Mixtapemotions

  • “there is a light” by Kacey Musgraves, Saturday, March 11, 2023

     

    About a month ago, I was in America. It was a Friday night at my sister’s house. My sister’s wife had just made a delicious risotto and we had a bottle of wine. We had been talking about what music we had been listening to before dinner, and as we were sitting around the TV wondering what to watch. I said that at some point I wanted to watch Kacey Musgraves’ star-crossed on Paramount+ because the film was not available to stream in Korea. 

    THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. One of the reasons I wanted to watch Kacey Mussgraves’ star-crossed was that I thought that the film would give me more context for the songs. Kacey*, my sister’s wife said, “The film provides less context,” and “You’ll probably be more confused after watching the movie.” And half a bottle of wine later, nothing was making narrative sense. Not every track on the album is illustrated in the form of a music video, but the songs that are are treated immaculately. The loose narrative follows an unhappy Musgraves from a Kill Bill-like chapel scene opening dance sequence with the album’s opening, title track to her lament in “good wife” then an attack on the other woman in “simple times” to a car crash in “justified” and a repair of broken hearts in “camera roll.” Then in the third act, Musgraves experiences a kind of death in “there is a light” and a psychedelic kind of funeral with a dance sequence. Finally, the album and film end with “gracias a la vida,” a cover of Chilean singer Violeta Parra’s 1966 hit. With the absence of a coherent narrative—and more importantly the absence of salacious, concrete details about Musgraves’ end of relationship and divorce from singer Ruston Kelly—viewers are to interpret the themes as they appear visually. 

    THERE IS A LIGHT INSIDE OF ME. The completely camp performances in star-crossed: the film gives us an illustration of a woman who goes on a personal journey from feeling that life’s meaning was summed up in a traditional marriage. But ultimately, Kacey Musgraves finds that she will lose herself if she submits to this antiquated model. Furthermore, it seems as if Ruston Kelly had lost interest in this version of Musgraves as well. The most damning details come from the song “breadwinner,” which wasn’t adapted for the film. In the song, Musgraves explains that her ex leeched onto a strong “breadwinner,” until he ultimately grew intimidated by the relationship. As for the film? The flamboyance seems to be a rebellion against the traditions small-town Texas born and raised Musgraves has been fighting her entire career. Today’s song, “there is a light” is the epiphany that Kacey is fine as she is. Whatever she was told growing up about marriage and divorce she found to lack the truth that she learns from actually going through the process.  

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

    Lyric video:

    Scene from star-crossed: the film:

  • “This Is Heaven” by Nick Jonas, Friday, March 10, 2023 (repost)

     In 2018 Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas married in two ceremonies. The ceremonies took place in India and represented the religious backgrounds of both the Bollywood-turned-Hollywood actress and the singer/actor. The first ceremony was Christian, taking place on December 1, and the second was Hindu on December 2. In 2019, Nick and the two other Jonas Brothers released their first album in ten years. Nick’s solo career had heated up after the Jonas hiatus, but a reunited Jonas Brothers was even more commercially exciting. In 2021, Nick Jonas was back with a solo record, this time dealing with the themes of isolation due to the pandemic, but mostly about his love for his bride.

    I’M ON MY KNEES AND I CAN’T STOP NOW. From the moment I heard Nick Jonas’s second single from Spaceman, “This Is Heaven,” on his Saturday Night Live performance, I started making connections to what I knew about the Jonas Brothers’ religious upbringing, particularly the story told by the 2019 documentary film Chasing Happiness. The film discusses the hard years in between the Jonas fame and Kevin Jonas, Sr. losing his job as the pastor of a church in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Reflecting on that moment, Nick, Joe, and Kevin’s own faith was shaped by that disappointment in the church. Still, as teenagers, the Jonas Brothers were squeaky-clean Disney Channel role models to evangelical teens. They were even played on Christian radio stations and once shared the stage with Michael W. Smith singing “Place in This World.” But little by little, the evangelical Jonas Brother image unravelled. I certainly can’t speak to what the Brothers believe now, but it’s interesting how the brand has changed. Nick embraced his role as a gay icon to the point that some in the LGBTQ+ community accused him of “queer bating.” There are many other aspects that the morality police of my past  (the Christian music industry, etc.) could say about the Jonas Brothers/Nick Jonas career arch, but they would just rather forget that they were a part of it, albeit a very small part. 
    YOUR BODY, MY MOTIVATION.  I was thinking about something Dan Reynolds said in the episode of Song Exploder about “Follow You.” He said, “I worship [my wife]. This is my religion because religion hasn’t worked for me.” Similarly to “Follow You,” “This Is Heaven” speaks of Nick Jonas essentially worshiping his wife. One thing I remember when I went to church was the talk about why men stopped going to church. The solution was usually about “butching up the church”; however, it seems that the actuality of the need for this solution may not be the truth of the matter, at least from the two singers mentioned before. I think about my own Sabbath school Bible studies that persistently warned us not to be “unequally yoked.” This meant for Seventh-day Adventists to marry other Seventh-day Adventists. Then I think about when I threw all of that out the window in frustration when I realized I couldn’t fit into who the church said I was supposed to be. At one point, though, I did try to do the “gay version” of my upbringing, trying to find a Christian way to be gay, trying to date only gay Christians. But having been in a longterm relationship with someone who wasn’t raised Christian, I’m always interested to see how differently he sees the world. “This Is Heaven” doesn’t send him back to Bible studies past, and I think that’s a good thing. 

    Lyric Video:


    Saturday Night Live Performance:

    Chill version:


  • “Mulberry Street” by twenty one pilots, Thursday, March 9, 2023 + My Favorite Album from Every Year I Have Been Alive

    Today, I’m going to present an evolving list. Last year, I chose an album of the year. In 2021, it was difficult because so much music was re-releases and nothing seemed dynamic enough to be album of the year. I finally settled on Scaled and Icy by twenty one pilots, but I actually didn’t listen to it much in 2021. It seemed that 2021 was a year for good music outside of my immediate band preferences. Like many music listeners, my tastes are evolving, and I’m continuing to discover or just listen to older albums, which may change today’s list. However, I’m going to try to present a list of the best albums from every year that I have been alive. I get this rank based on how much I’ve listened to the album, rather than by critical reception. Enjoy!

    1987 The Joshua Tree by U2. This was arguably when U2 became a cultural phenomenon. The first four tracks are the biggest hits from the record. The band always tackled issues of faith and doubt, but The Joshua Tree brought the conversation to pop and rock radio. The album’s opener references a blessed hope in “Where the Streets Have No Name,” but is immediately followed by doubt in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” I actually first heard P.O.D.’s cover of “Bullet the Blue Sky” before U2’s version. The song is one of the best critiques of Reagan’s foreign policies, especially giving a liberal Christian view as the Religious Right was beginning to wield power. 

    1988 Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul. I actually haven’t listened to this record, but of all the music in my Apple Music library, I thought it was “Straight Up” the best. 

    1989 Foreign Affair by Tina Turner. Speaking of “The Best,” Tina Turner’s Foreign Affair was also the best 1989 record in my Apple Music collection. I haven’t listened to it or a lot of other music from this time, so it might change. 
    1990 Pillow Lips by Modern English. I just know the song “Melt with You.” Sorry music fans. I don’t know much music from when I was 3.

    1991 Out of Time by R.E.M. An indie rock band trades the guitar for a mandolin and writes their biggest hit.
    1992 Rockeye by The Outfield
    1993 Republic by New Order
    1994 Jars of Clay
    1995 Lemon Parade by Tonic. I listened to this album the day after a break up in 2015. Other than that, the hit “If You Could Only See” was my only point of reference to the record. “Mountain” is my favorite track.

    1996 Take Me to Your Leader by Newsboys. Long before “God’s Not Dead” and Michael Tait and the CCM missteps, the then Aussi-American band wrote some weird hits with Steve Taylor. 

    1997 Urban Hymns by The Verve
    1998 Supernatural by dc talk
    1999 Mezzamorphisis by delirious?
    2000 Kaleidoscope Superior by Earthsuit
    2001 Satellite by P.O.D. This record sparked P.O.D.’s radio career with three massive singles. 

    2002 Audioslave 

    2003 Fallen by Evanescence 
    2004 Crashings by Falling Up
    2005 Phantoms by Acceptance. I’ve written about this record so much and how it influenced my junior and senior year of high school. 
    2007. Cities by Anberlin
    2008. Great White Whale by Secret & Whisper

    2009 Forget and Not Slow Down by Relient K. This album didn’t hit me in 2009 but rather in fall of 2011.

    2010 Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
    2011 Until We Have Faces by Red
    2012 Born to Die by Lana Del Rey. This is probably the foundational album in the sadgirl sub-genre of Alternative pop. I became a fan of this record in 2015 when I was embracing a different lifestyle. 
    2013 Heart Throb by Tegan and Sara. 
    2014 Lowborn by Anberlin

    2015 Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen helped me fully embrace my love for sugary pop music. No shame.

    2017 After Laughter by Paramore
    2018 Erase Me by Underoath
    2019 When We Were in Love by Mike Mains and the Branches
    2020 folklore by Taylor Swift
    2021 Scaled and Icy by twenty one pilots. Today’s track comes from this record. 
    2022 Milk Teeth by Tyson Motsenbocker. Enough nostalgia and regret made this the album for sitting around the house as I contemplated the future.














  • “A Day Late” by Anberlin, Wednesday, March 8, 2023 + Never Take Friendship Personal Track by Track

    On February 1, 2005, Anberlin released their sophomore record, Never Take Friendship Personal. I started listening to Anberlin  since Blueprints for the Black Market, which had been one of my favorite records when it was released. I bought the record on February 6th, Super Bowl Sunday. My sister and I stopped by the Family Christian bookstore on a shopping trip before watching the game with our youth group. I listened to the album before buying it, noticing how much more aggressive NTFP was compared to its predecessor, almost as if the band that had created BFTBM had disappeared. It was an emo record and I was junior in high school, driving my first car. It’s not a classic for everyone, but it was the right record for that time, and when I listen to it, I’m transformed back to 2005.


    1. “Never Take Friendship Personal.” This is the only occasion that Anberlin has named a record after a song. The song begins with aggressive guitars before launching into a classic Joesph Milligan guitar arpeggio. The track contains uncredited unclean vocals from Ryan Clark, who also designed album’s artwork. Anberlin talked about how this song, and partially this album, were inspired by the ending of a friendship in the band. Anberlin’s former rhythm guitarist, Joey Bruce, didn’t mesh with the band mainly for his partying lifestyle on tour, which affected both the band’s “Christians in a band” and their ability to play songs with an unreliable guitarist. But the song certainly transcends band life and is perfect for when fighting with a friend.


    2. “Paperthin Hymn.” The second track is an Aaron Sprinkle technical masterpiece in terms of how all the tones are processed to make an ultra modern sounding rock song. It’s one of my best examples of how a minor key can simultaneously be heartbreakingly sad and aggressive. The song is about the loss of guitarist Joesph Milligan’s sister to cancer. Lead singer Stephen Christian also lost his grandmother around the time of writing the song. It’s a song about the grieving process when life is busy. In Anberlin’s case, chasing the dream of being professional musicians while life and death happen. It’s a song about the torn feeling about being on the road and missing out on major events. I’m getting teary. I’ll stop.


    3. “Stationary Stationery” is one of the most skippable tracks on the record. During their livestream Tear Us Apart, Stephen Christian said, “We don’t know why we put this song here. We literally could have picked any other song and it would have been a better choice.” This song is one of the least mature songs on the record, but if it wasn’t after “Paperthin Hymn,” it would have been okay. 

    4. (The Symphony of) “Blasé.” This is another skippable track for me.  Originally titled “Amsterdam,” the mellow track has to do with breaking up with someone. 

    5. “A Day Late.” Today’s track takes a worldlier approach than the previous track, in which the speaker calls out to God to calm his heart after a break up. In “Day Late,” the speaker entertains breaking up his relationship after an unrequited love pops back into his life. It’s tricky to read the tone of the song. Is it sarcastic or is it the prequel to “The Feel Good Drag?”

    6. “The Runaways” takes the album back to high school. It’s about being ambiguous relationships that end in the “friend zone.”

    7. “Time and Confusion” is another reason why Never Take Friendship Personal isn’t a perfect album, but it might make a great case for being a perfect Emo album. An Emo album should cause the listeners to feel a range of emotions, and “Time and Confusion” is a sudden climb on the emotional roller coaster after “The Runaways.” “Time and Confusion” is a beautiful song about working hard to achieve your dreams with your best friends.



    8. “The Feel Good Drag” was the track convinced me to buy Never Take Friendship Personal. The grungy guitars, the purity culture lyrics, the scream on the bridge–this encapsulated high school and all that was cool. It was storytelling minus a few incriminating details. There’s been debate whether or not New Surrender version of “Feel Good Drag” is better or if it was even necessary. I thought “Dismantle.Repair.” should have been the band’s introduction to radio, but the guitar solo on New Surrender‘s version was worth having in the universe. But “The Feel Good Drag” on NTFP is a perfect, grungy moment for the record.


    9. “Audrey, Start the Revolution!” The lyrics to this track weave Audrey Hepburn, teenage rebellion, and morality into 3:24. It’s a subtly Christian song with a neat guitar riff.

    10. “A Heavy Hearted Work of Staggering Genius.” This instrumental was written by Joseph Milligan and dedicated to his family after the loss of his sister. The title takes its name from the similarly named memoir by Dave Edgers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. 

    11. “Dance, Dance Christa Päffgan.” The album closer references 1960s-’80s culture, especially examining the life of the German singer Nico, born Christa Päffgan. One Christian reviewer said that this song left the album feeling spiritually dry. I think that’s the point. Never Take Friendship Personal flirts with spirituality, but mostly it’s a secular record. “Dance, Dance” is a cautionary tale of a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle that has swallowed rock stars since Mozart died at the age of 35 in 1791. It’s a lifestyle Anberlin tried to avoid with firing Joey Bruce. It’s what caused Stephen Christian to hire his pastor as the band’s tour manager. And certainly this song needs it’s own post.










     

     









  • "good 4 u" by olivia rodrigo, Tuesday, March 7, 2023 (repost)

    “My my, hey hey/ Rock ‘n’ Roll is here to stay” declares Neil Young in his 1978 song.  Rock music has had a lasting presence in pop culture since the age of Chuck Berry and  Little Richard. At some points in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s the genre took the primary spots on radio charts outside of the genre. However, around the end of the ’00s, Hip Hop decimated the genre. The rock bands left standing mostly traded their axes for acoustic guitars, keyboards, EDM beats, or Trap rhythms. Much of the rock music was indistinguishable from other genres, and that trend continues into the 2020s. However, just as rock bands crossed over to the pop charts, the late 2010s to 2021 saw pop singers experiment with rock music. From Miley Cyrus performing with Metallica to rappers like Post Malone and Machine Gun Kelly flirting with emo, some may argue that Rock is seeing a mainstream resurgence. Enter Olivia Rodrigo‘s “good 4 u,” the first guitar-driven song to top the British pop charts for more than four weeks since 2003’s “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence. 

    YOU BOUGHT A NEW CAR AND YOUR CAREER’S REALLY TAKING OFF. Disney Channel star-turned-musician Olivia Rodrigo released her debut album Sour back in May this year. The album is one of the biggest of the year for several reasons. Critics loved how self-aware Rodrigo’s lyrics were for her late teenage years. Musically, listeners and critics loved the genre-bending of the songs. Rodrigo was influenced by pop, synth-pop, punk, and metal. The album’s second single, “good 4 u,” taps into the angry girl rock song, popularized in the ’90s by Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette–critics even calling Sour the Jagged Little Pill for Generation Z. While modern “sad girl” music influenced by these ’90s stars, artists like Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Billie Eilish, has tended to avoid heavy guitars and drums as if it were an embarrassing trend, Rodrigo leans into it on “good 4 u.” Many listeners have cited a similarity between Rodrigo’s second chart-topping hit and Paramore‘s breakthrough single, “Misery Business.” Rodrigo admitted to taking the inspiration for parts of the song and eventually gave writing credits to Paramore’s Haley Williams and Zac Farro.

    I’VE SPENT THE NIGHT CRYING ON THE BATHROOM FLOOR. “Good 4 u” captures the grief of the “loser” of a breakup. This is in contrast to the “victor” who is doing great with someone new. While some breakups occur completely mutually, that kind of breakup doesn’t make good rock songs. Keane‘s “We Might as Well Be Strangers” takes a sad approach of two people who don’t know each other anymore. But in “good 4 u” the listener is either 1) passive aggressively rubbing the speaker’s face in her success or 2) genuinely misses the other person and is even looking for her affirmation. Either way, Rodrigo calls him a “damn sociopath.” Today’s song isn’t just sour; it’s as spicy as a jalapeño. Rodrigo’s hit takes a few jabs at her assumed ex, co-star Joshua Bassett, who reportedly got famous, according to Rodrigo, on the coattails of her success. The lyrics of the song use sarcasm, even including a singing laugh more commonly heard in musical theater than in pop or rock music. Whereas the lyrics are about rage, the video is pure revenge. Some may feel a similarity to the “Misery Business” video. The video shows Rodrigo burning down a house, losing her mind with rage, yet looking cute and pretty all along the way. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.


     

  • “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, Monday, March 6, 2023

     

    January wasn’t too soon to start thinking about an Endless Summer Vacation, at least for Miley Cyrus. The singer’s eighth studio album is coming out this coming Friday, and the first single, “Flowers” was dropped in January. The single builds on the theme of her last LP, Plastic Hearts, and its lead single “Midnight Sky,” in which Cyrus declares “I don’t belong to anyone / I don’t need to be loved by you.” In “Flowers,” Cyrus realizes that she can buy her own damn flowers rather than accept a half-hearted gift from a lackadaisical lover. The singer’s target, of course, is ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. 


    WE WERE GOOD, WE WERE GOLD. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth met on the set of the 2010 Nicholas Sparks film adaptation of The Last Song in 2009. The two dated on and off until getting engaged in 2012. They broke off their engagement in 2013 on good terms, dating other people until 2016 when they announced that they again were engaged. The couple married in 2018 but announced their separation the next year and the divorce was finalized in 2020, the couple citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their divorce. In “Flowers,” Cyrus claims, “I didn’t wanna leave you, baby / I didn’t wanna fight.” But in the end, she realizes, “I can love me better than you can.” Cyrus realizes that she doesn’t need the spark of a romantic gift when she can take care of herself. It’s better to “hold [your] own hand” if your partner isn’t there for you completely.

    I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS. In January when Miley Cyrus first released “Flowers,” avid pop music listeners caught a reference to Bruno Mars‘ “When I Was Your Man.” Liam Hemsworth had reportedly dedicated the song to Cyrus when the two were married. Cyrus, though, takes Mars’ weepy ballad about a lover’s regret and turns it into a revenge anthem, even releasing it on Hemsworth’s birthday, January 13th. The song references several incidents in their relationship, including their lost Malibu home, which burned in 2018. The Mars’ track focuses on the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” of lost love, almost as if the listener were a victim of his ineptitude. Cyrus, however, refuses to be a victim. Self-love is better than whatever she was experiencing, and in the case of “Flowers,” the biggest expression of self-love is revenge. But it’s not a “good 4 u” kind of revenge. It’s perhaps more damaging to the ego of certain men in a hetero-normative relationship. The subtle jabs at using birthdays as release dates and wordplay about meaningful events reinforce this, but the true revenge is, “Sorry Bruno, I don’t need you. I can do it myself! In fact, I’m growing my own flowers in the alcove garden of the expensive home I bought with my success!”

  • “Touch” by Shura, Sunday, March 5, 2023 (repost)

    Two years before her debut album   Nothing’s Real was released, Shura‘s debut single, “Touch,” began generating acclaim across the Internet. Working with guitarist and vocalist of the indie rock band Athlete,  Joel Pott, Shura began co-producing her album. Shura played the keyboards and synthesizers on the record and co-directed the music video for “Touch,” which features her twin brother, Nicholas. The single was re-released along with a remix of the track in 2016 before the release of Nothing’s Real. Today, “Touch” is Shura’s most streamed song on Spotify.

    I ONLY NEED YOU TO BE FRENCH WITH ME. Born to an English father and a Russian mother, Aleksandra Lilah Yakunina-Denton and her brother Nicholas were raised in Manchester, UK. Aleksandra, better known by her stage name, Shura, started playing guitar at the age of 13. By 26, she was gaining popularity in the UK. The video for “Touch,” which features lots of kissing between people of different genders and sexualities, prompted a Manchester journalist to ask the singer to define her sexuality. The singer told Vice, although the headline read “Shura comes out before Manchester” [concert], she says, “I didn’t come out! [The journalist] just asked me if I was gay and I said yes.” While Shura identifies as a lesbian, she told Mancunian Matters that there is a “massive spectrum for everyone” and that “there are many kinds of love.” She goes on to say that the video “didn’t feel like a political statement at the time” because she was simply filming the sexuality as she experienced from being part of the LGBTQ+ community. On a small budget with only some actors and a video camera, Shura’s music video tells the complication of love and break ups as a human experience. And that human experience helped to spread the video around the Internet, especially among the LGBTQ+ community.

    THERE’S A LOVE BETWEEN US STILL. While Nothing’s Real holds a high Meta-critic score of 79 percent, Joe Levy’s Rolling Stone  review knocks the album for the ambiguity of gender in the songs, calling it “a map to a treasure that’s never there.” It seems that homophobia was a big factor in this album not fully becoming the “Madonna for millennials” that Vice praised her as, as far as her success in America. Shura’s UK popularity didn’t spread to the US other than the Dance chart. Her UK fame, though, sparked the attention of Mumford & Sons, who covered Shura’s track “2Shy.” “Touch” appears in the second season of Sex Education in a make-out scene between Otis and Ola. Just as the song’s music video shows how fluid sexuality is, the Netflix original series explores the complex sexualities of British teenagers. Sex, attraction, and relationships can be as complicated as this song’s subject–trying to be friends with an ex. Shura’s music reflects that complication, mostly avoiding pronouns–with the exception of “Indecision,” talking about a boy. All we need is for her to come out with a catchy third album. She’s due at any time to follow up her 2019 forevher.

    Read “Touch” by Shura on Genius.


  • “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler, Saturday, March 4, 2023

    Last year, I caught up on episodes of Slate’s Hit Parade. While the series can bring a single artist’s story alive, my favorite episodes of the series show broad connections in music. One of my favorites has to be “Turn Around, Bright Eyes,” the story of producer Jim Steinman. Casual music listeners don’t think about the song’s producer or the techniques and inspiration that go into recording a song, but I would like to think that my readers have started as casual listeners and are thinking more deeply about music. And this is the story of a musical hero.

    HE’S GOTTA BE FRESH FROM THE FIGHT. Gaynor Hopkins was the daughter of a Welsh coal miner. After finishing school, Hopkins began her musical career, changing her name to Sherene Davis because a Welsh folk singer, Mary Hopkin, had a similar name. After singing in Wales, she was scouted by RCA Records in London, which offered her a record contract and recommended that Davis change her name. This time the singer settled on Bonnie Tyler. The first singles from Tyler’s 1977 debut record, The World Starts Tonight, took time to impact the charts in Europe, but her first single from her sophomore record, “It’s a Heartache,” reached number 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Tyler released more records, fulfilling her contract with RCA Records, and in 1982 she signed with CBS/Columbia Records and began a new era. With this era came a collaboration with maximalist producer Jim Steinman, who was at the time most famous for producing Meat Loaf’s albums. Besides the famed Bat Out of Hell record, Steinman wrote and produced his own rock music, inspired by German opera composer Richard Wagner with melodramatic scenes and over-the-top vocal performances, all accompanied by a blaring rock band. Steinman brought all of this to singer Bonnie Tyler’s fifth record, Faster than the Speed of Night, encapsulated in the album’s lead single, “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

    IT’S GONNA TAKE A SUPERMAN TO SWEEP ME OFF MY FEET. Today’s song is Bonnie Tyler’s other big hit. “Holding Out for a Hero” was recorded for the 1984’s Footloose. In the single, Steinman brings even more theatrics to Tyler’s vocals. In 1986, the single was included on the follow-up to Faster than the Speed of Night, Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire. The nine-track record builds on the template laid by Faster, but whereas the previous album relies heavily on pianos and balladry, Dreams fills out the production with more guitars and synthesizers. The star of the song, though, is Bonnie Tyler’s gravelly delivery. The song is, well, ridiculous. It seems to take itself quite seriously, but that’s the campy charm of it. It’s been played to death and covered by everyone from Emery to most recently Adam Lambert. It’s heard on every classic rock station and played in movies. Songs that have permeated culture this much often lose their meaning for me. But listening to Hit Parade and learning about the vision of producer Jim Steinman and learning about a girl from a small town in Wales who wanted to become a singer brings a more authentic experience with the song than I’ve ever had before. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

    Music video:

    Emery version:

    Adam Lambert version:

    Scene from Footloose: 


    Scene from Shrek 2:


  • “Hard Times” by Paramore, Friday, March 3, 2023 (repost)

     Paramore‘s 2017 album After Laughter not only took the band in a new direction musically, the lyrics of the band’s latest album started a conversation about mental health. Lead singer Haley Williams transcends the emo genre in this mature discussion about the depression that followed her divorce, band mate controversies, and media scrutiny. The album’s opening track and first single, “Hard Times,” sets the tone for the album along with calling on the motif of weather, all the while disguising itself as an upbeat, positive track musically. It’s not, though. 


    YOU HIT ME WITH LIGHTNING. I just realized the other day that March is Women’s History month, so today, I decided to make a playlist titled Women Rock: A Playlist Celebrating Women in Music Pt. I. This is a compilation of songs from my blog featuring female artists who have made a difference in the genre that they play. Enjoy!

  • "I Know a Place" by MUNA, Thursday, March 2, 2023 + Women Rock Playlist (repost)

     

    In 2015 when marriage equality was signed into law across the nation, Americans reacted in several ways. There was overt homophobia and blatant hatred often disguised as religion. One of the last Adventist sermons I listened to was Dwight Nelson arguing that just because a nation can say something is legal doesn’t make it moral. There were examples of civil disobedience in the courtrooms by the likes of Kim Davis refusing to perform same-sex weddings. There were businesses that refused service to same-sex couples getting married. Many took the law as a win for human rights. Statistics showed in 2015 that support for marriage equality was largely bi-partisan, meaning that people of all backgrounds, liberal or conservative, supported the right to marry.

    support for the victims following the 
    Pulse shooting in Orlando

    YOU TRIED TO SHRUG IT OFF WHEN I ASKED WHY SOMEBODY HURT YOU. Then came June 12, 2016. When I heard the news, it was my 29th birthday-Korean Standard Time June 13th. There had been many mass shootings before Pulse, and many since, targeting schools, churches, concerts, shopping centers, and other places where unsuspecting people go on the last day of their lives. But something felt different about this attack. In the middle of a hellish election cycle in which Republican candidates had been lambasting the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, Donald Trump had just become the Republican nominee. While the most conservative former candidates were mostly silent about this attack, future president Donald Trump hoped to use this tragedy as an opportunity to spread Islamophobia, calling for more stringent immigration policies which would later be implemented in his “Muslim ban.” He pledged to: “do everything in [his] power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.” Like with most of Trump’s campaign promises, though, he did not protect the LGBTQ+ community. Instead he pushed policies that targeted the Trans community and appointed conservative Supreme Court justices who are making it easier and easier to erode LGBTQ+ protections under the law. 


    DON’T BE AFRAID OF LOVE AND AFFECTION. Inspired by the tragedy of the Orlando Pulse night club shooting, MUNA released “I Know a Place” on their debut LP, About U. You can hear MUNA performing “I Know a Place” in the 2018 Netflix original film, Alex Strangelove, a coming-of-age comedy about a high school senior realizing his sexuality. Sounding like a forgotten ’90s female-fronted rock anthem, “I Know a Place” is a message of hope for all people, particularly the disenfranchised. In concerts, lead singer Katie Gavin sings additional lyrics in the bridge:

           Even if our skin or our gods look different,
            I believe all human life is significant.
            I throw my arms open wide in resistance,
            He’s not my leader even if he’s my president. No!

    MUNA performed this song with the alternate lyrics and “Crying on the Bathroom Floor” on Jimmy Kimmel as a statement against how the former president fueled homophobia. “I Know a Place” is still a staple LGBTQ+ anthem of acceptance, though the band continues to release inclusive anthems. 

    Music Video:


    Live at the Honda Center:



    Scene from Alex Strangelove: