Have Life, Heart and Soul Come Back to Music?

Music. Haven’t liked any new music for so long, the folks at my office are generally too young to recognize what I had playing. That isn’t always a bad thing, the “children” didn’t like most of it, so if I wanted peace and quiet, I could just play the most “objectionable” stuff I had and be assured they would stay away.

Couldn’t even tell you what music had been lacking. Until recently, that is. I think I finally figured it out. It was missing the 60's and 70's introspection and soul searching. Remember the “protest” songs, the questioning songs? The ones that made you think? The ones that talked about those difficult relationships? That questioned society? The ones that talked about wanting to reach for something bigger, better?

Maybe it’s just me, maybe that kind of music has been out there all the time, but I haven’t seen it until recently. Found it with some more obscure artists. Or maybe it’s just that the United States audience has been a little slower in noticing some of them. The following are three artists that have brought magic back to music for me. Here are snippets of some lyrics:

First, a guy named Ferras, originally from Gillespie, Illinois, of all places. Who knew talent like this was a stone’s throw from the Zibby’s place in Benld? It’s an interesting story, he was kidnaped by his father and taken to Amman Jordan, his father’s homeland. Ferras’ mother eventually brought him back to the U.S. Now he is in L.A., putting some awesome music out there.

Aliens and Rainbows is the title track to his album:

I never really made it to the human that you wanted me to be
The glamour parade night after night wasn't me
I would rather be alone with aliens and rainbows
On the other side of the universe

Do you remember that time in your life when you didn’t fit in, when you felt you couldn’t be “cool” enough, wouldn’t be accepted? That you could never be one of the “beautiful people?” Did you feel like you would be better off, happier, with aliens? I remember those days.

Hollywood’s Not America

Born Helena Jane with a restless soul
She moved west to California, became a center-fold
But once you change your name, well the pieces fall
Now she hardly recognizes herself at all

And there’s never any rain, when you want it
A hollow little game, and you’ve won it
Looking for a thrill but you’ve done it all

So long, put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America
So long put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America

Trying to be something you aren’t? Willing to sacrifice self for some shallow game? To become a parody of yourself? The advice seems to be, be true to yourself.

Everybody Bleeds the Same

If it's fear that you feel
The fear exists
On a larger scale
Spin the world and stop it still
Anywhere you land
Anyone you kill
You are gonna find that

Everybody bleeds the same
Everybody feels the same
And the preachers preach
And they write it all down
Like they know
But the secret is
Everybody bleeds the same

This one would have fit in well with the civil rights movement. Or maybe it fits right in with the current struggles for equality. It certainly would have been the anthem for my college days.

Dear God

Dear God, listen up
I have to ask you a question
I can't hear, I think you're breaking up
I need a clearer connection

And God, are you listening
And God, are you even there

Now answer this if you really exist
Why do I have to deal with all this bullshit
What did I ever do, can I make it up to you
If you're so full of grace
Then send it on down

Don’t look like that. You know darn well you have thought it at least once in the past six months. I know I have. A great questioning/challenging song.

Next is Sam Sparro, originally from Australia. They apparently have talent there! Moved to the U.S. as a kid, got started singing gospel-type music. Trying to classify his genre is a little difficult. He has soul, rhythm, a sense of humor, and great pipes. His range is amazing. From his self-titled album:

Pocket
If you stand tall with your back to the door
Then it's your own fault when you get knocked to the floor

And if you don't know that by now
Then I feel quite sorry for you
I'm sorry for you
The people that you keep around
You learn from them
And they learn from you

So keep your friends close
And your enemies in your pocket

Pocket has so many good lyrics, it was hard to choose a snippet. It’s an always timely reminder of the old adage.

Black And Gold

If the fish swam out of the ocean
And grew legs and they started walking
And the apes climbed down from the trees
And grew tall and they started talking
And the stars fell out of the sky
And my tears rolled into the ocean
And now I'm looking for a reason why
You even set my world into motion

'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
That it's all just a bunch of matter
'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold

Written while looking at the night sky, contemplating the existence of God.

21st Century Life

When I was a little boy
Living in the last century
I thought about living in the future
Then it occurred to me
I turned around, the future was now
The future was all around me
Nothing like I had imagined
It was totally confounding

21st century life
I got swept away
I got 21,000 things that I got to do today
21st century life
Well what can I say?
The new world's got me feeling so dirty
Think I need to get down and pray

I have met the future, and it is now?

Too Many Questions

My coffee is cold, and yesterday is stuck with me
And I can't wake up from my sleep
I feel like a grain of salt in the shaker
But the day that I meet my maker
Or the day that I see my undertaker, ya see...

All I have is too many questions
Is there something someone forgot to mention to me
But I walk on with out hesitation
To my unknown own destination
With the music like syncopation
And explore my own imagi...nation

Oh, yeah, I have lots of questions. And never enough answers. Are you keeping a list for when/if you meet God? I am.

Last, but certainly not least, a guy named Cassidy Haley. A California native. He has some music on iTunes, and we all know how I hate iTunes. (If you don’t, that’s a whole other topic.) I like his music well enough, I had to forego my boycott of iTunes to buy it. He is one of those introspective types, writes and sings about events in his life, things that move him. He would have fit in well at college with us. His story is also very interesting. Has been a circus performer, was with Hari Krishnas in Kentucky for a time, was a stripper, and is a partner in a design house/retail store in Los Angeles. Adam Lambert (the guy from American Idol) sent out a Twitter message to his followers about checking out Cassidy’s first music video, and Cassidy's album on iTunes shot to #3 in electronic music. I hope he is on his way to a very successful recording career. His first album on iTunes is titled Little Boys and Dinosaurs:

Burn

We go where the night wind blows
Across the desert sky
Into the flames that burn us down
We carry us on high
Burn through the flesh and bones
But leave behind this ancient soul
Leave those naked wounds exposed
Tonight we are reborn

The baggage we all carry, would it be possible to burn it all away and start over? To pursue what would truly make us happy?

Daylight Breaks

Daylight breaks
And I will watch it rise
I spent the night tryin’ to run away
But I just can’t leave this behind

‘Cause I’ve been building, I’ve been building
I’ve been building some kind of life
But I’d leave it all behind
Just to be with you

One of those “seeking the elusive love” songs. God knows, we have all been there.

Then there is Fly

And all my dreams have faded now
And time is slipping by
If this is the end, the end
Well I can not let it die

And I’m reaching out
Holding out
Crying out
For a little part of me
Just a little part of me
That’s not afraid to fly

Encouragement to seek the part of ourselves that wants to follow a dream. I’m still thinking I should pick a dream to follow. We never outgrow that. I hope we don’t.

Midnight Sun

Somewhere
There is a diamond in this coal
I just can’t see it anymore
Seen so much heartache
Struggling so deep
Seen this reality slip beneath the dream

There is a diamond, that shining talent, in everyone, but do we always look beneath the surface to find it? Is it always recognized, does anyone really care?

Little Boys and Dinosaurs

I know it’s time
For me to go
I’ve played all my cards
Laid them out on the floor
And now, I’ve got nothing more to lose

Once I was a man,
Of this I’m sure
But he was taken by the child
How fitting that these children’s games
Are the very last thing he’ll have of me

I’m heading out
So far away
Where that scared little boy
Will never find me
I’m heading out
Anywhere but here
Gonna go the way of the dinosaurs and the unicorns
And just disappear

That scared, sometimes scarred, child that lives inside.

If you want to listen to them, you can find them on YouTube. Cassidy has a series of acoustic videos of his songs on YouTube, as well as professionally done music videos of two songs from the album.

All three are amazing, and I thank them for bringing magic back to music for me!