Spontaneous Musings

I've no clue. Honestly, it depends on my mood. I'm sure there's several, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

Let's see... there's the COVID one by Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles...about the pandemic, dropped in April 2020... Do What You Can. Just listening to this makes me cry. I don't know why...no, that's not true I do. It's the same reason I can't watch any documentaries about 9/11 without sobbing. I'm crying now, listening to this damn thing.

And of course... Amazing Grace by Aretha Franklin. Although I think...Judy Collins version of Amazing Grace moves me more - maybe because I'm spending less time worrying about whether she's breathing.

( the rest of the days )

Let's see if we can do the book meme as a music meme?

1: What song or album or piece of music did you last listen to? When was that?

2: What album or song about to be released are you anticipating or excited about?

3: What song or album are you planning to listen to next?

4: What was the last song or album you added to your to listen to list or to your music library?

5: Which song or album or musician did you last re-listen?

6: Which musician, song or album was the last one you really, really loved?

7: What was/were the last albums or music you bought?

8: Where do you like listening to music best - live performance, earphones, speakers, from the television sets speakers? Why?

9: Children's, YA, NA or Adult Music? Why?

10: Live Performance/Concert or Broadway style Musical Theater/Ballet? Why?

11: Classical music or Modern Pop Music? Why?

12: Political Protest Songs or Comedic Story Songs?

13: Name a song with a really bad remastering or cover by another artist.

14: Name a song with a better remastering or cover than the original.

15: What piece of music, song or album changed your life?

16: If you could bring three albums to a deserted island which would you bring and why?

17: If you owned a recording studio what would you call it?

18: Which musician or band resonates with you the most or is the most relatable?

19: Which musician or band resonates the least with you or you can't relate to at all?

20: Best summer song?

21: Best winter song?

22: Pro or anti listening to music on computers or downloading from web? Why?

23: Streaming/downloading music from Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, etc or buying albums or CDs?

24: Do you prefer to buy music on an MP3 player or buy records/CDs?

25. What's a favorite television theme song? Can you remember the lyrics or sing it?

26. What's a favorite movie song?

27. Best film score?

28. Do you play music, sing, or create music? Have you ever written a song?

29. Name a favorite composer.

30: Who’s your favorite solo artist?

31: What's your favorite piece of classical or instrumental music?

32: Who's your favorite band?

33: What's your favorite decade for music? (Example 1980s, 1990s, etc.) And what album from that decade did you love?

34: List five OTPs or Duets from musical world. (By pairings, I mean duets.)

One True Duet - but make it Five of them!

35: Name an album you consider to be terribly underrated.

36: Name an album you consider to be terribly overrated.

37: How many songs or albums are actually in your MP3 player or bookshelf/shelves right now?

38: What language do you (most often) listen in?

39: Name one of your favorite childhood songs.

40: Name one of your favorite songs from your teenage years.

41: Do you have a library card to borrow music from the library? How often do you use it?

42: Which was the best piece of music that you had to listen to, sing, or play in school?

43: How frequently do you listen to music?

44: Do you like to listen to music while eating?

45: What is your favorite thing to eat when you listen to music?

46: What is your favorite thing to drink when you listen to music?

47: What do you do to get out of a music slump - nothing to listen to?

48: Where do you listen to music- at home, work, in bed, on commute, in theaters, etc?

49: When is your favorite time to listen to music?

50: Why do you love listening to music?

It's Day #29 of the 30 Day Song Challenge - a song you remember from your childhood. (As opposed to one from your pre-teen years? Honestly, maybe it's just me but some of these feel like repeats. Also, since my childhood was basically the 1970s, it also fits a song from the 70s..)

I don't tend to remember the titles of most songs I listen to or the artists - unless they hit an emotional memory or historical note, then yes, I remember them.

I had a music box as a child that played this SONG. I think I got it from one of my Aunts, most likely Aunt K. It was a small music box with a Degas painting of a ballerina on the front, gold trim and legs, and when you opened it, a little ballerina would dance to the song linked above and below. I had that music box until I was in my twenties. I think it finally fell apart. I'd put little earrings in it.

( video of the song - 1970s )

A note on the song and the musicians, they aren't known as well now. ( from wikipedia - a note on the musicians/writers of the song )

But as a child, I had all their albums. I listened to them endlessly on the radio. As did my friends. I think we were all 6-9 years of age at the time.
My Aunts loved them as well - my Aunts or father's youngest sisters (he only had three sisters) - were all about 12-15 years older than I was. They were teenagers when I was a child, and babysat us frequently. I was closest to my Aunt K.

We were small and hopeful back then. Like the song.

Now, I'm big and cynical...and scared...and hope...sigh, hope feels like a light at the end of a very very long tunnel sometimes. So this song, you see, holds a special place in my heart.

Answer each category with a SONG TITLE.

Something to Wear - These Boots Are Made For Walking

Something that is a color - Blue Jean

A place - Allentown

A Food - Cheeseburger in Paradise

An Animal - The Lion Sleeps Tonight

A Number - Seventeen

A Girl’s Name - Laura

A Boy’s Name - Ode to Billie Joe

Profession - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Day of the the Week - Monday Morning

A Vehicle - Yellow Submarine

Day #26 of the 30 Day Music Meme - a song that makes you want to fall in love.

Hmm. I was going to go with Bruce Springsteen's song "Fire" - then I listened to it, and thought...okay, maybe not. The lyrics of that song are...well..hmmm. See all I remember is the husky voice and the lyric "when we kiss, fire", what I did NOT remember - was "I lean close, you say you don't like it.." or "I'll take you home, but you want to be alone" - that part I did not remember. Ugh. That's the weird bit about songs, for me at any rate - I don't always remember them.

This is kind of a difficult category. Particularly if you are single, and romantic love continues to be a rather painful carrot perpetually out of reach. I've learned over time that romantic love isn't unconditional and kind of painful, it's often judgmental and more about...well not love.

The love of my life isn't romantic. It's a skinny little girl with dark brown eyes, and a pixie voice who loves with her whole heart. I'd die for that little girl. I don't care if she loves me back. I just love her. And lucky for me she does. That's love - unconditional - where it doesn't matter if the other person loves you, gives you presents, or makes you feel good.
You just love them. Just seeing them is enough. Just knowing they are there is enough.

So...with that in mind...it's kind of hard to find a love song. And as you all know by now? My music memory sucks beans. I can't remember many songs.
When I think of love songs that make me want to fall in love again...these are the two that come to mind today at this moment in time (and I'm too lazy to scroll through any more). Make of that what you will.

Day 24 of the 30 Day Song Challenge - a song by a band that you wish were still together..

There so many. I guess the operative bit would be that it's impossible for them to get back together? Also, some bands really seemed to be more about the front man than anything else. And had run their course - I may miss them, but I'm not sure there's much juice left.

People have already posted a lot of songs by The Who, who I adore. I actually met Roger Daltry during a marketing event. And got to see him reunite with a manager or band player he had a major falling out with. I also got a lot of inside intell on the Who by their friend and marketing manager rep, Martin Lewis. I don't remember any of it, by the way. And I found him less impressive in person. Actually the only member of The Who that impresses me is Eric Clapton, who created even better music post Who.

Feel somewhat the same way about the Runaways and the Doors. I thought about the Doors - but really that was just Jim Morrison.

Okay enough of that.

I'm going with...a band that I felt everyone gelled perfectly together and was insanely versatile - as this song proves.




And..mainly because it's a happy tune and makes me smile, and I kind of want to smile at the moment. Whether it really fits the rules of the meme or not? Eh. I'll let you decide.

Day #22 of the 30 Day Music Meme - a song that moves you forward.

This is my favorite Leonard Cohen song. It's not as well known as his other songs...and I didn't even know it existed until a few years ago.

Day # 20 of the 30 Day Music Meme.

I discussed this meme with Mother on the phone. And she wondered how I did it. She can't remember the name of songs or singers. And has never really been into music that much. When she was young, she liked Pat Boone, Perry Cuomo and Frank Sinatra, and was never really into the Beatles or Elvis, or the Rolling Stones. She did like Simon & Garfunkle, Peter Paul and Mary though. And Broadway Show tunes.

Mother: How do you remember these song titles and singers?
Me: I don't really - I look them up.

This one is hard. I went through thirty some songs on my Iphone (I have over 5,000). And considered a couple of David Bowie songs. I'm saving the Leonard Cohen for later.

The song I chose is one that has been haunting me for quite some time now. And it feels apropos of these last five years and the times in which we are living, and it, like many brilliant songs, can be read more than one way I think.

Here is Ann Wilson of Heart explaining one of the many meanings of the song and it's relevance today along with her cover of the song.

And here's the cover by Buffalo Springfield in 1967. Buffalo Springfield was the band that Neil Young and Stephen Stills created in the late 1960s with Bruce Palmer and Dewy Martin. And the Song was written by Stephen Stills. Yes, Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.



This is the band playing the same song in 2011

Here is an American Bandstand interview with Buffalo Springfield, about how they put together their band. A history of the band can be found here.

Another interesting and recent covers of the song:

( Billy Porter's at the Democratic National Convention 2020 )

This is Day 18 of the 30 Day Music Meme. A Song from the Year You Were Born.

Apparently I was born in a year in which a lot of amazing songs were released. So...had it narrow it down. I didn't realize that half of my favorite rock songs were released the year I was born - I mean, what are the odds?

The song, I'm about to post below, is one of my all time favorite songs. One of the few that I can remember - and find myself singing along with at various points. It is by far my favorite by Bob Dylan. It's had numerous covers done of it - from Jimmy Hendrix to Neil Young. (By far the best by Hendrix). It was first released on Dylan's Album "John Wesley Harding" and like two other songs on that album plays with the idea of chronological order in ballad narratives.

I was first introduced to the song in college - the Hendrix version. A close friend played it for me, and told me that most people didn't understand the song or the meaning of it. But it made sense to me, I felt it in my bones. It spoke to the poet in me. And I think this song may in some ways be endemic to my taste in music.



Here is a link telling you more about this song.

I posted the version that was recorded the year I was born. Jimi Hendrix's version was a year later.

Per wiki:

Recording
( Read more... )
Analysis
( Read more... )

Day #16 of the 30 Day Music Meme - A Song That Is a Classic Favorite.

I figure anything by this band would be a classic, right? At any rate this is my favorite song by this specific British Rock Band. I first heard the song in the film Full Metal Jacket - but alas it was NOT on the soundtrack, also heard it as the theme song of the television series Tour of Duty. But to get it I had to hunt for the right album.

Here's the band singing it live in 1966, around the time it was first released.



Here's the band singing it in 2006.

( According to Wiki it qualifies as a classic )

I find the song haunting.