Happy Friday! If you need something to perk up your day head over to You Tube or your favorite place to listen to music and type in "Burning Down The House" as covered by Tom Jones and Nina Persson. It's so much fun to listen to and you can understand every single word. It's not as moody (definitely not!) or as eerie as The Talking Heads, but it's something else, all the same.

 

If high energy is not what you seek, try listening to the transcendent and hypnotic remix of Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight." It gets the best remix treatment of any song I've ever heard. It takes something that is already pretty awesome and makes it impossible to forget.

 

Seven minutes and twenty seconds of sensual beats, melodic piano and a haunting sound that is much better than what you find in the original. The only problem is the cost.

 

You cannot find this in MP3 form anywhere and the import price is enough to give you real pause. If you can afford it, though, it's definitely worth shelling out the money. In the meantime, you can always head over to You Tube and take a listen...or two.

 

 

 





If you check out The Human League‘s 1981 album Dare (also consider the special edition "Dare/Love and Dancing" featuring remixed instrumental versions of the album’s original songs) you might be surprised, both at its fresh sound and how the group influenced modern artists such as She Wants Revenge, Moby, and Little Boots.

In a recent issue of MixMag, synth pop star Grum lists Dare as one of the albums he credits for influencing his field. He writes: "…the album is very electronic while having a real human song writing warmth to it, and that’s something I really admire." Grum adds that The Human League was experimenting with different techno dance sounds before a lot of 80s groups were.

"Don’t You Want Me?" is considered the group’s biggest hit, but the rest of Dare is something else altogether, yet often left behind. If you ask me, "Don’t" is a pretty good song (still sounding great all these years later!) in itself. There’s a special place inside my heart for this song since it was one of the very first 45s I remember buying at a local Harmony Hut.

Tracks such as "Darkness," "Seconds," and "The Sound of the Crowd" carry a tinge of despair I didn’t catch when I was a kid. "Seconds" in particular is very somber and contemplative and might have escaped the attention of an 11-year-old just looking for a good beat. But as an adult who also likes some meat on the bones of a good song, "Seconds" is wonderful and clocks in at just under five minutes, yet it feels much longer — as if it’s carrying you along in a wave of sadness that has never sounded so mellow or alluring.

 "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" is easily the most dance accessible song on the CD…I love it the most!

and on another 80s note (though completely different in any music sense)a great little write-up in a recent issue of Classic Pop:

 

Acceptance is key to inner peace

from Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight:

"Why do you hate me so much?” I heard myself ask. Part of me was glad that I had. The other, smarter part of me wanted to throttle that first part. “Tell me what I’m doing and I’ll try to stop, I swear.”

“Can you stop being you?” Zadie asked quietly. Her face was so close now. Close enough that we could have kissed. “I mean, if you can, that would be awesome. Otherwise, I guess we’ll have to stick with me hating you.”

The scene relates to a much larger bullying problem that is at the center of this riveting and well-written novel, yet you don't have to be bullied to long to ask someone this in real life.

I almost found myself going up to someone today and asking her this, but then I realized: a) of course not everyone is going to like you and b) if someone takes a dislike to you and (as far as you know) there's nothing you can do about it, what is asking "why do you hate me so much?" really going to change about the situation? 

I would love to say to her "tell me what I'm doing and I'll try to stop," but my gut instinct tells me there's nothing I could do, that the reason is because of who I am and not what I do. 

And, of course, there's the harsh, but simple truth that sometimes people don't even have to have a reason to dislike us. :(

A perfect song for a "find your strength" day!

"They Told Me" is a powerhouse of a song, perfect for channeling during the crappiest of moments. The music is just so high-energy, the words so k.a. that you can't help but want to have a better day!

Listen while you read!

Never have I had, a rational mind and
Never have I been, rational inside
My good, my heart and my head
That’s the way they’ve always been

Never gonna change, who I am
Just cause you’ll never understand
Never gonna apologize
For being so intense
How the hell would that make sense

[Chorus]
They told me, they told me to get over it
They told me, they told me,
They told me to get over it
They told me, they told me

I am not ashamed of what’s inside of me
And I will never ever be
Jealousy is an untamed beast
And an untamed beast lives inside of me

[Chorus] x 2
They told me, they told me to get over it
They told me, they told me,
They told me to get over it
They told me, they told me
But I will never get over it.

Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/sallie-ford-the-sound-outside/they-told-me-lyrics/#01xCjwuyPyZ8OR7Q.99

Listen while you read!

Never have I had, a rational mind and
Never have I been, rational inside
My good, my heart and my head
That’s the way they’ve always been

Never gonna change, who I am
Just cause you’ll never understand
Never gonna apologize
For being so intense
How the hell would that make sense

[Chorus]
They told me, they told me to get over it
They told me, they told me,
They told me to get over it
They told me, they told me

I am not ashamed of what’s inside of me
And I will never ever be
Jealousy is an untamed beast
And an untamed beast lives inside of me

[Chorus] x 2
They told me, they told me to get over it
They told me, they told me,
They told me to get over it
They told me, they told me
But I will never get over it.

Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/sallie-ford-the-sound-outside/they-told-me-lyrics/#01xCjwuyPyZ8OR7Q.99

They Told Me
Never have I had a rational mind
Never have I been rational inside
My gut, my heart and my head
That’s the way they’ve always been
Never gonna change who I am
Just because you’ll never understand
Never gonna apologize for being so intense
How the hell would that make any sense
They told me to get over it
Hell I’m not ashamed of what’s inside of me
And I will never ever be
Jealousy is an untamed beast
And that untamed beast lives inside of me
They told me to get over it
But I will never get over it.

“Live by the harmless untruths that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle 

 Happy Monday!

At times zany and totally "out there," Kurt Vonnegut's writing is always intelligent, thoughtful and surprisingly kind and humanistic.

So many of his words give me hope, especially the above two quotes. He may be my favorite writer after Henry James and on trying days I think of both of the above passages and find hope in them.

Even if some of the outlandish things I believe (that someday we can find world peace or that there is a lid for every pot when it comes to love) turn out to be completely untrue, as long as they are harmless to others and I keep things in perspective, what's so wrong in believing wonderful things? :)