Category Archives: Music

Song of the Day: Kyrie (by Mr. Mister)

Posted on by Arleigh

Kyrie

There was one band during the 80’s that everyone seemed to dismiss, yet their album were selling out. It was almost as if no one wanted to admit that they enjoyed listening to this band. The band I’m talking about is Mr. Mister. Yes, even the name sounds like something that we might consider today as being too hipsterish. A name made to sound to be oh so clever.

Yet, Mr. Mister had two hit albums that many bands of this era couldn’t admit to having. The 1980’s was an era of great music, but it was also one where way too many were also quite disposable. People nowadays complain about how music has no soul and that it was all corporate driven. Well, this era has nothing on the Reagan-era of the music industry.

Mr. Mister would pump out two hit albums before breaking up in the late 80’s with most of the band members joining up with different Christian rock and music groups down the years.

One Mr. Mister song that was catchy and remained so would be their hit single “Kyrie”.

To a teenager of the time the song was memorable and easy to sing along to. It’s later on as teens became adults that we’ve come to realize that the song itself was a Christian liturgy prayer and the whole song was just a prayer backed by pop rock melodies. It’s no wonder that the band’s member would find their second wind in the music business as part of Christian rock groups.

Kyrie

Kýrie, eléison
Kýrie, eléison
Kýrie

The wind blows hard against this mountainside
Across the sea into my soul
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road

My heart is old, it holds my memories
My body burns a gem-like flame
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow?
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

When I was young, I thought of growing old
Of what my life would mean to me
Would I have followed down my chosen road
Or only wished what I could be

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow?
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow?
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel (will you follow?)
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow? (will you follow)
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel (yeah)
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow? (will you follow?)
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel (will you follow?)
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow? (will you follow)

 

Song of the Day: 1980’s Edition

  1. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (by Tears for Fears)
  2. Hazy Shade of Winter (by The Bangles)
  3. Never (by Heart)

Song of the Day: Never (by Heart)

Posted on by Arleigh

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To say that the Wilson Sisters (Nancy and Ann) who fronted the band Heart will forever be crushes would be an understatement. These ladies, for a growing teenager whose hormones were on overdrive, were a surprising find during the early years of MTV when they actually showed music videos. The sisters and their band had already made their bones during the 70’s but for most boys and girls of my era it would be the “Big Hair” Era of hard rock during the 1980’s that would introduce Nancy and Ann Wilson to a new generation of fans.

I was already on board the Wilson train (Nancy being my favorite) with their two power ballads from their 1985 self-titled album, “Alone” and “These Dreams”, but these ladies were not just about power ballads. They could rock out with the best of their male counterparts. The fact that both Ann and Nancy were accomplished singers in their own right put them heads and shoulders above most of the hard rock frontmen. Ann Wilson could belt out a tune, hold a note for ages and not lose any power behind those vocals. Nancy would do back-up duties, but no less impressive as a soprano, but it would be her work as lead guitarist that would mesmerize a certain young teenager.

It would be in the track “Never” that the band busts out their hard rock chops. They sure don’t make bands like these anymore. These ladies rocked then and they rock now. Rock on, ladies!

Never

Hey baby I’m talking to you
Stop yourself and listen
Some things you can never never choose
Even if you try, yeah
You’re bangin’ your head again
‘Cause somebody won’t let you in
One chance . . . one love
Your chance to let me know

We can’t go on
Just running away
If we stay any longer
We will surely never get away
Anything you want—we can make it happen
Stand up and turn around
Never let them shoot us down
Never—Never
Never—Never run away

Hey baby you know it’s true
Why you bother lying when you know
That you want it too
Don’t you dare deny me
Walk those legs right over here
Give me what I’m dying for
One chance . . . one love
Hold me down never let me go

We can’t go on
Just running away
If we wait any longer
We will surely never get away
Anything you want—we can make it happen
Stand up and turn around
Never let them shoot us down
Never—Never
Never—Never run away
Never—Never
Never—Never run away

Hey baby I’m talking to you
Stop yourself and listen
Some things you can never choose
Even if you try, yeah
You’re bangin’ your head again
‘Cause somebody won’t let you in
One chance . . . one love
Your chance to let me know

We can’t go on
Just running away
If we stay any longer
We will surely never get away

OO OO Never
OO OO Never

We can’t go on Never
We can’t go on Never

OO OO Never
OO OO Never

We can’t go on Never
We can’t go on Never

 

Song of the Day: 1980’s Edition

  1. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (by Tears for Fears)
  2. Hazy Shade of Winter (by The Bangles)

 

Song of the Day: Hazy Shade of Winter (by The Bangles)

Posted on by Arleigh

Bangles

Another song from my youth during the 80’s is the classic rock song from the all-girl rock band The Bangles. It makes an appearance in a later episode of Netflix’s Stranger Things, but it’s better known as the unofficial anthem for the drug-fueled drama Less Than Zero starring a very young (and rumors abound of being very drugged out) Robert Downey, Jr.

Less Than Zero was adapted from a novel written by the 80’s agent provocateur Bret Easton Ellis. It definitely was part of the list of 80’s films that all the teens wanted to see. It being rated-R meant double the temptation. It was a film that both celebrated and condemned the Reagan-era yuppie culture that was fueled by excess amount of drugs, alcohol and sex.

The song “Hazy Shade of Winter” would become part of the film’s soundtrack and The Bangles had been tasked with covering the Simon & Garfunkel song of the same title. Where the former was more attuned to the duo’s folk sensibilities, the cover by The Bangles would put a harder edge to the song which made for a nice complement to the rough edges of the film.

Oh, I still have a major crush on Sussana Hoffs to this very day.

Hazy Shade of Winter

Time, time, time
See what’s become of me…

Time, time, time
See what’s become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please

Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky
Is a Hazy Shade of Winter

Hear the Salvation Army Band
Down by the riverside
It’s bound to be a better ride
Than what you’ve got planned
Carry a cup in your hand

Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky
Is a Hazy Shade of Winter

Hang onto your hopes my friend
That’s an easy thing to say
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again

Look around
Grass is high
Fields are ripe
It’s the springtime of my life

Seasons change with their scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Won’t you stop and remember me

Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky
Is a Hazy Shade of Winter

Look around
Leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the ground
Look around
Leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the ground
Look around
Leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the ground

 

Song of the Day: 1980’s Edition

  1. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (by Tears for Fears)

Song of the Day: Everybody Wants To Rule The World (by Tears for Fears)

Posted on by Arleigh

TearsForFears

I will readily admit that I am a child of the 80’s. I grew up listening to 80’s music whether it was metal (though I didn’t truly listen to them until the 90’s), rap all the way to synthpop and new wave which became quite popular during the decade with groups such as Depeche Mode, INXS, Duran Duran and The Cure. One band which I listened to quite a bit during the mid-80’s was the British new wave band Tears For Fears. It’s from this band that the latest “Song of the Day” comes from: “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”.

The song is actually an 80’s classic that has stood the test of time and musical taste. While many scoff and ridicule most of the pop songs which blew up during the 80’s this particular song from Tears For Fears was never one of them. While the song does have a foundation in the synthpop sound of the time the song itself doesn’t really sound like most of the 80’s pop music. The lyrics are socially aware without being too preachy. In fact, if one was to listen to the song now it’s original message of limitless optimism in the future for everyone actually sounds a bit selfish in today’s social climate.

The song has been covered quite a bit by many singers and bands of different stripes from such groups as The Dresden Dolls, Clare & The Reasons and Dru Hill right up to the pop punk band Care Bares on Fire whose cover was used during the end credits for Season 5, Episode 9 of True Blood. 

Let this song kick-off my 80’s music revival and all of it due to the awesome inclusion of some classic 80’s pop tracks in the equally awesome and great new Netflix series, Stranger Things.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Welcome to your life
There’s no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on Mother Nature
Everybody wants to rule the world

It’s my own design
It’s my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

There’s a room where the light won’t find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do I’ll be right behind you
So glad we’ve almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world

I can’t stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you’ll never never never never need it
One headline why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world

All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

Jimi Hendrix Plays The Star-Spangled Banner!

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

On August 18, 1969, Jimi Hendrix performed the greatest version of The Star Spangled Banner on record.  Jimi, who has been awake for three days when he performed his version of the National Anthem, later said, “We’re all Americans … it was like ‘Go America!’… We play it the way the air is in America today. The air is slightly static, see”

Song of the Day: Light of the Seven (by Ramin Djawadi)

Posted on by Arleigh

Queen Cersei

“Cersei of the House Lannister, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms….Long may she reign.” — Qyburn

To all of those who watch each new episode of Game of Thrones, last night’s episode was a classic in the making. It was the sort of episode that convinced millions 6 years ago to take a chance and watch an HBO series about a medieval fantasy series about royal politics, dragons, living dead, royal incest and lots and lots of sex and violence.

The series is based on the ongoing epic fantasy novel series by novelist George R.R. Martin. A series called A Song of Ice and Fire, tonight’s episode delivered on both the fire and ice. As we see the players on the Great Game cut down violently by the machinations of one Dowager Queen (and now Queen and first of her name), the fantasy realm of Westeros is now down to three Great Houses as the show finishes it’s sixth season with just two more to go.

One thing the series has always had to complement the outstanding performances of the ensemble cast, the epic work of directors in the singularly classic episodes 9’s (names such as Neil Marshall and Miguel Sapochnik come to mind) and the very good to great writing, it would be the series composer Ramin Djawadi and the work he has brought onto the show.

The show’s main theme is as recognizable nowadays as any John Williams, Howard Shore and James Horner piece. It’s a theme that’s become part of pop culture lexicon. There’s been other themes in the show that has been just as good. Yet, with the season finale of season 6 a new theme comes to the forefront that will be put on repeat as loyal viewers young and old watch and re-watch this season finale.

It’s a subtle theme of a single piano playing a solemn, melancholy lullaby. It’s soon to be joined by a single cello before another transition that adds the singular voice of a choirboy (the better to accentuate that this theme is one of the Seven Gods of Westeros). The song goes from that solemn lullaby and into a climactic dirge as the organ joins in to almost drown the piano and cello.

For those who saw that opening sequence of the season finale should appreciate just how well “Light of the Seven” made everything so much better once the dust settled and the world of Game of Thrones was changed forever once again.

Song of the Day: Band of Brothers Theme (by Michael Kamen)

Posted on by Arleigh

Band of Brothers

In what’s become an annual tradition in the Sandoc household since it first aired, Band of Brothers will be marathoned (and of late it’s companion series The Pacific)

The series was produced by both Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks who years before made the equally powerful film Saving Private Ryan. That film introduced the younger generation of today about the true details of heroism and horror that was World War II. What was becoming a dry and academic exercise in schools was suddenly given life in the vivid and heartbreaking imagery as seen through the eyes of Spielberg and the personal accounts of the men of the “Greatest Generation” who went to war and survived to tell their tales.

Band of Brothers would take the accounts of Easy Company of the 501st Parachute Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division from their time at boot camp at Camp Toccoa, Georgia through training in England and then the war zones of France, the Netherlands, Belgium and, finally, Germany itself. This series wasn’t about made up soldiers and heroes, but the real ones who survived over a year of constant battle that saw some acquit themselves bravely while others failing to measure up.

The series was a production that had everyone at the top of their game. One such person was Michael Kamen who would compose the series’ orchestral score. It would be one of the last compositions he would create before his death in 2003. Nothing helped set the tone for the series more than the opening theme which accompanied the opening credits for each of the ten episodes.

In honor of Memorial Day, it is this opening theme from Band of Brothers which is the “Song of the Day.”

Happy Birthday, Bob Dylan!

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“All I can do is be me, whoever that is.” — Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan not only revolutionized music but he was also responsible for one of the first music videos.  The video for Subterranean Homesick Blues originally appeared at the start of D.A. Pennebaker’s documentary, Don’t Look Back.  It was filmed in  May 8th, 1965 in the alley behind the Savoy Hotel in London and, as Bob flips those cue cards, keep an eye out for both songwriter Bob Neuwirth and the poet Allen Ginsberg in the background.

Happy birthday to Bob Dylan, who is 74 years old today.

Airport Reading: Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me by Steven Hyden

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

51y-hABo2ML._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Today, I have flown from Baltimore to Chicago and, after a three-hour layover at O’Hare, from Chicago to Atlanta.  Now I have to wait two hours until I board a plane to Dallas.  Luckily, I have a good book to read.

Steven Hyden’s Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me takes a look at some famous pop music rivalries and what they may or may not reveal about the meaning of life.  Hyden examines 19 different rivalries, everyone from Oasis vs. Blur to Neil Young vs. Lynard Skynard to the Smashing Pumpkins vs. Pavement, Beatles vs. the Rolling Stones and, naturally, Roger Waters vs. everyone else in Pink Floyd.  And, of course, he also writes about Biggie vs. Tupac because, as he puts it, that’s the only rivalry that he “was required by law to write about in this book.”

The best chapter, in my opinion, is Hyden’s look at the rivalry between Jimi Hendrix’s legacy and Eric Clapton’s continued existence.  He asks a very important question: If Hendrix had lived and was currently living the life of Eric Clapton, would we still consider Jimi to be the greatest guitar God of all time?  A close second to the Hendrix/Clapton chapter is Hyden’s look at the rivalry between Nirvana and Pearl Jam.  Hyden makes a convincing argument that not only did Kurt Cobain never really grow to like Pearl Jam but that Bruce Springsteen really does not like Chris Christie that much either.

Steven Hyden’s an opinionated guy and, reading the book, I have disagreed with him almost as much as I’ve agreed.  But he is also a very good writer and he definitely knows his music.  Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me has made this day of airports and flying bearable.  I highly recommend it!