Mixtapemotions

  • "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys, Tuesday, January 11, 2022

    If you believe in the Illuminati, Max Martin would certainly be a candidate of prestigious behind the scenes powers or principalities degenerating the minds of youth through pop music. I’ve talked about Martin’s consistency on the pop charts when I talked about Coldplay’s “Higher Power” last year. Since then I’ve learned a lot more about the Swedish force in the American pop charts. Martin, along with his “disciples” Shellback, Dr. Luke, and Savan Kotecha have been the go-to producers to get a pop act on the radio and charting highly. But if you want a track to go to number one, get it produced by Max Martin. Today, we’re looking at one of Martin’s first success stories.


    TELL ME WHY. Listening to “I Want It That Way” always triggers a particular funk. It’s 1999 in the back of an old church van. It’s middle school, and we’re listening to pop radio because the conservative wave of “no music with a beat” leadership hasn’t taken over yet. This was my earliest exposure to pop music other than the soft rock played in restaurants. Pop music in 1999 was exciting and slightly sexual. There was Britney, Christina, J.Lo. People still remembered the Spice Girls. Then there were alternative acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers also getting Top 40 airplay. The biggest song, though, was Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” which of course, has been forever immortalized by Shrek. But the middle school boys were obsessed with Backstreet Boys. Why? I don’t know. Sure, there was fawning over the school-girl image of Britney Spears or the dirty, sweaty video of “Genie in a Bottle.” But before our little ears started listening to Pink Floyd or alternative rock, boy bands were cool, I guess? The Backstreet Boy phenomenon lasted about as long as their popularity post-Millennium and in the early ’00s the boys liked the female singer-songwriters or the alternative rock acts that crossed over to the pop charts before abandoning the pop charts all together. 
    AIN’T NOTHING BUT A MISTAKE. Last year, This Is Pop was released on Netflix. In the third episode, “Stockholm Syndrome,” we are introduced to Max Martin and Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys. The story the episode tells traces the Swedish pop making sense of a hit single starting with ABBA and pretty much ended with Ace of Bace, as far as Swedish acts on pop radio. However, Swedish producers such as Martin and Co. became the go-to for writing hooks and producing that “Larger Than Life” sound, whether it was Britney, a rockier P!nk, an incredible hit parade on Katy Perry’s first three records to Ariana to Adele’s 25  to The Weeknd and Coldplay. Martin struck platinum with today’s song after boy band’s production had honed their sound over three records, and “I Want It That Way” is one of the most recognizable’90s songs still today, despite not having a complete grasp on English idioms, as evidenced in “Hit me baby one more time” and the lyrical incoherencies in “I Want It That Way.” And no, I don’t believe Martin is a member of the illuminati. Littrell, however, is wrapped up in his own conspiracy theories. 

  • 추천한 K-pop Starter Pack featuring "Honestly…" by Eric Nam and 25+ other songs, Monday, January 10, 2022

    여러분 안녕하세요? 오늘 새 플레이리스트를 소개할 게요. I’m going to introduce my second playlist-in-a-playlist, some of my K-pop recommendations that I’ve written about last year. Unlike 2021+, 추천한 K-pop will be a fluid playlist, updated as I write about other tracks. Again, I’ll be restricting myself to one track per artist, but the artist may be featured on another track. For example, I had to choose between “Fake Love” or “Lights” by BTS, but I can add “My Universe” by Coldplay featuring BTS, without breaking the rules. The same goes for solo artists who are also part of a boy/girl band, so both EXO and Girls’ Generation will appear along with their members D.O. and Taeyeon. Also, some of the tracks aren’t in Korean, but they are made by bands that also have tracks in Korean. I will list my original track list below and make a few comments, but I’ll also leave a link to the original blog post. First, here is the playlist:

    1. “Honestly” by Eric Nam. Today’s song of the day. But also check out his cover of Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up.” He also has an EP that was released on Friday I need to listen to. 
    2. “Age” by From the Airport. A duo who has released two albums and a few EPs. Many of their songs are in English, including this song, but a few on The Boy Who Jumped are in Korean.
    3. “Fake Love” by BTS. Also check out their Japanese song “Lights.”
    4. “Bad Love” by Key, but also check out “Forever Yours.” 
    5. “Weekend” by Taeyeon, but also check out “Blue” and “Time Lapse” from this former Girls’ Generation member. 

    6. “Lilac” by IU was released this spring to commemorate the former teen singer’s 30th birthday. The entire album is catchy, but “Lilac” reminds K-pop listeners that they are listening to the queen of spring.

    7. “One Love” by Wanna One. The now defunct boy band that gave BTS a run for their money for a while.
    8. “Mr. Mr.” by Girls’ Generation. Also check out “Into the New World“
    9. “Not Spring, Love or Cherry Blossoms” by HIGH4 ft. IU. Who’s HIGH4? We probably know this more as an IU song, though she was a featured act, so it’s okay to include this spring track.

    10. “I Feel You” by Wonder Girls is a dripping wet song of the summer. Though Wonder Girls has broke up in 2017, Sunmi keeps releasing provocative music and videos as a solo artist.

    11. “The Little Prince” by Hoan & Pullik (Produced by Godic) is from the hit television show High School Rapper. Korean hip-hop is mostly for inside Korea, but some of it is starting to export.
    12. “My Bad” by Advanced ft. Shaun was released in 2019. There’s also an English version with Julie Bergan singing the lyrics in English, well approximately. She leaves out the part about living in a small apartment with a cat and two dogs.

    13. “Time Spent Walking on Memories” by Nell is a perfect autumny treat. But also check out their song “Ocean of Light.”

    14. “Love in Summer” by George ft. Cosmic Boy is perfect for a lazy summer day. The indie-pop singer releases songs in both Korean and English.
    15. “Rose” by D.O. is a part of a laid-back EP released in the late summer of last year. “Rose” has both a Korean and an English version, but keep in mind that the English version isn’t a direct translation of the Korean song.

    16. “2002WorldCup” by Hyukoh is an indie rock song about growing up. Hyukoh sings in Korean, English, and Mandarin.

    17. “Addict” by Sik-K is and addictive tonal rap track released in 2019.
    18. “Bike” by ADOY is a band that sings mostly in English, but they have a few Korean songs. 
    19. “Ringa Linga” by Taeyang
    20. “One Way Love” by Hyolyn is from the debut EP Love & Hate by the singer from Sista. 
    21. “Git It Up!” by H.O.T. This is the oldest K-pop song on my list from 1999. 
    22. “Am I the Only One?” by SF9. Not the atrocious pro-Trump song by the same name by Aaron Lewis formerly of Staind.
    23. “Shine” by Kim Sung-Kyu

    24.”Whoz That Girl?” by EXID

    25. “Oasis” by EXO but also check out their song “Lightsaber.”
    26. “My Universe” by Coldplay ft. BTS is the most shameless pop collaborations that helped propel Coldplay back to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100. There were some other K-pop collaborations by major artists, Like Lady Gaga ft. BlackPink, BlackPink ft. Gomez, VaultBoy ft. Eric Nam, and too many BTS collaborations to name, but Coldplay might be the biggest collaboration.

    35. “Way Back Home” by Shaun. This is the final song for today, and I can technically add it because “My Bad” is Advanced ft. Shaun. 


    So that’s my list of songs that I’ve written about in the past year. There are certainly others that I wrote about in 2020, but I’ll save them for later and keep adding to this list and revising this post in the future. I look forward to more of these playlist within a playlist posts because it’s a great way for me to revisit my past entries–and cringe–and revise here and there.  Now, I’ll leave you with the YouTube playlist. I might add an AppleMusic version, too, but that may be later.

  • "Honest Affection" by Kye Kye, Sunday, January 8, 2022

    Fantasize is Kye Kye’s second album, and it deals with love in both a tangible and abstract way. Lead singer Olga Yagolnikov Phelan was married to drummer Timothy Phelan during the band’s first two records. Kye Kye‘s debut record, Young Love deals more with spirituality and Fantasize deals more with human relationships. Songs like the record’s epic opener, “I Already See It,” the contemplative “Seasons,” “Glass” or today’s song, the second track on Fantasize, show the band at their best.

    A PART OF ME JUST ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW.  The music video for Kye Kye’s “Honest Affection” was directed by Salomon Ligthelm, who has directed several music videos including a Justin Bieber video and a Little Simz video last year. Kye Kye’s video starts off with an exploding plane over the Pacific Ocean in technicolored World War II footage. Next the message “All’s Fair in Love and War” shows the scene of Japanese children marching in black and white footage. Then there are scenes of war in Japan. After the title card shows in Japanese and English, we see a young Asian woman walking in what appears to be modern times. We see traditional Japanese architecture and a few scenes of Olga singing. Then we have an apparent romance between a man who seems to be training as a samurai and a girl in the court. All of this is intermixed with scenes of World War II, Olga singing, and scenes of the Japanese temple forest. At the end of the video, the Asian girl is riding in the back seat of a car in the present time (or the 1970s?) and she kisses something in her hand.   

    HIDING TO AVOID ANY SIGNALS.  It was either Todd in the Shadows, A Dose of Buckley, or an equally snarky reviewer who points out the impossibility of Nicki Minaj’s “Your Love,” the song that says “When I was a geisha, he was a samurai/ Somehow I understood him when he spoke Thai.” The comment was that it was highly unlikely that a geisha and samurai would ever meet, and if they did, he certainly wouldn’t speak Thai! I thought about the first part. I’m not a Japanese history buff, so it’s probably time to brush up with my favorite history video, ever. Was the Shogun finished by World War II? What story is Kye Kye’s video telling? Is the woman at the beginning and the ending the child or grandchild of the samurai/geisha who ran away from the war? Did they escape? Where did they go? Did they both survive? Are they dead at the time of the woman possibly traveling back to Japan to find answers? I guess we can make up our own story with a vague video like this. But part of me feels like it’s irresponsible to throw so many breadcrumbs into an obscure music video by an Estonian-American (not Japanese-American) band. 
     

    “Honest Affection (Remix A) Official Music Video:

    “Honest Affection (Remix B) Official Music Video:

  • 2021+ Playlist Edition featuring "Counterfeit" by Wolves at the Gate and 41 other songs, Saturday, January 8, 2022

    I decided to do something a little different today. I’m going to present my first playlist within a playlist: 2021+. When my friend Stephen Barry chooses his top songs of a given year, he gives two years of wiggle room for the records he missed. My format is not like Mr Barry and his Orchestra, but I thought that it would be interesting to make a playlist of the best songs I blogged about about last year that fit within a two year time frame. I’m going to stick to one entry per artist as usual and leave links for the posts. Today’s song, “Counterfeit” by Wolves at the Gate, comes from a 2019 album, so it barely makes the list. First, I will post the Spotify playlist:

    The songs listed on this playlist:
    1. “Cold Air” by Acceptance. The lead single from 2020’s Wild, Free is a song about a community torn apart by prejudice. Also check out “Wasted Nights” and “Dark Age.“
    2. “Counterfeit” by Wolves at the Gate from 2019’s Eclipse is the representative song of the day.
    3. “Dead Flowers” (Resurrected) by Demon Hunter, an acoustic reworking of their 2013 hard rock hit. From their Songs of Death and Resurrection, released early last year.
    4. “Around the Corner” by Mike Mains & the Branches from their 2019 album When We Were In Love. 
    5. “This Is Heaven” by Nick Jonas. A smooth RnB sleeper hit that is interesting in the context of the Jonas Brothers’ religious past.


    6. “Video Game” by Sufjan Stevens
    7. “Machines” by Paradise Now
    8. “Yosemite” by Lana Del Rey. Chem Trails over the Country Club and Blue Banisters were a little tough to get into, but “Yosemite” offers hits of the artist that I have come to love over the years.
    9. “Lilac” by IU. As the former K-pop star turns 30, she gives us this springtime anthem.
    10. “Better Now” by The Juliana Theory is an uplifting ballad released early last year. Also check out 2020’s “Can’t Go Home.”

    11. “Rings & Roses” by Dabin ft. Conor Bryne. Canadian DJ Dabin’s 2019 single recalls a nursery rhyme to invoke nostalgia.

    12. “Soothsayer” by Of Monsters and Men is the final track from their 2019 album Fever Dream. This Icelandic band brings the ’80s feels on this track.
    13. “Me to You” by Tim Be Told. Former Indie CCM singer/songwriter Tim Ouyang writes about his early same-sex attraction and falling in love on this 2020 track from the album Love and Happiness.

    14. “Crashing” by ILLENIUM feat. Bahari. Not bad for a song mostly known from a teen Netflix original movie. 
    15. “Madness” by Anchor & Braille. Stephen Christian’s surprise 2020 release of A&B’s 4th album Tension flexes the singer’s pop sensibilities. Also check out the surprise Christmas present track he dropped, Mariah Carry’s classic, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
    16. “River of Music” by Denison Witmer from his 2020 album American Foursquare.


    17. “Art & Vida” by Ian Mahan ft. Aaron Marsh. An artist I discovered last year when checking out Aaron Marsh’s solo work. 
    18. “My Bad” Advanced ft. Shaun, Julie Bergan. A 2019 single by Korean singer Shaun that was remixed and sung in English by singer Julie Bergan. I’m partial to the drop in the original and Shaun’s vocals saying “미안해” or “I’m sorry” at the end of the track.
    19. “How Do You Sleep?” by Sam Smith. Another 2019 single that was originally supposed to be part of the album To Die For, which was ultimately scrapped because of the pandemic. It was included as a bonus track on Smith’s 2020 album Love Goes.

    20. “Love in Summer” by George & Cosmic Boy.  With an EP titled Love in Summer released in September of 2020, last year was the first summer we really got to enjoy this vibey track.

    21. “High Line” by Tyson Motsenbocker is the opener to 2020’s Someday I’ll Make It All Up to You, the singer-songwriter’s sophomore effort. “High Line” is a storytelling folk song about the park in New York City opened in 2009.

    22. “Three Hour Drive” (A COLORS SHOW) by Alicia Keys ft. SiR. Originally written and performed with Samphra, this version of the track I discovered from Netflix’s Song Exploder sounds a little smoother on Key’s 2020 album Alicia.

    23. “Chemical” by The Devil Wears Prada is the metal band’s venture into active rock.
    24. “The Great Adventure” by Kevin Quinn & the cast of A Week Away. No this was not a good song in the least. The movie was…nostalgic or possibly triggering if you went to Christian camp. But it was a fun discussion.

    25. “Rose” by D.O. One of the sexiest voices in not only K-pop but in music has to be D.O. I wrote about this on December 31st in the song “Oasis” by EXO.

    26. “Weekend” by Taeyeon is an anthem for impending laziness. “When the weekend comes, I can do whatever I want!”

    27. “Addict” by Sik-K from his 2019 record FL1P.

    28. “Animal” by Kye Kye
    29. “Childhood Bedroom” by Ben Platt. Dear Evan Hanson may have been a flop, but the 28-year-old Book of Mormon star did put out a pretty good album last year.
    30. “Sunflower, Vol. 6” by Harry Styles. I’m still amazed how good this 2019 album was. It took me a few listens, but I started to pick up Beatles vibes, particularly in the latter tracks.

    31. “Am I the Only One” by SF9. No not Starflyer 59. This K-pop boy band’s 2020 song is pretty catchy.

    32. “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo. Possibly one of the most talked about artists of last year. Sour sparked hope that maybe, just maybe rock n’roll is here to stay.
    33. “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran. There have been a lot of haters coming out of the woodwork for this song, and it’s kind of understandable that the “Shape of You” singer would have haters. But the video is awesome, and it’s not blaring from every f***ing phone store, so it’s great. Rick Beato’s cringe, though, is kind of fun to watch.

    34. “Take My Breath” by The Weeknd. I’m sure that I’m going to write about Dawn FM, which came out yesterday. The concept of listening to the radio in the wee-hours of the morning before you die. It reminds me of playing Grand Theft Auto all night for some reason. But we’ll talk about that later.
    35. “Death of Me” by Pvris. How would you classify this band? Is it rock? Dark pop? I think I’m going to have a lot of great times getting into their music.
    36. “Sprite” by COIN. I’m still confused about the title. It’s a nice quarantine track though.

    37. “Easy on Me” by Adele. Oh boy. This is the first Adele song that I immediately fell in love with. Of course I love her other work. Who doesn’t? But the rest of the album? Well, that’s going to take a little getting used to for me.

    38. “Silk Chiffon” by MUNA ft. Phoebe Bridgers was one of the “it” songs of last year. It’s made several critics lists. And all that coming from a band that I delved into for the first time last year. Seriously, lesbian love songs are the future of music!
    39. “Bad Love” by Key is a space-aged ’80s retro track as SHINEE went back on hiatus for Taemin to complete his mandatory military service.

    40. “Two Graves” by Anberlin is their first new song in seven years. And it’s possibly their second heaviest track after “Dissenter.” New album in 2022?

    41. “All Too Well” (10 Minute Version) by Taylor Swift. Of course Taylor also released her own version of Fearless, but Red certainly overshadowed it. We’ll never forget the two months when Swift dated Jake Gyllenhaal and didn’t even come to her birthday party! And also, “Fuck the patriarchy!” 
    42. “My Universe” by Coldplay ft. BTS. Though I personally preferred “Higher Power,” the BTS featured single brought Coldplay back to the top of the Hot 100.

    And that’s my 2021+ Playlist. Stay tuned for my 2022+ Playlist, coming soon. It will be an updated playlist featuring the latest tracks from artists I blog about from 2020-2022. 





  • “Is This the Real Life” by Emery, Friday, January 7, 2022 (semi-repost)

    BadChristian started as the provocatively-titled book, Bad Christian, Great Savior, written by three friends, Pastor Joey Svenson and Emery’s lead vocalist Toby Morrell and guitarist Matt Carter. BadChristian quickly grew into a brand–a podcast and a record label–that pushed back on the conservative, family-friendly branding of Christian entertainment that had been curated for years by Christian bookstores, radio, and other Christian media outlets. Emery began releasing their music through BadChristian. In 2018, they released their second LP on their own label, and just like Matt & Toby’s edgy podcast, Eve was the most interesting conversation pieces to come out of Christian Rock that year.

    CALL IT TRASH, I CALL IT PEARLS. From its controversial cover (pictured above), a nude woman on her knees showing a naked buttocks, to its lyrical content addressing alcohol and drug use, profanity, lust, divinity, and homosexuality, Eve doesn’t leave listeners with definitive answers. But it asks some good questions. The first one is what is Christian music? When I was growing up, there was Christian music and secular music. Of course secular could mean the Carpenters which was ok, but it could also mean Korn or Eminem. A Christian book store was a safe spot where you could buy just about any CD without parental objections, unless of course your parents were anti-rock music. There was no cursing, sex, or violence. There certainly were no naked people on the album cover. There were some anomalies to this. P.O.D. had album artwork reprinted on both The Fundamental Elements of Southtown and Payable on Death. Evanescence and MuteMath sued to be taken out of the Christian bookstore and section. A few early Tooth & Nail bands contained strong language (the label wised up to the money-making opportunity to keeping a clean nose for the Christian bookstore). But in all of this heavy branding, how realistic was it to how adult Christians really acted? The Christian music industry promoted a lifestyle in the fans that many of the bands didn’t even realize that they were promoting. Emery comes along and breaks free of the bullshit and starts to question whether Christian music can be Christian without the censorship. And this journey continues on this provocative album.

    I STAY IN MY DREAMS, BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. “Is This the Real Life?” is an ontological discussion in the form of a song. Reality is a theme that Matt and Toby talk about a lot on The BadChristian Podcast. How do we know that life isn’t just a simulation? How do I know that I am real? How do I know that you are real? Are you just a program in the simulation? Am I? I’ve spent a lot of time wondering about these things myself. We only really get one perspective in this life. And the human experience is at most 100 years out of thousands of years in earth’s history. I am one of 7.8 billion people alive today. Trillions have lived before me and trillions will live after me. I read somewhere that it only takes 3-4 generations to go by for you to be completely forgotten. That is unless you do something great or notorious, but even then only a small percentage of people will be educated enough to know about your dot on history only if it was significant enough. And I think about how I don’t know much about my great aunts and uncles. And even if we can see their names, we can’t know their daily lives and struggles unless they happened to keep a journal. And even if they did leave a journal, there are so many journals to read. With trillions of lives lived, who could ever have the time to appreciate all of them and move us forward as a species. And I’m going to stop starting my sentences with and.

    For an in-depth analysis of this song, I will link to the Break It Down Podcast with Matt Carter. 


  • "Guns and Roses" by Lana Del Rey, Thursday, January 6, 2022

    Following up a hip-hop infused pop record with lyrical content alluding to the Golden Age of Hollywood, Lana Del Rey took her sophomore record in another direction. Del Rey began working with Black Keys guitarist and vocalist Dan Auerbach in 2013. Trading hip-hop beats for rock guitars, Del Rey keeps her vocals mellow and in a low register, unlike 2021 Del Rey. Is 2014’s Ultraviolence a rock record? With references to Jeff Buckley, Lou Reed, and Guns N’ Roses, the aesthetic of this Del Rey record transports listeners as far as the ’90s, while touching on the late ’60s and ’70s. It’s a mellow rock record, though, and much mellower than current projects by Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo. 

    HEAVY METAL LOVER OF MINE. Listening to Lana Del Rey, there’s a dichotomy that runs throughout her discography of elegant and trashy.  The girl with “hair done up real big, beauty-queen style” loves to sing about sex, drugs, and in today’s song, rock ‘n’ roll. “Guns and Roses” looks at relationship with a bad boy on his motorbike. Del Rey’s theme in this song is like most of her songs, a girl who was probably raised a good girl becomes completely dedicated to a bad boy who rides a motorbike. Del Rey writes most of her song using common motifs, often reworking lines from previous works into her current work. “Guns and Roses” is based on two earlier, prot0-Lana Del Rey tracks Elizabeth Grant was rumored to have recorded in 2008 or earlier, four years before Born to Die‘s release. The song “Axl Rose Husband” was recorded but never released nor leaked, though Del Rey released a demo back in 2008. “White Pontiac Heaven,” a reworking of “Axl,” was leaked in 2012. Just as a novelist may throw away pages or even scrap a novel, Del Rey’s early works show listeners the path she is taking musically, but we hear a much less refined version.


    I WASN’T THE MARRYING KIND. Guns N’ Roses was set to be the biggest rock band on the planet, putting a Southern twist on glam rock. But in 1991, Nirvana and grunge changed the rock scene, making late ’80s acts less popular. Still, GNR were particularly loved in the South, the problematic Axl Rose and all. Lana Del Rey introduces a new character in the song named after the hard rock band, or rather, she reintroduces that girl from pre-Lana Del Ray recordings. The character in the comical “Queen of the Gas Station” on Lizzie Grant’s album is summoned back on “Guns and Roses.” It’s not a Brooklyn-born girl who’s living in California. Instead it’s a girl from the south who hopped on the back of a motorbike with the baddest boy who promised to show her life beyond the one traffic light in town. Settling down in Vegas, Del Rey’s character is still enamored with this bad boy, comparing him to Jesus how he “walks on the Pacific” and Detroit to their eventual “promised land.” Del Rey glamorizes this life on the run, a real teenage dream. It’s fun, but thoroughly unrealistic. 
     

  • “My My My!” by Troye Sivan, Wednesday, January 5, 2022

    Following up Blue Neighbourhood, Troye Sivan released another collection of songs celebrating queer love in 2018. This time, Bloom was less about love in the abstract and more about sex. Songs like the title track dealing with anal sex, the Apple Music edition of the album’s opener “Seventeen” recalling how the singer lost his virginity to an older man on Grindr when he was seventeen, to a song about his boyfriend who “Tastes like Lucky Strikes” may take a few listens to understand the euphemisms.

    SHINE ON, DIAMOND.  Bloom holds an 85% on Meta-Critic, meaning that most reviews were favorable. In America, though, Sivan’s music mostly is confined to the LGBTQ+ community, and Bloom didn’t make a splash in the mainstream pop market. But looking at the promotion, Sivan’s team clearly had the young star’s sights on conquering the charts. A track with Ariana Grande, a performance, albeit a polarizing performance, on Saturday Night Live, and a guest spot on Ellen weren’t enough to raise the singer’s pop-stardom.  The first single from Sivan’s sophomore LP, “My My My!” topped the Billboard Dance Tracks. NPR and Pitchfork praised the album. The former, said reviewing Sivan’s “My My My!” video: “[i]t’s not every day you see a young, skinny, queer kid get to be completely himself in a music video, and Sivan makes us want to dance along with him.” His performance on SNL, though, divided viewers. It ranked as the ninth-worst performance, according to a video by WatchMojo.com.  Many wondered who the singer was and why they should care about a singer “trying to be Aaron Carter”? 

    I DIE EVERY NIGHT WITH YOU. In Korea, though, you can easily hear Troye Sivan’s music when you go shopping or go out to eat, and this is every single the singer puts out. The reason I chose “My My My!” as my song of the day was that I happened to 
    catch the chorus when I was walking through the underground market in the subway station today. One of the questions that I’ve had in my own coming out journey is why are some LGBTQ+ figures so big in Korea? Korea is a country that neither criminalizes homosexuality nor grants rights  1)against discrimination 2) for civil unions, marriage, inheritance, or adoption 3)any specific protection under the law. Singers like Troye Sivan and Sam Smith became huge in Korea despite the fact that only one Korean celebrity has public come out, which initially ruined his career. In America, maybe Troye Sivan’s SNL performance is still too gay for the mainstream. The country has made progress in LGBTQ+ representation, but maybe homophobia is preventing Sivan in becoming a huge star, much in the way that if an A-list Hollywood actor were to come out (Tom Cruise, John Travolta) it is still speculated to be career suicide. As with singers of the past who came out or were later found out not to be straight, it was easier for the listeners to accept that singer–after all celebrities aren’t like us, right?–rather than recognize it and accept those around them who were not straight. I always hope that Troye Sivan, Sam Smith, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and so many other LGBTQ+ celebrities can be a point of discussion about accepting the community in one’s own back yard.


    Ellen Degeneres Live Performance:

  • “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver, January 4, 2022

    A song and an artist with layers makes a blog entry more interesting. I spent the day while cleaning and house hunting getting to know a fascinating artist and listening to his genre-bending works; however, it all hinged on one song, his first hit, the song of the day. These days, I spend much more time talking about what I found out about the song, and link my readers to articles and podcasts for further information. Today, though, what initially struck me about this song was my memory with it, and I think that is the topic that is worth the majority of the discussion. But I will give my reader some homework, podcasts that tell the story of the artist, the songwriters, and the legacy of today’s song. I’ll throw a few factoids in along the way.

    THE RADIO REMINDS ME OF MY HOME FAR AWAY. On certain occasions songwriter Bill Danoff listened to a bluegrass radio station based out of West Virginia. When he needed a state to name in his breakthrough hit,his home state of Massachusetts didn’t fit the song. Only co-writer, and eventual wife, Taffy Nivert Danoff had been to West Virginia, contributing what she saw in her drives from her home of Washington, DC to her college in Ohio.. The the songwriters hoped somehow that Johnny Cash would sing their song, but up-and-coming singer-songwriter Henry John     Deutschendorf, Jr., known better by his stage name John Denver, raised in New Mexico to a father in the Air Force sang the song and took it to #2 on the Hot 100 in 1971. Listeners would think that Denver or at least the songwriters grew up or had some intimidate knowledge of the beautiful gorge on what is now Interstate 64. Maybe somebody on the writing team would have a family member working in the coal towns. After all, the song “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” became the fourth official state song of West Virginia. But Denver, Nivert, and Danoff were just as fake West Virginians as West Virginian senator Joe Manchin is a fake Democrat. That jab was just to reference and SNL skit only because we’re on the subject of West Virginia.


    OLDER THAN THE TREES, YOUNGER THAN THE MOUNTAINS. When I first came to Korea back in 2012, I lived in a small (by Korean standards) city. One day when I was walking downtown, passing a place where older Korean men gathered to play baduk or Go-stop, I heard on the loud speaker “Take Me Home, Country Roads” playing. There were two thoughts going through my brain. The first was not about West Virginia, but of the foothills of North Carolina and the dirt roads of Central New York. The second thought was How on earth did this song find its way to Korea? Part of the answer was the love for American/Western culture that still exists in Korea. In 1971, “Take Me Home” was a huge song. A Generation X Korean friend of mine said that listening to the radio when she was growing up, DJs played more non-Korean songs because of licensing fees. In my generation, though, K-pop developed and now Korean radio mostly plays songs from the late ’90s to today, K-pop from H.O.T to BTS. Another part of the answer might be what Brooklyn-based writer Jason Jeong shared on an episode about the song in BBC’s Soul Music. He shares that when his parents grew up, the song gave them the idea about moving to what they thought would be a land of prosperity. Jeong’s father moved the family to New York City in the early 2000s, but soon became disheartened by the reality of the American Dream. Instead, they missed their homeland, rural South Korea. Jeong says that in America, his father continued to listen to that song, but it had changed its meaning. “West Virginia” no longer meant America. The episode also talks about the Jamaican recording by Toots and the Maytals, which substitutes “West Jamaica” for “West Virginia.” “Take Me Home” isn’t a song about West Virginia. It’s a song about home, wherever you find it. It’s about the place you grow up, whether it’s West Virginia; Massachusetts; Jamaica; Mokpo, Korea.

    John Denver live:

    Toots and the Maytals:

    Further listening:


    The Story Behind Our Music: “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Succinct 4 minute history of the song.

    Interview with Taffy Nivert:
    BBC Soul Music “Take Me Home, Country Roads” Personal stories about the song’s impact.

    The ’70s Buzz “John Denver” A podcast about memories from the ’70s, which shares some interesting facts about John Denver.

  • “Brother” by NEEDTOBREATHE (Repost), Monday, January 3, 2022























    When I was reading about NEEDTOBREATHE for the first time, I couldn’t help drawing parallels between another band with a raspy-voiced lead singer, Kings of Leon. Both bands have Southern, faith-based roots. Both frontmen were raised by pastors who were involved heavily in ministry. Like the Killers, the record label of both bands tried to break them in the UK before taking on the American charts. Both bands were composed of at least two family members. In Kings of Leon, the band is composed of three brothers and their cousin. For NEEDTOBREATHE, the band’s line up originally consisted of brothers Bear and Bo and their friends. But before they could release their 2015 record, Rivers in the Wasteland, a sibling rivalry nearly ended the band.

    LIKE A BULL CHASING THE MATADOR. NEEDTOBREATHE’s breakthrough hit “Brother” topped Billboard’s Christian Songs and was the band’s first entry on the Hot 100, peaking at #98. It also rose to #8 on Billboard’s Rock/Alternative Radio Play charts. The radio single, recorded after the album’s release, features singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw, best known for his 2003 hit “I Don’t Want to Be,” the theme song for the WB/CW teen drama One Tree Hill. According to the director of the music video, Jerod Hogan, the band filmed the video before recording the single version, and thus DeGraw’s verse had to be shot and added to the video. The collaboration possibly pushed NEEDTOBREATHE’s popularity in the rock and adult contemporary charts and set them up for collaborations later in their career, including with Carrie Underwood earlier this year. I prefer the original album cut because I don’t particularly care for Gavin DeGraw’s voice. I didn’t like his whinny 2003 hit, and I didn’t even remember it until researching for this post. Besides Bear’s absence on the second verse, the single version cuts out a very quick jam session of a piano playing some blue notes between the verse and the bridge. All in all, the song is quite catchy, and it’s a song that makes me remember how important family relationships are. When you’re with family, there’s no fooling them. You may be able to present yourself in a certain way, but family remembers who you are. They remember your stupid mistakes, and they see you in your most unfiltered light. 
    I AIN’T MADE FOR RIVALRY.  There’s a pretty epic Rolling Stone feature on Kings of Leon I referenced back in June. The article gives some vivid description about a fight that ensued between brothers Caleb and Nathan Followill after a night out drinking in Nashville. The Relevant article about NEEDTOBREATHE’s big fight isn’t quite as colorful, but we learn that that fight has shaped both 2015’s Rivers in the Wilderness and 2016’s H A R D L O V E. And, although the brothers put their hard feelings aside, Bo ended up leaving NEEDTOBREATHE in 2020. The younger Rinehart brother didn’t share his reasons for leaving in the band’s statement released to The Christian Beat, but the 39 year old currently creates visual arts and is working on new music, according to his Instagram page. Whether or not the family rivalry was a reason for Bo’s departure, working with family can be tough. We can get into a big argument with a family member and solve the problem only for it to come back years later. Bear will always be Bo’s older brother, and with that relationship comes love, responsibility, and resentment. Sometimes “Hard Love” means loving that person in smaller doses. The music video brilliantly depicts the brothers confined in a small space, and sometimes that space is smaller to the point where they have to sit down. With two brothers constantly fighting each other, they need to give each other some breathing room.
    Acoustic Performance:

    Cover by Supernatural star Jensen Ackles: 


    Story Behind the Song:

  • “Don’t Want to Feel It All” by White Lies, Sunday, January 2, 2022

    Following up their 2013 album Big TV, West-London-based post-punk band White Lies released their fourth album Friends in 2016. The album continues on the band’s homage to the ’80s, though the synths are not always as prominent as their first and third albums. Lyrical themes deal with friendship deterioration, alienation, and loneliness, yet the ebullience of the music often disguises the sadness in the lyrics.

    NO, I’M NOT GOING TO BREAK YOUR HEART. White Lies started their career on a high note in the UK, but never really crossed over to the American market. The band formed in 2007 after ending an indie rock band called Fear of Flying the three member members of White Lies played in high school. In high school, the boys enjoyed listening to groups like Talking Heads and Franz Ferdinand, but with the inception of White Lies, the band claimed musical influence from Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Killers. The band decided to take a gap year between high school and university in order to focus on their new band. After recording their first album, To Lose My Life… the band scored a UK radio single, and the band took off on tours with Snow Patrol and Coldplay. The band also played festivals in the United States including Coachella and Lollapalooza, and performed on Late night shows on Letterman and Carson Daly. The band’s only U.S. hit comes from their first album. “Death” hit number 4 on the Billboard Dance chart. Next month, White Lies will release their sixth studio album, As I Try Not to Fall Apart. 


    BUT I MIGHT USE IT. “Don’t  Want to Feel It All” is the fourth track on Friends and was the fifth and final single released from the album. The opening synth riff instantly reminds me of the chorus of Twisted Sister‘s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” and the chorus uses a kind of steel drum effect. The song seems to be about personal problems that get in the way when loving someone. The speaker is asking the listener to understand him, to bear with the “daydreaming.” He doesn’t want to feel the full weight of his relationship. He wants to be slightly divested. Perhaps, he thinks, if he feels it all, he will become unstable. Maybe numbing himself to what could make him feel the strongest emotions is a way of protecting himself from spiraling if he were to lose it all.* Or perhaps, the speaker is just too self-absorbed. After all, if you can’t “feel it all” with a friend or significant other, that person might not be as important to you as you think they are, and they might start to think the same about you. But, maybe we’re just talking about a season. Just as “Winter is taking ages” so can a dark season take a while with our relationships. 

    *all of these are themes on the album I listened to most today, but decided against choosing depressing Underoath songs about suicide, loss, and drug addiction because I wanted to be a little more uplifting at the beginning of the year.