Blogs are so passe and pretentious. Oh well, here's my blog about music that's stuck in my head when I wake up in the mornings along with adventures of the Cash family and wacky wacky crazy wacky shenanigans.
Everybody knows this song, but does anybody know anything about it?
This is the William Tell Overture, and it's from the Rossini Opera, "Guillaume Tell." It's only famous for a couple of things: First, the Overture that everyone knows, and was stuck in my head this morning. Second, it's REALLY long, over 4 hours. And lastly, it was Rossini's last opera before he went into early retirement.
Just reading over the plot synopsis, I was bored. It's about a marksman, and takes place in Switzerland.
Hello from decadent Las Vegas! I'm out of town at a tradeshow. I really don't like this town. It's out of control, over the top and ridiculous. Everywhere you go is loud and expensive. Worse yet, is being here for business, away from the wifey and kids.
So, I'm starting to feel like I'm unoriginal, I promise I listen to lots of different music, but today I woke up again to a song by Nellie McKay. It's a good enough song, here it is posted below. I've warned earlier that she is extremely outspoken with her lyrics, this one isn't too bad, but feel I should warn anyone reading this the same:
So, as I read the lyrics to this song, I thought about what I would change about the world. There are many things, but I will only mention one today. For 2 days straight, I've been standing at our company booth at a tradeshow here in Vegas. There are hundreds of people that walk by, not caring about why we're there, but just wanting to get free stuff. It doesn't matter if it's not worth anything, if they have no practical use for it, or if they need it. As long as it's free, they are happy to take it. This sort of mentality makes me crazy!
One thing that people don't understand is that nothing is free. Everything costs something, maybe not to you, but to someone else! The product my company manufactures, is a specialty product, with specific applications. Someone just wanting a sample, to never use it, makes no sense, and just costs our company money. But since it's "free," most people don't care and try to take whatever looks neat on the shelf.
Think about this sort of thing too: When you go to a fast food restaurant condiment stand to get ketchup and napkins, do you take more than you need? Most people do, and this stuff is not free either. It just costs the restaurant money, and higher costs lead to higher prices. Again, these things are not free. So, think about the conveniences and services that you get "for free" as you go about. Be courteous and thoughtful about the person who picks up your garbage at the movie theater. Ask yourself, do I really NEED to take 20 courtesy mints at the restaurant? It may seem like a silly thing, but think about how everything we do finds its way back to us in the end, truly nothing is free, even in Vegas!
I was worried all weekend about the promise I made on the previous blog that I would be willing to perform with my kids. I started to regret it, mostly because I was afraid that the song stuck in my head would be something difficult to perform, like Radiohead's Paranoid Android, or some Wagnerian Opera or something like that.
By vote, 85% preferred us singing to making up a dance.
So I woke up at 5:30 in the morning with another Regina Spektor song going through my head, and I was incredibly relieved because it's the perfect song. I sat down at the piano after downloading the sheet music and was surprised to find out that my kids know a lot of the lyrics already.
So, here we are putting it all out there with Regina Spektor's "Folding Chair." Hope you enjoy. This was our best take, sadly, so don't make fun of us too much. Getting a 4-year-old to cooperate isn't always the easiest thing.
My kids are good sports. This was actually a lot of fun.
Just for kicks, I'm posting the video of Regina singing it, so that you can see someone make justice of the song.
Pointless fact: This is the first song I've blogged about that doesn't have any lyrics.
"Right on Time" is a great album by Hepcat. This is one of many albums that I've grown to appreciate thanks to my brothers, who used to be in a ska band.
As a side note, I've now had 1000 people come visit my blog. I know this means that my mom has been to visit 1000 times, so I have a great mom. I love you mom, even though I'm not cool enough to be in a band.
But I am going to try something in honor of me trying to be cool, and my mom coming to visit my blog 1000 times. I'm creating a poll, it should be up shortly. Let me explain:
I've been trying to blog every other day. The next blog coming up I'm gonna try something different. Whatever song is stuck in my head when I wake up in 2 days, I will post a video of me and my kids either singing the song, or making up a dance to the song. It will be up to my mom (or whoever!) and her votes to decide which we do based on the poll results. It will be AWESOME, Mom, you will love it so much you will watch it lots of times. And before you know it I will have 2000 visits to the blog.
PS- one of my adoring fans, gave me a birthday present in honor of my blogpost from March 6th. I've posted a picture of my son with the present. I guess I left more of an impression than I thought!
....Regina Spektor this morning! I've been a fan of hers for some time now. Most people who know her music know this song:
I got to see Regina Spektor in concert about 2 years ago. What I find most interesting about her is that in spite of her incredible music, she just seems so ordinary. She was wearing simple clothes, and wasn't showy in any way. She sounded great live though, and was so gracious about everything. She acted as if she was so surprised by the fact that the audience was clapping for her music.
I've never seen this kind of modesty with a live musician. Plus, it didn't seem overdone, or insincere in any way. So "yay, Regina" I say.
No explanation for this one, but here was today's song:
What's kind of fun about this, is that yes, I know the song, but only from having my iPod shuffle. I've never really listened to the song, but it's somehow stuck. Now I find that I do kind of like the song, without having known it.
So.... again I have the musical hairspray running in my head as I wake up this morning. This time, it was the opening scene of act 2. It's a real tour de force, so be sure to take a listen:
My kids love this show, so this music is playing a lot in our house as they watch the movie. But this song isn't in the movie, so who knows why my subconscious is playing it.
My subconscious is apparently obsessed with hair. My wife emailed me at 2 in the morning (she was at the computer in our bed next to me, I was fast asleep) and I was making up songs in my sleep. This is how the song went:
My Hair's really long
And I need to cut it
What a funny circumstance to be in
Sadly, I don't have the ability to write music like I wish I did, but it sounds like my deep subconscious does. I'm sure I'm a brilliant composer in the deepest part of my dreams.
I'm excited to post this song, because I really think it's great:
Nellie McKay was introduced to me by a friend a few years ago. She is a very talented, very outspoken and often funny jazz songwriter. Her debut album came out soon after Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me." She was majorly overshadowed by Jones, and as a joke named her debut album "Get Away From Me."
It may seem unfair that Norah Jones beat her to the punch, but I don't think the masses would be ready for someone like Nellie. Her music is very smart, very catchy, but can be a bit too opinionated and politcal for my taste. Still, you can't beat lyrics like this:
"Mr. Bushie says, I'm your president,
I have lots to say, hey hey hey.
and click goes the remote
there you have my vote
catchin' the next boat out of here"
I love the sound of this song, from the strange introduction, to the minor tones, to the clever lyrics. I've wondered who David is as I listen to the lyrics. According to some sites, a man named David Eisenbach was her music teacher at the Manhattan School of Music. Some claim during the strange intro to the song she is says "Chabnesie" (Eisenbach backwards) over and over again. It would seem this song is by a girl with a morbid schoolgirl crush.
After watching McKay interviewed a few times and seeing her put a song together on a television program, I can say that she is one of the most eccentric and neurotic musicians I have seen. I think if she had a schoolgirl crush on me, I would run in terror. But her talent is undenied, and her music is worth checking out. I wouldn't even put her in the same league or discussion as Norah Jones, at least Nellie McKay writes her own music.
Last night I had a great time at my brother-in-law's wedding. I usually have a hard time at weddings because I find the details of the wedding so expensive and trivial. It seems at weddings that the color of all the dresses or the extravagant cake becomes of more importance than the fact that two people are in love and want to be together.
I was a groomsman at the wedding. As such, I was given a vest, pants and asked to buy a pair of shoes. When I showed up, I had bought the wrong color of shoes. I was worried that somehow I would ruin the wedding for not having the right color *gasp* and that I would somehow disappoint my brother-in-law. I fretted about it all day, not wanting to let anybody down. I found myself trying to somehow hide my shoes during the pictures of the groomsmen, and shying away as people wanted to talk to me.
Finally, the moment came when I had to apologize to the groom for the shoes. When I told him I was sorry, he looked at me, almost laughing, and told me it wasn't a big deal. AND he was right.
Later that night, as I watched him dance with his beautiful new wife for the first time, I realized that I was the one trivializing the wedding, and because he was feeling the true spirit of what weddings are about it wasn't a big deal to him.
My kids sang this song at the wedding dinner. They did a great job, and this is a great love song. Its lyrics are simple and sincere. Incidentally, this has been running through my head all day. Watching my brother get married, I was reminded again of my own wedding. How lucky I am to have someone in my life who loves me for the way I am too.
4:30 A.M, I felt a rustling on my bed. Half-awake, the movement on my bed felt like a small animal. Terrified, I sat up, only to see my 4 year old daughter crawling across my bed to get under the covers. Immediately a song jumped into my mind:
I remember watching this video on MTV as a kid. I was lucky, I had cool parents that not only let us watch MTV, but encouraged us to watch it, AND watched it with us. The way my daughter was moving on the bed reminded me of the panther in this video. Whenever I see a panther, I immediately think about this music video and this song.
Hall and Oates, I think I need to get one of their albums. Many times in my life, I've heard a song, thinking: "Wow, I like this song," only to learn that it's by Hall and Oates.
I hope my little girl doesn't grow up to be a maneater. She's certainly stolen my heart thus far in her life. I showed her this music video today and she said to me "Dad, do panthers really chew you up?" No, but dads do to their adorable little girls.
The hard thing about writing this blog is that I feel like I have to be brutally honest about what's stuck in my head, be it embarrassing, strange, or just boring. So here was today's special:
Celebration- Kool and the Gang's anthem to victory! The question I ask myself is, what is my subconscious celebrating about? It could be any number of things:
-My now 3 month old baby boy had his first happy evening since we brought him home. He was smiling, giggling, playing, and most importantly NOT CRYING. And for once I didn't have to bounce around with him in my arms. This indeed is a victory.
- I work in Sales, and February was my best month yet.
-My Utah Jazz finally had a blowout victory last night after a frustrating 2 months.
All silent victories, all worthy of a "Celebration." You decide which one is the reason this song is playing in my head. In the meantime, I'll keep my iPod playing so that this song leaves my mind fast.
