I love live Jason Mraz recordings, when he totally underplays a key line and makes it a hundred times more powerful. I love the way John Mayer delivers the line "I don't remember you looking any better," in the song 'Who Says.'
I love how Counting Crows make pain poetic. I love how Bruce Springsteen gives the struggle meaning. I love how you think you know what Tupac is, but then you listen to 'Dear Mama' and get completely blown away. I love that Mumford and Sons exist.
I love all the famous Lionel Richie songs. I love how sincere Rod Stewart is on record. I love what it meant to be an Oasis fan. I love that Hanson kept going and quietly became amazing. I love the softer Pearl Jam songs.
I love absolutely everything about Tom Petty. And Aretha Franklin. And Dave Matthews Band. I love what happens to a room full of people when Sinatra's "My Way" gets played. I love Joni Mitchell's 'Blue'. I love every piece of Jazz music that ever came out of New Orleans.
I love that you can listen to an Ennio Morricone film score and have a better experience than when you watched the movie. I love Michael Kamen's 'Band Of Brothers' score. I love how 'Ooh La La' by The Faces was used in 'Rushmore', and I love the Elton John moments in Cameron Crowe movies.
I love 'Ave Maria', and 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered', and 'What A Wonderful World', and 'When The Saints Go Marching In.'
What I am saying is this: I love music.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Wings For Wheels
"Thunder Road" is my favourite song by Springsteen. Well, It's basically my favourite song by anyone.
But before "Thunder Road", came "Wings For Wheels". We only have the live versions. Is it really a great song? I don't know. I don't care! The important thing is the energy! If you want to know where The Boss finds all his energy, it's in this SONG!
You can hear his young excited mind whirring up and whizzing by and firing out into the world through this song. You can hear it in the whole band. There is no way they could have performed songs like this and NOT ended up as one of the greatest bands ever.
"Now the season's over and I feel it getting cold,
I wish I could take you to some sandy beach where we'd never grow old,
Ah but baby you know thats just jive,
But tonight's bustin' open and I'M ALIVE"
That line just kills me, in a GREAT WAY. BUT TONIGHT'S BUSTIN' OPEN AND I'M ALIVE!
This was Springsteen in the 70's. "Thunder Road" went on to be one of the greatest and most loved songs ever written. But this came first. This was "Thunder Road" before it was "Thunder Road."
Makes you think about all the times you didn't quite nail it and wanted to ditch your work. It's important to remember you don't make your greatest hits right out of the gate, you gotta create a whole life's worth of junk first.
But here's the thing. The junk ain't junk. "Wings For Wheels" has a magic that is undeniable. The energy and the vision and the idealism and the beauty; it screams through your speakers and makes you want to wake up in the 1970's at a concert, as part of a small group of people who really got to be a part of something.
That's all we want in life, to be a part of something. To matter.
"Wings For Wheels" matters. The scraps of junk you create on the road to your masterpieces, they matter. They're pieces of you. Probably bigger pieces than you realise. And the people who dig these pieces will dig everything you do. It's like the girlfriend who likes all the things about you that everyone else finds insufferable. You reach people by just putting yourself out there; by saying TONIGHT'S BUSTIN' OPEN AND I'M ALIVE!
"And maybe I can't lay the stars at your feet,
But I got this old car and she's pretty tough to beat."
But I got this old car and she's pretty tough to beat."
And I'm telling you right now; if he played "Wings For Wheels" at a concert, the roof would explode. And if the gig was outdoors we'd all build a roof over it just to prove how powerful the moment was.
I can feel all of Bruce Springsteen's career in this song. I can feel my own too. That's what the best songs do -- they sound like you, they encourage you, they ARE you. I don't have the creativity or the genius or the magic of Bruce Springsteen; but when you really really delve into a song you love, a song that makes you want to jump up and scream and run and write and dream and see and believe -- you think, even if just for a moment; WHY NOT? Why can't I achieve greatness?
That is why I Love Bruce Springsteen.
The Luckiest
As artists we're always looking for the complex route. We think we have to mix things up and make them complicated to be original.
It shouldn't be about being complicated. It should be about being authentic.
Authentic wins every time.
Don't get me wrong, authentic isn't enough. You've got to be good also.
But eventually -- when someone really nails a piece of art -- it's so often when preparation meets.... simplicity and authenticity.
Ben Folds has always been quirky and strange and funny. "Song For The Dumped" is the song you play to friends to make them laugh, to grab them and turn them into fans.
"The Luckiest" is the song you play for the person you love, when they deserve it. It says everything ---- everything you're afraid to say. Everything you can't say in a simple way because nobody in the history of the world has ever been able to say anything in a simple way.
Except for the artists. When the artists are at their best; they reflect life back to us; in the most simple ways possible.
When it comes to death. What songs resonate? It's "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy, and "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross. These are the things that resonate when we get down to what it's really all about. They're simple, they make the point, and they reach into our hearts and express how we feel.
"Next door there's an old man,
Who lived to his nineties and one day,
Passed away, in his sleep.
And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days,
And passed away.
I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you,
That I know we belong."
I woke up with this song in my head. Funny how they get there, don't you think? They just sneak in. It kept popping into my head all day. I'm not sure what "The Luckiest" means to me, although it means many things -- and has been the theme tune to relationships over the years, as well as some people who passed away, as well as often being the song I've listened to when flying home from my home away from home in the middle of the night feeling all profound and caught up in everything.
What it means on this particular day, I don't know. But I'm glad my subconscious kicked it up and stuck it in my mental playlist for the day.
"What if I'd been born fifty years before you,
In a house on the street where you live.
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike,
Would I know?"
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Love and Commitment
It's difficult to dedicate yourself for any amount of time. Deep down we want to be in it for the long haul, but that kind of commitment is hard.
What you strive for, is love. You want to give your life meaning and structure. I found that with 'The West Wing,' and it was heaven, we were made for each other. But it ended years ago and I still think I'm suffering.
I've tried. You take it easy and try out a pilot episode of something new. Usually you know straight away that it isn't for you, but occasionally you give it a few more episodes just to see if there's anything there.
It's so rare. People take it for granted when they find the one, they think it's easy. People committed to 'Friends' and it was a breeze. Same with 'Frasier', too. Life was like a fantasy back then, but now it's harder.
There's so much choice. We want to commit, but we're afraid. What happens if you get three seasons in and realise you want different things? Or you realise they never cared about you at all? We all know what happened with 'Lost', and experiences like that are hard to recover from.
It's easier when you're young, you'll give anything a go. You experiment and mess around and don't care about the consequences. But when you're an adult, you have less time. You have less optimism too, because you've been hurt so many times by inferior programming. In some cases people lose all drive to watch anything at all. Or they flit from one show to the next without a care for what they're doing.
Deep down we all want the same thing. We want to fall in love with a box-set that we can keep exploring again and again. That's when you know you've found something special, when you keep going back for more.
It's happened to me a few times, and I hope it has for you. If you've not been in love for a long while, don't worry, it'll come along when you least expect it. I remember a few years ago I was going through a particularly bad spell, but then 'Arrested Development' and 'Studio 60' came along. There's hope for everyone.
What you strive for, is love. You want to give your life meaning and structure. I found that with 'The West Wing,' and it was heaven, we were made for each other. But it ended years ago and I still think I'm suffering.
I've tried. You take it easy and try out a pilot episode of something new. Usually you know straight away that it isn't for you, but occasionally you give it a few more episodes just to see if there's anything there.
It's so rare. People take it for granted when they find the one, they think it's easy. People committed to 'Friends' and it was a breeze. Same with 'Frasier', too. Life was like a fantasy back then, but now it's harder.
There's so much choice. We want to commit, but we're afraid. What happens if you get three seasons in and realise you want different things? Or you realise they never cared about you at all? We all know what happened with 'Lost', and experiences like that are hard to recover from.
It's easier when you're young, you'll give anything a go. You experiment and mess around and don't care about the consequences. But when you're an adult, you have less time. You have less optimism too, because you've been hurt so many times by inferior programming. In some cases people lose all drive to watch anything at all. Or they flit from one show to the next without a care for what they're doing.
Deep down we all want the same thing. We want to fall in love with a box-set that we can keep exploring again and again. That's when you know you've found something special, when you keep going back for more.
It's happened to me a few times, and I hope it has for you. If you've not been in love for a long while, don't worry, it'll come along when you least expect it. I remember a few years ago I was going through a particularly bad spell, but then 'Arrested Development' and 'Studio 60' came along. There's hope for everyone.
Warhorse Review
Spielberg once spoke about being disappointed with his own complacency as a director with the making of 'Hook', and promised to never work in that way again. Sadly, 'Warhorse' feels like a work full of complacency and predictability.
The film begins promisingly. You sense the Spielbergness of it all -- interesting characters young and old, the complexity of parent/child relations, epic cinematography, and the backdrop of war.
Unfortunately, those early resemblances stick; and don't take us anywhere new. Usually I'm on board with Spielberg's sentimentality and emotional manipulation -- It's good storytelling with a bit of heart. 'Warhorse' falls short in this manner. The scene where the German soldier and English soldier come together to help the horse get out of the barbed wire -- this is such a flagrant attempt at tugging the heart strings that I seriously doubt anyone could ever find it moving or touching. Spielberg is a crowd pleaser and makes movies for the whole family to watch; but even so, it seems too broad and simple in this movie, even by the standards of the lowest common denominator.
The same can be said for John William's score. He is, undoubtedly, the greatest living film composer, but his work on 'Warhorse' is overly-familiar and predictable -- and the horse's theme reoccurs like clockwork whenever something emotional happens. It's obvious and panderous.
What I am saying, I think; is that this feels like Spielberg at his laziest, creatively. The elements are there; but it falls short of truly grabbing you, of inspiring. Of course, we expect too much from Spielberg. We expect 'Jaws' and 'Saving Private Ryan' every time. That's not possible, which is obvious; but the problem with 'Warhorse' is that Spielberg doesn't take risks, he doesn't tread new ground. When he's at his best; regardless of genre, he brings something new to the table. As bizarre as this comment might sound -- 'Warhorse' felt like a re-make of some of his older films. It was Spielberg doing Spielberg.
The film begins promisingly. You sense the Spielbergness of it all -- interesting characters young and old, the complexity of parent/child relations, epic cinematography, and the backdrop of war.
Unfortunately, those early resemblances stick; and don't take us anywhere new. Usually I'm on board with Spielberg's sentimentality and emotional manipulation -- It's good storytelling with a bit of heart. 'Warhorse' falls short in this manner. The scene where the German soldier and English soldier come together to help the horse get out of the barbed wire -- this is such a flagrant attempt at tugging the heart strings that I seriously doubt anyone could ever find it moving or touching. Spielberg is a crowd pleaser and makes movies for the whole family to watch; but even so, it seems too broad and simple in this movie, even by the standards of the lowest common denominator.
The same can be said for John William's score. He is, undoubtedly, the greatest living film composer, but his work on 'Warhorse' is overly-familiar and predictable -- and the horse's theme reoccurs like clockwork whenever something emotional happens. It's obvious and panderous.
What I am saying, I think; is that this feels like Spielberg at his laziest, creatively. The elements are there; but it falls short of truly grabbing you, of inspiring. Of course, we expect too much from Spielberg. We expect 'Jaws' and 'Saving Private Ryan' every time. That's not possible, which is obvious; but the problem with 'Warhorse' is that Spielberg doesn't take risks, he doesn't tread new ground. When he's at his best; regardless of genre, he brings something new to the table. As bizarre as this comment might sound -- 'Warhorse' felt like a re-make of some of his older films. It was Spielberg doing Spielberg.
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