens up to a soaring and beautiful chorus. The part that Eminem uses only hints at this maintaining the feeling of rain clouds throughout. Instead of these words being about a loved one, the lyrics become a perverted statement of Stan’s obsession with Eminem. This is an amazing example of how context can change the meaning of lyrics.

The first time we hear Dido’s sample it is in background covered by rain and slightly distorted as if it is being listened to on the radio. Then it is repeated in the foreground accompanied by an aggressive drum beat and baseline which immediately transforms the sample and brings us into the mind of Stan.

In the first verse, Stan is explaining how much he likes Eminem. The rapping is closer to talking. The lines don’t rhyme and only at the end of the verse “This is Stan, your biggest fan” do the words have a clear rhythm to them that line them up with the beat. The song lays out the Stan’s obsession with Eminem and that there are some hints of something a little off when he explains that he will name his kid after Eminem’s daughter. Stan then explains how he has a room full of Eminem’s pictures and it becomes clear that the picture on the wall that Dido is singing about is in Stan’s world the pictures of Eminem he has up on the wall.

The anger starts to build in the second verse. The swear words that were used casually in the first verse begin to be said in anger as Stan explains how he feels he was dissed by Eminem. Stan reveals personal issues including abuse by his parents and the act of cutting which Eminem has joked about in earlier songs. Eminem is openly responding to his critics by dealing with the possibility that people may misunderstand what he is joking about and taking it for truth. He is also defending himself by filling out his character of Stan with other problems in his psychology unrelated to Eminem which in some ways are more responsible for Stan’s behavior. The speed of the rapping becomes faster in this verse, and even though it doesn’t included rhythm schemes, the faster tempo reveals rhythmic patterns in the speech that work within the framework of the drumbeat and the base line.

What Stan does in the third verse is an amalgam of jokes that Eminem made in previous songs. Stan misinterprets these lines as being taken seriously and we are witness to a disturbing and atrocious act. Eminem performs his lines as Stan with a uncomfortable level of anger so much so that it's almost unbearable to listen to.

You ruined it now, I hope you can't sleep and you dream about it.
And when you dream, I hope you can't sleep and you scream about it.

The screams of the pregnant girlfriend in the background are haunting, the tears of frustration can be felt in the Eminem's performance and like a nightmare, we finally awake from horror at the end of the verse.

The last verse is Eminem’s letter back to Stan. He tries to help Stan and give him some advice revealing a caring and giving artist beneath the bravado that Eminem carries as a rap star. Eminem raps in his normal rapping voice which is slightly higher and more nasal then the voice he did for Stan. In the last verse, Eminem raps in the more traditional way with a clear rhythm scheme and accentuated rhythm in the words to line up with the beat. There is a smoothness about the way that Eminem works through his lyrics, and takes pauses in order to keep the lyrics set in certain places in the beat. The beauty is that you don’t think about his rapping because there is nothing awkward in his delivery. The rhythms don’t point themselves out but instead help provided punctuation points at the ends of the line help to reinforce a sense of phrase and continuity.

If art truly is a reflection of the human experience, then art needs to comment not only on the beauty in human emotion but also in the darkness. There is no doubt that this song is not pleasant to listen to for some people. I still remember listening to this song for the first time and feeling like Eminem does at the end of this song, frozen in utter shock and disbelief.

Eminem answered his critics with a song explaining the worst thing his influence could lead to and instead of arguing back and saying that the possibility of something like this wasn’t possible, Eminem comments that in some ways even he is powerless to stop this kind of madness. This doesn’t excuse Eminem from any responsibility in a situation like this but it does make it clear that in any crime there are feelings more complicated than we can imagine.

Does this song use explicit language? Yes, but it is used to reflect the way some people communicate. Does it talk about a subject that some people would rather ignore? Yes, but obsessions is a true human emotion that is undeniable in our human nature. Will this song influence young people to do exactly what Stan does? I don’t know, maybe for some people but I know the majority of American’s who have heard this song didn’t as the amount of people who murdered their pregnant girlfriends did not spike when this song came out.

Is this song an example of great music? Yes, as it clearly communicate emotions that we all share and tells a complex story that comments our worst fears. It is essential that art helps us deal with the many facets of the human experiences in order to create a more connected and understanding world.

You may not like “Stan” and that’s ok, but hopefully you understand it a little better. It is important to work to understand songs that we are not accustom to. As getting to know people that are different then us helps us know ourselves better, exploring art that is beyond our everyday experience helps us understand what is meaningful about the art we love and the emotions deep within our hearts.