Music is more than Notes on a Page.
This music themed blog is going to be all about music, and a unique perspective of looking at it. There will be posts from all around the world, and more importantly, posts that YOU send me. Stay tuned and more music is on the way!
Goodfellas is one of my all time favorite movie (check out the family made version bu the Muratores). Specifically there is a scene where Tommy and Billy meet for the first time since Billy got out of prison, and the music in the background when the eventual fight breaks out is Atlantis. It is very ironic because the song i so mellow, and talks about a lost land beneath the sea (Atlantis), while the action above the water is extremely violent (Tommy fighting Billy). Take a look at this awesome song that is part of the GoodFellas Soundtrack.
The favorite group…Coldplay has now entered the room. Cris Martin has a voice that is so soothing to the ears, and every song they make is simply fantastic. Their music is appropriate for anyone, and they performed all around the world (for good reason). I would like to show you two amazing songs by the group, the first one (my favorite): Viva la Vida LIVE!!! (Cris Martin has so much emotion and you can feel how connected he and the audience is).
Then comes another classic, the Scientist acoustic, the guitar is awesome!
Today we look at Queen. One the best voices of all time, Freddie Mercury was a sensation and was globally recognized as a superstar on the stage. The guitarist of Queen, Brian May sings beautiful on his guitar, and every note sounds like it was hand crafted in a beauty shop. These two legends played together to make ‘Love of my life’, which is my favorite Queen song. Take a listen, it’s amazing.
What is happening ladies and gentlemen. Here we have the best Marist Flag Football Team to ever exist…the AVENGERS!!! They are fast, strong, and have superpowers. The squad has came out with a rap, and you should take a look…(also if you check out their wordpress site you can see their schedule too!)
Pearl Jam is one of my favorite groups. This is in large due to their lead singer, Eddie Vedder. He has a great voice, and recently played at the One World: Together at Home virtual concert. Eddie Vedder has a lot of awesome songs, on of them being society (which is inserted a couple posts down), from the movie soundtrack, Into The Wild.
Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 in Seattle, Washington, and the founding members of the group are Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder, and Matt Cameron (joined in 1998). Check out my favorite song covered by this awesome group: Last Kiss.
Guitar Hero is a game for champions…champions of MUSIC!!! this crazy paced game really shows who the true video game musicians are. Colors (which match up with the guitar counsel) come down the screen in accordance with the rhythm of the song, and the player has to hit these not with accuracy, and timing. There is an abundance of songs to choose from, most of them being rock. Take a look at my favorite guitar hero song to play…Hotel California…on EXPERT!!!
I am a Pangolin. I am an African and Asian mammal that has A LOT of scales. I am also referred to as the “scaly anteater”. I can get up to 73 pounds, and I have the same protein in my scales that humans have in hair. Here, take a look at me walking around!
A lot of you out there would be surprised, but I am actually a musician. Since I am from Africa, I listen the Clemens Wenner’s cover of Africa by Toto all the time.
Whenever I feel threatened, I just curl up into my mega-defense: there’s no way anyone is breaking through this. When I am all curled up, I put on my iPod and listen to hours of Africa by Toto.
It’s a fun life being a Pangolin; we have parties, jobs, and amusement parks, its great. When we great really crazy, we even have DANCE PARTIES!
As we are in a state of somewhat-isolation, why not listen to a song that removes the listener from ‘Society’. Society is from the movie Into The Wild, and is sung by Eddie Vedder. Take a listen!
The is beautiful composition talks about the real life story of Christopher McCandless. Christopher hikes across North America into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s to explore the world and remove himself from society.
Christopher says the famous quote, “Sometimes its not always about being strong, but feeling strong”. During this hard times in all of our lives, it would be nice to feel strong. Christopher dared to explore the wild, but more importantly, himself. By doing so, he really found nature’s true beauty. He describes his experience as “true freedom”
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now analyze a scene from…George Lucas’ 1971 sci-fi dystopian masterpiece…THX 1138. The scene in particular we shall dive into is labeled “The Confession”. Please take a look!
This scene has the protagonist, THX 1138, is a confession in which he feels guilty about his mistake at work, and needs reassurance about his role in society. The scene starts out with THX 1138 entering the confession booth. Upon his entrance a pre-programmed message comes from a Jesus-like digital picture that says “my time is yours”. This saying is actually quite ironic in nature, as the members of this dystopian society have none of their own time; the time they have is purely dedicated to being a good ‘worker; and expressing no emotion or own intrinsic thought.
The pre-programmed message then says, “go ahead”, “very good”, “proceed”, “I understand”, “yes”, all on repeat in no real harmony with what the THX 1138 is saying. THX 1138 talks about how he made a small error at work, and how his roommate is acting strange (she is simply showing signs of love and human thought) and he wants forgiveness. The pre-programmed message serves no real guidance and just says words of ‘encouragement’.
These words of encouragement coming from the Jesus-like pictures are quite ironic. As THX 1138 knows his role to work hard and contribute to the miserable dystopia he lives in, these words of encouragement are supposed to ‘guide’ him to continue his miserable existence. These words of ‘guidance’ are basically telling its society’s members to continue building the robot cops that are enforcing the ‘rules’ of no emotion and free thought.
The pre-programmed message then goes to say, “let us be thankful we have an occupation”. This continues the irony of this dystopia…why would anyone want to be thankful for living in that cycle of misery? It is the responsibility of those within the society to keep up their productivity and to just blindly work hard and obey this destiny. It is after this saying from the picture that we then see that it is all computerized, and continues the trend of this dystopia that no real human connection or emotion is allowed; when THX 1138 is at his most vulnerable state it is a computer’s job to comfort him.
Finally, the scene wraps up with the computer saying, “and always remember, be happy”. This might be the most powerful line of the whole film. There is no way anyone in this society could be truly happy. These people are punished by their peers if they show emotion or free thought. Further, the ‘best’ one can be is being as productive as possible…this productivity leads to making robot cops that further suspend emotion and thought. This dystopia has no way of happiness, and this is what causes THX 1138 to realize that he needs to escape.
Hello world, my name is Eminem, and let me tell you that as a musician myself, this movie is amazing. Even the name, a STAR is Born…you know someone is about to make some great music. Music carries the movie throughout, and this is why I am such a huge fan. From the opening scene (which features Bradley Cooper singing Black Eyes), there is explosion of high energy awesome music, take a look!
As Bradley Cooper’s character (Jackson Maine) has a very exciting and awesome intro to the movie, Ally (played by Lady Gaga) has an amazing intro of her own. She shows why she is the perfect partner in crime to Jackson.
Ally shows her true ability here, and it’s this humble beginning which is the foundation for her personality. This is what I really enjoy about this movie; both Jackson and Ally are humble people at heart, and are not ego-chasing maniacs. Ally works a normal job in NYC to start out, while working at this music club at night. She really has no true path of being a true professional until Jackson comes into her life. This is what makes her so relatable to so many aspiring artists out there. Many talented individuals are doing their thing every day and have the talent to make it, but not the right opportunities. Ally took advantage of hers, and met her lover along the way.
Jackson and Ally’s relationship is another part of this movie that is really awesome. Although Ally comes from a more humble start in the movie, they are both very similar comparable. It is ironic that throughout the course of the movie Jackson becomes overshadowed by the on who he brings into the industry.
It is really interesting to me to see this movie depict the hardships that a performer can go through. Not every famous musician goes through trials like the ones Jackson Maine experiences in the movie, but there are struggles that anyone can go through, and this is shown throughout the movie. Specifically, is his battle with alcohol, and how it has consumed his life.
In matter of fact, Ally is the reason why Jackson goes sober during his relationship with her, as he does not want his bad habits to come in the way of them two. It is awesome to see his character develop, especially in the scene where Ally sees him recover.
As a musician, you can always respect when someone works hard to obtain their goals. This is exactly what Ally does…she becomes a number #1 best seller in the US Ally’s character development is one that is somewhat expected (in the name of the movie), but she is very likable and relatable to she diffidently won me over. As Jackson’s alcoholism returns I personally felt so bad for him. He had so much potential as a person that was wasted through his addiction. It is a shame that Ally can’t be with her love, and that Jackson chose to take his own life to stop hurting his love (which ultimately hurt her the most).
All in all, I give this movie a 10/10. Amazing music, storyline, character development, and it had me in tears at the end. I listen to Shallow all the time, and although i there are no raps in the movie, I still think it is amazing!!!
music masters