Well some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I’ve started out, for God knows where
I guess I’ll know when I get there
I’m learning to fly, around the clouds,
But what goes up must come down

If you do an Amazon search for “String Quartet Tribute” you’ll find lots of selections. I’ve listened to samples of some of them. I’m torn in buying some of them, particularly the U2 and Foo Fighter tributes. However I’m very much aware that there is a good chance that some tracks are indeed elevator music. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails is just plain awful in string quartet version. The songs that sound good are the ones that are ballads. “All I Want Is You” by U2 comes to mind. “Yellow” by Coldplay is another good one. I find myself wondering what “Under the Bridge” by The Red Hot Chili Peppers sound like.
It may all be just a fad, kinda like the bluegrass versions (Pickin’ on…). Many of these albums just came out this year or last year. I’m not sure who is this 4 person string quartet is. But it looks like they just go around covering other people’s songs somewhat as a novelty album. And then make money off of die hard fans that need it for their wedding.

Ben Folds’ new song “There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You” would have been much better if there hadn’t been so many curse words throughout the song. It’s good music. But vulgar. Ben Folds would have made it much further if he could control his potty mouth. Some excerpts from “There’s Aways Someone Cooler Than You” (You get the idea of the song):

Now that I’ve got the disease
In a way I’m relieved
‘Cause I don’t have to stress about it like you do
I might just get up and dance
Or buy some acid-wash pants
When you don’t care then you got nothing to loose
And I won’t
Hesitate
‘Cause every moment life is slipping away
It’s ok
Make me feel tiny if it makes you feel tall
But there’s always someone cooler than you

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Howie Day’s version is better than the Beatles’ version. Yeah. You just read that. Howie Day. Better than the Beatles.

Help! I need somebody,
Help! not just anybody,
Help! you know I need someone, help.
When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind I’ve opened up the doors.
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around.
Help me get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me.
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But ev’ry now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before.
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around.
Help me get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me.
When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind I’ve opened up the doors.
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.

Lenny Kravitz’s new album is titled “Baptism.” Due out May 18. I’m intrigued by the title and am wondering what kind of spin he’ll put on it. He has said in past interviews that he is of some type of Christian persuasion. Most notably in his VH1 “Behind the Music” episode he said “Are You Going to Go My Way” is about Jesus.
I’m not sure I agree with many of things in his lifestyle. If someone is to claim to be a follower of Jesus, they have to show it. Take the video for “American Woman,” a remake of the classic Guess Who hit. Pretty much shows scantly-clad women dancing around. The video for “Fly Away” seems to be even more racy than “American Woman.” But then again, both videos are much tamer lyrically and visually compared to some rap videos these days.

Wow. I knew there were Biblical connotations to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” Lately they’ve been playing Johnny Cash’s version on the radio. I ran across this page which seems to desect it lyric by lyric. Some highlights:
Old pirates yes they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottom-less pit
So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Genesis 37:23-24, 26-28
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
Genesis 49:24 – But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
There’s more to it than that. Read the page and find out. Whew! What a great song.

Is the Guess Who song “Share the Land” eschatological in nature? Is it foretelling a not-too-distant communal future? I’m going to offer my own interpretation of the song, which may or may not fit the actual meaning. First the actual lyrics.
Share the Land
by The Guess Who
Have you been around
Have you done your share of coming down
On different things that people do
Have you been aware
You got brothers and sisters who care
About what’s gonna happen to you
In a year from now…
Maybe I’ll be there to shake your hand
Maybe I’ll be there to share the land
That they’ll be giving away
When we all live together.
Did you pay your dues
Did you read the news
This morning when the paper landed in your yard
Do you know their names
Can you play their games
And coming down a bit too hard…
Shake your hand, share the land
Shake your hand, share the land
You know I’ll be standing by
To help you if you worry….
[trailing off]
No more sadness, no more sorrow, no more bad times
every day coming sunshine, everyday everybody laughing
walking together by the river, walking together and
laughing, everybody singing together, everybody singing and
laughing, good times good times, everybody walking by the
river now, walking singing talking smiling laughing loving
each other.
Let’s dissect this lyric by lyric.

Continue reading →

Just for kicks I went over to Hootie and the Blowfish’s website ( www.hootie.com ) to see what was happening. Surprisingly I found they’ve put out a greatest hits album recently (hasn’t everyone?), a third of which of which contains such radio friendly hits that appeared on their breakthrough album everyone owns, or did own during the Summer of 1994.
Song List
1. Hold My Hand (Cracked Rear View)
2. Only Wanna Be With You (CRV)
3. Time (CRV)
4. Let Her Cry (CRV)
5. Not Even The Trees (CRV)
6. Old Man & Me (When I Get To Heaven)
7. Hey Hey What Can I Do (Led Zeppelin cover)
8. Tucker’s Town
9. I Go Blind
10. Sad Caper
11. Be The One
12. Use Me
13. I Will Wait
14. Innocence
15. Space
16. Only Lonely
17. Goodbye Girl
It was radio stations like Y-107 that killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. By playing back to back Hootie songs everyone soon found that they didn’t necessarily have to buy another Hootie album. It was already on their radio. Top 40 radio seems to do that at times. Ruins good songs. Wonderwall comes to mind. Train’s Meet Virginia.
Hootie was the type of thing that VH1 loved. What did it in for me was that music video of them playing golf. Golf? What does golf have to do radio friendly songs?
It’s not that they’re a poor sounding band. It’s that their 15 minutes of fame was already up by the time they released their sophomore album, Fairweather Johnson, which saw only fairweather fans buying that album. Do you own it? I didn’t think so.
It’s a poorly named band. Imagine if you will wearing a Hootie t-shirt out to the mall or Walmart. Then being made fun of because of it. Hootie? Someone really should rename the band. Maybe it was the band’s name that got people initually interested. Maybe it was the band’s name that repelled people.
Looking through their discography I found that they have a whole album of cover songs. “Scattered, Smothered and Covered.” Did they have to work for this one? Probably not.

I noticed this coincidence.

I’m looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burn out bright
–Foo Fighters – “Learn to Fly”

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
–Kurt Cobain

The Foo Fighter’s lead singer, Dave Grohl, was the drummer for Nirvana not too long ago.

There’s a line in John Mellencamp’s song “Small Town” which has always struck a cord in me. The line is “Taught to feel Jesus in a small town.” “Feeling Jesus is somewhat of a pentecostal form of view. Feeling vs. knowing. Churches of Christ have always been somewhat on the knowing end of things through Biblical evidence. Whereas others base their belief on how they feel about Jesus. Or how they feel in their heart.
Mellencamp commented on his religious upbringing on VH1’s Storytellers. He is/was Nazarene. From what I understand, Nazarenes are very conservative, especially entertainment issues. I don’t think they go to movies much. Mellencamp comments on his religious up bringing during Storytellers:

“We had the same religious bombardment. We were Nazarenes. Anyway for those of you who don’t [what] the belief of the Nazarene church was no dancing, no makeup. No wearing earrings, no wearing lipstick. No doing anything. And it sounded like not much fun.”
–John Mellencamp

Nazarenes have never struck me as the feeling type of religion. Moreso they were the knowing type of religion. At least that’s how I see them.
No one ever taught me to “feel Jesus” when I was growing up. Instead I was taught to know Him through His Word, rather than thinking what I felt was right.