Tag Archives: music

Are You There, Blog? It’s me, Melanie.

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Have you read a really really good book lately? One so great you want everyone to read it?

Have you stumbled upon an awesome blog post, a song that makes you cry or a movie that inspires?

It’s summer time. Have you been burned yet?  Gone to the beach? Scratched off some mosquito bites? Have you made a summer bucket list, written in your diary, tried a new recipe?

Have you sent out pictures of yourself attempting to be creepy to guys?

Have you deleted Facebook, complained on Twitter, gotten a cold, bought new sun glasses, changed the background picture on your desktop, asked for time off, planned a trip to Myrtle Beach, boxed up most of your books into boxes that are sitting on the floor, drank enough water, lost the weight you put on after joining Weight Watchers, forgotten medicine and vitamins?

Has someone to like ignored your existence, someone else haunted your thoughts, more of the same old same old. Have you taken out The Secret and decided to manifest your own life? Have you looked at your old hoop that’s in the corner of your room behind your desk and thought about relearning how to dance with it.

Have you taken some ballet classes, thought about taking tap, asked about buying a condo, let your clean clothes pile up around you in your bedroom?

Has anyone asked you about you, blog, lately? Has anyone asked if you’re still blogging, where you are, how are you.

I’ve done most of these things in the past month or so. Or I’ve been asked these things. Stuff has happened. I have done things. I have lived or not lived. I have bought new prescription classes and got a new car.

I’ve eaten a lot of Indian food. Maybe I’m addicted. I also tried Ethiopian.

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And somewhere in the middle I just disconnected. I turned off Facebook, I deleted (and then readded) my Twitter account. I stopped writing. I let an advanced writing class kind of go to waste as I sat and allowed work to pile up around me. I made a lot of outlines. And I gained weight. And kind of lost it. And lost a little more because having a cold is incredible on the appetite. I changed locations at work, I ate some lobster. I caught a fish, tried on some hats and sunglasses. I saw a swan in the parking lot of Dunkin Donuts. I baked two cupcakes, attended a wake, signed up for graduate classes (did I already type this one?) and bought more books.

All of these are things, little things, big things, influential and trivial. They’re parts of every day. Parts of moments that aren’t always heard of.

How have you been spending all of these important moments?

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ps. Can I add that I’m amazed that I still have a steady flow of readers here? Even after deleting my Facebook and only posting one other time in the entirety of June. This is the perfect time to introduce yourself, readers! (Or reintroduce, or just say hello). I can’t wait to meet you.

Every Word I Say

Posted in hanson, love, music, passion by

I promise to return to less music slash Hanson related blog posts next week, but I Just wanted to let you know that I wrote a Guest Groupie post over on the Good Groupie. It’s my attempt to put to feelings to words, or as The Good Groupie says in the post,  I describe “ that single moment when you stand in front of the stage and feel the musical high and you understand yourself perfectly through verse ” You can read the post here: Every Word I Say

 

<3

Tell Me, Does It Move You?

Posted in music by

They don’t know what it’s like to love one band, one silly piece of music so much it hurts.

Almost Famous

I’ve referenced that quote before, but it’s worth referencing again because it’s one of those quotes that resonated so deeply within me I find my mind quoting it without thinking about it. It was when I watched Almost Famous for the first time and heard those exact words that I fell in love with the film. I thought: someone else gets it.

I have allowed songs to burn inside me, on repeat for days while I attempted to uncover everything it was about and everything that song said to me, meant to me.

I didn’t really grow up around music. It was in the background somewhere and the radio was a consistent lullaby, but I didn’t learn about bands or music from the ones my parents loved. I learned about bands and music from what I loved and from branching off from there. So it wasn’t until I was old enough to to really comprehend the effects music could have on me that I really understood its purpose in my life.

Sometimes there are songs that express me better than I can express myself. Sometimes there are songs that I know what I’m feeling before I do. Sometimes I am unable to write blogs or stories because those thoughts have been said and written and expressed in the more pure forms of expression and in ways that I can’t even comprehend except just to experience.

And so we’ve come to the start of another writing series. I might post songs that have really moved me, or play lists composed of ones I couldn’t live without. Or experiences relating back to music. Or anything else, really.

So I’ll leave you with the song I got this title from, one that’s been on repeat for almost five years now.

Tell me, does it move you
Does it soothe you
Does it fill your heart and soul
With the roots of rock & roll

Been There Before – Hanson

When you can’t get through it, listen to it,

Fall Mixtape

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(weheartit)

Music has always had a strong grip around my heart. It’s helped me through an array of emotions and disappeared for moments at a time. But it always comes back. And I always remember thoughts, feelings, memories and smells based on songs that I constantly listened to during a certain time period. For example, songs from Vanessa Carlton’s Harmonium album will always remind me of driving home from school in the fall of 2005. Jay-Z’s New York will always remind me of the summer of 2009. So I think that having a mix cd, or a play list for those who have graduated from compact disc usage, tends to encompass the time person that it’s on constant replay.

This is why I like sharing mixes. And besides, you never know what gems you’re going to find while you listen.
http://8tracks.com/mixes/405059/player_v3

You Make Me Wanna Listen to Music Again

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Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iheartradio/4479385064/sizes/o/

(credit)

Last month I saw Adam Lambert in concert at a sold out packed show at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI. My cousin dressed up like Adam complete with a microphone that smeared glitter all over my arm. We were surrounded by a diversity unlike one you’d see at many other concerts. There were groups of glammed out Adam look alikes, gay boys sharing kisses, girls who loved Adam just as much as we did, twelve year old children, older women with their adult children. I was guilty of not taking the time to really listen to Adam’s album, so I knew few of his songs but that really didn’t matter.

The atmosphere was electric. Adam appeared in a huge over coat, and he wore a top hat with feathers coming out of it. We reveled in how HOT he must be, as we were simply sweating as we stood there. He danced around, he took the time to talk about love and relationships and what some songs were about. He made out with his straight bassist and sat on stairs in the center of the stage at one point to sing a slower songs.

I was struck by how sexy he was, and I admired his stage presence. He really knew how to be on the stage and I’m sure that stemmed from his years in musicals and theaters but it really added to the concert.

I left the show with three thoughts in mind: 1. I NEED WATER 2. I need to listen to this album on the drive home and 3. He made me want to listen to music again.

Not that I don’t listen to music because I certainly can’t drive without a CD playing. But I remembered a time when music was my passion; I was completely moved by finding new music, going to concerts and making mix cds. Lately, however, my need to listen to music has melted away. The need for fiction has replaced that for music. And though I’m not sure if anything will change, I think it’s nice to know and recognise ways that you’ve changed. It’s good to realize how you are different especially if you want to reclaim parts of your old self. So thank you, Adam Lambert for making me want to listen to music again.

Still Listening

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Still Listening

“They don’t know what it’s like to love one band,

one silly piece of music so much it hurts.” – Almost Famous

Sometimes I find it hard to believe they exist. I temporarily forget about the hours of love I’ve put into this band. I forget about how A Song To Sing was the first song I listened to when I got This Time Around. I forget that Underneath reminds me of developing photos in the dark toom at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

It’s nights like last night when I am going to see them as if it’s a regular occurrence that gets me. Nights when I stand there and it’s all so surreal. Instead of feeling the anticipation, I am confused because this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be instant friends and sing alongs in line. It’s supposed to be hours of excitement, necks craned to sneak a glance and endless wonderment. It’s supposed to be a group of my friends who know all the words, not me and my own doubt to memorize the new album.

The shows start off surreal in an odd mixture of familiarity and something else all together. Just before Isaac, Taylor and Zac appear, my excitement is at its highest. The moment the music begins to play I’ve forgotten how to breathe, I can’t stop smiling and the beat takes over. Everything comes rushing back in the form of cords and piano keys. I am at home, where I’m supposed to be.

I used to be so proud to shout it out, tell others that Hanson is my favourite band. I was happy and defensive, stubborn when I tried to convince you of their worth. Now I find myself trying to avoid announcing it to the work crew that Hanson is who I am going to see. It’s not that I’ve stopped caring, it’s that I’ve realized that no one else does. I can go without a round of co-workers singing Mmmbop terribly (and with the wrong words). This makes me feel like I’m harbouring a secret, indulging in a guilty pleasure, but it isn’t that at all.

It’s that Hanson is so ingrained in who I am, I don’t need to explain it to anyone else because they will not get it, even if I want them to. To them, Mmmbop it a long forgotten one hit wonder by boys who don’t exist anymore. It doesn’t matter though, because I’m still listening and that’s all that really does matter.