Mixtapemotions

  • “Lonely is the Muse” by Halsey, Friday, October 11, 2024

    I’m probably not the only one who thinks of Halsey as a pop singer. It’s forgivable considering the singer’s breakthrough hit was a feature on The Chainsmokers’ biggest hit “Closer,” and her Spotify top songs also sound like late ‘10s electronic songs. Halsey’s pop career was a deliberate effort after she was featured on “Closer.” Her second and third albums, hopeless fountain kingdom and Manic were described as more “radio-friendly” than her debut BADLANDS. But after earning a solo number-one Billboard Hot 100 with the song “Without Me,” Halsey’s musical style has shifted from radio pop. Her fourth album explored industrial rock and alternative rock especially with If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’s Nine Inch Nails production team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. On October 25, Halsey is set to release her fifth album, The Great Impersonator, and the singles from the album take similar influence as the singer’s previous album.  

    I ALWAYS KNEW I WAS A MARTYR AND THAT JESUS WAS ONE TOO. Ashley Frangipane, known by her stage name Halsey, hasn’t had an easy life. 

    Frangipane was born to a white mother and an African-American father in New Jersey. Her parents dropped out of college because of the pregnancy. Halsey attempted suicide at 17 and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She started taking drugs soon after being hospitalized for almost three weeks. She was accepted into the Rhode Island School of Design, but dropped out to attend community college, unable to fund her education. She later dropped out of community college and her parents kicked her out of the house. She was homeless, staying with friends in New York, particularly spending the most time around Halsey Street Station, eventually adopting the name as her stage name. Halsey told Rolling Stone that by the time she was kicked out of the house, many of her friends were “degenerated stoners,” sometimes drinking Red Bull to stay awake for days because it was safer to stay awake for fear of being raped in the night. 

    I MINED A COUPLE DIAMONDS FROM THE STORIES IN MY HEAD. Tuning the guitar at the beginning of “Lonely is the Muse,” the second single from The Great Impersonator, is a jarring start to a grungy- ‘90s alt-rock-flavored track. Cranberries-like heavy guitars and overdubbed voices of Halsey whispering and sometimes speaking in a creepy little girl voice leading up to a Lacey Strum scream from Flyleaf’s grungy 2006 debut album center the song on the influences she heard from her mother–Nirvana, Alanis Morrissette, and the Cure. “Lonely is the Muse” musically packages a song full of pain. It’s a song in which Halsey draws on the pain she felt throughout her life, but there’s a particular focus on the time since she began her professional recording career. On Halsey’s last album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, the singer discusses single motherhood, celebrating her femininity and nonbinary identity. The Great Impersonator adds themes of Halsey’s health struggles. This year, the singer revealed that she had been diagnosed with Lupus and a T-cell disorder. This adds to a list of other health issues that the singer has been diagnosed with. “Lonely is the Muse” deals specifically with unfulfilling relationships with individuals who are attracted to a lonely and broken. Halsey calls out the exploitative nature of these people who view her as a muse rather than a rounded character. She reminds herself of her own worth, but ultimately loneliness and being unrecognizable for her efforts are a constant “martyrdom.” The grunge and emo styles illustrate Halsey’s loneliness. Selfishly, I’m happy that this style of music is finding a place in pop culture again.

     

  • “Heavy Is the Crown” by Linkin Park, Thursday, October 10, 2024

     

    There were a few big rock stories that I’ve failed to cover in the last month or so. Oasis needs money, so brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher put aside their differences to do a world tour. Dave Grohl has been canceled for fathering a child outside of his marriage putting the Foo Fighters on indefinite hiatus following the backlash, and Jane’s Addiction will go on hiatus after lead singer Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro in the middle of a song on stage. Linkin Park announced a new lead singer, a new album, and a world tour, and the reactions are divided. Seven years after the suicide of lead singer Chester Bennington, Linkin Park live-streamed an announcement that they had chosen Emily Armstrong, of the band Dead Sara as their new lead singer. The band’s defacto leader Mike Shinoda told BBC1 One: “This is intended to be a new chapter of Linkin Park.” The band hoped to celebrate the band’s hits and move forward in a new direction.

    THIS IS WHAT YOU ASKED FOR… After Chester Bennington died in 2017, Linkin Park canceled the tour promoting their seventh album One More Light. Tributes for Bennington poured in and Mike Shinoda and the bandmates organized an event in which Linkin Park played a show of the band’s greatest hits at the Hollywood Bowl, with other singers performing in the absence of Bennington. The band then went on hiatus, though the band members, according to Shinoda, wanted to continue touring and making music. However, the practicality of band members matching Bennington’s distinctive voice was not feasible. Shinoda wrote music and released solo projects. Linkin Park kept out of the spotlight until the anniversaries of the band’s first two albums Hybrid Theory and Meteora made the band dig into their archives and finish tracks that didn’t make the albums’ final cuts. More than a typical twentieth-anniversary album, fans could hear unreleased tracks by the deceased lead singer. Behind the scenes, in 2023, the band had been meeting with Emily Armstrong who impressed the band. According to the band’s DJ, Joe Hahn, he first asked her to scream. He said, “For me, that did it.”

    IT’S POURIN’ IN. It wasn’t long after Linkin Park announced Emily Armstrong as their lead singer that backlash hit the band. Rumors of the band replacing the late Chester Bennington have been fueled for years with many names like Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley and Evanescence’s Amy Lee being a few. Whomever the band found to replace their iconic lead singer would have backlash. However, the controversy with Armstrong was three-fold. The first had more to do with strong reactions from Bennington’s family. Although Bennington’s widow Talinda voiced her blessing of the band continuing with Armstrong, Chester’s son Jamie and mother Susan Eubanks have spoken out against the band’s recent choice. Jamie stated on Instagram that Mike Shinoda had “quietly erased my father’s life and legacy in real time” and Eubanks stated that she felt “betrayed” by the decision. Then there was the matter of Armstrong’s personal controversies, the first about her rumored Scientology faith. Some listeners have pointed out the religion’s beliefs in mental illness and suicide. Bennington struggled with mental health his whole life and eventually took his life. Interestingly, Armstrong identifies as queer, which is said to be against the religion’s doctrine. Finally, Armstrong was a notable witness for disgraced TV star and fellow Scientologist Danny Masterson, speaking on his behalf as a character witness when the That ‘70s Show actor faced three counts of rape. Armstrong never denied accusations of her faith; however, she did disavow Masterson and apologize for her support of the actor, stating that more facts had been revealed about the case now and that she no longer supports the actor.


    WE BOTH KNOW THE STORY ENDS. Nobody who loves Linkin Park will ever forget Chester Bennington; his story, his lyrics, his pain, and his voice are the story of Linkin Park. However, Linkin Park is a collective of five other musicians with fans and their own stories to tell. Replacing Bennington with a female vocalist gives the songs a new perspective in a way that a male vocalist couldn’t. Family members of Bennington are still grieving and they have a right to feel that the band has forsaken them. Linkin Park’s new singles from their upcoming album From Zero are not bad. Emily Armstrong’s vocals fit nicely with the band and “The Emptiness Machine” and “Heavy Is the Crown,” while lyrically feeling a little derivative of the band’s earlier work, musically showing a band that is not afraid to try new things. The songs have charted well in the United States and in Europe. “Heavy Is the Crown” was also chosen to be the theme song for the League of Legends World Championship with the game’s animators creating the band’s music video. Linkin Park’s next chapter is interesting and messy.  Will the band start a 2-5 year album cycle with Armstrong? Or will this just be fan service? 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • “Stranger Ways” by Anberlin, Tuesday, October 8, 2024

    On January 16, 2014, Anberlin posted a video on their social media platforms with a special message. The three-minute eighteen-second black and white video opened with a quote by Helen Keller; a droning guitar riff; and footage of a sideways camera playing a loop of a city from a car, an Anberlin concert, and footage from their “Paperthin Hymn” music video–all with a new emblem watermarking the footage. That new watermark was of fingers crossing. As the footage played, each member of Anberlin talked about their experiences in the band. A drumbeat joined the guitar and later a synthline. Then at 1:49 seconds into the video, the band gets to the point of the video: Anberlin is breaking up after releasing a new album and giving a final world tour. The video ends by reiterating the upcoming final album and final tour and with a Tooth & Nail Records copyright notice, inadvertently announcing that Anberlin had returned to their first record label to release their final album. 

    LOCKING EYES, THE WANING GLANCE. On May 13, 2014, Anberlin released the first single from their July 22nd album Lowborn, “Stranger Ways.” Keen listeners recognized the song from Anberlin’s break-up announcement. The guitar in “Stranger Ways” had changed from its demo form and the production was much more full. The song offered a new direction from Anberlin’s previous electronic era during Vital and Devotion. The production uses digital manipulation but rather than focusing on synthesizers producers Aaron Marsh, Matt Goldman, and Aaron Sprinkle–along with musical direction from drummer Nate Young who steered the band in their later career–create a musical round or cannon, slowly building into a dream pop wall of sound. Some listeners compared the new sound to the Scottish alternative band The Jesus and Mary Chain, whom Anberlin has listed as one of their influences. Lead singer Stephen Christian has said that one unnamed bandmate felt unsatisfied with the instrumentation and the lyrics of “Stranger Ways” but eventually came around to the song. Matching the creepy guitars are the equally creepy lyrics. The song talks about longing for someone but not being able to make the connection. Love becomes unrequited, staying in the shadows, becoming unnecessarily reverent.  

    STRONGER MEN HAVE ANSWERED.  The creepy lyrics and music of  “Stranger Ways” are matched with a music video directed by former Norma Jean co-founder and drummer-turned-director Daniel Davidson. The director depicts Anberlin in a house of paused animation, slowly being wrapped in plastic and cobwebs. What makes the video especially disturbing is how Davidson shoots the band members. Each band member appears in separate shots at different places in the house. The camera angle of the first shots only shows band members from the torso up. Hand movements sometimes enter the shot, but the facial expressions seem to take full focus. Viewers first see drummer Nathan Young moving his hands offscreen. Then there’s a shot of Stephen Christian singing as he looks out the window. Next, we see bassist Deon Rexroat then guitarist Joesph Milligan. When the music video premiered, some viewers thought that it depicted the band members masturbating, given the off-screen hand movements and facial expressions. The camera films lower, each shot, eventually revealing each band member pretending to play their instruments. 

    A LITTLE BIT CLOSER… I remember video comments on the “Stranger Ways” music video pointing out that the band looked like they were masturbating, but it seems that the band has deleted and shut down the discussion. As a result, there is very little discussion about the band’s “last music video.” But I think it’s a missed opportunity. Many people get squeamish with the topic, especially in Christian circles. The musical style “Stranger Ways” imitates, the post-punk of The Smiths, The Cure, and The Jesus and Mary Chain often speaks of unrequited love that expresses itself in stranger ways than other musical genres. Morrissey, former lead singer of The Smiths and one of Stephen Christian’s musical influences has had a very repressive view on sexuality and celibacy which has been well documented in interviews and his Autobiography. Drawing influence from these musical sources and staying in the Christian music industry makes sense as long as a band doesn’t normalize sex and continues to keep it mysterious and dangerous like the repressed ‘80s rockers. But 2014 wasn’t repressed like the ‘80s and videos like “Stranger Ways” would normally be met with blunt conversations around unrequited love, stalkers, and even masturbation. I realize that not everyone is interpreting the music video the way that I am–I can’t imagine what I would have thought if I had seen this video when I was 14 when everything was about jerking off–but imagine if The 1975 had released the same video performing the same way, what would viewers say about that? The Manchester-based band has similar influences but has a much more open discussion about sexuality. 

    PONDERING THE WHY WE ARE ALONE. “Stranger Ways” could have been a song about the flaws of unrequited love which can lead to stalking–getting “a little bit closer” to that person, but never getting up the nerve to make a prosocial connection. Instead, the music video introduces a subtly sexual element–the speaker masturbates while fantasizing about what falling in love with this person could feel like. Of course, in this masturbatory fantasy, this person is make-believe and no one can ever live up to that fantasy. Anberlin has always pushed what is acceptable in Christian music and some parents and Christian music gatekeepers disliked how Anberlin wrote songs that were commentary rather than instructive. “Stranger Ways” is certainly a commentary on repressive sexuality, whether you factor in masturbation or not. It’s certainly not instructional as the longing in the song is never healthy. At 14 it’s cute and endearing to be afraid to talk to a love interest. But at what point does it start to get creepy? But it’s also the basic premise for genres of music, often the listeners to that style turn out to be well-adjusted adults. Maybe “Stranger Ways” is a parable to show repressed listeners the error of their solitude and just to get out there and take a chance on real love.


    Music video:

    Under a Dying Sun version: 

    8-bit cover: 

     

  • “Exit Calypsan” (Only in My Dreams) by Falling Up, Wednesday, October 9, 2024

     

    Talk about Falling Up was sparse until this year. At one point they were one of the biggest Christian Rock groups and then they became a quirky progressive rock band singing about science fiction and making space operas. With Tooth & Nail Labeled Podcast and HM Magazine’s Black Sheep Podcast, many big-name Christian Rock stars from the past 20 years have gone on the record about their experiences recording, touring, and eventually breaking up. Falling Up’s lead singer Jessy Ribordy remained mostly elusive. A break-up interview with JesusFreaksHideout.com’s podcast and the Christian Rock 20 podcast was my only insight into Ribordy’s experiences with Falling Up until earlier this year when Jessy did three podcast appearances and announced that he was starting a new band, and releasing a final album under the Falling Up moniker, The Chilling Alpine Adventure.


    SO EXIT THE FALL, AND NOW IT’S OVER. Jessy Ribordy’s interviews coincide with the twentieth anniversary of Falling Up’s first album Crashings. In his recent interviews, Ribordy doesn’t speak highly of the band’s second album Dawn Escapes saying that the band wrote and recorded the album very quickly, taking only a few days off from a hectic touring schedule. He even addresses the criticism of the album of many of the songs sounding similar, saying that the band was crunched for time. However, Dawn Escapes introduces many themes and motifs not present in the band’s first album that would appear in Falling Up’s later career and in the worldbuilding that Ribordy has created for other projects after Falling Up. It all started with the first single “Exit Calypsan,” released on Christian Radio in an alternate version under the name “Only in My Dreams” (Exit Calypsan) and was later released on the compilation X2005. On Dawn Escapes, the recording seems more refined, the opening synth line enveloping the listener making the original seem like an ‘80s keyboard demo. The guitars also have a more complex rhythm than the single version and the album version adds a haunting bridge.  


    THE MOVEMENT BURNS WITHIN MY VEINS. “Exit Calypsan” creates a dreamlike landscape musically and lyrically. It’s a weird dream that possibly ends as a nightmare, but the details of “white” washing over the narrator and “dark calling out my name” along with a “nameless”’ flight. A flag flying in the Oregon coastal town of Reedsport roots the speaker in reality before he goes on to describe other abstract details. Reedsport later appears in the album in the song “Lights of Reedsport.” But today’s song is not titled “Exit Reedsport,” instead it’s an imaginary land called Calypsan, possibly referring to the nymph from The Odyssey Calypso who detained Odysseus for seven years on the Isle of Ogygia. It may also refer to a moon in the Final Fantasy franchise. Jessy Ribordy has continued to develop the world of Calypsan, co-writing a pilot with his wife Alysha, though author James Keith has also written a space fantasy titled Calypsan. Whatever Calypsan is the speaker reminds us “It’s only in your dreams” and that once we “exit the fall” of the dream, the dream world has no power over us.

    Dawn Escapes Version:
    X2005 Alternate Version: 

    Into the Cave (remix) from Exit Lights: 

    Also, you can check out Jessy Ribordy’s new Patreon Remix of the song. You can subscribe for as little as $3 a month to support the artist. 

  • “Someday We’ll Know” (New Radicals cover) by Mandy Moore & Jon Foreman, Monday, October 7, 2024

     

    Everything’s a bit connected with this month’s playlist which has given me new life when writing my blog. It started with watching the FX show English Teacher, which was featured in the trailer and episode 5 “Field Trip” with Brian Jordan Alvarez as Evan Marquez singing New Radical’s “You Get What You Give.” Interestingly Tyson Motsenbocker, with his covers project, also released a cover of “You Get What You Give.” I wanted not to include many repeat posts this month because it’s one of the things that made my blog seem stale to me, but I also wanted to include songs that I was enjoying over interesting stories to tell. And then I listened to New Radical’s Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. The band broke up soon after releasing the single “Someday We’ll Know.” Last year, I ran across the Jon[athan] Foreman/Mandy Moore duet cover of “Someday We’ll Know.” This year, I decided that it’s time to dust off the truly cheesy song and just enjoy it for what it is. Rather than repeating the stories about Switchfoot’s breakout moment, just read the post about “Dare You to Move.”

    IS TRUE LOVE ONLY ONCE IN A LIFETIME? Holding a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the 2002 film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel, A Walk to Remember, may not remembered fondly by many other than a certain demographic of grown-up youth group kids who watched the PG film at sleepovers and lock-ins. I’ll discuss the plot of the movie with some spoilers. My sister watched it at her sleepover birthday party, but I never actually watched the movie. I played guitar in my room with a friend who spent the night. I did want to watch the movies because Switchfoot’s music was featured in it. My sister later admitted that the movie’s plot was dumb and that many of her friends were distracted by the young up-and-coming heartthrob Shane West who played the film’s non-believer Landon Carter opposite the Baptist preacher’s daughter Jamie Sullivan played by Mandy Moore. Landon falls in love with the preacher’s daughter who has terminal leukemia, though he doesn’t know that she is sick until he falls in love with her. The movie helped to reinforce the purity culture of the ‘00s with the young lovers waiting until marriage–Landon proposes and the two marry before Jamie dies. The song “Someday We’ll Know” is played right after Landon finds out about the cancer in the middle of the film. 

    I’M SPEEDING BY YOUR PLACE FOR THE NINETY-SEVENTH TIME TONIGHT. 

    “Someday We’ll Know,” has even more head-scratching lines than New Radical’s other hit “You Get What You Give.” The song asks many cliched questions about answers to questions we may never know. Asking questions about “Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?” and “Did the captain of the Titanic really cry?” and then pledging in faith “Someday we’ll know” the answers to these questions. Songwriter Gregg Alexander throws in nods to the Jahovah’s Witness faith that he grew up in, evoking religious language about Samson and Delilah and of love moving mountains. All of the questions lead up to the cringiest question of all: “Why you weren’t meant for me.” The song is forgivable with all of the weird lyrics on Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, an album that keenly comments on celebrity culture, capitalism, and religion. In the context of a cliched movie about a teen dying of cancer, perhaps the question “Someday we’ll know why I wasn’t meant for you” actually makes the story seem real. Unfortunately, the song’s placement in the movie is only incidental background music like the movies from the ‘00s that used music when licensing was cheap. Listening to the song in the context of a literally fatal romance makes both the movie and the song better. What a missed opportunity to score maybe a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes.

    New Radical’s Version:

    Mandy Moore & Jon Foreman version: 

    Scene from A Walk to Remember: 


  • “Autumn Love” by Tyson Motsenbocker, Sunday, October 6, 2024

    On August 23, 2019, Tyson Motsenbocker released the first single from his second studio album, Someday I’ll Make It All Up to You, “The Last Summer.” The wistful song about growing up and time passing was followed by “Sunday Morning,” a track in which Motsenbocker compares the feelings people get from religious experiences to those that people get from taking drugs. Finishing the trilogy of 2019 pre-release singles for his upcoming February 14, 2020 album was “Autumn Love.” The love song contrasts the passage of time, specifically in autumn, with a constant love that only deepens as natural events from the death of the last Junebug to the leaves changing and frost covering each morning. We are a few weeks into fall, but it’s a strange one in South Korea as the temperature has only started dropping. People are still swimming at the beach in October! “Autumn Love” presents an idyllic autumn scene, but what happens when the season starts to disappear because of climate change?

    CHARLOTTESVILLE AND THE LEAVES HAVE CHANGED.  In “Autumn Love,” Tyson Motsenbocker talks about trips to the airport and contrasts the winds in Santa Ana, California with the leaves changing in Charlottesville, Virginia. Both place and seasons are constant motifs in Motsenbocker’s music. On the Long Distance Listening Podcast, Motsenbocker calls the changing of seasons “almost liturgical” as he talks about growing up in the Northwest where there are four seasons, and living in an Eastern state for a time. He describes the “visceral change” he experienced with the seasons, stating, “You can feel the river of time slipping below you” as he experienced the sights and smells of each season from the wheat in the summer to the salted roads in the winter. Yet the singer settled in Southern California many years ago. “And in California,” Motsenbocker says, “I had this moment where my first fall here was really strange and then I didn’t notice it. And then like 10 years went by and I was just like, I was like, whoa, like in a lot of ways, I feel like, you know, it’s odd because I moved here 10 years ago.” Motsenbocker questions what happens when he realizes that his life has slipped by in the absence of notable seasonal changes. 

    WHEN THE FROST COMES DOWN IN THE MORNING DEW. “Autumn Love” ends with similar synth/organ/theremin(? ) instrumentation as Sufjan Stevens’ “Should Have Known Better.” Motsenbocker has built his career as being Sufjan-adjacent, often working with the same studio musicians in Stevens’ sphere of influence. Motsenbocker draws influence from Stevens, but rather than Stevens’ reclusion and mere pinholes into his personal life through his music, Motsenbocker comparatively, is often forthcoming with explaining what the lyrics he penned meant to him at the time of writing the song. Stevens is certainly a master of capturing a moment and a feeling that then becomes something that listeners incorporate into their sufferings and longings. Motsenbocker’s explanations of his lyrics make him more accessible, which is important for artists who don’t have a huge following like Stevens. As I’ve started to be more intentional with my playlists, today’s song, “Autumn Love,” has me reflecting more on Motsenbocker’s thoughts on living in a place where seasons change more subtly. I love fall and I love the subtle changes, but often I feel too busy with grading and planning in peak academic season to notice those changes. And then I think about college and high school, writing papers inside rather than enjoying the crisp air. Finally, as I’m starting to find some work/life balance being in the same field for over ten years, climate change has really screwed up the shift from summer to fall this year. It makes me, too, wonder how in the future I will notice the subtle passage of time, or will it go by so quickly like Tyson in California? It’s a scary notion and I hope that we can find a new normal.


     

  • “Die with a Smile” by Lady Gaga ft. Bruno Mars, Saturday, October 5, 2024

    At this point, we can’t really say what we can expect from Lady Gaga besides good music. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta has given us almost every major musical genre from Dance music to Country Western. Gaga is gearing up for her seventh studio album to be released next year. The count in the singer’s discography, however, is confusing with two collaborative albums with the late crooner Tony Bennett and the soundtrack of A Star Is Born and now Joker: Folie à Deux causing an album inspired by the film Harlequin. After several years busy with acting and touring Chromatica, Lady Gaga is almost ready to unveil her latest era, which she says will be nothing like her signature dance-pop.

    I JUST WOKE UP FROM A DREAM. Collaboration is key for Lady Gaga. Her debut hit featured singer Colby O’Donis. The lead single from her release of The Fame, The Fame Monster, “Telephone” featured Beyoncé. Having collaborated with everyone from Marilyn Manson to The Rolling Stones, there are few shocking collaborations that Gaga could reveal. Sometimes, though, a collaboration feels so appropriate that listeners wonder why it hasn’t happened yet. That’s the case for the single that Lady Gaga released on August 16 with Bruno Mars, “Die with a Smile.” The two artists have massive followings and even rose to popularity around the same time. Like Gaga, Mars’ career is also defined by a diversity of genres from R&B, Motown, soul, funk, hip-hop, and rock. “Die with a Smile” is a beautiful song that evokes a ‘70s musical template. This is reinforced in the music video featuring Mars dressed as a cowboy playing a sunburst Silvertone guitar and Lady Gaga playing a keyboard with a ‘70s version of a beehive hairdo. The video looks like a ‘70s American Bandstand or The Merv Griffen show set–due to the velvet clothes and the blue and red color pallet–where Mars and Gaga are the musical guests accompanied by band members playing in the background. 

    IF THE WORLD WAS ENDING… “Die with a Smile” may be the next sound of Lady Gaga. It seems to be a standalone single recorded as she was finishing recording her upcoming album. Bruno Mars who was also working on new music invited Gaga to his studio to record a song he had been working on. The song has been compared to Gaga’s 2018 hit from A Star Is Born, “Shallow” and the collaborative work that Bruno Mars did with Anderson .Paak in their group Silk Sonic. The song’s video seems to take inspiration from the Porter Wagoner Show, particularly from 1967 to 1973 when Dolly Parton was a cast member of the show. Parton often collaborated with Porter Wagoner and netizens have pointed out the similarity between Gaga and Parton and Wagoner and Mars. The lyrics of “Die with a Smile” compare a breakup to death and the apocalypse. The speakers represented by Mars and Gaga resolve to stay together even until the end of the world. The lyrics match beautifully with the lyrics and it feels like a straight-forward love song. However, the music video evokes another time and the lyrics evoke an almost nihilistic dread, especially given the modern backdrop of climate change and the threat of a world war starting in the Middle East or in Eastern Europe. “Die with a Smile” is a song for us commoners who have little sway on the needle’s movement. At least we can try to cling to love. At least we can die happy. 


    Read the lyrics on Genius.



     

  • “Why, Why, Why” by Shawn Mendes, Friday, October 4, 2024

     

    This fall, Shawn Mendes comes back with a country album–or at least that’s what it sounds like from the first three singles. On Shawn, Mendes’ fifth studio album, the singer says he writes about his struggles with love and mental health, particularly after he canceled the world tour supporting his fourth album Wonder. The first single, “Why, Why, Why” sees Mendes maybe the most candid in his lyrics, discussing a failed relationship and almost becoming a father. Many pop critics have criticized Mendes’s music for lack of substance in the past, arguing that he was just a “hot guy with a guitar.” His new album will be a very personal work from a maturing musician. Shawn is set to drop on October 18th.


    Watch “Shawn Mendes: How to Let Go of Your Past Self and Fully Embrace Who You’ve Become Today” on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty:



  • “Big Machine” by The Goo Goo Dolls, Thursday, October 3, 2024 + October 2024 YouTube Playlist

    Today is the last of our regular playlist series. “Big Machine” is one of The Goo Goo Dolls‘ rock songs for a band that’s mostly known for their adult contemporary hits. The music video is a little grainy and it’s not one of their most enduring hits. It’s a good song to look back on in Fall nostalgia and that’s why I chose it as today’s song. 



  • “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals, Wednesday, October 2, 2024 + October 2024 Playlist Apple Music Edition

    Today I will post the Apple Music edition of the October edition. I will leave a link to the post in which I discussed today’s song, “You Get What You Give.” The story of the New Radicals‘ Greg Alexander is a fascinating one of a one-hit-wonder who became a leading songwriter.