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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:  "The Soundtrackers Group"  "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross" Thanks for stopping by!  |
"Barrel of Monkeys" Day 10 "Bulletproof" by Nate Smith feat. Avril Lavigne from California Gold (unreleased) For my last "Barrel of Monkeys" entry this month, I'm actually choosing a song that features Avril Lavigne, rather than a song from one of her albums. Nate Smith is a country artist I just discovered this year when his song "World of Fire" popped up in my Spotify recommendations playlist. That song was the second single off his self-titled debut album and his first with a major label. This song is the first single off his forthcoming second studio album, California Gold (release date TBD) and I included it because I was blown away with how well Avril Lavigne's voice seems to fit with this style of country song.After two decades of listening to her power ballads and pop-punk-rock anthems, I'm convinced that we need a country album from Avril Lavigne. This collaboration with Nate Smith is great, and I think it would be a fun side project for her to tackle that would surprise people. This is definitely one of my favorite country music discoveries this year (along with Nate Smith in general). This has been a really fun blogging challenge this year, and it's gotten me excited about "The Soundtrackers Group" Fall/Winter setlist with "Resurrection Jukebox" coming up in October and "12 Days of "Christmas"" following not far behind once December rolls around. See you all then!(220 words) |
This is probably my favorite song off Avril's Love Sux album. It's not the one I've listened to the most at this point, but it's the one that most consistently puts a smile on my face and that I think is a perfect mix that captures her evolution as an artist. It's upbeat, a little punk rock, and has that positive message that I've mentioned in a few other posts that I think is missing from a lot of songs in this genre. It's a hopeful and energetic song that is oddly romantic given that it's a pop-punk anthem. I'm seriously considering writing a short story inspired by this song (or maybe I'll attempt yet another ill-fated "Musicology Anthology" entry based on this album next year; it's a challenge that I always start with the best intentions and rarely seem to ever get started on in earnest. But it's not since "Damage" (the song I wrote inspired by The Band CAMINO's song of the same name) that I've had such a fully-formed vision of what kind of a story a song can tell based on my interpretation of the lyrics.After having spent the ten days of this challenge revisiting Avril Lavigne's entire catalogue, I'm super-bummed that I've missed a couple opportunities to see her in concert. I wasn't even aware of this album around the time she was doing the Love Sux Tour, and I can't say I would have gone even if I had because the closest venues to me were Las Vegas (and Winchester, NV) in September and October 2022 when there were still COVID concerns at big public events (like concerts!), and I literally just missed her Greatest Hits Tour earlier this year by a couple of months. She was in Los Angeles (and Las Vegas, again) in May and June, and the tour literally had its last stop less than two weeks ago.  I would have loved to have gone to a show on the Greatest Hits Tour since she played so many songs from so many different eras. Hopefully she'll have a new album and a new tour soon. Based on her album releases to-date, I wouldn't be surprised if she dropped a new album sometime in 2025. Her average (mean) time between albums is roughly three years, and if Love Sux released in February 2022, it's probably a good bet that she's finishing up whatever she's currently working on and angling for a release sometime soon, now that her Greatest Hits album and the accompanying tour has wrapped up. Whatever she does next, I'm definitely here for it! BTW, if this entry sounds a little like a wrap-up of a ten day event on Day 9... it kind of is. That's because my pick for Day 10 is something a bit different and isn't necessarily an "Avril Lavigne song" per se.  I hope that you've enjoyed this brief journey through Avril's discography and come back to visit during "The Soundtrack of Your Life" when I'll have another of her songs (or maybe a couple!) to share from my listening over the past year. Like I've mentioned, this album featured prominently in my listening this year. Multiple tracks will probably show up on my Spotify year-end summary.  (546 words) |
I could have probably picked any of the tracks off this album to feature in this challenge, because I think the whole thing is great. Love Sux was released in 2022 and is Avril's seventh studio album. I've been listening to it a lot lately, because it sounds to me like she's really refined her sound over the past twenty years. The rock-inspired tracks are heavy and hard-hitting; the pop-inspired tracks are fun and light. And the more serious power ballad type songs are really resonant. This song is the one I've listened to third-most on the album (the second-most will be the next entry, and I'm saving the most-listened-to song off the album for next February's "The Soundtrack of Your Life" so you all have something to look forward to. This is one of the few songs where I actually don't think her voice (especially during the verses) is particularly great compared to some of her other songs, but the chorus is really poignant and resonant.Like I mentioned in the previous entry ("Keep Holding On" ), I think there need to be more songs in the world that are a little more hopeful. That might sound a little weird to say about a song that talks about being overwhelmed by your life, but for some reason I interpret this song as being about someone persevering in the face of adversity rather than letting it consume them. Maybe I have that wrong, but I actually find this song kind of inspiring and encouraging.(250 words) |
This is one of the few Avril Lavigne songs that I'm aware of which was released on a soundtrack before she released it on an album. It was the lead single off the Eragon movie soundtrack in 2006, and then later included on her third studio album The Best Damn Thing which was released the following year. I've always liked this song because I think there are a lot of songs about breakup and hurt and relationships ending and stuff along those lines, but there are much fewer songs about persevering and continuing to stick together through hard times, and I think we need more of those songs in the world. (113 words) |
This second single off Avril's second album was basically the breakup anthem for my generation for several years. Anytime someone in a relationship broke up, had a bad fight, etc. it was pretty much guaranteed that they were blasting this song in their car or their room for several weeks afterward. For me, this song is reminiscent of the early 2000s emo/pop punk phase in music where a lot of the love songs were angsty and bittersweet, and this song (and the whole album, in fact) have often been compared to musical artists who have the same general style like Paramore, Evanescence, etc. Like her song "I'm With You" from her first album, this was the album from her second that convinced me she was a really, really talented musical artist. She has the pop-punk hits, of course, which are extremely popular and probably what sell most of her albums, but each album also has one of these more thoughtful, contemplative songs on each of her albums too, which show a real depth and sophistication and maturity to her songwriting. And the combination of the two types of songs have been a real recipe for her success over the past twenty years, I think. Because each album contains multitudes, rather than the same flavor of song over and over again.(220 words) |
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I'm really excited to see what Hamilton and LeClerc can do together at Ferrari this year. On the Constructors' side, other than Ferrari, I'd love to see if McLaren can hold onto the top spot for the second year in a row; although I'm also a fan of the underdogs and I have a soft spot for Haas and Williams.
Not many of those around here. Who's your favourite team/driver? My favourite, Valtteri Bottas, doesn't have a seat for the 2025 season. I'll be hoping for Hamilton, Piastri and Tsunoda to be successful this season, though I also like Alonso and Leclerc.
