Day 13: A song that is a guilty pleasure

I generally try not to feel bad about any of the music I like but there is some that I definitely feel loses me a lot of man points. One such song... is everything by Kelly Clarkson. I might as well bedazzle my vajazzle because you don't get more femme than miss Clarkson. Don't get me wrong, she's a fantastic singer but most men don't admit to listening to her.

One song that I happen to love by Kelly is the live version of Beautiful Disaster. Holy fuck does that woman have some pipes! And the lyrics are perfect. There are so many times in my life where this song has fit my life to a T.

This song is a perfect example of a song that is much better as an acoustic song than the original. The original version is... meh. Not such a fan of it. The music and the lyrics don't really match up. You can't really feel the emotion that you do in the live version. I feel the same way about every cover of "Umbrella" that's ever been done; they're MUCH better than the original.

Day 12: A song from a band you hate

Does it have to be by a band? No? Okay, sweet! "Baby" by Justin Bieber is my choice, then. This song is... awful. I actually haven't heard it the full way through nor do I have any plans to change that. The first time I heard it was on TV while I was in a different room and I was like... Who is this horrible woman singing? Then I entered the room and say the TV was like... Who is this horrible LESBIAN singing? Then I found out who it was and I was horrified that such an awful musician (if you can call him that... I hear he doesn't write his own music... -.-) was selling millions of records and making little girls' jinies tingle.

The worst part isn't his horrible music; it's his fans. They're insane. Like... legitimately insane. They sent death threats to one of the Kardashians when she was spotted with Justin and he was into. Come on, girls, let's be honest: Were you not expecting that? I think the Kardashians are a bunch of pseudo-celebrities but even I'll acknowledge that they're fine as hell. And most of you are either 12 and wear glasses/are over weight or give a whole new meaning to the term "cougar" (in that you're 50 and not still hot and lusting after a 12 year old boy). Add on your creepy and blatant mental illness/stalking of him and it's pretty goddamn obvious that he'd of after one of the Kardashians.

What's worse is how disrespectful you are in times of world crisis. When Haiti was happening you insisted on making fag boy a TT on Twitter? NOT COOL. Hundreds of thousands of people died and you're just like, "Tee hee! Let's ignore the world crisis and talk about some shitty pop star!" There are more important things than him, got it? You don't see me tweeting about No Doubt or Metric when there's a major world event going on, do you? No. So grow the fuck up. I realize you're mainly 10 year olds or old women with the mental capacity of a 10 year old but seriously, didn't your parents teach you better?

Overall, I'm really disappointed with these new pop stars lately and it's not because I'm one of those people who thinks all new music is shit and that the Beatles are the only good band to ever exist or anything like that... It's that they are genuinely awful. Ke$hit? Beaver? Taylor Swift, who can't carry a tune live? These are the best that music has to offer? Wow. Kinda sad. I guess that I have the attitude that musicians should be able to, you know, sing or play an instrument well but I guess I'm the only one. We'd rather have someone who looks good... or a Canadian lesbian with a sideswiped haircut.

Day 11: A song from your favorite band

I realize I've been kinda skimping on the blog post the last few days; while I have been doing them, they haven't been very long and were kind of rushed. I've been hella stressed from jury duty and haven't exactly had enough time to write long, extensive blogs.

As many of you know, I consider both No Doubt and Metric to be my favorite band and use them interchangeably seeing as I'm pretty goddamn obsessed with them. I have already written a heartfelt blog about Metric, however, so today's blog goes to No Doubt (although I'd probably write about them anyway).

The song I chose for today is "Simple Kind of Life" because this song was what originally sparked my obsession though I really didn't know it at the time. When I was younger, going to my grandma's house was a treat for many reasons one of which happened to be that she had cable when we didn't at home. I stuck mainly to Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network as most 10 year olds would but I had been hearing about this station called MTV from some of my more badass peers. Wanting to be one of the cool kids, I felt the need to check it out. One day when my parents and grandparents were out of the room I flipped through channels until I found MTV. I was enthralled by all the weird ass people who were apparently among America's coolest.

The show that happened to be on was TRL. Remember that show? People would call in or go online or use carrier pigeons to vote for their favorite videos and then they'd countdown the top 10. They wouldn't play the whole video, however, just part of it with the occasional shot of an audience member making a shout out and screaming, "WOOOOOO!!!" After some babble and shots of some beautifully robotic people, they decided to play the first video. I was perplexed by the video they showed. I wondered who the strange, pink haired woman was running around smashing wedding cakes...



Little did I know that someday that bizarre pink haired woman would be tattooed on my leg. I watched the whole thing but decided that, no matter how much I liked the song, I couldn't listen to it yet because it was "adult music" and I was only 10 (I was a weird child, don't judge me) so I didn't look much into it but that video stuck with me. Shortly thereafter, I entered a phase where I literally didn't listen to music for a few years. Ironic considering how I am now, I know.

Eventually, I got over my no music phase but it took a few years. As soon as I did, one of the first bands I got into was No Doubt and it didn't take me long to become obsessed because they're just that great. I can't even begin to describe how much this band has meant to me. Their music has gotten me through so much and I've met so many wonderful people because of them. I can't imagine life without them. It would be... awful.

Day 10: A song that makes you fall asleep

I'm one of those people who needs complete and total silence to fall asleep so there really isn't a song that makes me fall asleep to. However, there are some songs that are better to fall asleep to than others. One of the better songs happens to be "Winning" by Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Emily has an AMAZING voice. Normally, with Metric, she sticks to harder, more rock style music. In her solo music, on the other hand, she had the chance to show off just how beautiful her voice is with a bunch of slower piano music. This song is incredible and features of of Emily's amazing lyrics.

On the topic of sleep, sleep is one of my favorite things ever. I wouldn't mind being in a coma... as long as I wasn't secretly conscious and just couldn't express myself. Cause that'd suck. And not being able to shower would suck to cause I'd staaaaank. Anyway, off the topic of comas and into regular sleep... It seems no matter how much I sleep, I'm always tired and I always want more. Perhaps I'm lazy. Or I just have really weird sleep needs. Or I'm dying... Hopefully not that last one o.O

Also: This song isn't on the site I make my playlists on so I put another song by Em on there. Here's a video of it live, though.

Day 9: A song that you can dance to

I use the term "dance" very liberally.

I can't dance to any music but "Hurt You" by the Sounds makes me want to try. The funky electronic beat is super catchy and the vocals are perfect... I love when there are both male and female vocals. My favorite line is, "Don't want to hurt you, try not to fuck with your feelings..."

Day 8: A song that you know all the words to

I could've chosen many songs for today's blog because I spend more time memorizing song lyrics than I do pretty much anything else, including studying. If only No Doubt would come out with an album about genetics... Anyway, the song I ultimate chose is "Bathwater" by No Doubt. I've been looking for a reason to write about this song and today seemed like a good day to do so.

"Bathwater" is one of my favorite songs ever. It's really quirky and not like any other song I can think of. I love the constant beat and the trumpets. Gwen sounds really old school and the song has a kind of... burlesque feel, for lack of a word to describe it. Interesting fact about this song: It was written the night before it was recorded in like 10 minutes. How awesome is that?

Probably my favorite thing about this is song is the video for it. Have a watch below. Can you spot Adrian dressed in drag? =)

Day 7: A song that reminds you of a certain event

FYI: I added the playlist that was on the first post to the right side of my blog. Have a listen to the songs I've been writing about!

I know this song has lot of special meaning to many people, but to me, "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan holds something different for me. Most people associate it with that sad puppy commercial, and let's be honest, I do too, but more than that it reminds me of something that happened when I was in 7th grade.

Every New Years since I was little, my family has had a tradition where we invite some family friends over and they spend a night or two here celebrating. The year I was in 7th grade was no exception. New Years day my friend, Tara, and I were up late watching TV when my brother came into the room and asked, "Joe, do you know Jessica Mayer at all?" I said that yes, I did just not very well. We had band and gym together, though, and her locker was right next to mine. I asked him why he wanted to know and he said he was just wondering so I brushed it off.

The next morning, I was playing Beyond Good and Evil on my Gamecube when my mom came into the room and told me to turn it off because she had something she needed to tell me. I asked if I could just pause it and she said that no, I needed to turn it off and come sit down at the kitchen table. I did as I was told and she began to tell me something that would change my life forever.

The night before, Jessica and her two sisters were driving to the bachelorette party for their brother's wedding when they were involved in a car accident. Jessica was killed instantly and her sisters did not survive much longer. This was my first real encounter with death. I had pets that had died in the past but this was the first time that a person I knew had died.

A few days later winter break ended and we returned to school, not knowing how everyone would be reacting. I came into school and everyone was tying white ribbon on the locks of their lockers and Jessica's locker had a picture of her up on it. People were sitting in the halls and classrooms talking to each other, crying, hugging... each one trying to make sense of what had happened. We talked about it in every class that day (except math... our math teacher still tried to teach us a lesson but we were honestly too upset to really comprehend it). Teachers cried. The one that has stuck with me most was my band teacher crying... Actually, pretty much everyone in that class cried. Some were just paralyzed and sat in silence. In gym, we just sat in groups and talked about what happened. None of us could believe that Jessica was really gone.

The moment that it really hit me the most was the end of the day when I went to my locker to get my things and head home. Normally, Jessica would be there smiling and ask me what homework we had but not today or ever again, for that matter. It was strange how something so little was what affected me the most. It really made me stop to think about the little things in life and how I shouldn't take anything, or anyone, for granted.

By now you're probably thinking, "Okay Joey, that's really sad but what does this have to do with the sad puppy song?" Well, I'm getting there. Don't get your panties in a bunch.

Fast forward a week or two. Jessica's funeral, my first funeral, had come and gone, with 90% of the 7th grade class along with most of the St. Anthony Middle School staff attending. It was now time for everyone's favorite awkward middle school event, the Friday night dance (or, the P.C. version that my middle school referred to it as, the "activity night"). You know that anything starting at 7 and ending at 11 is going to be a GOOD TIME especially when coupled with a bunch of hormonal pre-teens who were just discovering the magic of grinding.

During this dance, however, something different happened, something profound that's memory still lingers with me to this day. After the DJ got done playing "Get Low" or some other raunchy generic rap hit of 2003, he stopped the music and said, "Okay guys, we're going to slow it down for one song. We'd like to dedicate this song to Jessica Mayer. We'll never forget you, Jess." And he was right; we never have.

The song he played was "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan (bet you didn't see that one coming!!!). At first, everyone just kind of stared at each other. None of us knew what to do. Then, slowly, people began to sit down. Soon everyone was sitting down and many of them, including myself, were crying. I had never heard this song before but it seemed to so perfectly fit the situation we were in. It was encouraging to see everyone, even complete strangers who had never spoken to Jessica, being so respectful and mourning such a loss with us.

Now, every time I hear this song I am reminded of that cold January night and, more importantly, of what Jessica's death taught us all: Be grateful for the simple things because you never know when they'll be gone. Take the time to appreciate those around you, no matter how well you know them, because they may not be in your life much longer. And, most of all, live your life the way you want to, never wasting even a single day, because you never know when it'll all be over.