domingo, 9 de mayo de 2010

"Commercial"

Sometimes it gets on my nerves how some people criticize some bands, singers or songs and say that they are commercial music. With commercial music they mean the typical “top 40” band or song. I am not really sure if that is the right name you use in English, but I guess it's understandable.

The real meaning of commercial, as an adjective, means that it sells. But lately, it has got a wrong connotation and now it is equals to bad quality and shallow. With this we could describe tunes as the summer song or some songs made to dance at clubs (Lady GaGa, Flo Rida...).
The problem are some people that think they are very clever and they feel superior to the rest. These people tag a musician as commercial as soon as his or her songs are played on the radio, and as soon as many people like it. Or even because it is a catchy song. That usually happens with pop singers, and other singers who mix pop with rock, punk or other genre.

The truth is, and they have to face it, that all the musicians want to sell. No matter how much they love music. They want their music to be listened, appreciated and to get some reward from it. In short, they want to live from music.

The answer to why pop (or its sub-genres and mixed genres) is tagged nowadays as commercial is that it has become very popular, as its name says (pop comes from popular). But it doesn't have to be like this in all the cases. It is true that some pop music sounds artificial, shallow and of course it can be named commercial, but there are a lot pop bands who aren't like this.

About the catchy songs, or catchy chorus, I would like to make a distinction. First of all, you have the true catchy songs with simple lyrics. And then, you have the catchy chorus of a normal song, probably with nice and worked lyrics. Why is this chorus catchy? Well, in my opinion, all chorus can be catchy. They are repeated along the song and they stick in our minds no matter what they are about. It is a normal thing that has to do with our brains.

On the other hand, I believe you can divide singers and bands in three groups.

  • First of all, the typical and unquestionable commercial singer. This is the one-song singer (like the summer songs), the artificially created bands or singers (Spice Girls, Back Street Boys or Boney M back in the 70s) and the bands or singers that write simple catchy songs (or they are written by others) to sell (as Aqua or Boney M). But hey, they make us dance and we have a good time, don't we?
  • Secondly, those artists who are called bad or commercial because many people like them and obviously they sell. This would be, as I said before, some pop artists like Mcfly, Son of Dork, Simple Plan (pop rock happy punk), even Hedley (pop rock punk) and Green Day (pop rock punk). And in Spain – El sueño de Morfeo, El canto del loco, etc. 
  • On the third and last place, we have the untouchable, the never-will-be commercial. These are mainly rappers and plain rockers (also classic rockers). It seems like these could never be called commercial and they will never be. And people who only like one of those feel superior and untouchable.  
But as my dad says, real music lovers don't focus only on one style.
    P.S: As you might have noticed, some of my favorite bands (Simple Plan, Mcfly and Hedley) were included on the second group. This is probably one of the reasons of why I wrote this post. I don't like my favorite artists to be called commercial and shallow when they are great musicians and songwriters. Fame came to them because of the latter!
    P.S 2: I believe that if The Beatles sang nowadays, with the same style, they would be called commercial by some people. Of course, in their time they couldn't be commercial because they were pioneers on pop and very original. But nowadays, all their happy nice catchy songs would be looked down by many. Don't worry, I think they were great, that was just something I thought.

sábado, 8 de mayo de 2010

Why don't you meet me down behind the old school?

"Don't believe everything happiness says
Nothing feels better than hiding these days
We bury our fears in the drinks, in these tears
For the days we believed we could fly"

That's how the Hedley's song Old School starts. Do you remember Hedley? I have already talked about this Canadian band. It is one of favorite. 
Old School is a song about growing up and about how freely we behave when we are young. And most important how we do miss this when we have grown up, how we miss our old friends and how sad this can make us. The verse I wrote above is about the former and I think is very poethic and beautiful. I cannot really tell about that kind of feeling, because I am just 19, but I can already feel nostalgic about my chilhood, even my adolescence. But not my youth! Well, what I wanted to say is that even if I am young I can relate to this song and appreciate its soul. I suppose it may be sad when you look back and think that everything was better then, as the first verse says.

Not only the lyrics are nostalgic, a bit sad (but happy for the memories) and emotional, but the music also contributes to this emotion with a nice guitar tune and makes the listener feel what the writer felt. As you can see, I really like this song.
The lyrics follow talking about calling your old friends, going together to the place you used to go and where you used to stay all night long and of course, remembering together the old times and wondering how the time passed so fast:

Call up your brothers and sisters and friends,
We'll go back to the place where the night never ends,
We'll remember the fires, the burning car tires,
Boy how in the hell did we get here?

Then it comes the chorus. The writer suggests going to their old school and, again, remember their youth and how they behaved: carelessly, with no responsibilities, but with regard for how they were with girls. And at the same they remember they will feel that if they forget all those memories his true soul, or his young soul, will fade away. My favorite part in the chorus is when he says "that beautiful insanity". It is true, when we are young, we act stupid and crazy but withouth going too far (usually) but it is beautiful because we are young.

So why don't you meet me, down behind our old school,
We'll waste away the weekend with perfect regard for how cavalier we used to be,
That beautiful insanity, the apathy's surrounding me,
Don't close your eyes or we'll fade, away.

Then he explains that everything has gone fast, he has grown up so fast, or at least it seems to him. He makes a connection between the line that says "we'll remember the fires, the burning car tires" and another line that says "now we're putting out fires and changing car tires". And he asks himself again how time passed so fast.

Over and over and over again,
We sat down for a minute grew up into men,
Now we're putting out fires and changing car tires.
Man how in the hell did we get here?

After the chorus is repeted, comes my favorite and final part of the song. In this part, he remembers things of his youth and things he did, and says that he is never going to have those things again because he has grown up. But those things and those feelings he felt were real, were intense. And I guess he is remembering with joy.

And we'll never get back what we gave away
When we still had that fire in our eyes.

Don't believe everything happiness says,
Nothings as real as our old reckless ways,
When we'd drink by the fires, the burning car tires,
Bad girls and good liars, the dreams we conspired,
The days we went crazy, the nights wild and hazy.
Man how in the hell did we get here?

I can't really explain what he means with the happiness thing here, besides from what I said in the begining about being sad.

I would like to say something else before finishing this. When I first listened to this song I was in Canada and I used to listen to it a lot. That's why now when I listen to it it reminds me of my year in Canada and of my friends from there. I can also relate to some things that the songwriter remembers: "we'll remember the fires", "waste away the weekend",  "with perfect regard for how cavalier we used to be" ( not me), "beautiful insanity", "when we'd drink by the fires", "bad girls and good liars" (not me :) ), and of course! "the dreams we conspired, the days we went crazy, the nights wild and hazy".


I have good memories of it, don't I? :) 


Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hedley/oldschool.html

Song in YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9AXKkJF1sM

If anyone wants, I recomend this video of the song in live: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF_VJ3VUU_0&feature=related

sábado, 1 de mayo de 2010

Barbie Girl




Hello Bloggers!
I'm back again, ready to write more about music and lyrics. Lately I've been listening to a lot of music in English so I've got some songs picked up to talk about here. But the song I'd like to talk about today it's neither new nor I've been listening to it recently. Do you remember a band called Aqua that sang Barbie Girl back in the nineties?
Yes, the bald boy and the red-haired girl (along with their band). The song was a hit in 1997, and got to number one in many countries - like Spain, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway, UK, etc. Barbie Girl has been classified as bubblegum pop. I believe this is important because bubblegum pop refers to songs that “typically have singalong choruses, seemingly childlike themes and a contrived innocence, occasionally combined with an undercurrent of sexual double entendre. They also have a catchy melody, simple chords, simple harmonies, danceable beats, and repetitive riffs or "hooks". The song lyrics often concern romantic love (...)”, says Wikipedia.
Even if the quality of the song has been questioned many times I can't deny that the song never gets old for me and I have to admit that I have it on my MP3. Probably, because it reminds me of my childhood. Yeah, because when the song appeared I was 6 and I was crazy about it.
But where I wanted to get is the fact that I was a child and I didn't understand English, however, now that I do I have realized that the lyrics has double entendre and that they are pretty dirty and sexist. Well, you could think they are dirty.

For example,

I'm a blonde bimbo girl in the fantasy world
Dress me up, take your time, I'm your dollie
You're my doll, rock and roll, feel the glamour in pink
Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky

You can touch, you can play
If you say I'm always yours, oooh whoa


First of all, a girl calling herself “blonde bimbo girl” is not right. Who would call herself that? But we know that sex sells and money is very important... In case you don't know, bimbo is an adjective used in popular 20th century-English to refer to an attractive but unintelligent woman. Furthermore, she calls herself a doll and the guy does too. So, for me, the conclusion is that the girl is treated as a sexual object.
“Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky”? Well, I think this line is very sexual and confirms what I said about the girl being treated as an object. With the excuse that they are talking about a doll you can play with, they talk about playing and touching. What did they want us to think? And there is a plus, the chorus also has hidden sexual messages:

You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Apparently, it looks fine. You can brush your doll's hair, you can undress her where ever you are playing with it and imagination is basis of playing. But, after all that is said before (playing, touching, “I'm your doll”, “you're my doll”, etc.), don't you think that these two lines could be saying something more?
Then we have the following verse:

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please
I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees
Come jump in, be my friend, let us do it again
Hit the town, fool around, let's go party

We can see that the idea of the girl as a sexual object is reflected again on the line “do whatever you please”.
After this line, we have the most controversial sentence, at least for me. I am talking about “I can beg on my knees”. The only thing that comes to my mind is: What??. I can admit that the other lines are just talking about playing with Barbie dolls, but this line is too much. It doesn't happen very often that a girl makes her doll beg when playing. It might happen, depending on the story the girl invented. But let's just say that kids don't go that far on their stories.
So, if you add “I can beg on my knees” to all the other double entendre lines, what do you end up thinking about this song?

To conclude, I would like to say that, besides the suspicious lines, what makes me think that this song has a double entendre about sex is that the lyrics are supposed to be a conversation between the dolls Barbie (female) and Ken (male). The sentences that Barbie says about playing, undressing and being a doll could be perfectly fine if she was talking to a human. But she is talking to Ken. So Ken is the one who can play with her. There it is the double sense.


Song in YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dGcYH6Fwj8

Lyrics: 
http://www.purelyrics.com/index.php?lyrics=fhjpacrk

miércoles, 6 de enero de 2010

Round round round round....


Sorry but I am going to get back to my criticism of not-so-good music. When these things come to me I can't deny to write about them. Yesterday, my Canadian friend Jason pointed out to me that one of the songs of Flo Rida (the singer of Low) is "covering" a very famous song from the eighties called You Spin me Round (Like a Record), played by the british new wave band Dead or Alive. However, he is not the only one who has covered the song: Dope (an American Nu Metal band), Thalia (a Mexican Latin-pop singer), Jessica Simpson (an American singer) and Indochine ( a French band) have done it too. Well, Right Round (that's how Flo Rida's cover is called) isn't really a cover, because the lyrics aren't them same. Flo Rida is just using the chorus of the original and his reasons seem to me a good discussion.
On the one hand, it could be that Flo Rida is an admirer of You Spin me Round and he wanted to make a version of the original with his own style.
On the other hand, -and I believe that this is the true reason- they used the catchy and already (this word is very important, already) famous chorus because if in its time the song was popular, probably the verse would have the same effect now because we, the youth of nowadays, haven't changed that much on being great music followers compared to the youth of the eighties. And at the same time some people may recognise the old song. What's more, if foreign artists covered the song, it means that the song became famous abroad. So it looks like good song to take advantage of, isn't it?
Well, what I just said is not new, because when an artists covers a song is due to the former reason, but also to the latter. They take advantage of the fact that the song is already known and if they do a good cover the hit is ensured. But in this case it seems to me that they wanted to make money more than covering an old hit. In case you don't know or you forgot, I repeat you that Flo Rida's music style is the one that I described as "music made to make money and made for the youth to dance in clubs", along with the sexist message that this song (of course!) doesn't lack. Because, once again, he is talking about a girl as if she was a prostitute. Well, maybe she is, but that doesn't allow him to speak like that to her. It's funny how the lyrics' theme is similar to the Low's one.
Flo Rida talks again about girls, clubs, being the man, dough, that girl "Shawty" and some verses have again "hidden" sex messages. The most funny and unoriginal is that some verses say almost the same in both Low and Right Round...

Right Round => 
"Shawty must know i'm the man"
"I got rubber bands"
"She got me throwin my money a[round]"
"That body belong on a poster"

Low =>  
"I'm the man, I'll bend the rubber bands"
"this crazy all night spendin my dough"
"Like a pornography poster"

It looks like he was running out of ideas... the only difference I see is that in Low, the girl was going low, and in Righ Round the girl is going... down!
"Shawty got low low low low low low low low"
"It’s goin down down"

Oh, I can forget to point out the super great poethic rymes that Flo Rida sings in Righ Round that prove the originality and musical quality of his stupendous songs ( i hope you got that i'm being sarcastic!). On the first place we have a verse with the following rhyme: 
[...] going
[...] clothes
[...] role
[...] whoa

Don't you think "whoa" is very fine figure of speech to complete your verse when you don't know how to rhyme?
Then we have another good rhyme:
[...] [down]
[...] a[round]

[...] to be [found]
[...] down down.
[...] go [down]
[...] money [around]
[...] to be [found]


And I think you had enough and got the idea. You can check the lyrics at the link below if you wish to continue.



You Spin me Round

YouTube: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theweddingsingervol2/youspinmearoundlikearecord.htm

Right Round:
Lyrics: http://www.lyricsreg.com/lyrics/flo+rida/RIGHT+ROUND/

martes, 5 de enero de 2010





Today I am not going to speak badly of any lyrics, today I would like to talk about a very emotional song called Too close for comfort, played and written by Mcfly. Mcfly is a pop rock band that I like because their style is different from other pop bands, at least that's what I think, but it has been called "new pop", and sometimes they have been compared to The Beatles. Mcfly found fame in 2004, and they are from London, United Kingdom. That makes a change because so far I have only talk about North American artists.
Too close for comfort is on their second album, Wonderland, realised on 2005. The lyrics talk about a relationship that is over, because the writter apparently made mistakes and hurt the other person. But he is saying he's sorry about it. But this other person is leaving the writter, no matter how sorry the writter is, and seems like there is nothing to do.

"I never meant the things I said
To make you cry can I say I'm sorry
It's hard to forget and yes I regret
All these mistakes


I don't know why you're leaving me
But I know you must have your reasons
There's tears in your eyes I watch as you cry
But it's getting late"




The next verse is the chorus, in which the writter asks his lover if he was inviding her (or his, we don't know, so let's suppose it is a heterosexual couple) privacy, or if there was something that he was about to discover. I don't really understand the meaning of this verse, but I think that he is sad that when he was driving her home he got too close to her and she felt in discomfort. (?) I am not sure if the writter meant to say that tough...

"Was I invading in on your secrets?
Was I too close for comfort?
You're pushing me out
When I wanted in
What was I just about to discover?
I got too close for comfort
driving you home
Guess I'll never know"


And then the song follows like this:


All this time you've been telling me lies
Hidden in bags that are under your eyes
And when I asked you I knew I was right


I don't know if this is said by the girl, or if the writter was hurt too...


So as you can see, sometimes lyrics aren't very clear to the person who listens to the song (and much more if the song is in English and English is not your mother tongue...). The only thing we can do is to interpret the message as we think it could be or what the writter could be thinking in the moment he wrote the song. Or we can simply interpret it with our own situation, background and problems, as I often do.

What is true is that relationships are very complicated, so are songs about love and relationships that are over. Each couple has a different story and if you write a song about yours maybe it won't be understood by someone else.



Well, leaving that far behind, this is a good song that I recommend to listen to if you like love songs( especially if you feel blue, or maybe not... you will cry) because this one is very emotional, as I said before, and the music is slow and nice but at the same time has some rock guitars.


Lyrics and song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATk30xzAsRw

lunes, 4 de enero de 2010

Riverside

After some days of partying with friends and celebrating the end of the year and the arrival of 2010, I have heard many songs. Most of them with the only purpose of making people dance, with light not very good lyrics. You already know how critic I am with bad lyrics and this one takes the cake...
The name of the song is Riverside, and the "singer" (and maybe DJ, I haven't found out) is Sidney Samson. As I said before, the purpose of this song is being played in clubs, making people dance and of course selling the song in a CD or in a greatest hits CD. The lyrics don't really matter as long as the music is catchy and rythmic, that is what really matters in dance, techno, house music and all those styles that are usually played in clubs. But, seriously, this one is very dumb... The lyrics go like this:


Riverside motherf*cker


And that's the only thing the lyrics say in the whole song, which is 3'27". This verse is reapeted in some parts along the song and sometimes they only say riverside or river. It is not only that the lyrics are repetitive but also that the verse is nonsense and it doesn't say anything. Because... what's the meaning of Riverside motherf*cker? Did the DJ actually mean to say anything at all? Or was he only completing the mix?
And why is he insulting someone gratuitously? It seems to me that lyrics with lots of swearing and no message at all are composed by someone who really didn't care about them and just wanted to complete his song and to make money. As in the song Low, which I have already talked about before.
I confess I have danced this song and I admit that it has got rythm, but I have to say that I wouldn't listen to it in my day-to-day and that it is not a great composition. Anyway, I'm not a big fan of music played in clubs.
So, given that you can't avoid this song when you go clubbing and you are in the mood to dance, at least don't listen to it at home! Remember that you are cleverer than the people who make money with nonsense lyrics in catchy songs.


They even made a video clip!!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V775PPuBc7Y

martes, 29 de diciembre de 2009

Cha Ching!

No, i'm not speaking Chinese! Cha-ching is the Hedley's new song name. Even though it sounds a bit weird, cha-ching is supposed to be the sound that a cash register would do when you open it to put the money into it.
I have already talked about Hedley, so I think you don't need more information about them.
Obviously, this song talks about money. Specially about the money that people make on TV for doing absolutly nothing, that is appearing on reality shows. This message is very clear along the song. I suppose that the reason why these lyrics were written is that Jacob Hoggard, the singer, got to know this world very well when he was in Canadian Idol, which is kind of a reality show. The chorus -where the message is even clearer- sarcasticly encourages people to win money on TV, to swing it, to bring it, to make the cash register do the cha ching! sound. It also says that the only way to go far on TV and to be a star is to get naked, which sadly seems to be true these days.


"So everybody dance and everybody sing,
If you wanna go far, if you wanna be a star
Yeah we can swing it
Cha-ching
When you take off all your clothes, When you strike a playboy pose
If you wanna go far, if you wanna be a star
Then you gotta bring it
Cha-ching"



The lyrics critizise and have many references to different shows and channels, some of them are:


The Real World (an MTV reality show from 1992)
"It started on the real world
A hot tub full of hot girls
Grindin' every frat boy and freak"

Probably they say that it started on The Real World because that show was broadcasted on 1992 and surely was one of the first realities.





Canadian Idol / American Idol
"Line up all the idols
Who paint on phony smiles
Tryin' to ride the fast track for free"



The Biggest Loser ( show with overweight contestants attempting to lose weight to fight for a cash prize) and the channel MTV
"Who's the biggest loser?
I'll bust the biggest boozer
Bigger ratings for MTV"



Survivor (reality show where contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes)
"All the sole survivors
Still stranded on the island
Lying through their teeth for money"



Tila Tequila ( who had a dating game show on MTV in 2002) and the American rapper Flavor flav.
"Pretending to be lesbians
The tila's playing all of them
While flavor flav get fucked up for free"



So, basically, as we can see in those quotes of the lyrics, Hedley is critizing how unreal and false is the TV world and how people appearing on shows don't mind to do anything and they just care about the money they are going to earn. And while we are watching those stupid and useless -in my opinion- shows the people who appear on them, as well as the one who had the idea and the producer are getting richer and richer (and don't think that they like their own shows, they just like the money they make with them). I believe that this idea is reflected on the following verse:


"And all the hotties on the hills
Just getting rich and making deals
While you and I are watchin' TV"

(The Hills was a program that followed the personal lives of several young people living in Los Angeles, California, USA)



At the end of the song, sarcasticly again, they tell us to hurry up and don't miss our minutes of glory on TV and our chance to win lots of money, like many people who seem to be crazy about that.


"So hurry turn it on, turn it on, get your 15 minutes
15's almost gone, turn it on, turn it on.

Cha-ching" 


I hope that the sarcastic message of these lyrics will make people think about the quality of TV shows nowadays and that people will think twice before watching a show of the sort I talked about.







lunes, 28 de diciembre de 2009

Father Christmas give us some money!

"When I was small I believed in santa claus
Though I knew it was my dad
And I would hang up my stocking at christmas
Open my presents and Id be glad
"



Merry Christmas time bloggers!


Some days ago, before Christmas, I was looking for some Christmas-time music and I found out two great Cds: A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas, and A Santa Cause 2: It's a Punk Rock Christmas. Well, actually I also found a very fine CD called Christmas Swing with all the classics (Let It Snow, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, etc.).
But I wanted to talk about the two former. They looked pretty interesting and new to me because I had never heard rock or punk Christmas carols. So I listened to them and they were good. They've got some classic carols covered to rock (like Santa Claus is Coming to Town played by Sugarcult, a punk band), and new rock "carols".


One of the songs I liked the most was Father Christmas, sung by Action action, an American indie rock band. This song was originally played and written by The Kinks, an English rock band. The song was relised on 1977. I think that the lyrics are very funny and at the same time it protests against the consumism in Christmas time and remind us that there are kids who got nothing. The end of the song goes like this:


"Have yourself a merry merry christmas
Have yourself a good time
But remember the kids who got nothin
While youre drinkin down your wine"



The song talks about a gang of poor boys who want to beat up a department store's Santa Claus if he doesn't give them money. They don't want toys, because they are unusefull to them and they tell Santa Claus to give all  the toys to the little rich boys. One of the boys also asks for a machine gun to scare other kids, and another one asks Father Christmas to give his dad a job. The chorus goes like this:


"Father christmas, give us some money
Dont mess around with those silly toys.
Well beat you up if you dont hand it over
We want your bread so dont make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys"



I think that is very sad that while we are spending lots of money in food, Christmas decoration, toys and gifts there are poor families who can't spend their money celebrating Christmas and can't give gifts to their kids. But it is also true that in this time of the year a lot of campains are run to collect money apelling to the kindness and solidarity of people, because at Christmas time everybody is happier, kinder and more supportive. I don't know why though, but it isn't bad. However, we should try to be like that not only because it is Christmas. Well, maybe I know why. I think it might be that the Christmas spiritis is about behaving that way because Baby Jesus is born and we have to be nice.


So this song might be good for the crisis time we are living and probably the best gift that Father Christmas or Los tres Reyes Magos can give us this year is money!


Oh! By the way, the song has been also covered a number of times by bands including the Gigolo Aunts, Green Day, Warrant and Bowling For Soup.




Lyrics: 
http://www.lyricstime.com/action-action-father-christmas-lyrics.html





viernes, 4 de diciembre de 2009

Low low low low...

Today I won't talk about lyrics I like. Today it will be about lyrics I dislike.
The song is called Low and it is sung by two guys called Flo Rida and T-Pain. I said sung, because I have no idea who the composers are... and I'd prefer not to know. This song was very popular in North America in the summer of 2008.
First of all, this is one of those ugly songs that you, as a Spaniard, listen on the radio and think "Oh, what cool song! It makes want to dance!". Because, all right!!, it is a catchy song. But as you become more interested on the song (maybe after dancing it at clubs 500 times all summer long) and you look up for the lyrics (or you listen to the lyrics) you will find out how sexist they are. Then you will think, as it happen to me, "oh my god, how can i even dance this?". I think it happens the same for English speakers, the lyrics go through their ears as if they were foreigners and wouldn't understand a word.
The true is that the lyrics of this song, among many others, don't really matter because this kind of music it is not done for music lovers. It is done to win lots of money by becoming the summer song and the song most danced at clubs. So its rythim is catchy and repetitive, and its lyrics silly and mostly sexist with a high sexual content. How can we fight for equility between men and women if those songs adressed to the youth  pass on the wrong message? And the worst thing is that they are played openly on the radios and on TV, where kids listen to it and learn their lyrics.


Low talks about a girl that the singer (a man) met one night in a club. I'm going to quote some lines (in italic) that I find particulary shocking and after I will make little comments (in brackets). Oh, but first I have to say that I coulnd't find a reliable page with the lyrics, because it contains lots of slang terms and each person writes them as he/she likes. So it might be that some words are not well spelled.


So sexual, she was flexible
Professional, drinkin X and ooo
Hold up wait a minute, do i see what I think I
Whoa
(I bet that he means a part of her body)

(...)
Imma say that I prefer them no clothes (Haha, he is not silly)
I'm into that, I love women exposed  (Excuse me?)
She threw it back at me, I gave her more
Cash ain't a problem, I know where it goes
(Cash? I don't know what to think of this verse...)

 (...)
Hey
Shawty what I gotta do to get you home
My jeans full of gwap
And they ready for Shones
Cadillacs Maybachs for the sexy grown
Patrone on the rocks that'll make you moan

 (...)
What you think I'm playin baby girl
I'm the man, I'll bend the rubber bands
(This is the wrong message that I was talking about)

(...)
That's what I told her, her legs on my shoulder (Why would do that for? I don't think he's giving her a horsey ride...)
(...)
Shorty was hot like a toaster
(What a nice comparison)
Sorry but I had to fold her,
Like a pornography poster
(This line pass on the wrong message to the teens too)
She showed her

 (...)
Shawty
Yea she was worth the money
Lil mama took my cash.(...)
(So definitely, she was a protitute. To me, looks like he talks about women as if we all were prostitutes)



And I could go on and on.


Lyrics: 


Song in YouTube:

sábado, 21 de noviembre de 2009

You know it's never too late!




Heyy Bloggers! :D
Today I want to talk about another band that I LOVE!! You may think that this it's not news because i always talk about bands that i like, and i say they are my favoriest. But in this case, I really like this band. I just find them great! Their name is Hedley.
Hedley is a rock band of four boys from Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. The origin of their band name is very curious: Hedley is actually the name of a town in British Columbia that was on sale. The guys liked the idea, but finally they just kept the name. Moreover, the lead singer, Jacob Hoggard (who by the way is really good looking), was placed 3rd during the second season of the reality TV series, Canadian Idol in 2004.
Hedley has been very succesful in Canada since 2005. However, they aren't very known neither in the USA nor in Europe.
I had the chance of going to a free concert the gave in Quebec City for the Canada Day and I can say thet are really good in live.
Well, the song I wanted to talk about today is called Never Too Late and as you already know is from Hedley. It is a very happy song which cheers you up, and its lyrics have the same purpose. The chorus says:


You know it's never too late
Get up and start all over again
You know it's never too late
There's got to be a better way
Don't settle for the cold and rain
It's not too late to start again
Find a way to smile and never let it get away!




I think that if you ever feel sad or depress you have to listen to this song because the combination of the music and the lyrics will make you happy. At least it makes me happy. And if you see the videoclip it will be even better, because it is very funny. It has nothing to do with the song, but it is just silly and it makes you smile for sure. In short, what the song is saying is that you have to be happy and not let the bad things of life make you lost your joy.


Here's to all the broken hearts tonight
Here's to all the "fall-a-parts" tonight
Here's to every girl and boy who lost their joy
They let it get away


Lyrics:  
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hedley/nevertoolate.html


The song in YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l_h8_mbZsc

domingo, 8 de noviembre de 2009

When It Rains

Have you ever heard of Paramore? Yeah, that great band whose singer has red hair! :) Well, Paramore is one of my favorite bands. They are from Franklin, Tennessee, USA, they formed in 2004, and they play Alternative Rock. Their lyrics talk mostly about love, and as i said, the singer (Hayley Williams) has red-orange-blond hair, very weird but for lots of people very cool. In my opinion, it looks great on her, but you have to be brave or famous to dye your hair like that! By the way, she has a beautiful and powerful voice.




The song I want to talk about today is called "When It Rains". It is a sad song, but i love it because it is beautiful.
I think it talks about a relationship that is ending (as many other songs, i know), and one of the two has done something bad to the other person (probably he/she cheated on her/him). But i doesn't have to be a love relationship, maybe it's another kind of relationship. And the person who writes the song is asking for an explanation but looks like the other one just gave up. But at the same time it seems to me that this other person (the one who is not singing) is also depressed, because the lyrics say: You made yourself a bed at the bottom of the blackest hole. Convinced yourself that it's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore. But i'm not sure.


Personally, my favoriest part is the chorus. It says: Oh oh how could you do it? /  Oh I - I never saw it coming / Oh oh I need an ending / So why can’t you stay long enough to explain?
For me it is what i said before, the realtionship is ending because one of them did something bad, and the other one is like "ok, go away please, but before that give me an explanation". This is probably why I like it, it is something that happens nowadays, someone for some reason you will never know decides to hurt you. But don't misunderstand me, I didn't mean to say that I like doing that, just that I like the song.
I wish I could ask Hayley Williams, Josh Farro and Zac Farro (the composers) what they wanted to say when they wrote "When It Rains", but I think I got the message. Don't you think?




miércoles, 4 de noviembre de 2009

Bowling for Soup - 1985

"Looks at her average life
And nothing has been alright since
Bruce Springsteen, Madonna
Way before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And music still on MTV
Her two kids in high school
They tell her that she’s uncool
Cause she's still preoccupied
With 19, 19, 1985" 
(Bowling for Soup, 1985)


Today i'd like to talk about this great song called 1985, from Bowling for Soup. 
Bowling for Soup is a pop-punk (some call it alternative rock) from Wichita Falls, Texas, USA. They started in 1994. They especially compose funny lyrics as High School Never Ends, Almost and Girl All the Bad Guys Want, and this just talking about the most popular ones.


1985 talks about a woman, called Debbie, who is now married and has kids in high school, but she misses her youth so much that she is always thinking about 1985. I found it pretty funny because the lyrics say all the things she wanted to be but that she never did. For example, she wanted to be an actress, a star. And she misses wearing snake-skin mini-skirts. 
A line that I found interesting is when they say ''When did reality become T.V.?". And it makes me wonder how I will feel when I will be a mom like Debbie. Maybe like her: wondering what happened to all the singers that were famous in my youth. And my kids will tell me that i'm uncool, like the versus say!


But, I have to say also that some singers that this song talks about are still ''in''. Like Madonna or U2. Even Bruce Springsteen, who I like because my parents like and they always play his CD's.
That's what i'll do! I will make my kids listen to my favorite music, even if it's not ''in style'' anymore. Hahaha. Sounds evil, but it's not a bad idea. Every mom or dad does that.


Oh, and i can't forget to quote the line "And music still on MTV". It is so true! MTV doesn't play music anymore, they just do gossip programmes...


And this is all for today. 1985, great and funny song from Bowling for Soup. Listen to it bloggers!




The video clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnYm0EmyDVU




See ya!

lunes, 2 de noviembre de 2009

Let's get started!



As Black Eyed Peas said: Let's get started! :)

Well, as you can see, the titled of this blog is "Don't forget the lyrics!" as the famous TV programme played in many countries. But this blog is not about this TV programme, it's just about lyrics.

Lyrics that i found interesting (or not), what i think their authors meant to say, etc., along with information about singers or bands and my opinion about them.
So, to sum up, this is a blog about music!