Behind the music lies a story!

    I believe that analyzing music can be a good and a bad thing. The reason I feel it can be good is that each person listening to a song can all relate to it differently. I feel that music in general is a huge for communication. There is always a story behind every song, some songs are very direct and easy to understand while others can take you for a ride. I feel that when a musician puts their work out for others to hear they want the listener to feel a connection with them. A good example would be the difference between Taylor Swift as a solo artist with her guitar compared to the band Tool, they are completely and vastly opposite. Although their music and song topics are on two different spectrum's, what they have in common is the want to have their voices heard. Taylor Swift is a young girl who sings about love and her different relationships and has a way of getting her story across very openly with her music. Her fans love her because she is a very real girl living life the same way many other young girls live and they share similar experiences. The band Tool is very complex and has very complicated ways visually and spiritually of getting their stories told. What I love about the band tool is although their very hard rock their also very zen in their own right. Their visuals in music videos are full of art and take you on a ride close to an acid trip. Tool also wants their listeners to take the songs and think for themselves on what the songs mean to them. Their also very political, and are about thinking for yourself and having your own opinion.

   It may seem as though I have gone off topic but the reason I bring up the completely opposite musicians is to talk about analyzing music. I feel that some music is meant to be analyzed and some music is not. Taylor Swift is happy go lucky and is so upfront and honest their isn't much to analyze, and for this I feel to analyze her music would detract from the experience. The band Tool however I feel is very appropriate to analyze and does not detract from the experience but enhances the experience! I know that with analyzing songs by Tool it allows you to open up your mind and almost go into a completely different state of mind. What is neat to me is that drugs (although they are looked down upon) can be very useful when writing material. Most songs written by rock musicians and many other musicians in different genres, are under the influence and become more creative that way. One song can be about an actual drug trip and it will speak to many people who have been there themselves. I am not saying that in order to write amazing music and songs you have to be on drugs. What I am saying is that the musicians who do write about drugs and their trips on drugs, they want their music analyzed. I also feel that music when you are high and music when you are sober can be different experiences in themselves.


   Music is an amazing ball of emotion. I feel that just the sound of music puts people in different moods whether it be happy, sad, angry, content, hyper, relaxed ect. When I listen to music it puts me in a different headset because I can go to it for anything I want to feel. There are times when I just want to dance and have fun so I will put on upbeat music and zone out to it. Their are other times where maybe I put on music because I want to find a common ground and connect with the artist I am listening to, so this does take me to analyze the music. Lyrics in general tell a story period. What one lyric means to the artist can totally do a 360 and mean something else to the listener. Music is a ball of emotion because of the different tones and stories behind the meaning of songs. If there is a song about politics it will do one of three things to a listener; anger them, open up their mind, or put them in an agreement. That right there is a prime example to how one song is a ball of emotions. 


   Music is a way to communicate. No matter what the story is behind the music it is a way for ones voice to be heard. I feel that although music is existing for a way of communication, it is also meant to be both analyzed and not analyzed. The point of the matter is that whether you like it or not music will always be analyzed because it helps both detract and enhance the full experience. I totally love to analyze music when I feel that it will enhance my experience or just help me understand a song. I think most people do because it is in our human nature to naturally be curious of what the meaning of a song can be, especially when the songs may confuse us.


   I have decided that because I love music and this class talks a lot about music I will always close my blogs with a different music video from a different artist each week. This shows my range of musical taste and it also may introduce you to maybe a new genre or artist you may enjoy that you never would have given a chance. 
Cheers!

Music Fazes

 So I never put much thought into my music taste through out my many ups and downs but I definitely have a huge variety of music genres. The cool thing about my music taste is that even if I haven't listened to some of it in a while I still love all of it. Music has a special place in my heart period. I would definitely have to say my music taste has changed through out the years but that would be because music is ever changing and progressing! I did notice that when I was single and spending a lot of my free time partying with my girlfriends I listened to a ton of Bloc Party, Gwen Stefani,  Bob Marley, Techno, and tons of dance music. What is neat about this music is listening to these artists bring me back to memories of getting ready to go out. I love listening to music when I am getting dolled up and ready for my night out. Music has this feeling to it that puts me in a good mood and it helps with my headset for the night. I also found my breakup cd's lol. I went through a rough breakup in 2006 and it took me almost 2 years to get over my first love, I loved cranking Evanescence in my car and bedroom and just singing at the top of my lungs sometimes and crying other times. Another breakup cd I listened to was Avril Lavigne and Tool. I seriously was all over the place withe my music genres. I do see patterns in my music choices that seriously have played a role in my life experiences. The music I listen to when I am happy is always fun and upbeat, when I am going through a rough patch in life I love indie music that has a softer and kind of melodramatic sound, when I went through stages in life getting screwed over Eminem was my man. I also have a ton of mixed cd's from over the years that I made or had friends make for me! Boo's mix, Boo's mix 2, Road trip volume 1, Road trip volume 2... I never even went on any major road trips either which is so funny to me. I can honestly say that music speaks out to me in any situation I am in and my music library shows that too. My favorite artists also have a lot to do with music I grew up on with would be alternative and rock. Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Tears for Fears, Pearl Jam, No Doubt, Korn, U2, Guns N Roses, Bush and Smashing Pumpkins were all pretty big in the 90's and that was when my life was developing the most and I was very in tune with music and my emotions.  I still love the majority of these artists today and I like going back to certain songs and having different memories attached to them.Another thing I noticed about my music collection is that I have a good amount of soundtracks to movies. I love movies and most of the time I seem to really enjoy the songs inside the movies too, so my music choices time era wise have to do with the movies I enjoyed during that time too.Right now I love Florence and the machine, Muse, Kings of Leon, and pretty much any band on the Twilight saga soundtracks! I will end this with saying that my music collection will continue to be progressive with a mix of my old favorites, new favorites, and a broad band of every genre!

Music Soothes the Soul

Music plays such a huge role in my life. I listen to music no matter what type of a mood I'm, it can really start the party or calm me down. Whenever I am in a stressful mood I love locking myself in my bedroom and tuning out the world with my endless amounts of music. I go into my own little headset and let go of whatever it was that had a pull on my emotions. I feel that music is full of memories for everyone, it could be the song to your first kiss, your first dance, your breakup song, your girls night out song, your go to song when your down and so on. Lyrics to different songs can inspire people to do great things with their life. For instance Katy Perry has a song called "Firework" my favorite lyrics in this song are "You don't have to feel like a wasted space, your original, can not be replaced", this sends out such a positive message that everyone is so unique and special in their own right and were all here to fallow our own paths in life leaving our own original footprints. As an aspiring actress and as a woman in general, the entertainment field is very aggressive and competitive, it is very easy to loose yourself trying to be someone else, and when I first heard this song it just hit me emotionally and touched my heart. Music is a very positive uplifting ageless attribute to our society. I think music is a very powerful because it emotionally connects and bonds people in the world. Art is always evolving and expressing the evolution on man. If you want to know how people felt in different eras you can always look to the art. Music is a time machine, it transcends time, it warps time. My mom could be sitting here having a conversation with me and then hear a Beatles song in the background and all of a sudden she could have a flash back of the 50's and being a little girl again. I also think that music can have no lyrics at all and just the instrumental sounds can have a pulling effect on ones emotions. I know that certain songs I hear pull me back into memories of being a kid and going through my parents divorce all over again and the effects it had on me just by a song alone. Music is a communication of getting a point across or perhaps it gives a person a voice that wants to be heard. Looking at music ahead I can really appreciate what it stands for. I know that music is a constant evolution of time periods and eras. I love the idea of how bold different artists will be in the future as far as singing about their times and how they feel about the world around them. I  love all different kinds of music and I can appreciate that different views socially and rhythmically of expressing the world we live in today as well as yesterday.