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 My primary Writing.com blog. |
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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"  "Blog Harbor" "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross Blog Forum" Thanks for stopping by! 
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"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 11"WAP" by Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion Did I intentionally put this song immediately after an entry with a Christian worship song? Honestly, when I first heard this song, I must've immediately listened to it again on repeat a dozen times just to confirm that the lyrics really said what I thought they said. I love how ballsy this song is, and how empowered both Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion sound during their respective parts of this song. There are so many unfair social pressures on women, especially with respect to their sexuality, and these two drop a song that gives exactly zero fucks what anyone else thinks of them. While I'm not sure this is the direction I would take with my own art, per se, I love that this song absolutely goes for it. I hope that one day I'm brave enough with my own work to put something out in the world that's this bold and raw. This song also introduced me to Megan Thee Stallion, who I've really been enjoying listening to lately. If you think this song is a rare departure for her, you're very much mistaken. "Body" and "Girls In The Hood" are two of my favorites and they definitely have similar themes of female empowerment. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 10"Rest On Us" by Maverick City Music & UPPERROOM feat. Brandon Lake & Eniola Abioye I've been listening to quite a few worship songs over the past year, and this is one of my current favorites. Like most worship songs, there are lots of different covers and versions of this song. In particular, I'd recommend this one from UPPERROOM feat. Elyssa Smith and this other one from Mariah Adigun & Jekalyn Carr .I think this specific song speaks to me because the Holy Spirit is a Christian concept that I've really struggled with. Within my church community, I know people who hear the Spirit speak so clearly. When they're praying for someone, they get clear visions or words from the Spirit to share. When they're worshipping, they feel the Spirit's presence with them. I'm definitely not one of those people. The Holy Spirit either doesn't talk to me in nearly so clear a fashion, or else I don't know how to listen properly. Honestly, knowing me, it's probably mostly the latter.  My faith up until this point has been a largely intellectual exercise, but listening to songs like this and seeing how filled with the Spirit other people are capable of being, it makes me want to experience that for myself. Even watching the people in these videos, there's such peace and overwhelming joy on so many of their faces. I'm curious if I'll ever get to the point in my faith where I'm able to have a similar experience. |
A third of the way into "The Soundtrack of Your Life" , I'm taking a little break from the music blogging to blog about something else. I pulled these prompts from last months current prompts over at "JAFBG" , so consider this a little JAFBG Interlude.  I'm going to post some short responses to a few different prompts:There has been talk recently about imposing upper age limits on political roles. Do you think there should be a maximum age limit for political positions? I not only thing there should be a maximum age limit, I also think there should be term limits. I understand the arguments for having seasoned politicians in office who have a wealth of experience about how the system works, so I'm not advocating for one-and-done terms or anything... but I think it's far, far too easy for politicians to get complacent, for self-serving policies to take root, and for corruption when politicians are able to cement themselves into a political office and hold onto it for ten, twenty, thirty years. If I could snap my fingers tomorrow and make changes, I would enforce a retirement age of 65 for elected officials, and term limits that cap out after 8-12 years or so. For things that are currently lifetime appointments like the Supreme Court and many federal judicial roles, it'd be one-and-done after a 12-18 year term or whenever you turn 65, whichever comes first. Stagger the elections, of course, so you have a mix of "experienced" politicians who are at the tail end of their careers in public service mixing with the newly elected. That's not to say it should be enforced retirement... if you want to continue working into your twilight years in the fields of academia, the private sector, as a self-employed lobbyist/consultant, or whatever... more power to you. But you shouldn't be in your seventies or even eighties and still clinging onto a public office that you've refused to relinquish for decades. A healthy representative government is dependent on elected officials that actually represent their constituents. The longer politicians are able to shroud themselves in power and solidify their positions against challengers, the further they get from their constituents. I'm all for age and term limits that refresh the pool of elected officials with some regularity, so that new voices can be heard and not drowned out by the voices of those who have entrenched their position and lost touch with their constituents. What's something going on in the world or in your local community right now that you think people should be more aware of? On an international level, I think it has to be climate change. And not just because I think we all need to be a little more wide-eyed about what our choices in the name of business growth and profits are doing to this planet, but because - like my response above - I think we've grown complacent with the way things are. I long for new innovations, for more announcements that someone has developed greater fuel-efficiency, or an alternative power source, or technology that's higher-quality, longer-lasting, and greener. I think ingenuity has taken a backseat to convenience and profitability, and if there's one cause that can rally everyone around this idea, it's the shared goal of making the one planet we all live on a better place to be. I think we all need to take a closer look at how the changing climate is affecting us in so many ways, and knowing those changes are coming, what we can do to innovate truly out-of-the-box solutions to these changes. On a local/national level, I think people should be more aware of just how much corporate interests are pulling the strings. The money they dump into the political system for advantageous legislation (tax breaks, help with regulatory concerns, anti-unionization efforts, etc.), the way that people are pitted against one another, the lack of loyalty so many companies now show to their workforce. The corporate world has taken on a "profits and growth at all costs" business model (especially in the past 10-20 years), and I wish people would pay more attention to the ways our strings are getting pulled and our attention is being diverted while corporate interests manipulate the levers of power in the background. What widely-accepted piece of advice is actually total bullshit? "Write what you know." People have taken "write what you know" to mean that you should only write about topics that you're intimately familiar with. I suppose that's why so many writers try to write about writer characters writing things.  If writers could only write what they already objectively know for certain, there would be no science fiction, or fantasy. There would be considerably fewer action/thrillers about spies and special forces soldiers, and there would sure as hell be fewer "billionaire bad boy" romance novels.  The piece of advice writers should instead be following is "know what you're writing about." You don't have to already be an expert in the topic. You don't have to only write about things that have happened to you. But you sure as hell need to know what you're doing and have an understanding of your subject matter. Know what you're writing about. And if you don't know about it already, start learning. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 9"Run It" by DJ Snake, Rick Ross, and Rich Brian from the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings soundtrack I listened to this song a lot last year when I needed something energetic. It was produced specifically for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and I chose a video that included a lot of the stunts and action sequences from the movie, because the song also makes me think of Brad Allan, the Supervising Stunt Coordinator on the movie who passed shortly before its release. If you're not familiar with the name, Brad Allan got his start as the first-ever caucasian member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. That's the team of stunt guys that doesn't just help Jackie Chan design the action sequences for his movies, they're also more often than not, his adversaries in his movies due to the complexity of the stunts and how closely they have to work together. If you're a fan of Jackie Chan movies, you've probably seen Brad Allan as someone Jackie is fighting (he quickly rose to prominence within the group for his incredible athletic ability). Here's a showreel to give you an idea of some of his work: Later in his career, Brad went from stunt man to stunt coordinator, designing fight and action sequences in his own right. Even if you're not familiar with his face, or his work on the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, if you're at all a fan of action movies from the past ten years, I guarantee you've seen his work before. Here's a 2015 action design reel showcasing some of the action sequences he's designed from popular movies. Brad Allan was one of those guys that I never knew personally, only by reputation. He had worked with Marvel on a number of different productions, and his passing back in August 2021 was one of those that really affected me because the world so clearly lost someone who was a truly special talent at the thing he did. He was a remarkable athlete, an accomplished stuntperson, and a memorable action designer. I'm incredibly sad that the world won't get to see any more of his work, but the work he leaves behind makes for quite a legacy. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 8"Could Have Been Me" by Halsey (from the Sing 2 soundtrack) Sing 2 was easily one of my most anticipated movies of last year, and it was worth the wait. Was it basically a re-hash of the original? Sure. But did it have updated songs and was it a heck of a lot of fun to watch? Absolutely. If you liked the original Sing you'll almost certainly like the 2021 sequel which has plenty of charm and cover versions of popular songs. I almost went with the entire cast singing Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" or Kiana Lede's rendition of "Can't Feel My Face," or any of the great U2 covers... but I chose Halsey's version of "Could Have Been Me" by The Struts because this was a new song for me and one that I find myself skipping over to a lot when I'm listening to the soundtrack in the car with the kids. On a professional note, I'm kind of in awe of the deal they must have had to negotiate with U2 that involved: (a) the rights to cover their most popular hit songs, (b) Bono's voice acting services for a character in the film, and (c) an original U2 song for the soundtrack. I know it wasn't cheap, but that must have been one complicated negotiation with a lot of moving parts. It was worth it, though, because all three U2 elements in the film are really memorable. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 7"Surface Pressure" by Jessica Darrow (from the Encanto soundtrack) I went back and forth on which song to pick from this soundtrack. Like most of his work, I think Lin-Manuel Miranda did a great job with the songs on this soundtrack. He has such a distinctive flow to his lyrics, it's really remarkable. While I don't necessarily share his same passions like musical theater, I do admire him as an artist because he's managed to accomplish the goal most artists have, which is to have such a unique style that you instantly say, "Oh, I can tell that's a Lin-Manuel Miranda song!" We should all be so fortunate to have that kind of brand identity with our own creative works! As tempted as I was to choose "We Don't Talk About Bruno" or "What Else Can I Do" (or even "Colombia, Mi Encanto") because I find myself listening to those songs more often, I picked "Surface Pressure" because I think it's the song that I most identify with right now. I won't ruin the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it (definitely worth a watch, though!), but it's about someone who feels all the burdens placed on her, and who struggles to always carry the ever-increasing weight of expectations. Needless to say, as a parent of young children... and as someone who has been struggling to manage work and family in a pandemic... the themes of this song really speak to me right now.  |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 6"Imagine" by Ben Platt Ben Platt has a remarkable voice. I've been a fan of his since his early debut about ten years ago in the first Pitch Perfect movie, although most people probably know him from his Tony-winning performance as the titular character in Dear Evan Hansen, which debuted on Broadway in 2016. By the way, there are few movies I'm less excited about than the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen. While I understand the business reasons why someone would want to adapt a hit Broadway musical into a movie, it's one of those things where creatively it makes no sense to me why you would want to adapt something that's basically already perfect. The Broadway show is incredible... we don't need a movie version of the same thing. They'd be better off doing what Hamilton did and just releasing a highly-produced recording of the Broadway show itself for those who aren't able to make it to a live stage performance. This song is the first single off Platt's second studio album (Reverie). The single came out in April of last year, with the album following in August 2021. He initially conceived of the song during the COVID-19 pandemic while quarantined and isolated from loved ones. The song, as he puts it really beautifully, is about "the way that our loved ones, the people that make life worth living, can turn the mundanity of suburbia into something magical and fantastical. Everyone has that person or people that make their world technicolor, fueling us with a love that can feel supernatural." Which also explains the direction of the somewhat odd music video. Random fun fact: Ben Platt is currently in a relationship with Noah Galvin who replaced him as the title character in Dear Evan Hansen when Platt left the production. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 5"Easy On Me" by Adele I'm including the lyric video version of this song because the actual music video includes almost two full minutes of "intro" story, and that's one of my pet peeves. I get that every song tells a story and whatnot, but if the music in a music video doesn't actually begin until 30% of the way into the video, I'm out. So I found the lyric video instead, which gets right to it. One of my favorite things about Adele's music (and her albums in general) is that they're a snapshot in time. She writes about what she's going through at the time, and she doesn't rush albums until she has something to write about. Each of her albums is titled after her age at the time of their release (19, 21, 25, and 30), and this particular song is from 30, which was just released in November 2021. It deals with a number of her personal and professional experiences over the preceding six years, including becoming a mother, getting divorced, dealing with the pros and cons of being famous, etc. It's an amazing album, and her raw emotional experiences shine through on every track. While this song, for Adele, is a plea to her son (who had just turned nine when this album was released) to go "easy on her" and be kind to her despite her mistakes, including her divorce from his father. The lyrics at the end of the song - the last stanza and the repeated chorus - really had a particularly profound impact on me: I had good intentions And the highest hopes But I know right now That probably doesn't even show Go easy on me, baby I was still a child I didn't get the chance to Feel the world around me I had no time to choose What I chose to do So go easy on me As I get older, I'm learning how to deal with these own feelings in my life. Of things not turning out exactly the way I had hoped despite good intentions and high hopes. Of feeling like the choices you make aren't really choices at all because they're dictated by the circumstances you find yourself in and you're just trying to make the best of the hand you've been dealt. And the desire for grace for all the mistakes you've made and things you wish you would have done differently. I really admire Adele for how raw her music is, for how nakedly honest she is with her audience and herself. It's the kind of art I think we can all learn something from because, as artists, most of us struggle with how much of our authentic selves to infuse in our work. This song is the kind of work I aspire to one day create... something beautiful and resonant that's also true to myself. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 4"All I Know So Far" by P!nk I'm really digging P!nk's new rock/country sound with her last few albums. I was thinking about doing one of the tracks off her last studio album Hurts 2B Human from 2019. But after she took a hiatus in 2020 to spend more time with her family. She subsequently released a song she recorded with her daughter, and this song was released in 2021 accompanied by a documentary that followed P!nk's life as she recorded and performed live, traveling around the world with her family. These musician documentaries are something that my wife and I have really been enjoying lately. The Taylor Swift one is great, as is the one with Shawn Mendes. What really appealed to us about P!nk's documentary is how focused she is on her family, and how much the people she tours with for the live shows are like an extension of that family. While I know that a lot fo this documentary stuff is idealized and intended to show them in their best light, it's still true that she travels with young kids, her husband is with her watching them while she goes to work, and they try to steal time away with each other during a go-go-go existence where there are a million demands on their time. This song also really spoke to me this year while I was dealing with my mom's passing. I've been really attaching to bittersweet songs, movies, etc. that celebrate the messiness of life. I'm sure a lot of that is part of my grieving process, but I've found it really comforting to explore creative works that are willing to embrace pain, regret, grief, trauma, etc. and make something beautiful out of it. This song has been heavy on my playlist rotation when I want to mope a little bit, but also feel inspired to move forward anyway. |
"The Soundtrack of Your Life" | Day 3"All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" by Taylor Swift This is probably going to turn into a longer piece at some point because I have a lot to say about the "Taylor's Version" re-releases, but I'm going to try to keep it succinct here and talk broadly about the many reason why I've been listening to this song a lot since she dropped the updated Red album in November. 1.The whole "Taylor's Version" movement. It was a travesty that her old label allowed some dumb record producer to purchase her old masters without first giving her the opportunity to buy them back. So the fact that Taylor decided to re-record all of her old albums and release them as new "Taylor's Version" albums to cut into the proceeds the producers make off her old tracks is a really brilliant idea. There's also something to be said about the fact that Universal is publicly celebrating her doing this because it's popular, while also turning around and quietly updating their contracts with other artist to prevent them from doing this exact same thing in the future... but that business hypocrisy is a topic for another blog post. 2. Taylor's business savvy. She's not announcing which album she's releasing before it's out, so the owners of her old masters can't counter-program. They won't get any plays from people going, "Oh, this new album is coming out soon, so I'm going to catch up on it and listen to the original again." Nope, she just drops the new album in whole and is like, "Here you go, world. Update your favorites and listen to this one instead." And why would someone listen to this version instead? Because she's giving people everything. The old songs they love. New versions of the old songs just to mix it up. Bonus tracks that hadn't been released before. Take Red, the album this song is from, for example. The original album from 2012 was sixteen tracks. The deluxe version was 22 songs. Red (Taylor's Version) has 30 tracks (31 if you include the message from Taylor that comes with the version on Apple Music). This particular song was a fan favorite from the original album but was never a single, never had a music video, etc. So in addition to re-recording the original version, she also made this 10-Minute version to acknowledge what the fans wanted. She's not just re-doing the old albums and dumping them into the world... she's rethinking and recalibrating her albums and strategically releasing them in a way that both undercuts her antagonists AND gives the fans an improved product. 3. Taylor's artistry This song isn't just a double-length song with a bunch of repeated choruses, or a tacked on verse here and there. If you listen to it and compare it to the original, she's expanded the song and put new material between the existing verses. She literally created a more fully-realized version of the song, fleshing it out and seamlessly integrating the new and the old lyrics. There aren't many artists that could pull off doubling the length of a song and still having it feel fresh. I've been listening to this song a lot (and the whole album, in fact) because it's a master class on improving upon your old work, as well as making smart creative and business decisions that really pay off. Even if you're not a Taylor Swift fan per se, it's hard to deny that she's doing something remarkable with these "Taylor's Version" releases and everything that comes with them. |
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