Cinderella

Cinderella Is a song by Curtis Chapman. This song means a lot to me in that it is one of mine and my dad's song. in this post i am not really going to be focusing on the music aspect but more of an emotional aspect.

My dad and me have an amazing relationship. I love my dad more than anything really, and i honestly do not know what i would do without him, he helps me with everything and he is my hero. I tell him EVERYTHING. My dad is so special to me because he is always here for me, and he is honestly the best man that i have ever met and i have the most respect for him in the world. Though me and my mom do not have the best relationship my me and my dads relationship really makes up for it.

This song by Curtis Chapman is a song that my dad heard one day when he was driving around town and he figured out the name of it and showed it to me. He explained that as soon as he heard it it reminded him of me, about how he feels about us, about how i have grown up way to fast and that he knows someday he will soon have to let me go. This song is a perfect example of all that my father explained. The song starts with a little girl playing Cinderella and asking her dad to teach her how to dance for when her prince comes, so he dances with her (me and my dad used to dance as if we were at a ball all the time.) As the girl in the song grows up she goes to dances, and asks her dad to help her with her dancing, and as the song ends its him and his daughter dancing on her wedding day as he gives her away to her "prince" and it is a perfect song to sum up a father daughter relationship.

My dad is my world, and he taught me how to dance as well, but we both know that someday he will have to give me up, so while we still can we never forget about the important times that we need to spend together as a family.

In my family songs are used to express feelings, with each of my immediate family members we all have a song, my moms and mine is All Of My Love by Led Zeppelin, my dad and i have 3, My Girl by the temptations, My Dads Gone Crazy by Eminem, and Cinderella by Curtis Chapman, and finally my sister and my song is by Alanis Morrisette. My sister also has songs with my parents, for her and my father it is Happy Together by The Turtles, and hers and my moms song is Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. Songs can sum up not only a feeling, but an entire relationship, and this to me is incredible, songs arent just things to get stuck in your head because they are catchy, but they tell stories, a lot of the time they tell the same story, but the sound of the music can change the mood, and depending on your mood, the song can change its meaning, and the story's purpose can be completely different than it will be the next time you hear it. Music is incredible

Little kids cover for tool

tool cover. This song is an amazing song. i encourage you to look up the original and than listen to this cover. These little kids, around the age or 10 all get together to do a cover of the song 46 and 2 by the band Tool. They do such an amazing job that it actually gave me goose bumps. This song was amazing to begin with and these kids took their talents and turned it into something beautiful. I am not saying that it’s not beautiful when tool preforms it, as it is as well, but it is very different. these kids hit every note, but they add something to it, there are added instruments, there is soul (something you do not expect form kids these age) which i think is the big thing; you really do not expect these kids to do so amazingly.

The fact that these kids did a tool cover really gives me faith in the future music that the next generation (their generation) gets involved with. I am glad to know that some parents are informing them about what good music really is. The point however of this post is not to bash on kids and their music today. The point of this post is simply to praise the talent of these young kids, to show you this video so that you can sit in awe at the pure raw talent that each and everyone of these kids have.

I praise not only the kids who preform in this song, but also their parents, and their music teacher, they are all so incredible. They have amazing talents that their teacher taught them to express, and their parents helped to make sure that they did not waste their talents on unimportant things in music, such as SOME of the music today that young kids their age are listening to. Please inform your kids of good music, please inform them that they have some ability to play good music, let your kids have the option to try music, because they will never know if they have the talent unless they try.

In This Moment

I don't know much about this band, but the main purpose it to show you how amazing the voice can be in music. How much a singer can change their voice. Maria Brink is a perfect example of this. Honestly the first song that i heard by In this moment was called Blood the first place i heard this song was on the radio, i honestly didn't really like this song, ( i still don't) but i decided to look In This Moment up, to see what else they had to offer, to see what other songs they had knowing id find at least one that i happened to like. What i found was really interesting, i like pretty much all of their other songs. When i looked up the lyrics to the song Blood i actually decided that i like the lyrics as well, so i tried to see if i could find an acoustic version, and i was impressed by this. I love the acoustic version and it is very different than the original. take a look for yourself blood acoustic. Maria has an amazing talent, not only can she scream, but she can sing amazingly she has a beautiful voice and a wide range. The song that i happen to like the most is very interesting, its called Whore  when i first heard it Maria sounds like a male screamer, showing how talented she is. She can go from calm and beautiful, sounding very elegant, to screaming/singing like a women, to scream/singing like a male almost. Not only does her voice interest me the bands lyrics are amazing. they make me interested and i honestly am looking forward to the next time that they are in town so that i can go see them live. take a closer look at bands even if the first song you hear is one you dont like, you might find something amazing.

Music in society

Im going to use this post for a little bit of a rant. I'm going to post about music in society (as you see in the post title). Our society seems to be a little obsessed with the media, when i say a little i really mean a lot. Our society is so obsessed with the media, that things that are posted dont seem to be just about news, politics, etc, its also about actor, and music, etc. These topics are all talked about daily but the problem is that they are all put in the same type of categories. So when you log on to your news site, weather it be cnn, yahoo, or whatever, there is always the option of choosing topics that are all headlined right next to each other, you get things like "Obama Care website problems" and headlined right next to it will be something about a famous person that is some nonsense that we for some reason seem to be obsessed with.

The problem with us being so obsessed with this nonsense about these famous actors or artists is that we choose this topic over the politic topics, because it sounds more interesting, because it isnt boring, because the writer draws your attention in with some crazy title. We eventually forget about the politics topic, we become more uneducated about what is happening to our nations, but we know everything that is going on in Miley Cyrus' life, we know whats new with the Kardashians, we know what is going on with the famous people that we love so much. We know what band is going on tour when, and with who, but what teenagers really should be learning isn't about these famous people, they should be learning how to understand, and research what it is that's going on around them.

Dont get me wrong, im not saying that its wrong to know about famous people (my whole blog is to inform people about famous artists and music), im not saying that you cant research whats going on in your favorite actors, or musicians life, but there comes a point where its a little crazy, when you know more about them than politics in our country, you've become uneducated on important topics. This is coming from someone who is obsessed with music, i am obsessed with learning about my favorite artists, knowing when theyre coming into town to see them live, knowing just about everything there is to know about Pink Floyd, i read books about musicians, weather it be autobiographies, biographies, or just simply a post about good bands or anything music related, but i also am educated on politics, i know what is going on around me, in this Nation.

I love music, probably more than most people, i listen to music probably about 20 hours a day, I love to learn about music more than any other topic in the world. I click on the famous people headline before the politics one, but the important thing is clicking the politics one too. So please help our nation, become more educated on things around us, learn about politics as well as famous people, help our society become educated.

Taylor Swift

For all of you that like Taylor Swift, I'm sorry. I'm going to kind of bash on her a little bit. I understand that Taylor Swift is a well-liked Artist throughout the U.S. however I don't understand why. I mean she does have a few good songs, but most of them are pretty much the same, they’re mostly about break ups. I honestly sometimes think that she may be a little crazy.... When she writes a break up song they all seem to be about how amazing she is and how horrible her new ex is.

 

In one of her songs (mean) I feel like I could have written a song like that when I was in like 3rd grade. Now I don't mean to sound like a critic, I don't really mean to bash on her so much, the main point of this post is actually about that fact that because of the radio, and media, people show artist one hit wonders and don't show their full artistic ability. Because when a teenager hears a song that's upbeat and catchy they automatically like it and show all of their friends, who show their friends, ect. When friends show friends the song becomes popular and in order to make sure each station stays popular they play popular songs.

 

            Because they only play the popular songs by each artist you don’t get to experience their whole artistic ability. Taylor Swift is a perfect example of this. Because of her breakup songs always being on the radio most people don’t know of the fact that she actually does have some artistic ability that doesn’t involve a breakup. There is a song called Safe and Sound, it’s actually really good. Listening to it I understand that it really sucks that a lot of people are very uneducated on a lot of different music. I encourage you to listen to more than a few songs by a few of your favorite artists, look at their range of talent and see if you actually like all of their stuff. don't just listen to what you hear on the radio, because it can really surprise you, the amount of talent that musicians really have.

Silence

Sometimes, its not about the music, sometimes its about the silence. Have you ever just sat there in complete silence, just to relax? no noise at all, just complete silence. To me this silence is amazing, its just as amazing as music. Its amazing how loud it truly seems to be. Im not sure if it happens to be just me, but i can sit in a silent room and its like my ears are almost screaming, just waiting for a sound, any sound, trying so hard just to hear, and for that moment its so beautiful no to hear. Silence is like music.

In symphonies, There are strategically placed silences throughout the song, Some are placed for your anticipation, and others are to give you that few seconds to register what it is that you just heard. Silence is even in music. Silence is extremely important, weather we realize it or not. Silence gives us a moment to register, it gives us time to think.

If you're at all like i used to be, then you hate silence, you have to constantly have noise, weather your actually listening to it or not, there always has to be an option of noise, something that your ears are able to focus on if need be. I used to be exactly like that, i hated silence. One day i just couldn't stand anything, i just needed time for myself, so i of course went to my music. I plugged my noise canceling headphones in, put them over my ears and hit play. I eventually drifted off to sleep, when i woke up, i noticed that my music had stopped, but i kept my headphones in and stayed still in bed. I realized that i literally could not hear a thing. I could feel the ground moving from what i assumed was my dogs wrestling in the next to mine, but i couldn't hear it. I could only hear the obnoxiously loud silence.

Sometimes the moods not right.

As i am sitting in my bed, with my laptop in my lap (of course) i was brainstorming a bunch of different ideas about what song i should write about this week, about what instrument, what band, or even what type of music. The thing is, I came up empty handed. This week i have been super busy, running around and around, with work and school, and family issues i barley have time to sit and think, to just take a breather, just for a few minutes for myself.

There are moments, similar to the one im having now, where music doesn't fit your mood. I never really took the time to realize that there is a mood that is connected to no being in a music mood, for me its busy. There is no song, no band, no genera of music that can work for me right now. Music for me is always in the background, its always around me and no matter what, free time or no there is music being played for my liking, however sometimes, even though its playing, im not always listening. Sometimes its not even background noise, i completely tune it out. My mood doesnt fit it, im to focused on other things, like work, family, and school, there is just simply this thought, that you know what? music doesn't fit right now. I never realized this could happen, as someone who has always had music around me, as i love music so much, i never stopped to think about how even though its playing, im not always listening.

Rap

Why pretend by Erin Cork

No soothing sounds come from this noise,

Music? This is not music. its obnoxious, it’s horrible, it’s no good, it’s noise,

You like it just because they do you don’t even understand it,

This crap is not music; it shakes your car as you have it blasting so loud that the neighbors wake up

You dance nastily to it like its ok to be acting sexually in public

The nasty sound encouraging your nasty behavior.

 

Tribal chanting to the rhythm of a synthesized beat, thank you Webster

The beat is loud, it shakes your body while you sit on the bass

The words are vulgar, annoying, degrading, said over and over

The artist speaks in circles, He’s Redundant

 Ignorant in his influence

 

It sounds good to you because it sounds good to them, you follow them around

You do everything they do; you let her slutty body grind against you

As this horrid sound plays around you

You chant along to the awful noise, you call it singing?

Why! Why do you like it!?

The real answer is, you don’t, they do, so why pretend that you do too?

Stop pretending, stop chanting, stop making noise to make noise, stop being ignorant

Stop following people that could care less, and stop listening to this crap they call music

 

 

 

Many people (older people) think that rap is just about sex and degrading things, but the thing is, is that if you listen to the right song then it’s not about that. Take Eminem for instance, he does have songs about sex, he cusses a lot, however a lot of his music is about real things, if you take the time to actually listen to the song, or music, you will actually hear that there is a story written in their lyrics. Rap is (I feel) the closest type of music to poetry. I am not saying that I don't agree that there is a lot of rap that is horrible and degrading filled with crap. A couple of years ago I never listened to rap, I hated it, I had a whole poem (for poetry class) that was talking about my discus with pop and rap (the one in the begging of this post), however I feel like if you are exposed to the right type you will always find at least one artist or song that you enjoy in each genera.

After reading this poem again (years later) I realized that I was both right and wrong. I was right in that people do let other people’s opinions of music affect theirs, and that a lot of pop and rap music does influence naughty dancing. I was wrong in that all rap and pop music is bad. I was also wrong in that the music is their only influence for dancing like that, it’s the 21^st century, that is what we do.

 

A majority of people enjoy music, it may not all be the same, and there are some people who arent as passionate about it is others, and there are even some people who dont really like it at all. I however do feel like everyone at one time or another has come to appreciate music in some way.

Bringing people together

A majority of people enjoy music, it may not all be the same, and there are some people who arent as passionate about it is others, and there are even some people who dont really like it at all. I however do feel like everyone at one time or another has come to appreciate music in some way.

In calls today we watched this video, it was this flash mod, but instead of the dancing and things most people think of it was a live orchestra with a choir and and drums and everything. I feel like it was rather amazing. Although they played Oh To Joy, a commonly known song, that may not be very popular in that its probably definitely not in a lot of peoples phones or other music playing devices, everyone seemed to gather around just to watch and listen to the beautiful music. Its really pretty simple, and amazing how music (even if not everyone's preferred taste) can bring people together.

As these different instruments came together, more and more seemed to come out and play together, as this happened more and more people came to join the crowd to watch in awe. It was rather impressing. I have always been a huge fan of music, and i have always been amazed at what it does for me. It can make me feel every feeling there is, it can reflect my feelings exactly, it can tell a story, it entertains me for hours! I could listen to music all day long if the world would let me. I feel that the more eclectic your taste is in music the more you seem to appreciate it. Music to me is life, its poetry and its (generally) beautifully written. Within each song there is a story, and the thing i love about it its there is so much power in the story that it can reflect so many feelings, not even just with lyrics, but with all of the music involved in the song. People can connect with music, there is a mutual understanding between two people who like the same kind of music. It gives us something to communicate about, and it gives us all a way to connect on a higher level.

Be yourself

Be Yourself by Audioslave is another one of my all time favorite songs. its really pretty simple on its meaning. This song is a great pick me up song and it always helps me when im having a rough song. When i was younger i would listen to this song religiously and i just started listening to audioslave again for the past few weeks.

This amazing song is really pretty simple. It is meaning to say that no matter what happens, what you go though, all you can do is be yourself. Don't let the past kick your A$$ and don't let others put you down. Look forward and keep your head up. Don't change who you are just to fit in, or just to make others happy, because in the end something will end up going wrong and the true you will come out. Everyone in is different in their own way and some deal with things differently. Don't beat yourself up, just be yourself, because its all that you can do.


With this song, I just want people to listen to it. Its an amazing song, and it always makes me feel better after a long day. Read the lyrics if you want. But honestly just listen to it. Its phenomenal. I hope it makes you feel better after that hard day. (The video is linked above and lyrics bellow)



Someone falls to pieces
Sleeping all alone
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
She finally drift away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
Catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave

And be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

Someone finds salvation in everyone
Another only pain
Someone tries to hide themself
Down inside himself he prays
Someone swears their true love
Until the end of time
Another runs away
separate or united?
Healthy or insane?

And be yourself is all that you can do (all that you can do)
To be yourself is all that you can do (all that you can do)
To be yourself is all that you can do (all that you can do)
Be yourself is all that you can do

Even when you've paid enough
Been pulled apart
Or been held up
Every single memory of
The good or bad, faces of love
Don't lose any sleep tonight
I'm sure everything will end up alright
You may win or lose

But to be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do (all that you can do)
To be yourself is all that you can do (all that you can do)
To be yourself is all that you can
Be yourself is all that you can
Be yourself is all that you can do

Just Breathe

My favorite song of all time is a song called Just Breathe by Pearl Jam. This song has gotten me through some many hard times, however there is a lot of debate about what the song means. A lot of people play this song at there weddings as a love song, others find this song as a song that should be played at a funeral of a loved one. there are many interpretations of this song.

I understand where both parties are concerned. I understand how it is a love song, as well as i understand that this song is about loss, the song is definitely expressing love for someone though out the whole song,  however i think that the real confusion in the song (weather its for death) is in the very first line "Yes, i understand that every life must end, uh-huh, As we sit along i know someday we must go, uh-huh," To me this isn't talking about death, to me this means that eventually we do die, and because of this we should appreciate (at the end of the day) what it is that we have... Life is hard, but when you have people that you love (even when you know that eventually you guys will die) its easier to just sit there, and well just breathe.

This song is an amazing song, i listen to it almost daily. the song is a constant reminder for me that even when things get hard, i just need to appreciate the things that are in front of me, that every once in a while i need to stop and smell the roses. The people that you love are more important than anything and they are the perfect people to just stop to breathe with at the end of the day. They will make things hard, but they will make everything better in the end. Even in death people can be loved and should be loved.

Bellow i posted the lyrics and in the first sentence i added a link of the song, I'd like to get some other peoples opinions on my thoughts and your own thoughts as well.

Yes, I understand that every life must end, uh-huh

As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, uh-huh
Oh I'm a lucky man, to count on both hands the ones I love
Some folks just have one, yeah, others, they've got none

Stay with me...
Let's just breathe...

Practiced all my sins, never gonna let me win, uh-huh
Under everything, just another human being, uh-huh
I don't wanna hurt, there's so much in this world to make me bleed

Stay with me
You're all I see...

Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me

As I come clean...
I wonder everyday, as I look upon your face, uh-huh
Everything you gave
And nothing you would save, oh no

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave...

Did I say that I need you?
Oh, did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
And I come clean, ah...

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave
Hold me til I die
Meet you on the other side...

Changing in music over time

Have you ever notice how much music has changed over time? I mean if you look at music even just from 15 years ago there is a great difference. Each musical talent brings something of their own to the stage and it adds on and on. it is like one persons choice (in music) can change it completely. musicians (weather they know it or not) help each other out with how they preform, maybe not directly but they do. look at Micheal Jackson for instance, he had a while where he was amazing! He was the king of pop (now i do not care for him or his music but i do respect what he has done for music) after a while though he fell, people actually began to hate him and pop kind of fell for a couple years and wasnt as popular. When he died people began to realize what he had done for music and pop then again shot up and became a lot more popular. Another quick example would be the Back Street Boys, they were one of the first "boy bands" and after them the Jonas Brothers, after them Big Time Rush, and than One direction, all huge "boy bands" and all similar in a lot of ways but do bring their own things to the stage. Over time each generation comes up with a new thing that is foreign to the older generations but greatly impacts the upcoming generations and was greatly influenced by the old generations.

Give All Kinds a Chance

Ok so last year i did an assignment were we could choose any topic and research it, i of course chose music. I no sadly no longer have the research paper that i wrote but i pretty much found out what im going to blog about in this post. So im going to tell you a little about me and my relationship with music. When i was little, I grew up listening to whatever my parents listened to as i grew older i still loved what my dad did. I was in love with rock music, my dad taught me everything that i know about all of the rock music i listened to, and still to this day i listen to rock music. Since my dad hated country, and pop, as did I. My dad listened to any type of rock and some other things but what he liked i developed a liking for. I really didnt have a choice its what i grew up with.

As i got older i started to hang out with my friends and they all happened to like rock too, however they listened to more heavy metal than i did, eventually they introduced me to more things and i started to like heavy metal as well, but i still hated country, rap, and pop. As I grew up I gained more friends with different tastes in music, and gradually developed my own liking for different kinds of music. I dont like all music, there is (in each genera of music) some song or band that i dont like (some more than others). I grew up listening to rock but as I got older i gained a very eclectic taste for music, I love a little bit of every type of music (rock is and will always be my favorite) country, rock, pop, hip-hop, jazz, rap, you name it.

Music opinions can change as you get older, just as music changes over time. I think that at first for most people their taste in music is based on their parents, but as they get older their friends change it (maybe a little, maybe completely). eventually there is a time when a person should just sit down (alone) and turn on the music, see what it means to them, dont worry about other people and just see what it is that they like for themselves. A lot can change they way you feel about music, even religion. Sometimes its nice to like a variety of music, because some days you might want to head bang, and some days you might wanna sing and car dance with your girl friends in the car. sometimes music can completely change the way we think about a situation, and sometimes it can give you answers to questions that you didnt know that you needed an answer to. Sometimes it feels that the music knows exactly what youre feeling, the music is expressing the exact emotion or even a similar story to the one youre living. Music is amazing, no matter what kind. Give it a chance.

I guess what the point of this post is is to both explain how taste can change with age, and the the people who mean something to you, and that no matter what, you may think that you hate a type of music out there, but dont give up on it. Give it a try you might be surprised and find that you like it more than you thought.

My intake on Miley Cyrus

Im posting this one because im honestly tired of everyone freaking out about how crazy Miley is going and how slutty she is now! the thing is is that shes not a kid anymore, and shes an artist.

Now a lot of people are disappointed in Miley and how she has changed, but honestly I agree with what she is doing. I think that it is cruel for us to judge her. Yes she was a role model for "the children" but the thing is is that she cant be the little teenage Disney star forever, shes an adult and i think its cool that she is trying to express herself. Now by me saying this it doesn't mean im a huge fan, because im not, I like maybe one song by her and thats it. I dont like her music but i respect what it is that she is doing as an artist. Art is a way to express yourself and this is exactly what she is doing.

Miley was a well respected musician before this and i dont understand why she is less respected now because of her change in artistic expression. She isnt the same girl we grew up to know before, shes older and is not a little girl anymore shes an adult who can make her own decisions. Her new video Wreaking Ball i think is interesting, i dont really like the video for the idea of the song, however the song really impressed me, im really not a fan of her music but this song caught my attention. I think that in her two newest videos she is trying to explain that she isnt a little girl anymore she is an adult and she can do as she pleases.

Watching the video can take away from the point of the song?

Ok, for this next blog post im going to do something a little different than before, I'm doing a band called Die Antwoord, they are a south African pop band. Im going to kind of show the difference of pop in North America compared to pop in South America. I had a couple of friends from my school and work watch this video just to get their reaction. I fink u freeky
This video got the same reaction from everyone who watched it, all of them seemed to think that the video was weird and kind of creepy. I actually rather enjoyed the video. the video to me seemed a little more rock like than pop in North America. Now I do understand that this song is only one pop song in South Africa, and i do understand that not all songs in South America are necessarily like this song. I like the video because it is rather weird and it catches my attention from the start to the end. It is a very weird video but i think that if all pop in South Africa is like this i have no problems with that.

In north America our pop seems to be a lot more upbeat something that makes you want to get up and dance, i enjoy this as well (even though i cant dance at all). The song I chose to compare to I Fink U Freeky is Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, This song is very well liked by the people i asked. When i watched the video i had a similar reaction to the one that i had while watching I Fink U Freeky. Both videos while giving completely different feels if you listen to them without watching the video and just listening seem to be a little weird while actually watching the videos. They seem to both have a women who seems to be showing quit a bit of skin. I think that both videos while giving different feels are similar. I like both songs and like both videos.

Both videos are kind of random in their own way. Mileys video is about her ex wreaking her and i understand the wreaking ball and all that but i dont understand why she is partially nude in most of the video and what is with her and licking the hammer? i don't really understand why  she seems to be trying to be sexy while also trying to express that she is hurt. The Die Antwoord video is similar in that I understand that this girl is kind of a "freak" however i dont understand how this video expresses much for liking someone, it really only covers the freaky part. Both songs are great, both videos are great, but while a lot of people judge new music because they dont understand it or just its video i think that they also need to watch videos of the songs that they do like and see if they make sense. sometime just watching the video can take away from the actual song.

Look at the videos of a couple of different songs that you like and than just listen to the songs without watching the video and see if you feel something different each time, or maybe understand the song differently. Music videos can change the way we think of a song or even just change what we think the song is about.

Alice In Chains

Alice in Chains is a very famous band that started in Seattle during it big grunge band rush. They came into being about the same time as sound garden, Pearl Jam, and Mother Love Bone. Grunge in general was a major departure form the popular 80s hairbands music, in a couple of different ways, form a musical way the sound was muddier, the subject matter tended to be darker, more about how life sucks instead or girls. The band members even appeared different, they weren't about big hair and makeup, they were opposite, ripped clothes and kind of dirty looking. Alice in chains exploded on the scene, they were big in Seattle and than pretty much over night they were big everywhere. A lot of their music had to do with death and drugs, which makes sense because they did a lot of drugs and their lead singer died due to a heroin overdose, Mike Starr (the original bass player) also died due to a drug overdose. Alice in Chains stopped producing music before Layne Staley (their first singer) died, and that was basically because of his heroin problem, they did the MTV unplugged, and it was kind of their swan song. Their song would? talks about their friend form Mother Love Bone dying. It is also interesting that they have the song called its over now and it seems fitting that it was there last songs on their mtv cd, because not to long after that Layne died after a drug overdoes. They went for almost 15 years before they got back together. William DuVall is thier current singer and he started with comes from the fall, and Jerry Cantrell liked him.
basically DuVall sat in with them and did a couple of concerts together and got together as a band. My father things that William DuVall of covering songs where Layne Staley startes, and he also does a great job of being himself as an artist so he isnt just a clone of Lane Staley. On their latest tour (which i have seen) they have a drum set that says LSMS which stands for Layne Staley and Mike Starr.

The Prince of Darkness

Ozzy Ozborne's birth name is actually John Michael Ozborne. He started with Black Sabbath, and went on his own, because of the fact that he was abusing alcohol and drugs and the band kicked him out. Black Sabbath have firm ties in Birmingham England. After Black Sabbath kicked him out, he wondered on his own for awhile, and a record executives daughter took him under her wing and took him on has her own and started his solo carer and then married him, her name is Sharon Ozborne. They had a big contract signing around when they got married and as part of the signing someone had the idea to release doves during the signing and Ozzy bite off the head of one of the doves. Whats kind of funny is that on the Blizzard of Oz there is a picture of him petting a dove, and getting ready to bite its head off. The Biting off the head of the bat story is that he actually thought it was a prop and it ended up being and actual bat, this happened in Des Monies in 1984. After Ozzy went on his own Randy Roads was his guitar player and he died in a plane crash in the early 80s. The big thing about him is that he alone and with black sabbath had a huge impact with music. Black sabbath created the idea of scary music, before them there was no idea of dark music. Ozzy when he went on his own took this to the next step, this is believed to be why he is called the prince of darkness.

Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue

Ok, So First Post ever about music! I'm kind of excited about this one! I've been reading this book called The Heroin Diaries, Its a story about Nikki Sixx and his problems and experiences with drugs. Nikki Sixx is a very well known artist, He has appeared in a few bands Motley Crue, and Sixx a.m. were his most famous bands (my personal favorite is Sixx A.M.). Nikki Sixx grew up with a rough childhood, his father left him and his mother when he was young, and his mother (though he says she tried to love him) sent him away to his grandmother anytime that she found a new man due to the fact that he was "in the way". Nikki listened to rock music as he was growing up and eventually started playing it, he can play bass, piano, keyboard, guitar and he sings. as he started playing music for Motley Crue he started making money which made it possible for him to buy such expensive drugs (like Heroin). Many people seem to believe that the reason that he became an addict is because of the fact that he was in the band, but as Nikki describes it, he was destined for it. He explains in the fascinating book that he was born an addict, that weather or not he was in the band he would have found another way to get the drugs. The money sure enough helped Nikki, however i feel that because as a kid growing up was hard for him he just needed to get away form everything just for awhile. Drugs were his way of doing this.





Nikki explains in his book that he is now a completely different person. He has had overdoses and has survived he has been in great darkness and now sees light, his story is heart breaking and amazing at the same time. To be able to do as he did and come out strong the way he is now is something that i think we should all admire and respect. Nikki before being clean was a F*** everyone kind of guy, he did as he pleased when he pleased. He is now very different but in some ways same, he is still in love with music, however now music is his way of getting high (without actually being high). Nikki is different now in that he published his story because of the fact that he felt like even if only one person reads it and chooses not to go down the path he did than he is doing a great thing. He set up a charity so that when people buy his book it goes to a teenage runaway home. He has transformed into an amazing man and is still able to create the same amazing music.

He explains that when he was high and occasionally when he was sober he wrote his thoughts, he wrote about his crazy story and in the book you can actually tell when he is tripping and when he is not. You can read his thought process about everything that is or has gone on in his life. He put his thoughts together and published them as a book to tell his story and to try to get people to live his nightmare with him and scare them off drugs.

The Beatles

The Beatles

Back to a bands history... again, however this week it will be about the Beatles. The Beatles are legendary because they had amazing talent, and it also they were developing at such a perfect time. All of the Beatles were born around the same time as all of the baby boomers so they had a huge fan base of teenagers. The Beatles were getting famous shortly after Kennedys death, shining light on the world at a sad time.

Beatles most popular songs
1) Hey Jude - Hey Jude was written for John Lennon's son to cheer him up during the time of his parents divorce.
2) Get Back- Get back was the only song by the Beatles that had another artists name involved (as it was also Billy Preston's)

3) She Loves you- She loves you had become a number one hit multiple times over the years.

4) Cant Buy Me Love- Cant Buy Me Love was the only song that was recorded in a non U.K. recording studio.

5) I Want To Hold Your Hand - This song was the Beatles second most selling song.

6) Ticket To Ride - The first song in which Paul McCartney was lead guitarist.

7) Paperback Writer- Is known for its Bass guitar

8) Hard Days Night- Ringo Starr had a remark which actually came up with the name of this song

9) Hello, Goodbye- remained number one for 7 weeks.

10) Help- ended up in the Rolling Stones top 500 songs of all time.

The Beatles were, and still are, amazing and have done great things which has helped to inspire many artists developing today.