Music Monday is a wee bit late today, because I had scheduled these so far in advance that I basically forgot about it. However, while I’d intended to start Christmas music this week, I was at a birthday party a few weekends ago and during a jam session, we all broke out into impromptu karaoke rendition of The Cranberries’ “Zombie.” The chorus is fun as hell to sing (which is what we were all singing), but the song — SPOILER ALERT — is not about actual zombies, and given the lyrics and the video, it just feels appropriate right now.
So without further adieu, here’s your earworm for the week, and if I remember, we’ll jump on the Christmas music train next week. 🙂
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!
Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.
You may not figure me for the sentimental sort, but when I realized I could post a song titled “Thanksgiving” during the week of Thanksgiving? I absolutely could not pass up the opportunity.
But never fear: this is a beautiful piano solo that I’ve loved ever since I was introduced to George Winston’s work, which was, well, forever ago. “Thanksgiving” is the very first song off of his album December, and I’ve seen Winston perform twice in concert in hopes to hear him play this very piece. No luck yet (he has a rather maddening method to what music he performs where), but I’ll always have the song available to listen to whenever I want.
So if you’re feeling stressed out this week, especially if you’re in the United States and are dealing with scheduling and meals and family and even worse, Black Friday, take a moment, listen to this song, and remember to breathe.
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!
Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.
Women rock. We all know this, and after last week’s offering of “Bitch,” I wanted to keep something with a really great beat, and a woman with rocking vocals.
Enter Allison Iraheta. She was a contestant on Season 8 of American Idol who sadly finished fourth (behind one of the WORST contestants I’d ever heard on that show), but her powerhouse vocals and fuchsia pink hair won me over (especially since she was a TEENAGER when she competed), so when her solo album was released, I downloaded it immediately.
One of my favorites songs from this album is actually a cover from Dilana, and I was hoping that Iraheta would also have an actual video to go along with her cover, but no luck. Regardless, it’s a rocking, fun song, and it’s no wonder Iraheta’s producers had her cover it: both women have similar rocking growls to their voices.
But Iraheta’s version is the one I met and fell in love with, so without further adieu, I give you “Holiday.”
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!
Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.
Now that Halloween’s over, it’s a good time to switch gears. Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” has been on my mind a lot lately, partially because it’s on the Orphan Black Soundtrack, and partially because talking about my college years a few weeks ago brought back some memories.
Senior year, advanced creative writing workshop: I don’t know why we did this, but for some reason, the class decided we’d each pick a song that we felt represented who we are as individuals, and our creative writing professor collected the songs and burnt them on a CD for each of us. When this “assignment” came down the pike, I scrambled for a song that would fit, because nothing immediately came to mind. If I wasn’t listening to my hard rock stuff, Evanescence, or U2 (and a friend and fellow writer in the class was definitely going to pick U2: she’s the one who got me addicted in the first place!), I was listening to classical music, because — hello, music major! So I wracked my brain for something when when a friend of mine suggested, “So I have an idea for you, but when you hear the title, you might be offended, but don’t be offended, because it’s a great song and it fits you.”
She sent me Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch.”
I’d never heard it before (musically speaking, I’m perpetually behind the times), but when I heard it, I knew she was right. I loved the song, and it fit all the contradictions I was dealing with at the time (and the first line is especially perfect for 22-year-old me: I was an angry, frustrated, and confused person during my last year of college). So I submitted it, and when the grand unveiling came in class, we had to guess which song belonged to whom. Memory is a fickle beast, so I could be wrong, but aside from hearing U2 and knowing exactly who selected it, I want to say the class rocked out to my song pick, but I can’t remember if they figured out the song was mine or not.
Either way, when I heard it the first time, it fit. When I hear it now, it really fits the girl I used to be, on the cusp of college graduation and that weird transition of knowing she’s definitely not a little girl anymore, but she still wants to be, sometimes.
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!
Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.
Calico Writes 