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 |    My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:  "The Soundtrackers Group"  "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross" Thanks for stopping by!  |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 15 "Steal The Show" by Lauv Elemental was one of my favorite animated movies from last year, and this original song from the film is something that's been in a regular rotation on my playlist ever since. I really like Lauv as an artist, and the message behind this song (and the movie) is really touching. I was surprised to hear that the movie was poorly received at first, but then that rumor seemed to get dispelled as the movie gained popularity throughout its release window. I think it's a really touching story about family obligations and expectations, and juxtaposing that against giving yourself the opportunity to be surprised by life and by love. I really like this video because it also captures a bit of what I think makes the movie so special; the filmmakers did an amazing job creating the world of Element City and showing how these four very different elements live together in the same place. It was a beautiful film, and an impressive follow-up to his prior directing effort for Pixar, The Good Dinosaur. Fun fact... he also played the voice of Emile in Ratatouille! |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 14 "Dance For The Hell Of It" by LOVA This is one of the songs that I listened to the most last year. Like "Over Yourself" from last year's activity, this song is a feel-good, get-up-and-move song that I found myself listening to a lot on repeat when I needed to be productive on a particular task and I just needed some background music to keep my productivity up. Fun fact: LOVA is actually Swedish-born and based artist who started singing and writing songs at age seven. By her teenage years she was releasing music online.I haven't heard any of her other songs at this point, but I'm curious if she'll be able to make the transition to mainstream popularity. This song is great and pop synth is definitely a popular genre right now, but it seems like a lot of artists in this space end up being one hit wonders before settling into a steady, if much smaller following of dedicated fans. I'm definitely excited to hear more of her music. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 13 "QUARTER LIFE CRISIS" by Taylor Bickett This is the second title (after "CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS" ) of young artists that I think have written really insightful, poignant songs. It's also apparently the second song in a row where the song title is spelled in ALL CAPS.  This song came out in 2022 and similarly to Braden Bales' song, it really captured the attention of a whole generation of young people who feel disillusioned with the way life is going. I particularly like the fact that the song acknowledges that the narrator isn't unique in feeling the way they do, but that they still feel the way they do anyway. I also like the fact that "quarter life crisis" is a play on a mid-life crisis and something that I think more and more people are becoming familiar with as they start to make their own way in the world and then, several years later, have a bit of an existential crisis about where their life is headed. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 12 "CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS" by Braden Bales This is the first of two entries in this year's "The Soundtrack of Your Life" playlist that I think really speak to an entire generation of fans and are honest about their day-to-day struggles. Lyrics like "overloaded serial stresser", "the source of my serotonin is only digital", and "panic on a loop in my head" are such great ways of contextualizing living with anxiety and stress. It's no wonder this song has been so incredibly popular this year, especially among kids on TikTok who play the music behind videos of them living their normal lives, or even just singing along with the lyrics.I don't know a lot else that Braden Bales has done, so it remains to be seen whether he's a one-hit wonder or has some other songs to offer that will really speak with his generation, but this is definitely a song that's been on repeat a lot for me this year, especially when I'm feeling a little down and struggling with life stuff in general. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 11 "Whisper" by Betty Who Betty Who has featured on my playlists a number of times, and she keeps popping up because I keep discovering new songs of hers that I love. This one appeared on my Spotify recommendations this year, and it's a perfect fit for the synth pop sound that I've come to really appreciate about her. I also think it's really cool that they're enjoying a bit of a career breakthrough. They've been a popular performer in the LGBTQ+ community for years, but started to branch out this year in a lot of ways, including an appearance as Persephone in the Tony-winning musical Hadestown. She also happens to be a classically-trained cellist who is also a self-taught piano and guitar player who wrote her first song at age fourteen. The stage name "Betty Who" comes from the title of a song she wrote when she was sixteen. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 10 "Stone" by Whiskey Myers This is one of those songs that I think I have an emotional attachment to more for where I first heard it. This was the band playing in the bar during an episode of Yellowstone when Rip and Beth finally had a romantic moment together. I love the bittersweet sound of this song, and actually listened to quite a bit of Whiskey Myers after I discovered the song, although I still think this particular track is the pinnacle of their work for me. Yellowstone is a show I have a bit of mixed feelings about. The first season was amazing, and the second season was pretty good, but I really don't see what the extreme hype is about. The characters are great and the dialogue is pretty compelling, but it feels like every single storyline is about how important the land of the ranch is, almost to the point of fetishizing it. Everyone prizes it and everyone's after it, and people are willing to lie, cheat, steal, and literally murder each other over it. I remember one storyline early on some developer wanted to buy some of the land to building a housing development, and the Dutton family was all furious that anyone would dare try to take their land from them and all I could think was, "This ranch is supposed to be like 750,000 acres and someone wants to pay them millions of dollars to have a small chunk of it for land development? How is that offensive?" I guess I'm more capitalist than cowboy... |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 9 "You Should Probably Leave" by Chris Stapleton I don't really follow country music that closely, so when I find a new artist (or at least an artist that's new to me), I get really excited. The first time I heard Chris Stapleton was his 2017 single "Broken Halos," which I really loved, but the standout performance that really caught my attention was his duet with P!nk on her 2019 song "Love Me Anyway" from her Hurts 2B Human album. That was such a beautiful song and really highlighted his voice; I got chills the first time I heard it. The same thing happened when I listened to this song, which was the third single off his fourth studio album and released in 2021. The song was originally written in 2014 and can be traced back to Stapleton performing it in Nashville. This song actually won a 2022 Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance, so clearly I'm not the only one that likes it.  |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 8 "Surrender My Heart" by Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen is an artist that I think keeps getting better as she gets more experience. Her breakthrough song was the smash hit "Call Me Maybe" in 2012, which was a huge hit and very catchy, but kind of a one-dimensional song. Later that year she did a duet with Owl City called "Good Time" which was pretty decent. Then she followed it up with "I Really Like You" in 2015, which became another huge hit. But the song that I really fell in love with was her 2017 release "Cut to the Feeling" which was originally intended for her album Emotion, but ended up being held back and released in connection with the animated feature film Ballerina, for which Jepsen voiced a supporting role. "Surrender My Heart" was a single off The Loneliest Time, which was Jepsen's "quarantine album" and she worked on with Tavish Crowe, the friend and songwriter she originally developed "Call Me Maybe" with. I really like the way her songs still maintain upbeat, catchy melodies, but the complexity and sophistication of her lyrics just keep getting better and better. |
| "The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 7 "Vertigo" by Griff I can't remember if I've featured Griff on a previous Soundtrackers activity or not, but I've really grown to appreciate her music in the past year or so. She's got a great voice and I like the way the electronic beats complement her vocals. She's been really popular as an opening act on a number of popular tours, including for Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, and Coldplay. This song also got a huge boost in popularity when Taylor Swift promoted it on Instagram and said she loved the song. I actually also really like the alternative version that she recorded in Los Angeles.She has two quotes that I really like. On the topic of why she chose the stage name "Griff" (as opposed to her birth name of Sarah Faith Griffiths), she is quoted as saying, "Sarah Griffiths isn't that glamorous. I sound like I have a mortgage and four kids." And, on the topic of growing up with evangelical Christian parents, she's quoted as saying "If you grow up with Christian parents, you get to a point where you ask yourself if you actually believe if you're just going through the motions. And from a young age I felt like it was something I actually do believe and so it’s always been something that I’ve owned." Which I think is really insightful from someone who's only in her early twenties. |
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