It’s 4:30 in the morning and I discovered a very beautiful song. I can predict that I am going to listen to it for a long time. The stars have aligned again. The band is called “God is an Astronaut.”
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Lately, I have been fascinated with the isolation that talented people sometimes feel. It seems that even if you have the means to express yourself, you will never truly be understood and you will remain feeling somewhat isolated. Abraham Maslow said that one of the steps towards self-realization is to be “alone but not lonely.” When you occupy your mind with thoughts of real substance, you can never feel emotionally lonely. Now, “real substance” is very subjective and could mean your job, you family, your house, maybe even your furniture. However, the problem is that those things are not permanent, and sooner or later you are going to lose them (well hopefully not your family because that would be depressing). On the other hand, if you occupy your mind with thoughts, dreams and inspirations you are going to become detached from society and start writing songs such as the one mentioned above. Edgar Allan Poe said that:
“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night” (Eleonora)
Omitting some of the obvious reasons for day-dreaming loneliness, I have to say that one of the main reasons for the isolation that those people feel is seeing that there is no escape, but still searching for it.
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This one of my favorite songs. Very rarely do we hear a song that makes so much sense and has substance to it. It is called “Ize of the World” and is from The Strokes’s album “First Impressions of Earth” (which is their most recent album). I actually recommend this album and their other two -”Is this it” and “Room on Fire.” The Strokes received attention with their first album and were claimed to be one of the bands to revive the “punk movement.” After that, everybody calmed down and they have been keeping a low profile. I started listening to them a few months ago and have been hooked ever since. It is strange how I go from hip-hop to alternative rock so many times. They both have their strenghts, but right now I prefer more subtle lyrics than punchlines.
I chose this song because it has a lot to do with my previous post. I have taken a more philosophical path latelely, but I hope that my readers enjoy it (as much as I do). I don’t really claim to be anything more than your ordinary guy, I just like to record my stream of thought and see what emotions it evokes in other people. Anyways, I can’t really choose what to cite from this song, because every part is a masterpiece on its own. Here it is:
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I guess most people are aware how amazon.com has this thing where “if you like this, you might also like that.” Thus, if you like the movie 1984, you might also like V For Vendetta (which I do actually). This had me thinking whether we are really that much predictable. From liking certain movies, to songs, to even colors, we invest so much of ourselves in what we prefer that we gradually begin to search for our “self” in things that other people like. This is where recommendations, similar interests and hobbies come into the picture to turn us into pieces of an endless puzzle. But we are determined to find someone who shares our interests, because we want to fit, regardless of our attempts to distinguish ourselves from everybody else. Thus, we want to find a unique way of means to belong somewhere, instead of doing it in a straight forward way. To sum it up, the crux of all of this seems to lay not in where we end up (because we always end up somewhere), but how we end up there. Let me tell you, we have some pretty creative ways of getting where we want to end up.
Books seem to be the all time favorite history-wise. It is fascinating how something written hundreds of years ago can inspire the modern man. I think that we
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This may well be one of the best monologues in movie history. It is taken from “Scent of a Woman,” which is one of my favorite movies. I saw it when I was really young and it has gotten stuck in my head since then.
Do you think that we are turning into snitches? I think that we are. It goes back to when we are kids — when we inform our parents of something that is malicious we get rewarded. There is nothing wrong with that. The bad thing is when somebody threatens us if we don’t snitch. It takes away our options, by reducing them to one (and I like to have my options). I recommend seeing this movie, if you still haven’t and I want to know what you think about snitching.
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The last song that I brought you was “New Dawn Fades” and I am glad that people liked it. The next song is called “Lovelife” and it is from the Minneapolis-native band “Atmosphere.” It is one of my favorite hip-hop duos and it really got me listening to that kind of music when I was younger. It is so hard to be exposed to good rap nowadays and many people get turned off by the MTV nonsense. Anyways, Atmosphere are all about conscious hip-hop that really gets you thinking, so get ready for a surprise. Those kind of songs are truly timeless.
Individually wrapped, placed in neat little rows
Becoming A piece, of everything that grows
Some numbers, A name, to indicate you played the game
Came empty handed and left the same
A soul is A soul and A shell is A shell
The border in between is full of everything you felt
Some cling to A cross because they’re tired and lost
They leave it up to the weather to measure the cost
And everytime I look within I recognize the darkness
Familiar to the image of the artist
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I respect Method Man and it is because of interviews like this one. I know that people are just not exposed to good hip-hop, so most don’t appreciate it like I do. The next “deep lyrics” post I am going to do is going to be for a rap song. You might me surprised.
PS. His last comments are about the 5 top CEO’s of gas companies and the billion dollars in profit that they received.
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If you have seen this, you have seen what most of the MTV hip-hop is about. I find it funny.
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I think it’s about time for me to share my taste in music. The first thing that you will notice is that I rarely listen to music just to hop around…or to grind with someone’s daughter for that matter. I mostly want it to be an enlightening experience, which would help me see things from a different perspective. This is not to say that I only enjoy moody, depressing, melancholic songs. Come to think of it, I might as well say that. Anyways, I won’t really get into that mainstream/underground debate, I just like when music makes me think, that’s all. As much as I hate categorizations I must say that I mostly enjoy alternative rock and hip-hop. I also know that songs that are deep for me might seem stupid for someone else and that it’s all relative. One more thing, if I like a band I will make sure that I gather all possible information about it, so I might seem a little but fanatic at some points.
The first song that I am going to mention is called “New Dawn Fades” by Joy Division. They are one of the bands that I really, really admire, so I would love it if I have introduced you to them for the first time. I seldom use the word “beautiful,” but that’s the only way that I can describe their songs. All of them were written by Ian Curtis, who was a simply a genius. Those are the lyrics of “New Dawn Fades” :
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Seriously, you have to watch this movie. I watched it last night and it was a breath of fresh air. It is a strange mix of comedy and drama and it really makes you think in the end. I hate it when movie reviews and trailers spoil the whole point of seeing the movie, so I’m not going to give anything away. Only the fact that it has a rating of 7.5/10 in IMBd, which means absolutely nothing.
By the way, have you noticed how many horror movies are coming out lately. I wonder if it’s a coincidence, or if movie producers think that “horror” is what’s hot nowadays. I bet that there’s a special group of marketing people beating their heads all day to come up with a better way to target us. One thing’s for certain, putting the whole plot of the movie in the trailer may not be the best idea. What happened to the old days, when even if the movie sucked, its trailer was somewhat convincing?
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Keith Olberman said it best, George Carlin was a man who “made sense of this crap.” Day in and day out. He looked past the fake smiles and pathetic norms which people use to obtain an illusion of prosperity and tried to make sense out of it. I understand why some people only view him as a complaining, old man. You have to view a lot of what he says with an open mind, because it is hard to notice injustice, when you have been born around it. He, however, noticed it well and made his best to show people how to always question what they see and not just criticize without a purpose, but to do it constructively.
He did not consider himself a counter-culture hero, messiah, or prophet. To label him something of that sort would be pathetic, because he himself considered the act of idolization as one of the major diseases in modern society. Much like Bill Hicks, George Carlin was an ordinary man, just like me and you, who proved that there are a lot of things which we don’t know about ourselves. His comedy was even uplifting for me, because I could finally hear a voice of passion and logic in a sea of pretentiousness. It was impossible for him to change the obscurities of modern media, but at least he showed us how to notice them and not be oblivious. His legacy will live on.
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I was watching TV one night and apart from all the “Girls Gone Wild” and “Enhancement Pill” commercials, I actually saw a comedian that made me laugh. Strange. I was starting to believe that the only way I can see a good comedian is to go to some underground place where you must know a secret handshake to get in. This is refreshing. Enjoy! ( more clips when you click continue)
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“I love hip-hop, but I am tired of defending it,” that’s what Chris Rock once said during one of his stand-up shows. Now that MTV has completely given up on bringing quality hip-hop, we are forced to listen to lyrics like “she lick me like a lollipop.” I don’t ever want to be licked like a lollipop. Ok, maybe I do, but now I have to decide if she wants to lick me as a rapper, and then if I would give her permission to lick the wrapper, because the lyrics go (and I quote):
“Make her wanna lick the rapper
So I let her lick the wrapper”
If you are wondering, this is Lil’ Wayne with his new song “Lollipop.” Now, I love hip-hop, but this is just beyond anything I can come close to defending. The date is June 20, 2008, and “lollipop” is the best they can come up with? What happened to clever punch lines, complex funky rhythms and feelings? Yes, it seems like today’s rappers are completely deprived of any feelings. If you are going to state something, you need to feel passionate about it, be a leader so to speak. The main problem, however, is that it is hard to be passionate about topics such as “cash flow,” “bust it baby” and “get silly.”
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I don’t know if you are following the Euro2008, but it is one of the most exciting sports competitions. A part of its greatness is that it is very unpredictable. France has done a terrible job finishing with just one point, the previous winners Greece also did not do much, and England did not even qualify, which allowed underdogs like Croatia and Russia to step it up and prove themselves.
For those who don’t know, after the group phase has finished the number one team in Group A plays against the number two team in Group B. Consequently, the number one team in Group B plays the number two team in Group B. It’s the same for Groups C and D. The next games are Croatia-Turkey, Netherlands-Russia and Spain-Italy (those are all direct elimination).
Not so long ago, I remember that one of my friends was asked if people in Africa wear shoes when they play football. What can I say, Television does wonders.
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