Horror Song of the Day: It Was Always You, Helen from Candyman (by Phillip Glass)


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Latest Horror Song of the Day comes courtesy of one Phillip Glass who was tasked with composing the film score for the film adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden”. The film would become Candyman.

“It Was Always You, Helen” becomes the film’s overarching theme throughout the film. Unlike other horror themes before it, the one created by Glass for Candyman highlighted the Southern Gothic backstory of the title character and the origins of the Candyman legend. It’s been called a minimalist score, yet it’s selling the film score short, especially this theme. While Glass has become famous for his work within the minimalist music movement he actually created a very symphonic score, albeit one which focused on subtlety over bombastic.

While listened on it’s own doesn’t evoke any sort of shivers up one’s arms and back, this theme will bring about such feeling of supernatural dread when paired with the film. It’s a shame that Phillip Glass doesn’t do more horror film scores because this theme and the score for the film shows that he has a knack for it.

Horror Song of the Day: Theme from The Fog (by John Carpenter)


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It’s that time of year again for the gang here at Through the Shattered Lens. October has become a sort of official month for the site with much of the posts and articles being related in some manner to all things horror (or close enough to it).

To start off 2014’s Horror Month here at Through the Shattered Lens I’ve chosen a wonderful and creepy piece of horror film music courtesy of the Master himself, John Carpenter.

It’s a great piece of atmospheric music that more than adds to the encroaching horror that is the film’s title. John Carpenter has done most of the soundtracks to his films and his use of electronic keyboards and synthesizers have become such a unique signature in all his films. The last couple years have seen a sort of revival for Carpenter’s type of electronic/synthesizer compositions. One recent film which made great use of this particular style was Jim Mickle’s Cold In July.

The theme to The Fog remains a favorite of horror fans and its influence on filmmakers today is a nice testament to well-earned classic status.

Song of the Day: The Power of Love (by Huey Lewis and the News)


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I had no choice in the matter. The moment Lisa Marie posted her review of Back to the Future as part of her “Back to School” review series I had no choice but to post the latest “Song of the Day” in honor of her latest review.

The latest featured song is none other than the best-selling single from the Back to the Future soundtrack (one I owned and treasured growing up to the point I wore out that vinyl) by the S.F.-based rock band Huey Lewis and the News. The song is “The Power of Love” and I must admit that I pretty much know this song by heart and can belt it out pretty well. Give me enough alcohol and I’m more than likely request it as the next karaoke song and I’ll grab that mic stand and channel my inner Huey Lewis.

This song may not be metal, but it definitely was a sound of the 80’s and I’d be hard pressed to find anyone who lived during the 1980’s and not have heard this song.

The Power of Love

The power of love is a curious thing
make a one man weep, make another man sing
Change a hawk to a little white dove
more than a feeling, that’s the power of love

Tougher than diamonds, rich like cream
Stronger and harder than a bad girl’s dream
make a bad one good make a wrong one right
power of love that keeps you home at night

Chorus 1 :
You don’t need money, don’t take fame
Don’t need no credit card to ride this train
It’s strong and it’s sudden and it’s cruel sometimes
but it might just save your life
That’s the power of love
That’s the power of love

First time you feel it, it might make you sad
Next time you feel it it might make you mad
But you’ll be glad baby when you’ve found
that’s the power makes the world go’round

Chorus 2 :
And it don’t take money, don’t take fame
don’t need no credit card to ride this train
It’s strong and it’s sudden it can be cruel sometimes
but it might just save your life

They say that all in love is fair
yeah, but you don’t care
But you know what to do
when it gets hold of you
and with a little help from above
you feel the power of love
you feel the power of love
Can you feel it ?
Hmmm

Chorus 3 :
It don’t take money and it don’t take fame
don’t need no credit card to ride this train
Tougher than diamonds and stronger than steel
you won’t feel nothin’ till you feel
you feel the power, just FEEL the power of love
That’s the power, that’s the power of love
You feel the power of love
you feel the power of love
feel the power of love

Song of the Day: Come And Get Your Love (by Redbone)


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My review of one of my favorite films of 2014 has been late in arriving, but it shall arrive soon. Soon, I says!

Until then here’s one of Lisa’s favorite songs from Guardians of the Galaxy. It plays pretty much early on in the film and, according to her, was the moment she fell in love with the film.

Alien lizard mic!

Come And Get Your Love

Hey (hey) What’s the matter with your head? yeah…
Hey (hey) What’s the matter with your mind and your sign?
And-a ooh-ohh
Hey (hey) Nothin’s a matter with your head, baby, find it
Come on and find it
Hell, with it, baby, ’cause you’re fine and you’re mine
And you look so divine

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Hey (hey) What’s the matter with your feel right?
Don’t you feel right, baby?
Hey, oh, yeah, get it from the main line, alright
I said-a find it, find it, darling, love it
If you like it, yeah-eh
Hey (hey) It’s your business if you want some
Take some, get it together, baby

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Come and get your love, come and get your love
Come and get your love, now
Come and get your love, come and get your love
Come and get your love, now
Come and get your love, come and get your love
Come and get your love, now
Come and get your love, come and get your love
Come and get your love, now

Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love
Come and get your love

Hey (hey) What’s the matter with your feel right?
Don’t you feel right, baby?
Hey, oh, yeah, get it from the main vine, alright

La,la,la,la,la,la, (come and get your love)
La,la,la,la,la,la, (come and get your love)
La,la,la,la,la,la, (come and get your love)
La,la,la,la,la,la, (come and get your love)
La,la.la,la,la,la,la,la,la (come and get your love)
La,la.la,la,la,la,la,la,la (come and get your love)
La,la.la,la,la,la, (come and get

Song of the Day: I Want You Back (by The Jackson 5)


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One of the great classic R&B songs also happens to be today’s late “Song of the Day.”

The song “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 is not just a great song but also reminds us that, through all the scandal and absurdity which that became Michael Jackson’s adulthood, he was a great singer and performer and none more so than when he was fronting his band of brothers.

I also picked this song for another reason that seems so out of left field (which it is), but also fit in so perfectly to end two hours of an enjoyable time at the cinemas. James Gunn had personally picked the classic 70’s songs that would be part of mixtape for Guardians of the Galaxy. One such song is The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and it’s use and timely appearance in the film also marks one of it’s most adoring sequences.

I know for a fact that site co-founder Lisa Marie Bowman will love not just this song but the scene it gets attached too.

I Want You Back

Let me tell you now

When I had you to myself
I didn’t want you around
Those pretty faces always made you
Stand out in a crowd

But someone picked you from the bunch
One glance was all it took
Now it’s much too late for me
To take a second look

Oh baby, give me one more chance
(To show you that I love you)
Won’t you please let me
Back in your heart

Oh darling, I was blind to let you go
(Let you go, baby)
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)

Yes I do now (I want you back)
Ooh, ooh baby (I want you back)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (I want you back)
Na na na na

Trying to live without your love
Is one long sleepless night
Let me show you, girl
That I know wrong from right

Every street you walk on
I leave tear stains on the ground
Following the girl
I didn’t even want around
Let me tell you now

Oh baby, all I need is one more chance
(To show you that I love you)
Won’t you please let me
Back in your heart

Oh darlin’, I was blind to let you go
(Let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms, uh huh

A buh buh buh buh
A buh buh buh buh
All I want
A buh buh buh buh
All I need
A buh buh buh buh
All I want
A buh buh buh buh
All I need

Oh, just one more chance
To show you that I love you
Baby (baby), baby (baby), baby (baby)

(I want you back)
Forget what happened then
And let me live again

Oh baby, I was blind to let you go
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Spare me of this cause
Gimme back what I lost

Oh baby, I need one more chance, ha
I tell ya that I love you
Baby, ow, baby, baby
I want you back
I want you back

Song of the Day: Spirit in the Sky (performed by Norman Greenbaum)


To be honest,  there is really only one reason why Spirit In The Sky is today’s song of the day and that’s that it happens to be so very stuck in my head!  I’ve seen the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy a few dozen times and I now not only hear Spirit in the Sky when I close my eyes but I also end up picturing a surly raccoon walking down a hallway with a tree-like creature that repeatedly says, “I am Groot.”

And that’s not a bad thing at all!

Believe it or not, before I sat down to write this post, I actually did some research on the origin of the song.  And, of course, by research I mean that I looked the song up on Wikipedia and read the first half of the article.  Spirit in the Sky was written, recorded, and first released in 1969.  Norman Greenbaum mostly wrote it as a challenge to himself, to see if he, despite knowing nothing about gospel music, could write a gospel song.  As for the song’s distinctive “beep beep” fills, they were the result of a last minute improvisation by guitarist Russell Dashiell.  The end result, of course, was the world’s first psychedelic gospel song.

Finally, before Greenbaum recorded Spirit in The Sky, he apparently had a hit song called The Eggplant That Ate Chicago.

And who knows?  Maybe that song will be featured in the trailer for the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy!

But for now, here is Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky

Song of the Day: The Touch (by Stan Bush)


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So, I saw Transformers: Age of Extinction this weekend. I know, I know. I’ve become part of the problem and not the solution. For that I am sorry.

My road to redemption begins today with this post of the greatest superhero theme song ever made. It’s Optimus Prime’s theme song from the best Transformers film. Live-action it is not, but the animated film which came out during the mid-80’s.

Stan Bush pretty much made his career on this hit single which remains a nostalgic favorite of the 80’s crowd. This is a song which kids of my generation sung over and over right up to now and we don’t see ourselves stopping anytime soon.

Without further ado, here’s “The Touch”.

The Touch

You’ve got the touch, you’ve got the power.
Yeah.

After all is said and done, you never walk,
you never run, you’re a winner.
You got the moves, you know the streets,
break the rules, take the heat, you’re nobody’s fool.
You’re at your best when the going gets rough,
You’ve been put to the test but it’s never enough.

You got the the touch, you got the power.
When all hell’s breaking loose,
you’ll be right in the eye of the storm.
You got the heart, you got the motion.
You know that when things get too tough,
you got the touch.

You never bend, you never break, you seem to know
just what it takes. You’re a fighter
It’s in the blood, it’s in the will, it’s in the mighty
hands of steel. When you’re standin your ground.
And you never get hit when you’re back’s to the wall
gonna fight till the end and you’re taking it all.

You got the touch, you got the power,
when all hell’s breaking loose,
you’ll be right in the eye of the storm.
You got the heart, you got the motion.
You know that when things get too tough, you got the touch.

You’re fighting fire with fire.
You know you got the touch.

You’re at your best when the going gets rough,
you’ve been put to the test but it’s never enough.
You got the touch, you got the power.
Yeah.

Song of the Day: Everything is AWESOME!!!


Earlier today, one of my favorite films of the first half of 2014, The Lego Movie, was released on Blu-ray.  With that in mind, how could I not pick this song for song of the day?

Why do I love Everything is Awesome?

Not only is it insanely catchy but its probably one of the most sarcastic songs ever written.  How could I not love it?

Song of the Day: Blumenkranz (by Hiroyuki Sawano feat. Paperblossom)


Kill la Kill is one of the more recent anime to come out of Japan to become a major sensation both in and out of the Land of the Rising Sun. It’s a series that some have called as too much of a slave to it’s fanservice scenes while some have called the series as much deeper than it’s visual surface has shown. Whatever the case, the series sports one of the best anime soundtracks of the past year due to the work by composer Hiroyuki Sawano.

It’s from this series’ soundtrack that the latest “Song of the Day” arrives from. “Blumenkranz” is the theme song for one of the series’ integral characters. It plays as a sort of walk-up theme music and it has become a favorite of pretty much every fan of the anime.

While the original song as sung by Japanese artist Rie was still in German it was heavily accented and has even confused some German speakers. An anime fan and native German speaker, singer Paperblossom has done the best cover of the song which has all the German lyrics spoken properly. It’s this version of the song that has become my favorite version of the song. I actually think it’s the superior version with all due respect to Rie’s original performance of the song.

One thing I’m sure of that this song would make for a killer entrance music for anyone looking to enter a room with much haughty and superior attitude.

Blumenkranz

Ich möchte stärker werden,
weil unsere Welt sehr grausam ist
Es ist ratsam, welke Blumen zu entfernen

Du fragst mich, ob ich mit dir komm
Du flüsterst mir in mein Ohr
Du fragst mich, ob ich deine Hand nehm
Ich hab keinen Grund, dich abzulehnen

Du fragst mich, ob ich mit dir komm
Du flüsterst mir in mein Ohr
Du fragst mich, ob ich deine Hand nehm

(Du flüsterst mir)

Ja, ich bin viel stärker, als ich je gedacht hab
Fliege höher!
Laufe viel schneller!
Vergiss die Wahrheit nicht!
Ja, ich bin viel stärker, als ich je gedacht hab
Ich entferne welke Blumen
Wieso siehst du so traurig aus?

Diese Welt ist grausam
Es ist traurig aber wahr
Diese Welt ist seltsam
Es ist fraglich aber wahr
Ist der Blumengarten echt oder falsch?

Ich möchte stärker werden,
weil unsere Welt sehr grausam ist
Es ist ratsam, welke Blumen zu entfernen

Ja, ich bin viel stärker, als ich je gedacht hab
Fliege höher!
Laufe viel schneller!
Vergiss die Wahrheit nicht!
Ja, ich bin viel stärker, als ich je gedacht hab
Ich entferne welke Blumen
Wieso siehst du so traurig aus?

Was willst du von mir?
Ich mag wollen oder nicht, ich muss den Feind verfolgen
Ich bin nicht frei von dieser Welt

Was willst du von mir?
Ich mag wollen oder nicht, ich muss den Feind verfolgen
Ich bin nicht frei von dieser Welt

Egal wie hart du auch bist
Fliege höher!
Laufe viel schneller!
Du bist sehr stark
Du bindest einen Blumenkranz
Wieso siehst du so traurig aus?