Random Writing, Blogs and Adventures |
A mix of Random writing in an attempt to organize my thoughts, storyboard ideas and conserve portfolio space in the process. |
Day 25 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. We are in the last leg of this challenge 5 more songs to go. The next song up is I'm Still Standing by Elton John This is an amazing song. It is a great rock number. The drums really bring the song really sell this a nice percussive beat adding a little staccato to it. The piano part can't be overlooked as well. Elton John has released a lot of good songs over his career but this is one of his best ones. It is catchy and easy to dance to and it has a really positive message. I connect with songs where singers keep going in the face of a struggle and this song epitomizes that. The chorus "I'm still standing better than I ever did, feeling like a true survivor" makes me feel stronger listening to it. The version of the Song being used in the video I posted is from the movie "Sing" with Taran Egerton performing the vocals. If you've seen the movie, this song was used for a very dramatic moment where a son's singing manages to connect him with his estranged father. I would have embedded the movie scene here but wanted to post the song uninterrupted as there are moments when the characters in talk through the song. (Movie version can be found here for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETC85CgzTHM) Instead I used an amv (anime music video) for the embedded version . The anime used in this one is Fairy Tail which really fit in with the song as well. The video's maker did a great job of syncing the anime used to the song making it look like Fairy Tail's protagonist Natsu was lip syncing along to the lyrics of the song. I particularly love the part with Natsu singing along to the "Yeah Yeah Yeah" segment. More songs still to come. - |
Day 24 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Our next song up is... Natural by Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons is one of my favorite modern bands. I could have very easily have filled up my playlist with several songs from them. Natural falls midway on my list for them but it is one of my more recent favorites I've added so it wound up getting its own entry. (The songs being used in this challenge are from my most recent playlist. For the most part, I'm going from newest addition to oldest) Natural is a great rock mix with a punchy beat. There is a little bit of touch of jazz with the adding a nice bit of style to this song. The song feels like a look at nature seemingly acknowledging that it is a kill or be killed type of world. It a little bit of a harsh thought but there is the underlying idea of making ourself push through to the end which gives a more inspirational tone to it. - Note: Just for the record...these are my favorite Imagine Dragons songs in order of preference. 1) Radioactive 2) Believer 3) Natural 4) Enemy 5) Thunder Chances are you'll see some of these songs in future entry albeit not in this round of the challenge. |
Day 23 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Ok next on my list is... Mony Mony by Billy Idol This is a great rock piece. You can feel how loud and energetic it is. This song has a hard beat that encourages its listener to rock along with shaking your head along with the music. This is a popular song that I heard played from time to time but it got added to my playlist after I saw it played in the series "In the Dark". In one of the wildest exits in the series. One of the characters successfully steals millions of dollars from a drug lord then proceeds to celebrate shooting up an unhealthy amount of heroin, drinking several shots, turning on the jukebox and blasting this piece of music. He collapses as the song finishes smacking his head against the floor dead on the spot. It is unclear where the fall or the overdose killed him. It definitely an insane way to go but at least he went out to good music. - |
Day 22 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Ok next on my list is... Together by Sia I like this song a lot. It is cheerful and happy and it has a positive hopeful message... that working together, we would be able to go so much further. I feel like it is very inspirational to listen to. It also has a rapid uplifting beat that fills its listeners with energy. This song is all about love and joy. It is hard to believe that this is from the same singer who sings the much darker toned "Chandelier". Between those two, Cheap Thrills and Unstoppable, Sia has quite the resume and range. This song also references a lot of other popular songs and singers. I can't help smiling when the lyrics rhyme thunder with Stevie Wonder. - |
Day 21 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Today song is... Love The Way You Lie by Skylar Grey This song tilts more towards the emotional side. It's a very powerful piece of music. The singer analyzes her past and there a little bit of sadness as what starts as a bright like a bright future seems to turn into an abusive relationship. The serious themes aside the song has some really beautiful imagery such as angels and fire. It also has a very sweet haunting melody. I first heard this song performed at a 5k I attended where my brother who was one of the runners. It was a charity event where runners completed the path Fire Fighters took when the World Trade Center Towers were destroyed on 9/11. It involved a grueling run through the Lincoln tunnel. This song was performed live at the event though I was not able to see the singer performing it. It made enough of an impression on me that I added it to my play list. Sidenote: When I was relistening to this song preparing this entry. My mother heard me playing it and asked me ..."Are you listening to a Rihanna song? My reaction: "That's a Rihanna song?" A brief bit of googling later... Yes as it turns out... it is a Rihanna song and an Eminem song as well. The Singer performing it in the video (Skyler Grey) is the song writer. - |
Day 20 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Today's post is a double feature... Requiem For A Tower by Escala and Lacrimosa Dominae by Immediate Music Both of these songs were added to my Playlist back to back. I found them when I was attempting to find out the song that was used for the Spider-man II trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s9Yln0YwCw (1:47 onward) As it turned out the song used was "Lacrimosa Dominae" but it wasn't easy to find that out. I had tried using my Shazam app to determine it but it Shazam (at the time) was not able to pinpoint it. I had to search through google and ultimately was able to find it going through the comments of the trailer video on Youtube. Other people apparently were also trying to determine that information. Helpful commentors recommended both Requim for a Tower and Lacrimosa Dominae. I wound up getting Lacrimosa Dominae confused with the simalarly named Lacrimosa. Lacrimosa composed by Mozart himself is a great musical piece in its own right but it wasn't what I was looking for. My next try from the comment recommendation was Requiem for a Tower which I really liked. Afterward I figured out my mistake and was able to add Lacrimosa Dominae to my list. Both these pieces of music are Epic Orchestral arrangements that are really great to listen to and they both make use of crescendoing where the music goes from soft to loud to increase their intensity. Additionally Lacrimosa Dominae has beautiful operatic chorus included in it. As showcased in the Spider-man trailer, both these pieces work really as soundtracks as they seem to have the ability to make any activity more exciting when it is played. Picture doing your laundry with one of these songs playing in the background. Now if you wanted to really get hypedpicture an action scene with this soundtrack playing! - |
Day 19 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Our next song up is... Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer This is a really feel good song. I find myself listening to it a lot. I think what I really love about it is the encouraging lyrics. In a similar fashion to my Day four song ("S.O.Y.L. Entry #4 There's Nothing Holding Me Back" ) it reassures you telling you that everything will be all right. Your just need to keep your head up high. It is like a less tongue in cheek version of Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy but the song seems a little bit more genuine. It makes a listener feel better after hearing it. Besides the catchy refrain there are some beautiful lyrics in this song. I love this verse: "The glow that the sun gives Right around sunset Helps me realize This is just a journey Drop your worries You are going to turn out fine Oh you'll turn out fine..." It paints a powerful visual image. Added onto that the song has a great beat as well. - |
Day 18 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Today song is... Dance Monkey by Tones And I With a song with the word "Dance" in the Title, you would hope that it would be easy to dance to. This one definitely delivers on that front. It has a funky punchy beat mixed in with a touch of jazz that your body automatically is tempted to move along with. I actually first heard this song from my Mother listening to the Youtube video for it. I don't know how she came across it but it did get an instant add to my playlist afterward. It is very catchy and you find that it is hard to listen to just one time when it is played. I also a big nod of appreciation to the music video for this one. I really like it. It features an old man (clearly the singer of the song Toni Watson wearing a costume and heavy make up) who comes to life once the music plays. It is awesome! - |
Day 17 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Not that "Stand By Me"... this is: Stand By Me by Oasis On the heels of "Dream on", it seems like we are running two great rock songs back to back. It is hard to compete with Aerosmith but this is a pretty nice song on its own that also manages to hit on an emotional level. I like the guitar lead in. My favorite part of song though is the segment that the song goes into right before the chorus. "What's the matter with you Sing me something new Don't you know the cold and wind and rain don't know They only seem to come and go away" It the most melodic segment of the song with a rapid rush of lyrics that makes me smile. In terms of themes... much like the classic Ben E. King song, the song is an appeal to friendship. The song is open to interpretation however, I like to think the song reminds you that while the future is uncertain it safer with a companion standing by you! - |
Day 16 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" challenge. Our next song up is... Dream On by Aerosmith This one is an awesome rock piece!! I first heard this song on the series Glee. Matthew Morrison's character Will Schuester wound up getting into a singing battle with an old rival portrayed by the guest star of the episode Neil Patrick Harris. It was a really magnificent performance. Both actors knocked this song out of the park and it made me really want to look up the song afterwards. I'll link their performance below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYXYQRU2i7c (That last note wow!!) I think similar to Night Changes (see "Soundtrack of Your Life Entry #6 Night Changes" ), this song deals with aging which winds up resonating with me a lot as does the push to achieve ones goals. It is inspiring. The anime featured in the video I chose is the popular series Naruto. I think the reason why it works well with this song is that the protagonist of the series Naruto has a dream he is trying to achieve. He wants to become his village's champion in order to get acknowledged by the people in his village who look down on him. The song played in parallel winds up highlighting his struggle to achieve the dreams he was hoping for. - |