Music to My Ears

My musical tastes have changed radically in the past ten years. When I was thirteen, I didn't listen to anything. Not really, anyway. I never chose what music would be played.

Then I gave Green Day a try, and they were all I played for a year. Literally. It wasn't until reading and watching The Commitments that everything changed. I found Soul. I became especially fond of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Marvin Gaye, and Bill Withers. I would switch their CDs around, listen to their greatest hits, attempt to sing along - all the usual things a teenager does when they listen to music, except that most of my favourite artists were dead.

Over the following years, I was introduced to Muse, Nightwish, Hollywood Undead, Smashing Pumpkins, The Doors, Elbow, Oasis, and a plethora of others from the 60s and beyond, including The Beatles, She & Him, and The Mountain Goats.

These days, I find myself listening to three different things over and over again, two bands and one "genre" of music - Walk Off the Earth, A Great Big World, and Disney songs.

I first found Walk Off the Earth when one of the papers printed a link to a cover they did of Gotye's Somebody I Used to Know, when the whole band played the same guitar for the performance. That turned into subscribing to them on YouTube, going to see them live in Dublin, and playing their EP on repeat in the kitchen until I knew next to all the words.

My discovery of A Great Big World is a little more geeky than that. I first heard one of their songs on Glee. I loved This is the New Year so much that I looked up the original song, and fell in love with the band right away. I waited for months for their album release, played it constantly in the house, even got my niece singing along to Rockstar, and have tracked their tour right to London - which is still too far away for me to travel to for the day to go see them.

The Disney music varies quite a bit, depending on my mood. Sometimes it's songs from Frozen. More recently, Hercules and Mulan found their way in there.

All of this leaves out soundtracks, and a collection of albums from DFTBA Records. I don't listen to single genres anymore. I'm more open to listening to new bands for the first time. And I love it.

Whatever You Say About Glee

Let's make a point clear: I like Glee. Yes, the storyline is somewhat cliché and predictable, but it presents an enjoyable hour of television filled with covers of songs that don't always butcher the originals. Sometimes you can go a while without actually liking any of their covers, but aside from that they do a good job of actually singing them. Even if they ruin the effect of the song.

Whatever you say about Glee, though, you cannot deny the commercial success it brings to others. Ignoring the obvious example of bringing Journey back into the limelight for the current generation of music lovers, we have Fun.'s We Are Young. An indie single released in September 2011, it wasn't until Glee covered the song that the band reached commercial success with it.

And that's the power behind the show. Not it's ability to tell the same story we've been exposed to for years through shows under different guises, and not it's ability to sing a song in complete contrast to how the original artist wished it to be sung, but to ignite and reignite the flames that drive the music industry, albeit through cliché. The songs performed on the show have a history of doing well, not just the covers but the originals, too. While it may be something of a heresy for certain fans that Glee dare touch their favourite songs, the success that follows in many cases cannot be denied.

So while I recognise that they have butchered songs in the past, and will continue to do so in the future - for everybody hates to see their favourite songs altered and distorted - I must proclaim that the music industry does well from the revitalisation of songs performed by the show.

That and the humour one needs once a week as a pick-me-up is reason enough to continue watching the show. Though you won't find me rushing out to buy the merchandise, especially not at full price. (I'm guilty of buying cheap CDs, but that's about it.)

Next time you hate on Glee, just remember what it does for the songs they butcher: sometimes it can help. And sometimes that's enough.

Review - Creedance Clearwater Revival: Rock Legends

I picked this little number up recently on – you guessed it – a recommendation. Creedence Clearwater Revival’s edition of Rock Legends (or is it the other way around... it’s a collection of CCR songs, anyway) is a fantastic album filled with songs by one of my latest crazes. I fell in love with the sound of CCR from the moment I heard Bad Moon Rising, so I had to have the CD when I found it in the shop!

Was it what you expected?

It was, and it wasn’t. I knew it’d be awesome, but I wasn’t sure of the sound before I listened to it the whole way through. My experience of Creedence Clearwater Revival was strictly limited to Bad Moon Rising and Proud Mary.

So does that mean –

Yes! They’re my favourite songs on the album. Two of my favourite songs to listen to out of everything I have in my collection. And that’s a lot of songs. I wasn’t going to get a CD with only one of them on it – it was both or nothing at all. Thankfully, this one found its way into my hands, and I love it. I mean, I may have two favourite songs out of sixteen on the album, but I can’t complain in one bit about any of the other songs. I love the guitar. It’s real classic rock guitar, not the sort of I’m-desperately-mainstream guitar you hear from a lot of bands. It’s not muddled up with a plethora of electric sounds, either. This is pure rock, and I love it. Which might surprise a few people – I paint a picture of myself as something entirely more modern, with an obsession with Glee that verges on dangerous. But, if it wasn’t for Glee I wouldn’t have first heard Proud Mary. I think it all evens out, there.

Which is better, then: the CCR or the Glee version of Proud Mary?

I knew you’d stick me with that option. Okay, one thing I’ll say – same lyrics, but they’re essentially different songs. Glee speeds up the CCR track to a dangerous tempo that threatens to throw the earth off its axis. Don’t get me wrong, I like it. I like the speed, the energy, the life that’s gone into the song. But it’s completely different from the mellow rock tune that CCR created. Instead of a slow, rolling beat to go with the lyrics, Glee created something that – as was intended – put life into the wheelchairs they sat in while performing the song in the show.

Let’s just clarify that, in case you don’t watch the show: there’s a kid in a wheelchair in the Glee Club, and to make him feel more included, they all go around in wheelchairs for a week. That way they know how he feels all the time. Part of the deal was also to do a “wheelchair song”, which is where Proud Mary comes in. To create a tune that showed that the guy wasn’t just a chair, they picked a song with the word “rolling” in it, and sped it up some to show the life, the energy, the emotion that the guy still has, even if his legs don’t work.

And it’s in that that the songs are different. Glee gave it a new purpose. For them, it wasn’t a classic rock song that was widely covered by a number of artists – it was a tune of expression. I think they did CCR proud, even if they had to change the song’s vibe. So, neither version is better. In saying that, though, I prefer CCR’s version of it, now that I’ve actually heard it. Originals tend to win hands down, because you can get a feel of the artist in them better.

Recommend the album, then?

Definitely. You haven’t heard rock until you’ve heard Creedence Clearwater Revival. They’ve got something special about them. They’ve captured some of the essence of rock. Too few people know about them these days. Sit back and enjoy the music, ladies and gentlemen. You won’t be disappointed.

First Day

I've never experienced a Saturday off that I wasn't supposed to have off. The closest I got to that was when the English Paper 2 was shown on the wrong day in the Leaving Cert, and we had to sit the backup paper that Saturday. But other than that, I've been in work most Saturdays, or in work the Sunday instead.

Admittedly, I was still a little spooked about not having a job. I ended up on the phone to Sandra, one of my ex-collegues at Hughes and Hughes, and she's just as shaken up about it. And she almost lost her dog, but that's a different story. She hadn't heard anything about the company collapsing like this either. She did know that those present at the time of closing had paperwork to fill out... that'll be a fun thing to do... not!

I watched Glee to cheer myself up. Okay, so I almost cried at one point, but the destruction of teenage life kind of does that to me. Actually, the destruction of any believeable life in fiction does that to me. Not a bother on me in a ridiculously murderous movie like From Paris With Love, where many people get killed... they weren't believeable deaths. But Glee set me off, almost. At least the songs were great!

I emailed Darren Shan as well, to see if he might be able to shed some light on his own experiences with unemployment and writing. He went through practically the same thing, except his jobs weren't funding his writing, and he willingly gave one up. But he gave me some very sound advice and made me realise that I should take advantage of the time I have and do some work. As a result, I wrote a very short story that won't be used...ever... and around 13 Doctor Haik-Who. Okay, exactly thirteen. And I edited the same number of pages of Meet Sam, before I ran out of printed material. It was a load of fun though!

I printed that email too, to make sure I can always look at it and remember that I have something many people lack - time to write. Hughes and Hughes didn't give that to me, Darren Shan did. I might have wasted the day if I hadn't been told that.

Of course, I spent time watching television too. I watched Nanny McPhee with my mum while we had dinner, and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I've seen the latter before, and I always enjoy it. The former... didn't expect it to be as fantastic as it was! It certainly attributed to the brightening up of my day (which really only felt great after Darren Shan's amazing email!)

Too late to do any work now, but I'll be waking up to an essay on Justice and Peace. 1000 words. It's not too bad, and if I can get it done quickly, then I have time during the week to do other things... like my tutorial work. But I'm going to catch up on everything. I'm promising myself that.

Holy Cow. Ever get one of those "I just realised something" moments? Well, I did... just now. Yes, I voiced my surprise in my blog, sue me. (don't... I'm unemployed and can't afford to pay you). Well, I just realised that the Irish Student Drama Association competition is next week (starting the 8th). Drama is almost over for the year! Ah!

Oh, brightside of yesterday I never got around to, because of the joblessness... well, I went to the cinema, saw the aforementioned From Paris With Love, and Eileen texted to say that we have our tickets to One Republic in April! Good thing I forked out the money for that before I found out about work, or I might have had to change my mind!

Hmm, did I just see the brighter side of life? So much for my misery of yesterday!

Made my Day

Have you ever had one of those days where something "makes" it? I don't know where the phrase comes from, but I think it happened to me today, a lot. I'll be honest, the learning side of college today wasn't too much fun. I was too tired to pay full attention. Bleary eyed and trying to take notes... not a good combination.

So, what happened today for me? Three things, possibly going on four. In order and in detail:

I had Haagen Dazs for the first time today. Ever. I know, it's something of a heresy to have never tried it. And get this, I still haven't tried Ben And Jerry's either. I live in a completely sheltered world. My first time on a train was when I was in fifth year. That's kind of sad considering there are train lines everywhere in Dublin. Anyway, the ice cream was great. I got Belgian Chocolate.

When I got home there was a delightful package waiting for me. It was, I can happily reveal, my copy of Mr Mumbles by Barry Hutchison. Signed and prescribed too. I was estatic to finally receive it. Barry told me he sent it about two weeks ago. What a long wait.

And number three? Well, it was the dedication in the book. Sheer awesome! Wait until you see it. So cool!

The fourth was, and currently is, Glee. It's on now. How fun!

Now, this little Gleek's gotta go. Toodles!

I took a break

Well, I had a long day of college - the first long day since we started back. Tired, mainly from the waking at 7 thing, I decided not to write too much. Everything I tried doing turned out rubbish anyway, so it's probably best. I'd only have wasted my time in doing work I was going to delete anyway.

On the bright side of things, I did organise the order of the poems for Poetry Against Cancer and send it off to Rachel. Finally! I meant to do that a week ago... my excuse is college and I'm sticking to it!

Also Glee... yes, I'm a Gleek. I can't help it. It's music, it's dancing and it's amazing. I love the songs I've heard them sing on it so far. And yes, I will be buying the soundtrack after I've watched the episodes.

In other news... I've been reuniting with some old friends via Facebook. And I mean old. Primary school friends. I've had miniature conversations with two of them today, and it was great! I look forward to the chance of getting everyone to meet up in Quinn's or something, when Aidan gets back from Wales, of course. Don't want to leave him out.

So in short, life is good. *insert smiley face here*