Posts Tagged ‘human’

Standing By The Light Of The World

April 27th, 2009

I added new songs to my home page under “Songs On Repeat.”  I’ve been really digging these songs lately, and continuously hitting back on my ipod or car or itunes (too bad you can’t hit repeat on Pandora).  I hope you enjoy them too.

u2_nolineonthehorizon3×5
Room For Squares
John Mayer
Its not a secret that I am not a huge fan of John Mayer.  However, I think they guy is unbelievably talented.  Not only is he an outstanding guitar player, but he has a great sense of humor.  If you haven’t seen them already, you should check out the videos I previously posted.  He jokingly says in one of those videos, “If I can’t get the girl, why don’t I just tell her I’m John Mayer?”  He is also often witty and clever.  

I have been a proponent of living with your eyes open.  What I mean by that, is that often whether it be vacationing, or in real every day life,  we live behind a camera.  We forget to realize that we are there, in the middle.  Whether it be birthday parties, concerts, or vacations, I am consciously trying to take “mental” pictures.  To take in and capture the moment, so that years from now, I might remember the scent in the air, the color in the sky, the hug of a friend–the many different moments of a moment that a photograph cannot capture.  Not that I am against pictures, as I think pictures are great tools to spark the memory.  But it is our mental image, our mental picture of the memory that will bring joy for many years.

John Mayer talks about that in this song.  And as I have been preparing to travel to Italy, it is a reminder to live through your minds lens, rather than your camera lens.


Today skies are painted colors of a cowboy cliche
And its strange how clouds that look like mountains in the sky are next to mountains anyway
Didn’t have a camera by my side this time
Hoping I would see the world through both my eyes
Maybe I will tell you all about it when I’m in the mood to lose my way
but let me say
You should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes
it brought me back to life

killers_dayandageA Dustland Fairytale
Day & Age
The Killers
This is the second time in a row, a song from this Killers album has made it into my Songs On Repeat section.  This is surprising to me.  Although I love the Killers, this album as too many weaker songs.  Though, as told from the last 2 S.O.R, it has some catchy tunes as well.  If you haven’t seen it on these pages already, you definitely have to check out my snide of their cool light show performance of “Human” at the MTV European Video Awards.  Every time I go to Vegas now, I always think of the time I saw the Killers live there at the Hard Rock, as well as the time the lead singer came on stage and sang with U2 “In a Little While.”  Bono called the Killers “the swankiest band in Las Vegas.”

Dustland Fairytale is a great story told through song.  There is speculation that the song was written by the Killers lead singer, Brandon Flowers, about his Mom and Dad and how they met at age 15 in a trailer park.  Either way, its a catchy tune that brings back childhood memories of fairytales.  I recently wrote a pensée snide with the following lyric:

And the decades disappear like sinking ships
But we persevere god gives us hope
But we still fear we don’t know
The mind is poison

thevioletburning_lipstickanddynamitewonderCrush
Lipstick and Dynamite Wonder
The Violet Burning
This one is probably the heaviest musically that I have put up here yet.  For a long time (and I’m not necessarily kicking it off yet), this album has been in my “fantasy five” (5 cds that you would want to have if you were stranded forever on a desert island).  Part of that might because I was once stranded with this cd only.  It was May of 1997 and when I reached the hotel in Greece, my case of cd’s was missing (I do not know to this day if I left them on the train, if someone stole them, or the running joke on the trip – if Ben Morookian had merely taken them.  All that was left was this one cd that I had had in my cd player at the time.  This cd kept me company through long bus and train rides, and it carried on for the other cds, the faithful departed.  Anyway, this has always been one of my all time favorite bands.  And this cd has been released twice, once as a self-titled and once as the above title.   However, both cds are identical.

We are finding where we want to go
We are trying to regain control
Let the streams of light pour down on me
Let the love that heals me set me free
Come on, crush me

It’s Not If I Believe In Love, If Love Believes In Me

March 4th, 2009

I added new songs to my home page under “Songs On Repeat.”  I’ve been really digging these songs lately, and continuously hitting back on my ipod or car or itunes (too bad you can’t hit repeat on Pandora).  I hope you enjoy them too.

u2_nolineonthehorizonMoment Of Surrender
No Line On The Horizon
U2
This song is on their new album which I have been listening to practically non-stop for a few weeks.  It is an album that takes a few listens before it grabs you.  Track 3 on the album is this song and I keep finding myself going back to it.  It has a pulsating bass and drum that is reminiscent of another favorite U2 track, So Cruel (Achtung Baby).  There is a passion behind the words that comes out when Bono is singing.  Moment of Surrender is a track that grooves and possesses soul. 

Begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my consciousness
To the rhythm of yes
To be released from control

killers_dayandageHuman
Day & Age
The Killers
Simply put, this song rocks.  I love the buildup of the hi-hat from the 3rd second to the 8th second of the song.  I love the driving beats, and they lyrics are ones that I can not just hear and enjoy, but feel and relate to as well.  I think there have been days when all I have listened to is this song.  If you haven’t seen it on these pages already, you definitely have to check out my snide of their cool light show performance at the MTV European Video Awards. 

Pay my respects to grace and virtue
Send my condolences to good
Give my regards to soul and romance,
They always did the best they could
And so long to devotion
You taught me everything I know
Wave goodbye, Wish me well..
You’ve gotta let me go

damienrice_bsidesLonelily
B-Sides
Damien Rice
This song sounds like it should be in a movie.  I could totally hear it as a track that plays while a montage of a relationship plays itself out during a movie about boy meets girl – boy loses girl – boy looks for girl – boy finds girl.  Or it could be found in a tv show on the WB (or wait, its the CW now?).  Its a really pretty song that is a roller coaster of emotions.  It definitely packs a punch.

I gave me away
I could have knocked off the evening
But I was lonelily looking for someone to hold
In a way I lost all I believed in
And I never found myself so low


Since I didn’t put in a snide for the first set of songs that I had on repeat, I will list them here in case you ever want to check them out.

countingcrows_august
Round Here (Live At Elysee Montmartre – Paris, France – December 9th, 1994)
August And Everything After – Deluxe Edition
Counting Crows

joshuaradin_unclearsky
You Got Growing Up To Do (Demo Version)
Unclear Sky
Joshua Radin

coldplay_vivalavida
Death And All His Friends
Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
Coldplay

Human

January 22nd, 2009

And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
Close your eyes, clear your heart
Cut the cord…

…And so long to devotion
You taught me everything I know
Wave goodbye, wish me well
You’ve gotta let me go

-The Killers

This Week I'm Thinking About: John Whaley