Song of the Day: Trouble Man (by Marvin Gaye)


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I just got back from watching an early screening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Now, what does this have to do with the latest “Song of the Day” featuring musical legend Marvin Gaye. Well, I’m glad you asked. The song gets mentioned by a major character in the film and gets some airplay towards the end. The lyrics of the song itself could almost be synonymous with the storyline for this follow-up to Captain America: The First Avenger.

The song is also the theme song to the 1972 Soul Cinema Classic film production Trouble Man.

While the song remains a classic R&B song that does consistent radioplay I’m sure it won;’t hurt for new listeners coming to listen to it even more after experiencing it for the very first time watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Trouble Man

I come up hard, baby, and that ain’t cool!
I didn’t make it sugah, playin’ by the rules!
I come up hard, babe, but now I’m fine.
I’m shakin’ trouble sugah, & movin’ down the line.
I come up hard, but that’s OK.
‘Cause

Trouble Man don’t get in my way!!

I come up hard, baby!

I mean fo’ real, baby, cuz I’m a Troubled Man!
Gonna keep movin’, gonna go to town.
I come up hard, and now I’m gettin’ down!
There’s only 3 things that’s fa sho*:
Taxes, death and trouble

This I know, baby. this I know.
Yeah, you never let it sweat you baby,

Whooooo

Got me singin’, yeah, yeah, hooo

I come up hard, baby, I had to fight!
To keep my dignity with all my might!
I come up hard, I had to win!
Then start all over. And WIN AGAIN!!
I come up hard, but that’s OK!
‘Cause Trouble Man don’t get in my way

Hey,Hey!

Now I been some places and I seen some faces
I got my connections they take my directions
Don’t care what they say. that’s OK, they don’t bother me
I’m ready to make it, don’t care ’bout the weather
Don’t care ’bout no trouble, got myself together
No laughin’, no cryin’, my protection’s all around me

I come up hard, baby
I mean for real, baby
With the Trouble Man
Movin’, goin’ tight
I come up hard, come on, get down
There’s only 3 things for sure:
Taxes, death and trouble

This I know, baby, baby
This I know, baby, baby
Hey now, let it sweat, baby

I’ve come up hard, but now I’m cool
I didn’t make it, baby, playin’ by the rules
I’ve come up hard, baby, but now I’m fine
I’m shakin’ trouble, sure movin’ down the line

Song of the Day: Take Me Out To The Ballgame (performed by Edward Meeker)


This was a very special one for baseball fans like me.  Today was opening day!  Unfortunately, my team, the Texas Rangers, lost their first game of the season but the great thing about baseball is that there will always be a chance for redemption.

Ever since Edward Meeker first recorded it in 1908, Take Me Out To The Ballgame has served as the unofficial anthem of Major League Baseball.  It’s also the perfect choice for today’s song of the day.

 

Song of the Day: Make Thee An Ark (by Clint Mansell)


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I’ve been waiting for quite a long time for the release of Darren Aronofsky’s biblical disaster epic. Now that it’s finally here it also means a new film score from Aronofsky’s collaborator Clint Mansell.

The soundtrack to Noah is definitely on par with past Mansell scored Aronofsky films going all the way back to Pi. It’s a soundtrack that’s both epic, majestic and more than just a tad apocalyptic. One of my favorite tracks from the soundtrack comes at a moment of triumph early on in the film which creates a sense of hope in the face of the approaching divine apocalypse.

“Make Thee An Ark” starts off slowly. Layers on layers build within the string work by the Kronos Quartet who have worked with two Mansell on past Aronofsky films. The track actually has a nice musical throwback to Mansell’s work on The Fountain. It’s probably the influence of that past film which made the Noah soundtrack appeal to me more than the previous ones for Black Swan and The Wrestler.

Song of the Day: Scissorsloid


Like the previous Song of the Day, Arleigh and I discovered this song at a panel at Anime Boston this past weekend.  It also uses the Vocaloid characters, although this one features Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka.  Unlike the character Mayu though, these two aren’t generally known for their yandere traits, so seeing them in this light is a bit shocking.  All I can say about it is, I can never look at the two the same every again.

Song of the Day: An Earnest Unrequited Love, Wanting to Make it Bear a Little (by MAYU)


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Anime Boston is now over and if there was one thing I learned of importance during my 3-day attendance it’s how to spot and survive a particular type of person. I’m talking about the yandere.

So, the latest Song of the Day is the song by Vocaloid artist MAYU simply titled, “An Earnest Unrequited Love, Wanting to Make it Bear a Little.”

I would usually post the lyrics below, but it’s better to watch the video and sing along with the lyrics added in for convenience.

Song of the Day: Maybe (by the Ink Spots)


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Tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead began with a tune recognizable to many gamers who played through Bethesda’s Fallout 3.

“Maybe” by The Ink Spots have been used many times to highlight simpler, idyllic times when compared to post-apocalyptic wastelands. It worked well for Fallout 3 and definitely lent an eerie, disturbing quality to the flash forward opening to the latest episode of The Walking Dead.

Maybe

Maybe you’ll think of me
When you are all alone

Maybe the one who is waiting for you
Will prove untrue, then what will you do?

Maybe you’ll sit and sigh, wishing that I were near
Then maybe you’ll ask me to come back again
And maybe I’ll say maybe.

Maybe you’ll think of me
When you are all alone

Maybe the one who is waiting for you
Will prove untrue, then what will I do?

Maybe, you’ll sit and sigh, wishing that I were near
Then maybe you’ll ask me to come back again

And maybe I’ll say maybe.

Song of the Day: Entre Dos Aguas (by Paco de Lucia – R.I.P)


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One of the great guitarists ever passed away (some would say he’s one of the greatest, if not the best there ever was) in the last 24 hours.

Paco de Lucia has passed on into legend as one of history’s greatest guitarist. He joins such fellow luminaries as Django Reinhardt, Jimi Hendrix, Andres Segovia, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Johnson to just name a few now playing their guitars in the next life.

Paco came from a family of flamenco singers and guitarists. His musical upbringing was molded by his father Antonio Sanchez. He would take classic flamenco guitar playing and incorporate other musical genres such as jazz, classical and bossa nova. While flamenco traditionalists heaped criticisms at Paco de Lucia for incorporating the many different styles of guitar playing with flamenco the movement to create a new flamenco sound which still adhered to classic flamenco playing but with some added new sound to appeal to a new generation that was beginning to listen to a variety of musical styles.

While many young people would scratch their heads as to who this Spaniard was to be considered one of the greatest guitarist of all-time (I would remind such individuals that not all guitarists were playing rock or metal), I would suggest they listen to his most popular song and just marvel at the talent and legend that was Paco de Lucia.

Song of the Day: Who Is He (And What Is He to You) (by Bill Withers)


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February is almost over and I’m sure those who celebrated Valentines Day a couple weeks back are either flying high on love or becoming bitter by the day at things not turning out the way either party have imagined.

The latest “Song of the Day” puts into words such a a scenario that those in the latter might be going through right about now. It’s a song by soul and blues singer Bill Withers. He’s better known for classic soul hits such as “Lean On Me”, “Just the Two of Us” and “Ain’t No Sunshine”.

“Who Is He (And What Is He To You)” is a song of infidelity and betrayal. I just love the bass line that goes throughout the song. The song’s lyrics also hints at a sense of malice and and built-up rage at the betrayal. One could almost imagine how things will erupt after the final note and lyric has faded in the background.

Who Is He (And What Is He to You)

A man we passed just tried to stare me down
And when I looked at you, you looked at the ground
I don’t know who he is but I think that you do

Dag gummit
Who is he and what is he to you

I have something in my heart and in your eyes
Tell me he’s not someone just passin’ by
And when you cleared your throat was that your cue

Dag gummit dag
Who is he and what is he to you

Now when I add the sum of you and me
I get confused and I keep coming up with three
You’re too much for one man but not enough for two

Dag gummit
Who is he and what is he to you

Hey you tell me man don’t have not much for intuition
That what you really think or are you wishin’
Before you wreck your old home be certain of the new

Dag gummit
Who is he and what is he to you

Dag gummit
Who is he and what is he to you

Dag gummit
Who is he and what is he to you

Dag gummit
Who is he and what is he to you

Song of the Day: Valkyries (by Blind Guardian)


In honor of Ragnarök, here’s a blast from the past in celebration.

Arleigh's avatarThrough the Shattered Lens

This pick for song of the day marks the fifth time the “Bards” from Germany has made an appearance. This song marks the third track to be chosen from their latest album, At The Edge of Time. To say that I am a fan of Blind Guardian would be just a tad bit of an understatement.

“Valkyries” is the latest song of the day and it’s Blind Guardian at their most progressive metal. As a band they’ve grown from a German speed and thrash metal band then became one of the progenitors of the power metal subgenre. For the past dozen or so years they’ve evolved their sound to incorporate progressive, melodic, symphonic and orchestral stylings to their basic power metal sound.

This song has lead bard Hansi Kürsch writing about Norse mythology, specifically the concept of the Valkyries who fly and roam above the battlefield to take those…

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Song of the Day: Hooked on a Feeling (by Blue Swede)


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Ever since the premiere of the first official trailer for Marvel Studio’s Guardians of the Galaxy this song has embedded it’s catchy claws into my brain. I’ve even caught myself humming the song at work.

“Hooked on a Feeling” is a song I’ve heard and enjoyed in the past but never as more than a passing fancy. Maybe it’s how well the song fit in with James Gunn’s trailer for his space opera film. It’s so out of place that one cannot but fall in love with it.

So, while I let this musical virus work its way through my system I thought I’d share it with everyone else as “Song of the Day”.

Hooked on a Feeling

Ouga Chaka ouga! ….

I can’t stop this feeling
Deep inside of me.
Girl, you just don’t realize
What you do to me.
When you hold me
In your arms so tight,
You let me know,
Everythings alright, ahahah

I’m hooked on a feeling,
I’m high on believing,
That your in love with me.

Lips as sweet as candy.
Their taste stays on my mind.
Girl, you keep me thirsty for another cup of wine.

I got it bad for you girl,
But I don’t need a cure,
I’ll just stay addicted, If I can endure
All the good love, when we’re all alone
Keep it up girl, yeah you turn me on.

I’mmm, I’mmm Hooked on a feeling.
I’m high on believing that your in love with me.
All the good love, when we’re all alone
Keep it up girl, yeah you turn me on.

Ahaha I’m hooked on a feeling,
I’m high on believing,
That your in love with me.

I’m hooked on a feeling,
I’m high on believing,
That your in love with me.

I say I’m hooked on a feeling,
And I’m high on believing,
That your in love with me.
I’m hooked on a feeling.