Here We Go Again

“Oh here we go again
It’s time to tell your friends
That I’m through wasting
Stop complaining
I’m through wasting all my time on you”

Here we go again – Throwing Gravity

After writing nine blog posts and receiving some great feedback from my readers I decided to extend my audience and invested in a Twitter account. You see, I am quite proud of these blogs which I have, so far, managed to upload every week, because every song I muse about means something important to me. I wanted others to discover my blog and perhaps do some musical musings themselves.

When I got my Twitter account (@Renees_Musings) I immediately started to follow all my favourite artists – Lady Gaga, Foo Fighters, Taylor Swift, Keane, Luger Boa etc. I put up a tweet with a link to my blog and retweeted Luger Boa’s blog post from a few weeks ago. Then I sat on zero followers for a bit until my close friend took pity on me and followed me. My second follower was someone I didn’t know, so I got all excited, until I realised she was using Twitter to promote her “x-rated activities”. I gave myself some more time to up my followers, and a few days later I still only had two ... until I realised the “x-rated” lady was gone and Throwing Gravity were my new follower! After checking they had nothing to do with x-rated activities, I googled them and discovered some sweet new tracks.

Throwing Gravity are a rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, and, after a slow start and a few halts in the music industry, have released the album It’s Not The End. They have a cool range of songs including Best Time, Circles and Lost in You, which I think you should check out if you haven’t heard anything from them before. My favourite is Here We Go Again, which is why it is this weeks’ track. It’s a hard hitting song about someone who wastes our time and we have to decide whether or not to sever ties with them. A great message which gets you thinking, cool instrumentals and a grungy voice sells it for me. Throwing Gravity – thank you for following me on Twitter, because I got to hear more great music and share it with my readers.

This story may seem a bit shallow as, in the great scheme of things, having a certain amount of Twitter followers doesn’t matter, and Twitter certainly should not distract or deteriorate from the importance of music. But what I love about this little story is Twitter led me to a new band, and discovering new bands is one of my favourite things. If Twitter is going to promote great music, then I’m all for it.

Last Kiss

“We were out on a date in my daddy's car
We hadn't driven very far
There in the road, straight ahead
A car was stalled, the engine was dead
I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right
I'll never forget the sound that night
The screamin' tires, the bustin' glass
The painful scream that I heard last.”

Last Kiss – Pearl Jam

There is one aspect of music I haven’t mused about in my blogs until now, and it surprises me a little because it is such an important part of music. Music tells stories.

Last Kiss tells the tragic tale of a car crash which kills a man’s beautiful woman. The man must now go through his life with both the trauma of losing someone in a car crash in which he was driving, and with having to make every decision the right decision so when he dies, he can visit his girl in heaven. It’s a powerful story told through a song, and when listened to, conquers up an image in your mind which is disturbing and horrifying, but somehow beautiful and touching at the same time. It’s one my favourite stories told in any song; I can listen to Last Kiss over and over and imagine the story without feeling I have ever overplayed the song.

Without stories, good music would not be possible. Every song has a story behind it, whether it is explicitly told such as Last Kiss is, or whether it is part of an emotion or feeling or moment which is portrayed through music. All around us are songs which tell stories. Rock legend Meatloaf is a great example. From Paradise By The Dashboard Light to You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth, we see a narrative developing, characters being introduced, conflict arising, a climax and some kind of resolution. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Fast Car by Tracy Chapman and Thriller by Michael Jackson are just a few examples of songs which follow the structure of a good story but have emotional lyrics which capture our attention and intense instrumental moments to increase the climax and conflict. These songs take us on a journey as we get to know  the characters and want to know what happens in their story. We connect with the characters and we feel for
them; whether it is the joy of being with a hot young girl, the fear of being caught or the pain of losing someone special.

Stories are beautiful creations which have benefited our world for thousands of years, and it makes me so happy that we have used music to tell such amazing stories. With these musings in mind, I will leave you with the rest of the amazing story told through a song.

“I lifted her head, she looked at me and said
"Hold me darling just a little while." 
I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss
I found the love that I knew I has missed
But now she's gone, even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life that night.”

Sparks Fly

”Drop everything now
Meet me in the pouring rain
Kiss me on the sidewalk
Take away the pain
'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile”

Sparks Fly- Taylor Swift

She’s been on her Speak Now World Tour for the past year, and she’s finally going to grace our shores. Yes, that’s right, it’s nearly time for New Zealand’s first ever Taylor Swift tour and there is buzz right across the country. And this buzz can only mean it is time for a Taylor Swift blog! 

T-Swizzle is the ultimate country pop chick. She’s cute, funny, a bit flirty and down-right glamorous. She has fairy princess tea parties with her young fans and dresses up in ball gowns to have dinner at McDonalds. She puts on dresses which resemble sacks and sings songs about how she will not let people stand in her way, a feat most people would fail miserably at, but Taylor succeeds in making both cute and hip. She still gasps in shock when she wins yet another award, and raises her hands and makes a heart shape, just to remind her fans she is ever so grateful. If you haven’t gathered yet, I’m a bit of a Taylor Swift fan. I think she is one of the best things to happen to the music industry in the past few years. She’s simply fabulous.

To digress slightly from my musings on how wonderful Taylor is, I love her song Sparks Fly and it is probably my favourite track on Speak Now. I mostly like it because when I listen to it, I like to visualise someone kissing me in the pouring rain, then we share a cute smile while fireworks go off in my mind. But rather than bore you with my fantasies, I shall tell you why Sparks Fly is a good song for this week’s blog. The video clip for Sparks Fly is a montage of her concert footage, which looks amazing. They include multiple sets, lights, characters, costume changes and actual flying sparks. They include screaming fans who all want a piece of the show. But mostly, they include an artist who loves to perform and loves her fans and will get up on stage and give a show worth the money we pay to see it.

This weekend, young girls, slightly older girls, and a whole lot of mothers will hit Vector Arena to see a young American princess perform her chart-topping songs. The young girls will dress up real pretty and spend most of the night on their tippy toes, hoping for a good glimpse of Taylor. Vector Arena will light up for three nights with the pop and country mash up music, complete with the amazing set and stage performance. This weekend, sparks will fly.

Rise Above This

“Call your name every day, when I feel so helpless
I’m falling down, But I’ll rise above this, rise above this
Call your name every day, when I seem so helpless
I’m falling down, but I’ll rise above this, rise above this doubt”

Rise Above This – Seether

This song has such a wonderful message and should be inspirational to everyone who listens. Quite simply, it is a great song. However, it does not sound like something Seether would release. Seether’s previous songs had been rock, hard rock, with shouting and swearing and angry lyrics. Even their slower songs still had an angry vibe and a dangerous tone. Rise Above This sounded too painful, too tender, and too personal. It told people there were problems and it asked people for help. Me, being me, loved the lyrics and loved the whole idea of this song, but there was a part of me which did not want to admit how much I liked the message because it portrays weakness.

We live in a world which tells you to “harden up” or “get over it”, and this message makes us keep our problems to ourselves. Admitting something is wrong is a sign of weakness, and no one wants others to think they are weak. No matter how many times our friends and family say they are there for us whenever we need them, we are slow to take up the offer and would rather struggle in quiet. We know this is not healthy and is not how we should live our lives. But still, we will not admit our problems to anyone else, and, in some cases, we will not even admit our problems to ourselves.

About a month ago I saw Seether live. They played ridiculously well and it was one rocking night. From Country Song to Driven Under, they owned the stage and wowed the crowd. We all knew Rise Above This would come on soon, and there was a small part of me which expected the crowd to go calm down a bit and not as crazy as they had during earlier songs. I thought people would be a little more reserved, quite simply because the song portrays weakness. I thought, there is no way a crowd of people with studs and tattoo’s and leather would show their peers they supported a song about supposed weakness.

But when Rise Above this kicked off, the crowd went the opposite way to what I expected. Everyone was screaming and shouting as if this song meant something to them. Personally, I thought my throat would never work again with how loudly and passionately I was screaming these lyrics. But what is more, it proved there were other people out there who loved this song and who felt vulnerable at times.

I realised that night what Rise Above This is about. It’s not about weakness; it’s about standing up and admitting something is wrong, and taking the steps to make yourself better with the help of others. Most of all, it’s about being strong enough to do it.

Good Night

“Let’s go back to rock and roll 
When people just let go 
And let the music flow 

I'm just looking for a good night, oh 
I'm not looking for the right time, no 
What I really wanna say to you right now 
Shut your mouth and let the music speak out loud 
I'm just looking for a good night”

Good Night – Reece Mastin
(The X Factor Australia 2011 winners single)

When Reece Mastin walked onto The X Factor stage in his audition and announced, with a cute English accent, he wanted to be a rock and roll star, he made every teenage girl put down their Dolly magazine and pink glitter lip gloss, and watch with interest. He was to be the next teenage sensation which girls went crazy for. I agreed he was reasonably good looking, but refrained myself from any other thought because he’s only sixteen. I thought he could sing, could perform, and could win the competition. He became my favourite and I carefully avoided any newspaper, website or broadcast which could tell me whether he won (NZ unfortunately got the show two months after the final). And so, Reece Mastin rocked his way to the top, fell down when he attempted Celine Dion, then came back with a Guns classic and received enough votes from the Australian public to be crowned the third X Factor Australia winner. He is on his way to becoming an international rock star, and all because of a reality TV show.

Reality television is the epitome of controversial television. It is cheap, easy to produce, and there is never a shortage of people willing to risk looking like a fool on camera for their shot at fame (think  William Hung from season three of American Idol, who was somewhat impressive with his version of She Bangs). Reality TV is seen as the butt end of television programming, and if you ever read the complaint letters in the TV Guide, you will see that most people hate it, or love to hate it. But when you cut out the MTV rubbish they call reality television and focus on the elimination style shows, we see something encouraging. These shows give people with a talent, whether it is singing, dancing, cooking or modelling, a boost into tough industries and show them the harsh competiveness from the beginning.

Whether Reece Mastin would have made a career without The X Factor, who knows, and whether he will continue to succeed remains to be seen. Personally, I hope he does succeed. He is talented and deserves to be called more than a reality TV sensation. He can let the music flow and have himself a damn good time becoming a rock star. Reece Mastin, you cute little English sensation, you have my support, but I think I’ll leave the love notes up to those a few years younger than me.