Run to the hills...Run for your life

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2.)  Iron Maiden-The Trooper

a.    Now, this would seem a little more appropriate to most of you. I have always and will always love metal. I’ve explored most of varying subgenres, and listen to so many different metallic wonders regularly. But I could safely say, that this particular song is my favorite of all time. My non-metal friends and loved ones would roll their eyes, and I will forever claim that I could make anyone a metal fan. It might not always be true, but I do always try to explain the joy I find in metal. It’s hard to translate it to others because it’s a relationship you either have or you don’t. Either way, in my moment of passing, I would want as many people to rock out to this song as possible. It’s just so damn good.

                                              i.     Lightning strikes. The opening riff. It’s so powerful that while I was writing this I had to start it over three times just because it’s so awesome. And I do that…literally every time I listen to it. Even when it comes on shuffle, I let the opening riff play and then I start it over. Bah. Anyone who knows me anyways would not find this surprising…Then suddenly, the intertwined guitars that meant to be together before they were even created.  The drumbeat is like a carriage, the bass line like galloping horses pulling the carriage. Iron Maiden just has this incredible talent for bringing you to the battlefield. The description of sight and smell, the tone of Bruce Dickinson’s voice, strong enough to lead to the soldiers. Let me just say too, that in my opinion, he is the king of metal vocals. Rob Halford can hit the high notes, but there is a driving force in Dickinson’s voice that puts a certain emotionally descriptive quality to the music. I feel like I’m listening to musical version of  ‘Song of Roland’ every time I press play. This truly is just the perfect metal song. This song makes me feel alive, motivates me and reminds me that metal can lift a veil of stress. That sometimes when you feel overwhelmed with problems, you just need to listen to metal and rock the fuck out. Now head-bang.  

Hello Again

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It has been over a year since I’ve written anything on this blog, and I think there are three problems. The first one is, I have a career that consumes about 90% of my life, and rightfully so as it is a family business, so naturally a lot of my loved ones are also involved. Secondly, not enough discipline. I put such an image of grandeur in the concept of writing that I can’t even just sit down and do it. The thought process goes in, and then I think, “who would really give a shit about this?” Then I realized…I don’t care who gives a shit about it. I give a shit about it. The third… I’ve put too much pressure on myself to be writing about certain types of music; to be writing in a certain way about these songs. I feel like I have to be constantly worrying about new music, and the reader's preference, confining to a genre... and all that I really want to do is sit down and write about different music and how songs make me feel. I want to remember songs that remind me of my friends and family, and send them the love I feel every time I hear that song. I want to express my relationship with music. I started out with a decent concept, I had a vision and a ‘hypothesis’, so to speak. I find it hard to conform to ideals… especially my own lofty ones.  So I’m starting again. And I might stop again, and then start again. The cycle continues. 

5/27/2014

I went to two memorial services this past weekend. Fitting for ‘Memorial Day’, but I was honoring two special people in different ways. One thing that stood out so specifically to me was the choice of music during the services… and how that one song can leave the mark on all of the attendees for the rest of their lives. Of course in my typical morbid fashion, I began to ponder death, funerals, and what music I would want to be played for my family and friends after my passing. In my perfect world, everyone would just salvage through my iTunes and Amazon account and listen to every single song. The thought of what music would pair to my death and remembrance was overwhelming. I decided to make a funeral playlist.

Song One:

1.)  Svefn-G-Englar by Sigur Ros

a.    To the majority of people that I've subjected this to, it just seems like noise. A nice, quiet start with an electric shock of guitar, and then some pale man wailing an undecipherable language. (some sort of Icelandic, but Sigur Ros fans might note otherwise). But to me, it sounds like this:

                                              i.     Close your eyes. Really listen. If any of you were in the car with me and I turned it on, you would say “Turn this shit off! Depressing!” I laugh, because I know it does have a lowering, mellow sound, and it is certainly an acquired taste. I respect that, and I do my best not to force it on anyone. But in my last moments of remembrance, I would want everyone to give it a fair listen.  I love the shit out of it. It’s like an orchestra of modern sound, so many layers and harmony…voice blending into wailing guitar. The beginning sounds like a funeral parlor, or a wedding hymn, somber and deep, steady and simple. A spark of twilight flicks steady in the background, like the sound of a submarine radar, a twinkle of starlight, or a satellite. Sounds cheesy, but if you give it a listen you will secretly know it’s true. Nice low notes to set out the tone of darkness, of confusion. Then slowly, subtly, the stringed bow on the guitar. At first, to me, it can’t even be identified as a sound. I see great rays of light; the sun beginning to rise. Only a note that sharp could reflect so perfectly such a display; a beam of light to your ears. Just imagine a sun rising over a vast plain, a summer thunderstorm rolling in, a child being born, and even a slow and peaceful death. All of these things are beautiful parts of life. Sad, cyclical and hard to understand, yes, but I have found few other audio landscapes more powerful. What other song could display such an overwhelming sense of natural wonder, vast stretches, emptiness and wholeness altogether. 

Tune in next time for funeral song #2... quite a different experience.