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September 10, 2011

So I Went to My Cousin’s Concert on Wednesday

Posted by mayiwrite under links, lists, music | Tags: , , , , |
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And I tried to take notes of the setlist. I have most of the songs down, considering I was writing in the dark and had to decipher my writing. Two full days after the concert.

Lea is a great personality. She’s been in the biz for a long time, and she’s at ease with the audience. The band was great.

No one in our honorable audience seemed to post any contraband video on YouTube. So, here’s concert coverage from everywhere else in my attempt to recreate the experience for you.

It was a lot of fun. My cousin speaks great English. Awesome.

Feeling Good

This has got to be one of my favorite cabaret songs.

-
Hahanpin Ko

I played part of this for my mom, and she at least translated the title for me.

http://youtu.be/bcrcEk-8tgk
-
I Dreamed A Dream

This always makes me want to cry.

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Pokerface

She said she wanted to sing something fun after turning 40 this year. We had fun with her.

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Reflection

She told the story to us about how Disney cut the song in half for the movie, so she had to sing it again. And she always sings the full version when she can. Which is perfectly fine with me.

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(A song I don’t remember)

I Give My Life for You

Yeah, of course girl gets a Tony for this role.

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The Last Time

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Blackbird

Very pretty version.

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(Another song I don’t remember)

On My Own

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For Good

Wicked will always carry wonderful memories for me.

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A Whole New World

The volunteer from the audience who sang with Lea during this song had a good voice, but he was nervous and missed a few cues. It was still pretty fun, though. The guy in the video does a much better job.

-
Everybody Says Don’t

So, she didn’t say at BYU what she says in this video. She just went right into this song without an introduction. Maybe she felt it was safer not to say anything.

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Journey

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Encore
On My Own – She resang this one with a camera man circling her for footage for a series BYU TV is producing for the spring. It’s called something like “The Song that Changed My Life.” We clapped extra hard, partly because she told us to, but mostly because it’s an incredible song, and she doesn’t ever sound like she gets tired of singing it, even after thousands and thousands of times.

Forget You

I sort of cringed throughout this last song, because I wondered how many people in the audience were aware of the original version, which is the first version I had heard. I felt uncomfortable for the older part of the audience who expected more of the Broadway hits. Anyway, this is a very interesting sign-off song. Just saying.

 

September 5, 2011

This Song and the Heart on My Sleeve

Posted by mayiwrite under lists, music, relationships, reviews | Tags: , , , , , , |
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This song is from Patty Griffin’s first album, Living with Ghosts. It has been on my mind a lot, especially as I contemplate my life. If I were an island, the song would not make any sense. The principle would be ridiculous.

Maybe just a mini-review of this song.

It’s Patty and her guitar and her feelings. Rawness and purity and vulnerability. Universality and dissipation in bygones. It hurts, it heals: I like it.

May’s rating scale:

MAY!

May.

meh…

meh?

MESS.

-

We are swimming with the snakes at the bottom of the well
So silent and peaceful in the darkness where we fell
But we are not snakes and what’s more we never will be
And if we stay swimming here forever we will never be free

I heard them ringing the bells in heaven and hell
They got a secret they’re getting ready to tell
It’s falling from the skies, it’s calling from the graves
Open your eyes, boy, I think we are saved
Open your eyes, boy, I think we are saved

Let’s take a walk on the bridge, right over this mess
Don’t need to tell me a thing, baby, we’ve already confessed
And I raised my voice to the air and we were blessed
It’s hard to give, it’s hard to get
But everybody needs a little forgiveness

We are calling for help tonight on a thin phone line
As usual we’re having ourselves one hell of a time
And the planes keep flying right over our heads no matter how loud we shout
“Hey, hey, hey!”
And we keep waving and waving our arms in the air but we’re all tired out

I heard somebody say today’s the day
A big old hurricane, she’s blowing our way
Knocking over the buildings, killing all the lights
Open your eyes, boy, we made it through the night
Open your eyes, boy, we made it through the night

Let’s take a walk on the bridge, right over this mess
Don’t need to tell me a thing, baby, we’ve already confessed
And I raised my voice to the air and we were blessed
It’s hard to give, it’s hard to get
It’s hard to live, baby, but still I think it’s the best bet, hey, yeah
Hard to give, and I’m never going to forget
But everybody needs a little forgiveness
Everybody needs a little forgiveness

 

August 24, 2011

The Past Blog Post and the Song Might Be Distantly Related

Posted by mayiwrite under music, new york city, nostalgia | Tags: , , , , |
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Aimee Mann. Summer concert at Rockefeller Park; June 30, 2004. Free. I may have just seen Magnolia within the past month. This is one of the songs from the soundtrack.

It’s not what you thought
When you first began it
You got what you want
Now you can hardly stand it, though
By now you know
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
Till you wise up

You’re sure there’s a cure
And you have finally found it
You think one drink
Will shrink you till you’re underground
And living down
But it’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
Till you wise up

Prepare a list for what you need
Before you sign away the deed
‘Cause it’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
Till you wise up

No, it’s not going to stop
Till you wise up
No, it’s not going to stop
So just give upIt’s not what you thought
When you first began it
You got what you want
Now you can hardly stand it, though
By now you know
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
Till you wise up

You’re sure there’s a cure
And you have finally found it
You think one drink
Will shrink you till you’re underground
And living down
But it’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
Till you wise up

Prepare a list for what you need
Before you sign away the deed
‘Cause it’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
It’s not going to stop
Till you wise up

No, it’s not going to stop
Till you wise up
No, it’s not going to stop
So just give up

–

Almost a year later. An experience that didn’t involve very much wisdom at all.

 

 

August 23, 2011

Part of the Playlist – “Such Great Heights”

Posted by mayiwrite under links, miscellany, music, nostalgia | Tags: , , |
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The original and a cover.

–

–

Here’s a nostalgic post from 2009.

 

August 18, 2011

Currently

Posted by mayiwrite under friends, lists, music, my life, nostalgia | Tags: , , |
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So, my friend Kylie updated her blog today with her five favorite albums, and she invited her readers to list their five favorites.

Then my brain shut down.

This is the flow chart of my brain for this process:

Are you going to make this list?
NO—-> DONE—-> COMPLAIN ABOUT ROOMMATES SOME MORE
YES—-> START CATEGORIZING AND ORDERING FAVORITE ALBUMS—-> BRAIN SHORT-CIRCUITS —-> COMPLAIN ABOUT ROOMMATES SOME MORE

Part of it has to do with my thinking I’ll get my list wrong. My purely subjective, preferential list that I’m sure people will judge me by. Hee, I need to rethink this. So much good music is in the world, and maybe I can choose my top five for now, because something different always rotates through various phases of my life.

Still, my little paranoid heart thinks I’m getting graded for this.

I mean, there are nostalgia favorites:
August and Everything After, Counting Crows
Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos
Pablo Honey and/or The Bends, Radiohead
Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, Sarah McLachlan
Wide Open Spaces, Dixie Chicks
Automatic for the People, R.E.M.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Smashing Pumpkins
Our Time in Eden, 10,000 Maniacs

There are my standards:
Retrospective, Indigo Girls
OK Computer and/or Kid A, Radiohead
Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos
1,000 Kisses and/or Living with Ghosts, Patty Griffin

There are soundtrack favorites:
The Mission
Magnolia (featuring Aimee Mann)
Lord of the Rings
The Red Violin
The Village
O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Then there are newish favorites:
Re-arrange Us, Mates of State
Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
For Emma, Forever Ago and/or Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Armchair Apocrypha, Andrew Bird
Weathervanes, Freelance Whales
Mortal City, Dar Williams

And, there are are classical favorites:
I don’t even know where to begin.
Composers?
Eras/Movements?
Countries?
Performers/Orchestras?
Conductors?
I CAN’T I CAN’T DO THIS OH DEAR THERE GOES MY BRAIN MELTING INTO A FATTY GELATINOUS PUDDLE AAAAAAAH A;LJ5ADJFKTIAFKAJLFK58A;LJF%#!*(&)AJFLFJK(&*taQL4JKAF098FDKJF00001000100010001001000100000000 ZERO ONE.

Hmm. For now, let’s try:
Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos
1,000 Kisses, Patty Griffin
Retrospective, Indigo Girls
OK Computer, Radiohead
The Mission soundtrack

Do you have five favorite albums?

 

August 5, 2011

Part of the Playlist – “This Woman’s Work”

Posted by mayiwrite under music, nostalgia, relationships, writing | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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Two songs: the original and a cover. I really need to listen to more Kate Bush.

Both versions move me. It’s just a beautiful song.  And it’s wonderful how different the song seems when a man sings it. Especially Greg Laswell.

I’m working on a paper due Monday. Too bad this song stimulates way more creativity than research. There are other things I’d rather be writing than a paper on King Lear. Well, not entirely true. I’d actually enjoy writing a paper on King Lear (because the play is incredible), but not under these particular circumstances. C’est la vie. Que sera sera.

It will get done.

Back to work.

Enjoy.

—-

 

Pray God you can cope.
I stand outside this woman’s work,
This woman’s world.
Ooh, it’s hard on the man,
Now his part is over.
Now starts the craft of the father.

I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.
I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.

I should be crying, but I just can’t let it show.
I should be hoping, but I can’t stop thinking

Of all the things I should’ve said,
That I never said.
All the things we should’ve done,
That we never did.
All the things I should’ve given,
But I didn’t.

Oh, darling, make it go,
Make it go away.

Give me these moments back.
Give them back to me.
Give me that little kiss.
Give me your hand.

(I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.
I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.)

I should be crying, but I just can’t let it show.
I should be hoping, but I can’t stop thinking

Of all the things we should’ve said,
That were never said.
All the things we should’ve done,
That we never did.
All the things that you needed from me.
All the things that you wanted for me.
All the things that I should’ve given,
But I didn’t.

Oh, darling, make it go away.
Just make it go away now.

 

August 2, 2011

Thanks a lot, LANGUAGE

Posted by mayiwrite under links, music, observations | Tags: , , , , |
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So, I was reading Macbeth and came across this line from Lady Macbeth:

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature.
It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way.
(1.5.13-16)

And, since I’ve been listening to a lot of the Indigo Girls lately, the following song came to mind.

Also, the play freaks me out. A LOT. The song does not. That one phrase–”milk of human kindness”–is probably the only intersecting point between them.

I guess that I’m just looking for any excuse to post another Indigo Girls song. And talk about Shakespeare.

Do I really need an excuse?

Anyway, here’s the song.

Songwriting. Countermelodies. Harmonies. I love it all.

Love Will Come To You

The website has the lyrics in the format below.

guess i wasn’t the best one to ask me myself with my face pressed up against love’s glass to see the shiny toy i’ve been hoping for the one i never can afford the wide world spins and spits turmoil and the nations toil for peace but the paws of fear upon your chest only love can soothe that beast and my words are paper tigers no match for the predator of pain inside her i say love will come to you hoping just because i spoke the words that they’re true as if I’ve offered up a crystal ball to look through where there’s now one there will be two i was born under the sign of cancer like brushing cloth i smooth the wrinkles for an answer i close my eyes and wish you fine (i’m always closing my eyes wishing i’m fine) even though i know you’re not this time (even though i’m not this time) i say love will come to you hoping just because i spoke the words that they’re true as if i’ve offered up a crystal ball to look through where there’s now one there will be two dodging your memories a field of knives always on the outside looking in on other’s lives i say love will come to you hoping just because i spoke the words that they’re true as if i’ve offered up a crystal ball to look through where there’s now one there will be two and i wish her insight to battle love’s blindness strength from the milk of human kindness a safe place for all the pieces that scattered learn to pretend there’s more than love that matters

 

July 31, 2011

On Moving Again

Posted by mayiwrite under music, my life, nostalgia, observations, relationships | Tags: , , , , |
1 Comment 

Except I don’t know what to say.

I’m basically moving around the corner, but I’ve lived at this apartment for a proper year and a half, and in the college world, that’s a very long time.

But, it’s also a very long time.

Two semesters left, and sometimes I panic. Sometimes I’m giddy.

I’ll miss my bedroom window view of the mountains. I hope whoever lives in this room after me enjoys it just as much.

I return yet again to Patty Griffin. “Useless Desires” makes me think and feel a million different things at once. And this happens whenever I move. Even with this move, when I had an entire year and a half to form close friendships with people in my apartment complex, but it seems I went out of my way to make friends with people who don’t live here. There are nice people. Lots. It’s been hard to find people to relate to, to click with. Things are just different, which is okay, and I’d rather be continuing to transition somewhere else for the next ten months. Because it’s time.

Just around the corner, but it’s still a move, and my soul’s a-swirl.

Useless Desires (ctrl+click)

Say goodbye to the old street
That never cared much for you anyway
And the different coloured doorways
You thought would let you in one day
Goodbye to the old bus stop
Frozen and waiting
The Weekend Edition
Has this town way overrated

You walk across the baseball green
The grass has turned to straw
A flock of birds tries to fly
Away from where you are
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, old friend
I can’t make you stay
I can’t spend another ten years
Wishing you would anyway

How the sky turns to fire
Against a telephone wire
And even I’m getting tired
Of useless desires

Every day I take a bitter pill
It gets me on my way
For the little aches and pains
The ones I have from day to day
To help me think a little less
About the things I miss
To help me not to wonder how
I ended up like this

I walk down to the railroad track
And ride a rusty train
With a million other faces
I shoot through the city veins
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, old friend
You wanted to be free
Somewhere beyond the bitter end
Is where I want to be

How the sky turns to fire
Against a telephone wire
And even I’m getting tired
Of useless desires

Say goodbye to the old building
That never tried to know your name
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, old friend
You won’t be seeing me again
Goodbye to all the windowpanes
Shining in the sun
Like diamonds on a winter day
Goodbye, goodbye to everyone

How the sky turns to fire
Against a telephone wire
It burns the last of the day down
And I’m the last one hanging around
Waiting on a train track
And the train never comes back
And even I’m getting tired
Of useless desires

 

July 29, 2011

Not Yet

Posted by mayiwrite under links, music, nostalgia, reviews | Tags: , , , , , |
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Because I’d rather explain how I came across the song in the last post because I’m feeling worlds of nostalgic right now and I let that song lull me to sleep last night/this morning so I’ve always loved classical music as most of you know I refer to Yo-Yo Ma as my uncle but maybe it was in the year 2000 I found out about a violinist named Hilary Hahn and a friend loaned me her first album where she plays solo Bach and it was amazing so then I decided to follow her career because she’s only three years  younger than I and seemed to be a really good role model which is what I was looking for at that point in my life because I was returning to a proper course after having careened into some prodigal years and so there’s that and I respected Hilary’s patience with her career and her seeming deliberateness with choices she was making for her life in addition to her writing online and in her album jacket notes, and after buying her Bach album I found her Beethoven/Bernstein and then the Barber/Meyer CD came out and I read in the jacket notes that a double-bassist/composer named Edgar Meyer commissioned Hilary for that concerto and so I wondered who Edgar Meyer is and I started looking up things about him because after listening to the concerto I was more or less blown away. Double basses are flippin huge. I also found out about a collaborative album (in the course of researching chamber music with Richard Stoltzman or Sabine Meyer, Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma because I was also trying to improve my clarinet playing by listening to awesome clarinet music) called Appalachian Journey that involves Mr. Ma, Edgar Meyer, and violinist/fiddler Mark O’Connor, which features vocalists like James Taylor and Alison Krauss and the idea of hybridizing bluegrass and chamber music fascinated me because I really truly appreciate talent no matter where it is and I also adore James Taylor and Alison Krauss because they can both respectively guitar and fiddle as well as stir nostalgia through their voices and this album does not disappoint because nostalgia crept up on me last night and made me look for that Stephen Foster to share with you and it was hard to let myself fall asleep to that song because I enjoyed watching the performance, the communication between the musicians, the eye contact and other cues to let different instruments stand out whenever Alison wasn’t singing, the way Alison looks at the instrumentalists through the final chord and her smile when it ends, and then the perfect stillness between the last note and applause just makes me so happy and so maybe I watched the video three or maybe four times before I lay down and closed my eyes while the song played again and this morning, although my eyes are really dry and I can’t quite remember (much less explain) all of a dream I had where I was crowd-surfing in my high school bleachers in a sports bra and underwear and then there was my marching band self watching very nervously my nearly-naked self hoping that nobody else was watching her, I feel pretty good.

 

July 28, 2011

Hey, Kids

Posted by mayiwrite under advice, environment, friends, health, music, my life, observations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Do I EVER have a blog post for you. But not tonight.

When I get rested and showered and when my homework is back under control, and when the level of inadvertent THC in my body has returned to zero from off-the-charts, then I can think about writing you a lovely post about lovely things.

Because I love you.

But first, attempts to sleep.

Good night, my darlings.

 

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