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About This Author
I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.
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Blogocentric Formulations
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:
Thanks for stopping by! 
February 28, 2014 at 4:30pm February 28, 2014 at 4:30pm
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DAY 28
Song: "Wavin' Flag"
Artist: K'Naan
Album: Troubadour (2009)
So anyone who follows soccer is probably familiar with this song. Even though it was originally written for Somalia citizens as an anthem about their aspirations for freedom, it was picked up and popularized as a theme song for many different occasions including, most notably, the last FIFA World Cup (2010) and for the relief efforts in Haiti following their massive earthquake.
The lyrics are a powerful call to action, reposted her from Azlyrics.com:
[Chorus:]
When I get older
I will be stronger
They'll call me 'Freedom'
Just like a wavin' flag
And then it goes back, and then it goes back
And then it goes back, and then it goes...
Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
But violent-prone, poor people zone,
But it's my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam
Out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Accept no defeat, surrender retreat
[Bridge:]
So we strugglin'
Fightin' to eat
And we wonderin'
When we'll be free
So we patiently wait
For that fateful day
It's not far away,
But for now we say:
[Chorus]
So many wars, settlin' scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way
Love is the answer, that's what they say
But look how they treat us, make us believers
We fight their battles, then they deceive us
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us
'Cause we just move forward like Buffalo soldiers
[Bridge]
[Chorus]
This has been such a fantastic blogging activity this month (special thanks to lizco252 for putting it together!), I wanted to end it on a high note, with a song (well, two songs if you count the one from yesterday too: "I could really use a wish right now, wish right now"  ) that embody the human spirit for aspiring to something greater. As writers, whether we're bloggers, novelists, essayists, journalists, lyricists, screenwriters, or whatever... we have the power to create something with our words. We have the power to shape a reader's perspective and, in addition to entertain, to communicate with them about issues we think are important. Don't let that opportunity go to waste. As we've seen and heard in the songs that have been posted all month, there's a real opportunity to create something that has real significance and lasting effect. |
February 28, 2014 at 4:14pm February 28, 2014 at 4:14pm
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DAY 27
Song: "Airplanes"
Artist: B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams
Album: B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray (2010)
I'll admit that I'm partial to this song because I really, really like the band Paramore and the song features their lead singer Hayley Williams. The other reason this song is so resonant for me is because I found it at a time in my life where I was unemployed, having a hard time finding a job, and wondering if my decision to work in a difficult industry like the entertainment business was worth it. I really identified with the idea of wanting a wish so I could go back to a simpler time when it wasn't always about the glitz and glamour and money.
More importantly, though, is that even B.o.B. is singing about the music - and specifically rap - industry, the lyrics are remarkably relevant to any creative endeavor, including writing. Here are the lyrics courtesy of Azlyrics.com:
[Chorus: Hayley Williams]
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now
Wish right now
Wish right now
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars?
I could really use a wish right now
Wish right now
Wish right now
[Verse 1: B.o.B]
Yeah, I could use a dream or a genie or a wish
To go back to a place much simpler than this
'Cause after all the partyin' and smashin' and crashin'
And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion
And all the pandemonium and all the madness
There comes a time where you fade to the blackness
And when you starin' at that phone in your lap
And you're hopin' but them people never call you back
But that's just how the story unfolds
You get another hand soon after you fold
And when your plans unravel in the sand
What would you wish for if you had one chance?
So airplane, airplane, sorry I'm late
I'm on my way so don't close that gate
If I don't make that then I'll switch my flight
And I'll be right back at it by the end of the night
[Chorus: Hayley Williams (B.o.B)]
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky are like shooting stars? (Shooting stars)
I could really use a wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars? (Shooting Stars)
I could really use a wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
[Verse 2: B.o.B]
Yeah, yeah, somebody take me back to the days
Before this was a job, before I got paid
Before it ever mattered what I had in my bank
Yeah, back when I was tryin' to get a tip at Subway
And back when I was rappin' for the hell of it
But nowadays we rappin' to stay relevant
I'm guessin' that if we can make some wishes outta' airplanes
Then maybe yo maybe I'll go back to the days
Before the politics that we call the rap game
And back when ain't nobody listen to my mixtape
And back before I tried to cover up my slang
But this is for the hater, what's up Bobby Ray?
So can I get a wish
To end the politics
And get back to the music
That started this shit?
So here I stand and then again I say
I'm hopin' we can make some wishes outta' airplanes
[Chorus: Hayley Williams (B.o.B)]
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky are like shooting stars? (Shooting stars)
I could really use a wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars? (Shooting stars)
I could really use a wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
Wish right now (Wish right now)
[Outro: B.o.B {Hayley Williams}]
I could really use a wish right now {oh, oh-oh oh}
I-I-I could really use a wish right now
Like, like, like shootin' stars {oh, oh... oh}
I-I-I-I could really use a wish right now
A wish, a wish right now
{A wish right now}
I can't speak for everyone, but there are definitely times in my life where I'm bouncing from project to project, hustling for a paycheck, taking endless meetings, grinding away on one project after another hoping something finally comes together and breaks out... and times where I need to be reminded that writing wasn't always about getting paid for it, or writing something for the largest possible audience. Sometimes I need to write because I love it and write because I have something to say. Sometimes I have to write without a head full of all the logistics and strategies and plans for what to do with it.
Sometimes, I think we have to write just for the sake of the writing itself, and forget all the other background noise.
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February 28, 2014 at 3:45pm February 28, 2014 at 3:45pm
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DAY 26
Song: "Here I Go Again"
Artist: Whitesnake
Album: Saints & Sinners (1982)
When I was growing up, my best friend lived in a housing community just down the street. We went to elementary school, junior high, and high school together before his parents eventually decided to move. His dad was a very, very successful technology engineer/executive and decided at one point to cash out and "retire" to a consulting position that didn't require so much time in the office. Since he was no longer required to live in the town where he grew up, he and his wife bought a huge house on a lake several hours away. (My friend stayed in town to finish out high school since this was during his senior year.) Anyway, long story short, they bought a large house in a very exclusive lakefront community where several celebrities and VIPs lived... including the lead singer of Whitesnake.
My friend invited a few of us up to the house for a weekend one time and his stepmother, in honor of their new neighbor, blasted this song as we arrived at their housing development. My friend, who only really listens to classical music, was mortified and said, "She does this every single time." Everyone else thought it was hilarious, and now that it's a few years later, I can't help but wonder if she was the exact person Bowling for Soup wrote their song "1985" for. Here's that video and pay special attention to the lyrics from about 0:30-0:45:
 I love that video because it's also great to watch it and try to figure out all the videos they're spoofing.
Anyway, an interesting fact about Whitenake's song is that the chorus to the original version was:
An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,
Like a hobo I was born to walk alone
An' I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time
The lyrics were later changed, though, to the now-familiar:
An' here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
An' I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time
Lead singer David Coverdale attributed the change to the fact that he didn't want people to misinterpret the lyrics and think he was saying "homo" instead of "hobo."
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February 28, 2014 at 3:22pm February 28, 2014 at 3:22pm
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DAY 25
Song: "Miss Invisible"
Artist: Marie Digby
Album: Unfold (2008)
Even though she was originally known for posting an acoustic version of Rihanna's "Umbrella" on YouTube (video below), my favorite song from singer/songwriter Marie Digby is "Miss Invisible" from her debut album.
Fun fact about this song: it actually helped get her career started, as she wrote it for a vocal competition (that she went on to win) which had a grand prize that included the services of a music producer and money to help pay for recording time and performances. Since her debut album she's released several others and has never really made much of a splash on any charts or anything, but I've always found something soothing (and a little sad) about her voice, especially on this song.
I actually discovered this song during one of my past jobs where my company shared office space with a music attorney. I saw a poster of her album cover on the wall and told him I really liked her cover of "Umbrella," which was the only song I had heard at the time. He told me to check out her album, and I wasn't disappointed, especially by this song!
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February 24, 2014 at 12:10am February 24, 2014 at 12:10am
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DAY 24
Song: "Another Day"
Artist: Jonathan Larson (writer), Roger, Mimi, & Company (singing parts)
Album: Rent (1996, opening of first broadway run)
Rent was the first musical that I'd ever seen performed live. I'd taken theater classes in high school and college, but the content of the stuff I saw in those classes was always dramatic or comedic in nature; it wasn't until I was my later college years and my wife (then girlfriend) and I were both living in Los Angeles that she first took me to see a musical. We couldn't afford anything fancy at the time, what with being poor college students and all, but we got dressed up and had dinner at an affordable restaurant before climbing up to the nosebleed seats at the very top of the theater.
Thankfully, this musical isn't exactly heavy on the visuals (Now Wicked, on the other hand, that's a visually-impressive musical!), so it didn't really matter where we sat. We could sit up at the top and squint down at the stage to figure out which character was which, but the part that really impressed me the most was the singing. It wasn't just pointless songs; these were resonant lyrics and topical themes that an audience could understand. I'm just a little too young to have been aware of the HIV/AIDS panic in the 1980s and early 1990s, but there's enough disease and poverty in this world that I think the subject matter is topical even today.
The whole musical is full of wonderful songs and lyrics, but the song that really resonated with me the most (other than the familiar "Seasons of Love") is this one where Roger expresses his conflicted feelings for Mimi. If you haven't seen the musical, I highly recommend it... and even if musicals aren't your think, the original broadway cast recording (or heck, even the soundtrack to the movie) is well worth listening to for this song and quite a few others.
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February 23, 2014 at 1:36pm February 23, 2014 at 1:36pm
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DAY 23
Song: "Hands of Time"
Artist: Groove Armada
Album: Lovebox (2002)
I love the fact that a song made by an electronica music duo has such a soulful, rich sound to it. I find myself most often listening to this song on lonely drives through the city (most often when I'm working late), but that's probably due to the fact that I first heard it featured during a similar scene in the movie Collateral. 
This song, for me, is a really beautiful commentary on regret, not realizing what you have until you've lost it, and taking responsibility for the mistakes you've made in your life. The lyrics are relatively simple (as are the instrumentals), but it has such a lasting impact. To date, Groove Armada has released seven studio albums, plus a greatest hits album, and been featured in a number of other creative works. This track alone has been featured in Collateral, Domino, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, A Lot Like Love, and Tell No One, while other Groove Armada tracks have been featured in Tomb Raider, Get Carter (2000), Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), About Time, and Miss Congeniality, as well as the video games Rayman 3 and Dance Dance Revolution.
While this song will always be my favorite, I love the fact that Groove Armada incorporates lots of different influences into their sound and produces sometimes drastically different songs depending on their inspirations.
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February 23, 2014 at 1:21pm February 23, 2014 at 1:21pm
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DAY 22
Song: "Disturbia"
Artist: Rihanna
Album: Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (2008)
This song single-handedly fueled my horror writing for the better part of a year. I remember this was still at the point where Rihanna was considered another traditional pop star, and a song (and video) this dark really took people by surprise. Oh, if only they knew what was in store for them two years later when Rihanna would release "S&M" ...
I love the haunting quality of this song; the industrial beat and her melodic lyrics... it's just such a delightfully creepy song, it was a major inspiration for me whenever I wanted to write something darker and needed to tap into that part of my psyche that I usually keep locked away in the presence of company. 
The song was actually developed with then-boyfriend Chris Brown (and we all know how that worked out  ), and debuted as part of a re-release of one of her earlier albums. I like a lot of Rihanna's songs, but I think this one will always be my favorite because it was such a significant part of my writing in the years where I was trying to branch out and learn how to write some much darker, more sinister stuff than I had in the past.
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February 23, 2014 at 1:00pm February 23, 2014 at 1:00pm
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DAY 21
Song: "Where I Belong"
Artist: Building 429
Album: Listen to the Sound (2011)
Ever since my wife and I started going to church regularly again (more than two years ago), I've been steadily listening to more Christian music, particularly Christian rock and pop. I'd never really listened to the genre before because, well, I don't identify myself as strictly Christian, and I kinda steered clear of religious stuff for a while. But the church we attend has a really great worship program and they're always introducing new songs, which in turn makes me want to go home download them, listen to them, find new songs that are similar, etc. (I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have a serious music compulsion... sometimes I can spend half a day just wandering from suggestion to suggestion on Pandora, Spotify, iTunes, etc. looking for new music.)
Anyway, I definitely tend to gravitate more toward the songs that have to them. I'm not really super-psyched about the slower and softer songs; I like stuff that you can really tap your feet to, or shout out and sing along with (when I'm in my car alone, of course ). One of the things that I've noticed about Christian music, though, is that sometimes I'll like a song even if I don't really connect with the lyrics, and this is one of those songs that I think is really powerful, but that I have a hard time identifying with.
I totally get the idea that - in the Christian faith - the concept of "home" isn't here on this earthly world, but rather in Heaven with God once we're, as Shakespeare wrote, "shuffled off this mortal coil." But for me, there's something inherently sad and tragic about feeling like there's nowhere on Earth where someone has the feeling of being safe, secure, and a place where they can let their guard down. I'm one of those people who tries to live in the moment and believes in making the best out of the circumstances you're dealt, so the idea of someone never feeling comfortable in their life is a strange one for me. Sure, maybe my eternal home is somewhere else, but while I'm here on this planet in this life, there should be a place I can go that at least approximates the feeling of home.
I'm probably missing the point of the song; lead singer Jason Roy has said that the song is about how nothing on Earth can ever fully satisfy us because it's not where we're ultimately destined to end up... but for some reason this song still has a bittersweet, tragic sound to it that always feels a little off, especially when I'm listening to it with other people who find it incredibly uplifting and energizing. I suppose this is all part of my continuing faith journey, but wow, this song gets me every time, and not in the "How awesome is this!" kind of way.
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February 23, 2014 at 12:42pm February 23, 2014 at 12:42pm
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DAY 20
Song: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"
Artist: The Temptations
Album: n/a, released as a single (1966)
I've always loved oldies, and this is one of my favorite oldies songs. I first heard "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" on The Big Chill soundtrack (great album, by the way!), and it's become a staple of my growing oldies collection ever since. There are two distinct memories that come with this song for me:
The first is when my grandparents finally moved into a retirement community. They had lived in Montana for years, and then spent the better part of a decade living in a house near my parents as they got older, needed warmer weather, etc. Eventually, though, the house got to be too much upkeep so they sold it and moved into an apartment in a retirement community. When they did, my parents too a lot of the stuff they had accumulated over the years and stored it for them at our house. Two of the coolest things we inherited from that process were a box of about 5,000 slides (many of which you can find in the video I did for my grandfather's funeral service: "A moment of love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry" ), and the other was a huge box of 45s (hey lizco252, has anyone mentioned those yet? ) that my grandfather had collected over his many years. "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" was one of the first once I noticed on the top of the stack, and I listened to that thing until I'm pretty sure I started wearing out the vinyl. Even though I had it on cassette tape with The Big Chill soundtrack, there was something different and cool about dropping a needle on a piece of vinyl and listening to a song that way.
The second memory I have of this song is when I first moved to Los Angeles and I used to go see movies at the Chinese Theater. It was a long drive from my apartment in Long Beach, but for a film major and a movie buff, it was amazing to see a movie in the historic Chinese Theater, which is unlike any theater I've ever been to. As an added bonus, there was a Johnny Rockets restaurant in the shopping center adjoining the nearby Kodak Theater and they had a waiter who had choreographed an entire dance to this song. It was only this song, but whenever it played, he would literally burst out from his station in the kitchen, stand in the middle of the restaurant floor, and bust out this dance while customers gathered around and whooped and hollered. When the song was over, he'd rush back into the kitchen to finish grilling the burgers. My friends and I had endless fun requesting that song two or three times over the course of a meal... and the guy came out and did the dance every single time.
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February 19, 2014 at 4:11pm February 19, 2014 at 4:11pm
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DAY 19
Song: "Fever (Adam Freeland Remix)"
Artist: Sarah Vaughan & Adam Freeland
Album: Verve Remixed 3 (2005)
As you may have discovered from past entries like "Now can I get an encore, do you want more" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" , I'm a huge fan of rearrangements. I love it when an artist can come up with a new way to present a classic or popular piece of music, especially when it's done really well. I haven't listened to all of this album (or other albums in the Verve Remixed series), but Adam Freeland's remix of Sarah Vaughan's classic "Fever" is probably one of the best remixes I've heard. I love the fact that Freeland used enough restraint to accentuate Vaughan's vocals, rather than trying to overpower them with modern beats. There's a great balance of vocals and electronic music which really makes this remix stand out.
I didn't know much about Adam Freeland (or the electronic music scene) prior to hearing this song, but since then I've grown to have a real appreciation for DJs - the good ones at least - and their ability to combine the old and the new into something fresh and exciting. I actually heard this song for the first time on an episode of Castle, and I liked it so much I had to track it down and figure out who turned one of my wife's favorite songs into a club mix.
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