Just because I have to entertain my brother...
Artist: All 4 One
Song: I Swear
Year: 1994
Why This Song?: Well ... as mentioned before, I don't get to sleep easily, and so when I was growing up I did the radio thing. Every single night. This song held a solid spot on the top 9 at 9. Additionally, I'd like to say that I enjoyed the lyrics. But really I was a young kid who was brainwashed by pop radio. This song isn't even an original song; it's a cover of a country song by John Michael Montgomery. I, of course, wouldn't have known that in 1994 because I didn't listen to country. Still don't. But at the time I was a sucker, and the 11 week run as the #1 song in America was enough to draw me in.
Lyric That Stuck Out Back Then: Man, with so many deep lyrics, how could I have settled on one? Let's go with "I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky." I like astronomy.
Lyric That Stands Out Now: I'm going to say the line about love not aging at all. That's a nice concept.
Thing That Surprised Me: Okay, well this band is still together apparently, which brings me back to my first point: I really need to start my own band. Like great generals, bands apparently never die if they have at least one hit. They just play smaller and smaller venues. But beyond that, this song won the Grammy for best performance. All those years I was ridiculed for liking this song by my own brother, and it was named the best song of the year!
Final Evaluation: Okay, the song is a "great love song." Does that make me a complete sap for still humming it quietly when I hear it on the radio? I don't know. I also listen to 2pac if that helps cancel this out. I feel like it should. On the whole this is a cover of a crappy country song, giving it a Boys II Men feel. It just should have been done by Boys II Men. The All 4 One guys were kinda wussy, which never helped. And they seemed like a complete rip off of the Boys II Men guys. Still, they were better than the boy bands that followed. I'll give it a 7/10 in hindsight, but I wouldn't be sad if someone played this at my wedding. Although I'd pretend to be. I'd also punch whoever told the DJ to play it. Don't forget that. I'm now going to bust out my All 4 One cassette tapes...
Showing posts with label Songs That Have Defined My Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Songs That Have Defined My Life. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Songs That Have Defined My Life - Broken Phone Booth Style
I'm going to start a new series where I look at a number of songs that make me stop, close my eyes, and take me to a place far away from the present. These are songs that have defined moments of my life, or an idea of my life. I'm going to pose, then answer a number of questions along with each song, and will post the video here. If you can't view the video (due to this being emailed to you, or some other technical snafu, please click here and go to the main blog page. And now, without any further delay, here is our first song:
Artist: Primitive Radio Gods
Title: Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand
Year: 1996
Why This Song?: Let's see ... I remember hearing this song right around the time I was ten or so, which would have put me in ... fourth grade? At any rate, this song, among many others, got the benefit of the fact that I struggle to go to sleep. I always have, and from a very young age I listened to the radio to fall asleep. Once TV was integrated into my nighttime routines I put less value on the radio. Which, ironically, dovetailed with the onset of the crappy music generation that we've been in for a decade or so. But in 1996, I was right in the "Top Nine at Nine" demographic, and I listened to night time radio on U93 habitually from around 8pm until I could fall asleep. This song is from that era, and it has the unique qualities of sounding completely original, having a title and a band name that sticks out, and having a good feel to fall asleep to. Triple win.
Lyric that stuck out back then: "If I die before I learn to speak, will money pay for all the days I've lived awake but half asleep?" I remember discussing this lyric with adults at the time. To say that it peaked my interest is an understatement; perhaps my interest in this concept explains my appreciation for philosophy of all kinds. It's a lyric that seems stupid on the surface ... how could someone singing a song to me die before they learned to speak ... but is much deeper once you understand theoretical points of view.
Lyric that stands out now: it's a cop out to say the entire song ... really, I enjoy all the lyrics on a thinking level ... so I'll give you one: "Life is time they teach you growing up. The seconds ticking killed us all a million years before the fall. You ride the waves and don't ask where they go. You swim like lions through the crest and bathe yourself in zebra flesh." I like this lyric because it reflects on the nature of time, the finite reality of life, and it even hits on a theological dimension. Man am I a sucker for philosophy.
Thing that surprised me: The Primitive Radio Gods just released another album. And they have a website. Seriously, go check them out. I need to start a band.
Final evaluation: I hadn't heard this song for over a decade when, in my senior year of college, all the sudden I had a flashback to the lyrics about "if I die before I learn to speak." Something made me think of the lyrics, which in turn made me think of the song. I went out and downloaded the song off of ITunes, and then, as luck would have it, I heard the song in a bar later that night. I have since then mediated on this song as one of the many which allow me to slow down, breathe, and refocus when life gets a little crazy. I highly recommend you look at the lyrics and the musical composition of this song: it's unique, it's deep, and it's fun. I give it a 10/10 now, so it's withstood the test of time.
Artist: Primitive Radio Gods
Title: Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand
Year: 1996
Why This Song?: Let's see ... I remember hearing this song right around the time I was ten or so, which would have put me in ... fourth grade? At any rate, this song, among many others, got the benefit of the fact that I struggle to go to sleep. I always have, and from a very young age I listened to the radio to fall asleep. Once TV was integrated into my nighttime routines I put less value on the radio. Which, ironically, dovetailed with the onset of the crappy music generation that we've been in for a decade or so. But in 1996, I was right in the "Top Nine at Nine" demographic, and I listened to night time radio on U93 habitually from around 8pm until I could fall asleep. This song is from that era, and it has the unique qualities of sounding completely original, having a title and a band name that sticks out, and having a good feel to fall asleep to. Triple win.
Lyric that stuck out back then: "If I die before I learn to speak, will money pay for all the days I've lived awake but half asleep?" I remember discussing this lyric with adults at the time. To say that it peaked my interest is an understatement; perhaps my interest in this concept explains my appreciation for philosophy of all kinds. It's a lyric that seems stupid on the surface ... how could someone singing a song to me die before they learned to speak ... but is much deeper once you understand theoretical points of view.
Lyric that stands out now: it's a cop out to say the entire song ... really, I enjoy all the lyrics on a thinking level ... so I'll give you one: "Life is time they teach you growing up. The seconds ticking killed us all a million years before the fall. You ride the waves and don't ask where they go. You swim like lions through the crest and bathe yourself in zebra flesh." I like this lyric because it reflects on the nature of time, the finite reality of life, and it even hits on a theological dimension. Man am I a sucker for philosophy.
Thing that surprised me: The Primitive Radio Gods just released another album. And they have a website. Seriously, go check them out. I need to start a band.
Final evaluation: I hadn't heard this song for over a decade when, in my senior year of college, all the sudden I had a flashback to the lyrics about "if I die before I learn to speak." Something made me think of the lyrics, which in turn made me think of the song. I went out and downloaded the song off of ITunes, and then, as luck would have it, I heard the song in a bar later that night. I have since then mediated on this song as one of the many which allow me to slow down, breathe, and refocus when life gets a little crazy. I highly recommend you look at the lyrics and the musical composition of this song: it's unique, it's deep, and it's fun. I give it a 10/10 now, so it's withstood the test of time.
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