Monthly Archives: August 2013

My iPod #117: George Harrison – Blow Away

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A very recent addition to my iPod. I only put it on there for a few weeks ago. And with good reason.

From the posts I’ve done so far, it may seem that my favourite Beatle is George Harrison. I don’t know how many I’ve done, but I know I’ve covered far more songs by him compared to the other three. Don’t worry, other songs will come soon. There’s no denying that George Harrison was a pretty cool guy.

I was searching around for George Harrison songs on YouTube, and I saw “George Harrison – Blow Away” which has more than a million views. So I thought it must be good if it has that many views.

I listened to it, and like the many other times when I hear something for the first time… I didn’t think it was anything much. Then the chorus got into my head. Then I saw the lyrics, started to sing along to it, and realised that this may be the happiest song I’ve ever heard in my life. What is it about this song that made me repeat it on the way to the instrument shop to get my guitar fixed, and back home again? The song arrangement is simple with a verse-chorus-verse etc. thing going. I think it’s the melody – it’s just so lovely. This song is so good. It makes me cheer up so hard.

At first I thought the song was about the weather. The video only reinforced that idea. The whole weather imagery is just a metaphor for Harrison’s feelings. He was feeling down, and so he wrote the song to remind himself to be more optimistic.

“Blow Away” can be found on George Harrison’s self-titled album from 1979, the year in which he became a father.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #116: Green Day – Blood, Sex and Booze + GREAT NEWS

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I HAVE A UNI TO GO TO!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

I’m so happy.

I don’t know if I can write enough for today’s song. I might not be able to concentrate. Let’s do it.

 

Well, well, well. It’s Green Day.

It’s the year 2000. I am five years old. I have no clue who Green Day are at this point. The band on the other hand have their fair share of fans after gaining a lot of success during the nineties.

Then comes the twenty first century, and the rise of boybands. Everyone begins to love boy bands again. What can Green Day do to regain their status? Nothing much to be honest. They release their sixth album “Warning” which – however bleak the album cover may be – captures the band at their most sophisticated point, mixing their original punk style with more accessible melodies and a wider use of instruments.

That’s not apparent in “Blood, Sex and Booze”, which is probably the band’s sleaziest song to date. Well, the song’s not sleazy. The narrator describes their love for being dominated in the bed. That’s all. It’s not my favourite from the album, but it rocks pretty hard. It deserves its place on my iPod.

I can’t write any more. I can’t think of anything to say.

If I have any British followers who also got their results today and got their places… CONGRATULATIONS. I’m happy for you.

Celebrate good times.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #115: Hope of the States – Blood Meridian

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This song has an actual music video, but it appears to have been banished from the Internet. At least in my country, anyway.

The single was an exclusive on MTV2. I remember, the video would come on and then a banner at the top had a message along the lines of: ‘Hope of the States are back with their brand new song “Blood Meridian”. Watch this exclusive new video.’ Something like that. It made them sound like this really important band that had been gone for ages. I had never heard of them though.

The music video is weird too. It’s made to be set in a Russian-esque type factory, and a lady lip-syncs over the words. That’s about it. So I still didn’t know what the band looked like. That was until they released the next single, “Sing It Out”, which shows the band being electrocuted whilst playing their instruments. I like that song too.

The lyrics to “Blood Meridian” remind me of a film that I’ve seen, or a book. Lyrics like “emergency, emergency, someone acted honestly, we should beat ’em up, lock ’em up and throw away the key’ seem really familiar. Almost like it’s happened in real life. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Listen to the song. See if you like it.

What’s happened to Hope of the States? They released their last single, and then split up. All in 2006.

It’s exam results day tomorrow, so good luck me.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #114: Editors – Blood

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I’ve contemplated on whether I should keep this song on here. “Blood” is an alright song, but I don’t really like Editors anymore. I wasn’t a big fan of them in the first place. Their singles are pretty good, but there was nothing that appealing about the band that made want to listen to all of their albums or whatever.

“Blood” was released as a single from the band’s debut album “The Back Room” in 2005, the year that all these ‘post-punk revival’/’indie’ bands started releasing new music. It was an exciting time. I think the first song I heard by Editors – this may apply for many other fans too – was “Munich”, which has become to be the band’s most notable song. They released that song once in 2005, and then again in 2006. It only took two releases, but the band got their first top-ten single.

The band did the same thing with Blood, only it didn’t do so well the second time reaching 39 when a year earlier it got to 18 the year before. Chart positions are not the main focus though. The main priority is to tell you why I like this song.

Well, one thing is that sound that the lead guitarist Chris Urbanowicz gets on his instrument. It’s got one similar to a police siren, and is used throughout their first album and their follow up “An End Has a Start”. He left the band this year. The chorus is probably the best part of the song, I’ve always wondered about the way Tom Smith pronounces veins. To me it sounds like “venes” as in ‘jeans’ or ‘genes’, I guess the actual way it said wouldn’t have sounded that good.

If you want to find out more about Editors, search them up on Wikipedia and listen to their stuff on YouTube.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #113: Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop

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What do I think of when I listen to this song…. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3…… that’s about it.

Yeah, “Blitzkrieg Bop” was another tune that would play on my PS2 weekends when I would spend most of the two days on the console playing FIFA and other games. What made it stand out from so many other songs on the soundtrack – I’ve said how good the soundtrack is already – was how simple it sounded.

It’s got a very noticeable riff which repeats throughout the song and the whole thing is based around only four chords. I didn’t know any of the lyrics though, the only ones I made easily made out was the “AI OH LET’S GO” chant and when the lead singer says the song title. The rest of the time I could only mimic the way Joey Ramone sang.

It was later on when I actually bothered to look up the lyrics. It was at that time that I realised the line “shoot ’em in the back’ was censored in the game. My Year 4 studies had taught all about the ‘blitzkrieg’ and what it’s significance was, so I assumed that the song was just a description of a scene when the ‘blitzkrieg’ was happening. The song’s meaning is vague apparently, so I won’t go much into it.

I tried to get into Ramones. I listened to “Teenage Lobotomy” once, and one of my friends thought “I Wanna Be Sedated” was the most awesome song. They are cool. Ramones’ debut album is very good too, even if it finishes under half an hour. “Blitzkrieg” is good enough for me though.

Ramones apparently founded punk rock and every fan who loves that genre is very happy for that, including me. They are a very important band. Most of their original members have passed which is a shame. Their music and their name still lives on.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.