Music Monday: "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"

     Aaaaaand I failed to post Friday. Cool. I'm so awesome. I wonder what David Hasselhoff thinks of that.

I've been waiting to use this...

     That's okay. We'll just let bygones be bygones, right? So, music. The other day, I found a pretty awesome video. Well, a friend found it, and shared it with me. Just so you have some context, this friend is a major brony. If you know anything about MLP: FIM, you'll know that Rainbow Dash is the best. She's such a hardass. (I'm not a brony. I'm a girl, after all. It's okay for me to have these opinions.) That said, I present to you this amazing video:

     Since I watched this video, I've been playing that song on Grooveshark nonstop. I actually prefer a different version than what's in the MLP video, which you can find here. I'd post that video here, too, but Rainbow Dash told me not to.

Music Monday: "Mal'chik Gey"

     t.A.T.u. was a Russian duo. Luckily for me, a lot of their music is available in English (Russian isn't very high on my list of languages to learn). I feel the need to explain the name, since it kinda looks like I can't type very well. The random case changes are correct; apparently there was another Russian band called Tatu, so instead of getting a more original name they decided to go mental with what they already had.

     Another interesting tidbit about this duo: they act(ed) like lesbians. There are album covers that feature these women kissing. The guy who started the project essentially wanted big scandals, so he made it seem like the girls were together. Neither was a lesbian. Interesting? Yes, it is.

     Anywho, I originally heard this song in English. My roommate/bestie has the tendency to find strange music, get hooked on it, and blast it constantly. Soon I was hooked, too. This English version is what I have on my iPod, since it's easier to sing along to.

     After watching that, you'll get the general idea of the song, which is helpful when you're trying to decipher the original version. I found a more literal translation, but it's a bit jumbled. Now, I know absolutely zero Russian (unless "vodka" counts), so I only have translations for reference. I've seen native Russian speakers online who say that the English version doesn't do justice to the actual meaning of the song. Is that true? I really have no way of knowing. I do know, though, that I enjoy the "real" song better.

     Oh, and you may want to ignore the words on this next video. They can be difficult to read anyway, because they're in white font over that pale chick. It's an attempt to translate, but since those words aren't what you're hearing, it can really confuse you. Or maybe that's just me. Besides, who wants to see "Gay boy, boy, boy, boy, gay boy" while rocking out?

     Also, check out this other song by the same duo. This post is supposed to focus on just one song, so I'll control myself and refrain from posting the video. You only get the link. But really, go listen.

Music Monday: "Forever Yours"

     Okay, so this guy, Alex Day, is epic. He just is. His YouTube videos are both heartwarming and hilarious (but can be a bit adult), and his songs are so frickin catchy. Also, I love his clothes. This particular song is bittersweet; the guy's essentially been friend-zoned, but he's kind of okay with it.

Come on, darlin', have some indecency

You know there's nothing you could say that would embarrass me.

I heard a song tell me that talk is cheap,

But it's all you do with me,

And I am finally accepting that.

     That right there is my favorite part. It actually reminds me of a rather recent conversation I had with a certain someone. Of course, that means that I inevitably think of him when I hear this song. And I've heard this song a lot lately, because it's an earworm. This song also sold more songs in the UK than Coldplay over Christmas week. Just a fun little fact.

     So, in this video, Charlie (Alex's friend/roomie) raises Alex from the dead, and...he becomes a superhero? Just don't look at it. Sit back, close your eyes, and listen. After you've absorbed the song, then you can watch the video.

Music Monday: Life's a Beach

     Isn't that a clever title? ...it isn't? Well, too bad. It's there, and you can't do anything about it. So ha! Since I'm on vacation (at the beach) I'm listening to a lot of beachy music. Here's a small sampling of my playlist. Just close your eyes and pretend you're here with me.

Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett

Key Lime Pie - Kenny Chesney

Toes - Zac Brown Band

Music Monday: Bad Lip Reading

     There's a YouTube user who reimagines music videos through the eyes of someone who's terrible at lip reading. That's probably the strangest explanation I've ever typed out. Anywho, these videos are great. Here's his version of Friday by Rebecca Black:

     Wasn't that amazing? If this completely changed your life, I'm not surprised. If you loved the video so much that you jacked off, no one will judge you for it. That's how amazing it is. Now, this guy also has a (way too short) playlist of soundbites, where he gives the same treatment to politicians. I really can't choose a definite favorite, but this one is pretty high on the list:

     Okay, so the soundbites aren't music, but so what? They're still great. Besides, if you refuse to watch them, I'll haunt your prostate.

Music Monday: Tinariwen

     Thank Colbert for this one. Every now and then, he has musical guests on the Report. Last Tuesday, he had a band of Malian nomads called Tinariwen. Okay, I listen to strange music. "World" music is actually a favorite of mine. Especially when there's heart-pounding drums and chanting.

     What I find particularly amazing about this band is that it's not a set group of individuals. Because they're nomads, they're constantly on the move, and sometimes the players are separated. The entire group has rarely been together at once. Instead, they fill in for each other. It's a bit like free love, but with desert music. And even with the difficulties they've faced, they've managed to get recognized AND go on tour.

     So, here's the song that aired on the Report. Obviously this video isn't from the show, but it's the same song.

     Isn't that awesome? I'm not even from the place they're singing about, and I felt it. You just...you feel it, y'know? This is a rather short post, but I really don't think any more needs to be said. If you felt it, go look them up. The rest of their music is just as great.

Music Monday: Appalachia Waltz

     I'm switching things up a little bit today. This is an instrumental piece. No words. You can make up your own, if you really need words to enjoy a song. Yo-Yo Ma plays in this. It's...gahhhh. Just listen.

     I've lived in Appalachia all my life. Not that I'm biased or anything, but this is the most beautiful area of the country. Sure, other places are beautiful, but this is as close as you can get to Heaven without dying. Every time I hear this song, my heart gets all...soft. I usually try to be logical and unemotional, but this song makes my soul happy. Wow, I sound really weird now. I'm gonna go hug a mountain and rock a bunny to sleep.

Music Monday: Super Bass

     I jammed to this in the car this morning after taking my siblings out to the bus. It was an epic start to the week. Of course, being me, I found something to complain about. More on that in a bit. First, here's the song.

     It's so frickin catchy. Can't you hear that boom badoom boom, boom badoom boom bass? The video is...well, it's fascinating. You can't argue with the fact that it's weird, but it totally works. It fits the song and the artist. I love the first 30 seconds; Nicki's obviously hyped up on caffeine and/or illegal drugs, and trying to pass it off as excitement. Then we finish off in a DayGlo rave. It's great.

     This is the kind of song that makes me wish I were black. I don't wish that often; I'm comfortable with my race. Seriously, though, it seems like black chicks have all the fun. They can have pink hair and swim in a pool of Pepto Bismol, and people love it. If I did that, I'd be shipped off to the nuthouse.

     Now for the complaints. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. When I was in the middle of jammin this morning, I realized that the song was full of holes. It completely ruined my joy. The radio station had edited the crap out of this masterpiece. Here's a list of words that were skipped. (A word with an asterisk by it is something I completely understand editing. I'm including those for the completeness of the list.)

• coke
• motherfucking*
• ho(e)
• F (No, she didn't say "fuck." She literally says "eff" in the song.)
• niggas*
• panties
• F (again)

     I'm sorry, but really? WKEE must have a bunch of third-graders working for them. "Oh, noes, we can't say panties on the radio! That's a naughty word!" I don't understand this. I've heard worse than "ho" on the radio -- on that station -- and you're going to block it? And then the letter. "You can't hear that letter! omgzorz!!1!" Next they'll be cutting out half of the alphabet. It's like Sesame Street's letter of the day, but with more ridiculous censorship.

     I need your help to combat this. Here's the plan: using a buttload of autotune tricks, I'll create a song that doesn't sound like a cat dying. The lyrics will consist only of "eff" and "panties." We just have to make sure it gets on the radio. Of course, that will require a disguise. We'll pretend it's a rendition of "Unchained Melody."

Music Monday: Yay Drinking!

     Let me clear something up before I go any farther. I don't drink. Besides the fact that I'm underage, I also dislike what drinking can do to a person. If you drink, cool. Have fun with that. Any references to me consuming any alcohol (or drugs) are jokes. Got it? Great.

     Now, this week's MM post isn't about a particular artist, or even a particular song. It does have to do with music, though, and it makes me giggle. That means it's good enough to be a MM post. I thoroughly enjoy reading through the articles over at Lifehacker. Recently they did one about Drinkify, a great toy...I mean, um, tool. Basically, you tell it what music you're listening to, and it tells you what to drink while listening. Sure, it's great for setting the mood. Being super-immature, I use it purely for my amusement. It gives some pretty funny suggestions.

This is when I start laughing so hard that I pee myself.

     Yes, forget drinking. If you're forced to listen to Barney songs, you need to get high. There is a drink that combines soda and THC; could that be what they're going for?

I think not.

     I thought that, surely, some music would be immune to Drinkify's evil powers. After all, kids might want to find the right juice to go with their...whatever small children listen to now. Walkmans are dead, aren't they? I miss my hot pink Walkman. Anyway, I put in a few younger "artists" to see what the site would come up with.

So far, so good.

It's Friday, Friday, gotta drown out Friday...

I'm hoping this one is for the parents.
I can see where they got the bourbon, though.
I'm pretty sure there's a Wiggles song about Rip van Winkle.

     Right, so that theory was shot down. But certainly Christian bands would be immune...right? Please, for the love of all that is good in the world...it's Jesus we're talking about!

You drink AND go to church? You must be a hillbilly.

Lord, please bless this rum, and let it nourish our bodies. May we
show others that Christians are still bitchin. Amen.

     Some of these defy logic. Imagine you're listening to some calm classical music. What are you drinking? Probably wine, right?

Nope. Bottled water. How exciting.

     Here are some more that I found amusing. I'll just put them in itty-bitty form down here, and you can click on them to make them bigger! Yay, technology! (Note the difference between Ben Folds alone, below, and Ben Folds with the band, above.)

Stay classy, Inigo.

This one makes perfect sense.

Music Monday: Effington

     There are a handful of singers out there whose voices have quite an interesting effect on me. These guys (they're always guys; I haven't figured out why) can completely mellow me out. Anything that comes out of their mouths throws this blanket of calm over me. It's great. When I'm in my little pit of despair, all I have to do is put on some tunes, and I'm brought back up to the level of normal people.

     One of these guys is Ben Folds. I mentioned in last weeks Music Monday post that I enjoy watching The Sing-Off, right? (Yes, I did.) Well, he's one of the judges. I swear, that show takes everything I've already seen and reminds me of how awesome it is. That was such a pretty paragraph. I'm running on 2 hours of sleep here; work with me.

     Folds always seemed like one of those musicians that my dad would listen to. That's not my commentary on my father's musical taste, but on Folds' (Folds's? Foldssss's's''s!)...oldness. Now I sound mean. Look, the guy's older than my parents and has been active in the music industry since before I was born. He's old. Deal with it. (I've already explained my "thing" for older guys, so this should in no way be held against him. Heheh...)

     Enough with the drivel; here's this week's song:

     You can probably tell by now that I'm slightly immature. The use of "effing" in this song never fails to make me giggle. I'm giggling right now, and I'm not even listening to the song. Heheheh, effing...it's okay, normal people do it too.

     Songs this song reminds me of:

1. The theme from The Simpsons
2. Pokemon battle music
3. A Praise Chorus by Jimmy Eat World
4. Something from Disney that I can't quite remember
5. Weasel Stomping Day by Weird Al
6. The theme from Peanuts

     Yes, I expect you to go listen to all of those. I have no clue why my mind makes the jumps it does. That fun list means that the mental "movie" I've come up with for Effington is an unholy conglomeration of yellow people, claymation, and mutated animals. So, it's basically like the rest of my thoughts.

     The first verse of this song mirrors exactly my train of thought on car trips. If there's anything slightly strange about a town's name, I judge everyone in that town for it. It doesn't help that I'm quite dense sometimes; I frequently have to remind myself that the sign labelled "Farmer's Sharkey" is referring to 2 different towns. Why does the farmer own a shark? Is he a shark farmer? He raises sharks and trains them to farm, doesn't he?

     Then again, who hasn't wondered what would happen if they strayed from the expected path? I could stop driving down this interstate and check out this little town. What would I find? I don't want to go where I'm supposed to. I want to go to Effington.

Music Monday: OneRepublic

     Last week I didn't put any names in the titles of the Monday and Wednesday theme posts. I wanted to be able to explain a bit before anyone skipped over the post because they disliked the focus. Yeah, I have weird ways of doing things. At any rate, from now on the Monday/Wednesday posts will have the topic in the title, so you do have the ability to skip over anything you hate. You shouldn't do that, though. You should read everything I post. I'm that cool.

     This week's musical focus is a band, not a single song. As such, I'll "showcase" a couple of their songs. This week is OneRepublic. Yay! I had heard a couple of their songs before, not knowing who it was and not really being pulled in. The first song of theirs I fell in love with was "Secrets." First up, though, is a (probably crack-induced) fanvid of Avatar: The Last Airbender. You'll recognize the song.

     Okay, so it's weird. Deal with it. Anywho, I've got seven OneRepublic songs lined up on Grooveshark that I listen to all the time. I won't give you videos or audio of all of them. That would be insane. But I did mention "Secrets," which happens to be one of my favorites. After I heard it in this movie, which had the song in a cute little nerd-love scene. It kinda fell from my mind, though, until I started watching the newest season of The Sing-Off. (Side note: I watch a lot of reality tv, and a lot of talent competitions. I'm sick.) The group that performed it ultimately went home, a very bad decision on the judges' part, but it solidified my love for the song.

     I must admit, I had a really tough time choosing which video to put there. It was between the one above (which sort of tells the story) and the actual scene from the movie. It had Tesla coils! I'm still torn, actually. Moving on, I believe we need one more song to finish this off.

     I belt this one ("Come Home") out when I'm alone in the house. Not because I want my family to come home. Just because I love it. And, ya know what? Here's that other video. I can't let myself leave it out. He's such a nerd!!!

Music Monday: It Begins

     Both "music" and "Monday" start with the letter M, which is enough similarity for me to link the two together. The plan here is for me to post a song/artist that I'm at least semi-addicted to every Monday. This week: Moves Like Jagger (by Maroon 5).

     The video has a slow start; the music doesn't actually begin until about 46 seconds in, and doesn't get awesome until about 1:10. Just bear with me here. While I'm writing this, I'm actually watching the video for the first time. It leaves me confused and a little apprehensive. Thank goodness for Grooveshark, where I can listen to the song without the video.

     I was aware of Maroon 5 in middle school, but I never loved them. They kinda dropped off the radar (at least, my radar) before I even got to high school. I followed The Voice this past April, and Adam Levine was a judge. The first thought that popped into my head when I saw him was "Hot." That's it; just that one word. He is rather hot.

     Flash forward to summer. I'm trolling Grooveshark for songs to dance around to. (Side note: My dancing is more of a controlled flail. It's not very pretty.) This song was on the Popular list, and I recognized it because it because they had performed it (complete with Christina, another judge) on The Voice. And thus began the obsession.

     I listen to this song at least twice a day. Seriously. I dance like a maniac and sing along (poorly). It's great. It's fun. Now that you've read this, you must listen to the song, if you haven't already. Y'know what? If you've already listened, listen again. Just do it. You want to, deep down.