Never let anyone tell you that Minneapolis/Saint Paul lack for things to do. In fact, there are so many events coming that it’s difficult to squeeze it all in.
This isn’t the first time I’ve lauded the Silversun Pickups. Back in Aug. ’07 I posted this (click here for “Lazy Eye.”)
I picked up the latest Silversun Pickups record at Target last Saturday. It’s been in my CD player and playlist on the old iPod ever since. This effort…the music, guitar licks, drum beats, lyrics…remarkable. I have a soft spot for edgy rock – the alt style – and SSPU seriously delivers.
“Panic Switch” is the tune getting all the play time on stations like The Current. But my favorite of the 10 new songs is, “Catch and Release.” Unfortunately, the band hasn’t produced a video for this track. So here’ s video and lyrics for “Panic Switch.” More songs to come as this band tours.
Lyrics:
Time.
It’s never worth my time.
Moonshine
Bleeds into my eyes.
I still
Sleep on the right side
Of the white noise;
Can’t leave the scene behind.
Could I be anything you want me to be
If so, is it meant to be seen?
[Chorus]
Do you see yourself in a crowded room?
Do you think I’ll snitch? Are you pistol-whipped?
Will you step in line, or release the glitch?
Can you fall asleep with a panic switch?
When you see yourself in a crowded room,
Do you think I’ll snitch? Are you pistol whipped?
Will you step in line or release the glitch?
Do you think she’ll sleep with the panic?
And I’ll try to hold on tight tonight.
Pink slip, inviting me inside.
I want to burn skin and brand what once was mine,
But the red news came ripping in to fight.
If I go anywhere that you want me to go,
How will I know you’ll still follow?
[Chorus]
I’m waiting and fading and floating away
I’m waiting and fading and floating away
I’m waiting and fading and floating away
I’m waiting and fading and floating.
I’m waiting and fading and floating away
Waiting and fading and floating away
Waiting and fading and floating away
Waiting and fading and flailing and fading
This old blog is coming up on two years in the blogosphere – that’s eight years in Internet time according to my e-marketing friends.
In these most recent 24 months, several blog posts have risen to the top as “most popular or frequented,” at the Land of 10,000 Perspectives. While they aren’t necessarily my favorites, I’m proud of the page views they’ve generated.
The Top Five Frequented Posts include:
1. Friday Philosophy – Shivering (11,195 page views). Here I lament about the sub-zero temperatures Minneapolis dips into each January. But really it’s the picture of frostbitten fingers that most visitors are after. Can you say purple and black?
2. Crazy for Madonna – Or Just Crazy Madonna (7,572 page views). In the post about the Material Girl, I compare her early good looks to her witchy 50-year-old smile. I’ve received a lot of hate e-mails about this post from Madonna lovers. I just can’t get over the fact that she looks haggy. Guess all that material wealth hasn’t helped in the looks department.
3. Cities 97 Sampler Volume 20 (3,025 page views). For 20 years, local FM radio station, Cities 97, has produced a CD of indie, rock and alt songs. The CD sells out in the Twin Cities in a matter of hours. Its popularity has a cult following and I’ve seen the entire set of CDs sell for more than $350 at charity auctions. By the way, proceeds from the CD go to charities in Minnesota. Nice goin’ Cities 97!
4. “Skinny Love” – Bon Iver (2,771 page views). Wisconsin native Justin Vernon issued his “Forever For Emma,” CD eons ago, it seems, to much critical acclaim. This post gets hits because I’ve posted the lyrics to the song, which I am want to do with most of the tunes I post on the site.
Coldplay isn’t a band I often turn to on the iPod, but the group has cut more than its share of songs. “Yellow,” is one of the songs I continually put on varying playlists. When my daughter sent me this cover of the Coldplay hit performed by Jem, I couldn’t resist getting it. This version of the song is only available on a Starbuck’s Entertainment CD released in late January (check it out on iTunes).
The piano arrangement alone is worth the price of admission. Couple it with a more-than-beautiful voice and the song is a winner…again.
Lyrics
Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.
I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called yellow.
So then I took my turn,
Oh how the things you’ve done,
And it was all yellow.
Your skin
Oh yeah, your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
You know, you know I love you so,
You know I love you so.
I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cause you were all yellow,
I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all yellow.
Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
And you know for you,
I’d bleed myself dry,
For you I’d bleed myself dry.
It’s true, look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.
Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.
I heard this tune on, of all days, Valentine’s Day – and suddenly recalled the song today while spinning. Is it a love song or is the message something else entirely?
Whatever. Radiohead performs it well.
Lyrics:
Her green plastic watering can
For her fake chinese rubber plant
In fake plastic earth.
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plants
Just to get rid of itself.
And it wears her out, it wears her out
It wears her out, it wears her out.
She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns.
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins.
And it wears him out, it wears him out
It wears him out, it wears him out.
She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love.
But I cant help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out, it wears me out
It wears me out, it wears me out.
And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted,
All the time, all the time, ohhh… ohh…
There are a lot of cool things happening in my world. The Current is one example of “cool” that deserve a shout out here.
After listening “free” for the past year, I bucked up and sent in my financial contribution to The Current, 89.3, an alternative radio station in the Twin Cities owned and operated by Minnesota Public Radio.
It’s all about the message. In my world of public relations, message is king and in this song, Ben Folds nails both the music and the delivery.
Lyrics:
We’d hit the bottom,
I thought it was my fault
And in a way I guess it was
I’m just now finding out
What it was all about
Moved to the west coast away from everyone
She never told me that you called
Back when I was still, I was still in love
Till I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it’s bye-bye, goodbye, I tried
And I twisted it wrong just to make it right
Had to leave myself behind
I’ve been flying high all night
So come pick me up…I’ve landed
The daily dramas she made from nothing
So nothing ever made them right
She liked to push me and talk me back down
Until I believed I was the crazy one,
and in a way
I guess I was…
But I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it’s bye-bye, goodbye I tried
Treading a sea of a troubled mind
Had to leave myself behind
Singing bye-bye, goodbye I tried
If you wrote me off I’d understand it
Because I’ve been on some other planet
So come pick me up…
I’ve landed
And you will be so
Happy to know
I’ve come alone,
It’s over
But I opened my eyes and walked out the door
And the clouds came tumbling down
And it’s bye-bye goodbye I tried
Down comes the reign of the telephone czar
It’s OK to call
Now I’ll answer for myself
As I recently shared with someone who means a great deal to me, if there were one singer/songwriter’s CD that I was allowed to have on my iPod, I’d select David Gray’s, “White Ladder” record. So many good tracks on that effort.
There’s a silver lining on all aspects of our lives, no matter how hard you question, wonder, or worry. No matter how dark it may be at any given moment. If we just remember and keep a watchful eye open for it.
Here’s Gray’s “Silver Lining.” No one sings it like he does.
Lyrics
Take this silver lining
Keep it in your own
Sweet head
And shine it when the night is
Burning red
Shine it in the twilight
Shine it on the cold, cold ground
Shine it til these walls
Come tumbling down
We were born with our eyes wide open
So alive with wild hope now
Can you tell me why
Time after time they drag you down
Down in the darkness deep
Fools and their madness all around
Know that the light don’t sleep
Step into the silence
Take it in your own
Two hands
And scatter it like diamonds
All across these lands
Blaze it in the morning
Wear it like an iron skin Only things worth living for are
Innocence and magic, amen
We were born with our eyes wide open
So alive with wild hope now
Can you tell me why
Time after time they drag you down
Down in the darkness deep
Fools and their madness all around
Know that the light don’t sleep
Woah, wooah
Time after time they drag you down
Down in the darness deep
Fools and their madness all around
Know that the light don’t sleep
Know that the light don’t sleep
It’s heeeeeeeeeere: 2009. Well almost here. It’ll be here when we’re all kissing our sweethearts on New Year’s Eve and falling into bed at 12:06 a.m.
I’m not a resolution guy. Perhaps it’s because resolutions like, “I will exercise more,” only focus on the “do” in our lives and not on the “be.” And the “do” we do is done for all the wrong reasons. We “do” something so we can “have” something so we can “be” something else. When we fail on the “do,” the wheels of the plan come off entirely.
So instead of resolving to do something, I’m focusing on being. It starts with finding the one area of life you want to positively change, then selecting a word to guide you through the year. Pick a word to remind you to live life on the “be” level. Instead of “get fit” (do), perhaps you choose the word “health” and focus on making healthy choices the entire year.
My word? Bold.
Short back story: Through the past couple of decades, I got rutted in letting life happen to me. In that time many positive and wonderful things did happen. But I didn’t necessarily play a hand in carving the path with my own machete. No, the path was mostly pre-paved leading to a glass that was just three-quarters full when it should be brimming. My word “bold” will enable me to top off the glass each day – living life intentionally at work, in relationships, at home, in my desire to be fit and happy et al. With this in the forefront, I’ll change behavior, live more purposefully and take myself out of life on the periphery.
I’ve already practiced using my word in recent weeks. It’s presented me with challenges and anxious moments resulting in sleepless nights, like any shift in life presents. Being bold has risks, but it’s a step in a direction I must take. Plus, it’s exhilarating to hear my own voice when I say out loud the things that would have previously gone unsaid or take action on something I would have only thought (mightily) about.
I’ll kick bold into full throttle in January and post on my successes and failures during the year.
In the meantime, I’ve picked this John Mayer cover of “Bold as Love” by Jimi Hendrix as my theme song. We all need anthems in life.
Happy New Year. Make it a bold one.
Lyrics
Anger he smiles, towering in shiny metallic purple armour
Queen jealousy, envy waits behind him
Her fiery green gown sneers at the grassy ground
Blue are the life-giving waters taken for granted
They quietly understand
The once happy turquoise armies lay opposite, ready
But wonder why the fight is on
But they’re all, they’re bold as love, yeah
They’re all, they’re bold as love, love, love
They’re all, they’re bold as love
Just ask the axis
My red is so confident, he flashes trophies of war
And ribbons of euphoria
Orange is young, full of daring
But it, it’s very unsteady for the first go round
My yellow in this case is not so mellow
In fact I’m trying to say it’s frightened like me And all these emotions of mine keep holding me from
Giving my life to a rainbow like you
But I’m, I’m bold, I’m bold as love, yeah
I’m bold, I’m bold as love, love, love
I’m bold, I’m bold as love
Just ask the axis
He knows, he knows, he knows
He knows everything
I’m, I’m bold, I’m bold as love, yeah
I’m bold, I’m bold as love, ohh
Been talkin’ to ya
I’m bold, I’m bold as love, yeah.
P.S. Be sure to wait an extra second on New Year’s Eve before planting that first kiss. A leap second has been added to the clock by the U.S. Naval Observatory. This will be the 24th leap second added since 1972. Thanks U.S. Naval Observatory clock watchers.
Roughly 30 years ago, I stopped at the local record store in my hometown of Spencer, Iowa, and bought a cassette tape of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” I was 14 and played that tape again and again until the hiss on the cassette overshadowed the songs.
Flash forward to present. A few days ago, my 14-year-old son was playing some songs from YouTube and invited me to sit down to hear a tune from (drumroll) AC/DC. Talk about deja vu. Two generations appreciating the same band at precisely the same age. It struck a proverbial chord. The moment made me smile. And while I don’t rock out to songs like “Back in Black” or “You Shook Me All Night Long” anymore, I’m pretty pleased that my son took a liking to the same band that entertained his Dad three decades ago.
“My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” -Jimmy Carter
station, Cities 97
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