Allison Carlson
MUSC 1110 01
Written Assignment #1
Jason Vanselow
Fall 2014
“My” Music
When I describe my kind of music, it’s quite a broad spectrum. The music that interests me can range from Frank Sinatra to Justin Bieber to Shania Twain to Motley Crüe. When it comes to music, I’d listen to any song that has lyrics. One of my favorite songs is “Something To Believe In” by Poison. In a literal sense, it sounds like a rock ballad song with drums and cymbals, a bass guitar, an electric guitar and a guitar that come together to the rough sound of Bret Michaels singing. In a figurative sense, it sounds like a sad story and his sorrowful thoughts through the lyrics that are relatable and well put together. The lyrics explain how all these bad things keep bringing him down and he just wants something to believe in, something to let him know there is good in the world.
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It was played over and over in the car when I was a kid. Picture a nine year old singing along to Poison, Motley Crüe, and ACDC in the backseat, knowing every word一that was me. Everyone, I’d like to think, has questioned the good in other people at some point in their life. Even at nine years old, I had times where I had to prepare and deal with really unfair situations. I started to realize there is a lot of bad in this world and didn’t understand why. I had always sang the songs to sing along but when I started to listen to the lyrics instead of just singing them, I heard the message of adversity. I sort of used it as advice and reassurance that it wasn’t just me, but above all that, I looked at it almost as if Bret, Rikki, C. C., and Bobby had my back through
It was released in April 2005 as the lead single from their second album, From Under the Cork Tree (2005). With the music composed by lead vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stumpand all lyrics penned by bassist Pete Wentz, it was the bands first top 10 hit and it launched there career. In an interview with Rolling Stone that he slurred the lyrics in the chorus on purpose to make it sound better and he wanted the song to be a fun punk song. During the writing of the song, the band made 30 changes to it. He said that he saw the lyrics first time he sung it out loud and it sounded excellent so he came up with the rest. I have chosen this song because it brings back so so many significsant memories in my life, such as the first time my family went to America, this song was played almost 5 times every day on the radio. It is also a very lively, energetic song that can turn a frown upside-down in a second. Even when I am having a horrible day, when I get home and listen to this song it makes my day so much better and always brings a smile to my face. This song tells you that you must never give up without a fight and I believe that , that is a excellent morale to sing
I think music has a way of explaining something or telling a story. Music can bring up happy times, it can also bring up sad times as well. Certain songs can remind someone of troubling issues from a past, can be the reminder of someone you have lost, it can also be a reminder of many happy times; such as weddings, high school dances, or even just hanging out with friends in the back
Music is a time machine that can haul your mind to where you were the first time you heard a song, or it can bring back all the emotions you felt when your favorite song helped you though a tough stage in your life. For most people, music is vital for everyday life; and for some they even take it a step further and they become obsessed with bands or artists. It is no surprise that music makes such an impact on humans because of the emotional connection we can feel to it. Music can have a tremendous influence on people; we can relate on higher level. “Future” by Paramore is the most prominent song in my life. They brilliantly and masterfully bring the song to life by putting abysmal experiences into words.
Music and what lyrics are placed in songs has had a lot of influence over my emotions not only when I listen to the song but when I think about the event that goes with that song. In this day and age music and media have more power to manipulate young minds than it did only a generation ago. The songs that people say are deep and meaningful are usually those that are easy to connect with. The six songs you have listened to are songs most people do not understand until they analyze the meanings of them. My own mother in fact does not like the music I listen to just because of the language and because she tends to see things as they are instead of the feelings and motivations poured into something.
Even though people listen to music just to hear the melody, music is a way to express certain feelings and think about what the song means to someone personally. 20th century pop artists including Dido, Louis Armstrong, and Garth Brooks reveal transcendentalist values of the 19th century Literary Movement through self-reliance, deliberate living, and importance of nature.
This song to me has many different historical and cultural contexts. To start with the historical context, this song has many components that are involved with the history of rock and roll. The first thing that comes to my mind about this song is that, because of the different types of music that are in this song it is clearly from current period of rock and roll. When I say current period I mean starting in the 1980s or so and onward. In the 1980s rock and roll took on a heavier sounding voice, bands such as Metallica, The Grateful Dead and many others emerged during this time. This song contains many of the same elements as those other artist music. Then in the 1980s along with the 1990s rap and hip-hop began to take off. Rap and hip-hop
Throughout my life, music has always been a major influence. It has the power to change my mood when I'm feeling down, but the thing I find most intriguing about music is that it doesn't always end up improving your mood: like all forms of art, it imitates life, which is not always portrayed in a positive light. The musicians that I admire most have the versatility to induce several different emotional responses in the same piece. This quality is present in most of the wide variety of music I listen to, from Russian composer Dmiti Shostakovich, to Chicago jazz band Tortoise, to California pop/rock sextet Mr. Bungle.
Music are a few things we tend to hear every day. Whether or not it’s from our own ipods, in our cars, or background music to our lives. A song exists for pretty much every feeling and music will be thought of as extremely healing mechanism. Over the years there are various varieties of music that everyone embrace completely different beats, sounds, and evoke different emotions. Such varieties of music is hip hop and rap, alternative music, and rock and roll music. Music incorporates a long line and every single sound and sort of music is tangled together inside each other and influenced by each other. For these reasons, music not solely defines a sort of sound, however additionally recreates lifestyles and defines entire generations. The ability of music will be seen from all differing kinds of music.
Music inspires me and it uplifts me, it get me through life’s challenges. At the moment is Solid Rock, sung by Tasha Cobbs and Jamie Grace, is my go to song. I like to play it over and over, and every time I hear the lyrics, “Solid, my solid rock. You are solid, my solid rock” it does something to my spirit. If those were all the words in the song that would be fine with me. Everyone goes through some sort of trial whether it is financial, relational, or health. When I listen to the song it gives me an assurance that God’s got my back and I can lean on Him. Not only do I find assurance in the song it moves me to tears of praise.
Even with it’s dark lyrics, the song itself is very upbeat and is clearly a hit radio song. It ruled the radio waves for a long while and even won the Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Song. I had heard it many, many times before realizing just what the song was about. A lot of music listeners today expect or almost even demand a catchy chorus or melody and don’t consider
When I hear Rock ‘n’ Roll I think of my dad. He loved any type of rock, but his favorites were Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. My dad died when I was 15 and the last time I saw him we were on our way to Arby’s to get lunch. He was listening to “Knocking on Heavens Door” by Guns N’ Roses and every time I hear that song it reminds me of him. Sometimes when I am in a mood and want to reminisce I will play that song and I always smile and think about the times we had.
I now suffer with frequent nightmares. This has been my reality for 7 years. To this day, if I wake up from a nightmare or cannot sleep, I play one of my favorite songs, “The Unforgiven III”. This song helps me to daydream and lets my mind drift off to sea, so to speak. The lyrics relate the troubles and pain of life to the sea, adventure, and gold. We seek the gold or life but never expect the unforgiving sea and storms of life to throw us off course. This song helps me to use my imagination and to distract from my nightmares so that, eventually, I can fall back asleep. I can imagine sailing and smelling the sea and seeing shiny gold. To me, this song means he was taking control of his life until he was “pulled off course by the light of golden treasure” (Metallica, 2008). Then he falls into a depression, “These days drift on inside a fog it’s thick and suffocating” (Metallica, 2008) and he becomes psychologically defeated by it. At night, I feel defeated by my past and wonder if there is any escape. Listening to the lyrics and rhythmic beat is a healing process for me. It’s a ritual in which I can temporarily let go and cry. I am alone and safe to feel. I do not have to struggle to relate to the feelings the lyrics are expressing because I have lived them. “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music” (Huxley, n.d.). Metallica knows my life without even
I Still Believe is all about the glory of God. There is a man named Jeremy Camp who learned the implicit to honor God even when you didn’t understand. He had two wives, the first wife is Melissa who died because of the cancer and the second wife is Adrienne who accept the kindness and all the flaws of Jeremy. It was in California when he found his path in the ministry. It was also there when his music career began to cultivate. Jeremy married Melissa on October but later on after 3 months she died because of the ovarian cancer. Through this tragedy he come up in writing a song
This song is meaningful to me because it explains how people today act. Nobody’s perfect but but everyone wants to be. The author of this piece did a very good job of explaining this throughout the song. Who is the author you might ask? Jermaine Lamarr Cole.
There are so many truths that people want you to believe just because they say it is so, when you found a live hood on that belief it can be shaky. Because it didn’t come by your own mindset but through someone else’s strong belief in it. When I’m sometimes in a crowded room I can voice my opinion and just shut down immediately, which is why I don’t feel my opinion counts in a way. There are other lyrics in this song they say “1 for all and all for 1…lift up your voice/ Let love cut through the American noise…you’ve got a voice and a song to sing… sing your own song take all the noise/ and make into music.” Just listening to that part with my ear buds just gives me hope that I will be heard even though I’m crying in my closet having a pity party. The way you can hear the piano throughout the whole song gives me a sense of clam empowering that while weeping my endure in the night, joy comes in the morning.