We're returning to Mad's Music Corner for something that's actually relevant to the project at hand. That's right: Space Music.
Now, if we wanted to go all futuristic, we'd probably go electronic. We're not going to do that. I'm not a fan of electronic music, and I can't make a soundtrack out of things I don't want to listen to.
It's a little tricky, because I still don’t know what the plot is, but I hope that this can help us get into the world and the characters a little better. And I'll be linking them instead of embedding them, which should help the post load better for anyone with a slower connection.
You know where we haven't been in a while? Mad's Music Corner. I think it's time to go back, get cozy, and listen to some tunes.
I know you're all eagerly awaiting all the things I'm supposed to be working on, but we all need a break. And it's a holiday weekend (Monday is Memorial Day, in case you're outside the US). I mean, not for me. I'm still working the holiday, but whatever. I'm taking my three day weekend in one evening.
I didn't set out to have a theme for this, but as I build my list, it looks like we're leaning toward "nostalgia." So take a walk down my own personal memory lane with me.
This is my 100th post (yay?) so I thought we should do something awesome. Much as I'd like to debut my brand new masterpiece, I'm not there yet. So how about a return to Mad's Music Corner? The one-year anniversary of my first post is coming up in about a month, and well, I talk a lot about how I'm not living up to the plan I set forth. But we tend to forget (and by "we" I mean me) that I've actually done a lot since then. And we don't need to be all doom and gloom about the whole thing.
So we're going to set our sights a little higher, on something a little brighter. I can be an optimist, too, if I have to be. We passed the winter solstice two weeks ago, so it can only get lighter from here.
We’re taking a little trip today. Anyone who's spent any time around my iPod has probably asked at least once, "Is that in English?" A lot of the time, no, it's not. Do I know what it means? Sometimes.
On several occasions, I've set out to find foreign music, specifically bands that perform in their native language. Typically, I'll pick a country, then look up lists of bands from there. I'll listen to a bunch until I find something I like. Or sometimes, someone will share a band with me.
Today's Mad's Music Corner is going to depress the shit out of you. I've had this one percolating in the back of my mind for a while, but I wasn't sure when to break it out, since it's a bit of a downer compared to my usual fare. It just, I don't know, seemed like the right time. Today, we're going to talk about loss. Or rather, we're going to talk about songs that talk about loss.
Scarlet White - So Young
I first heard this in April of 2015. About two weeks before that, a friend of mine died, rather unexpectedly. This was someone I had worked with, whom I got into NaNoWriMo. After NaNo '14, we started talking about him becoming my co-ML for NaNo '15, and all the crazy things we would do. So one day, we had these plans brewing, and then all the sudden, he was gone. "Why Mad," you might say, "I didn't know that." No, you didn't. No one did. I didn't tell anyone all of this. This song actually made me cry the first time I heard it, and that’s not something I readily admit to. Even now, every time I hear it, it reminds me.
Escape the Fate - Picture Perfect
Overall, this one fits with our theme. But I want to draw your attention to a particular line. It’s a pretty generic line, but it's what stands out today. "Life goes on without you." It reminded me of something I heard in class once. I tried to find the notebook, in case I’d written it down, but I have a lot of old notebooks… so I'll have to go from memory. It was in Military History, probably back in '07 or '08, and the prof was talking about Jack Kipling (son of writer Rudyard Kipling), who was presumably killed in WWI. He said something along the lines of, "and then Jack Kipling was gone, and the world kept going." It's the most disheartening thing to realize that although a loss can destroy a limited group of people, the world at large doesn’t care, and just keeps on turning.
Noctura - Gone Away
This is a cover of an Offspring song, but I think it's worth sharing for its own merit. It's a much, I don't know, softer delivery than the original, what with the piano and the female vocals. It's a much more tragic sound. As a general rule, I don't really go for female vocalists. I'm not sure why. There's just not a lot of them in my music library. But I would (and have) listen to this on repeat. It’s just a fantastic song all around.
All right, that's all I have for today. Tune in Friday for something a little more upbeat. Probably. If there's anything you’d like me to write about, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll see what I can do.
Welcome to Mad's Music Corner. Pull up a chair. Get comfy.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned possibly talking about the music I'm listening to at the time. This is that. I was going to try to link my selections thematically or something, but that proved too hard at this hour. So if these do end up having a common thread, that's just a coincidence, or a sign that all my music is similar.
Simple Plan - Astronaut
I'm not great at metaphors. I'm an illiterate kindergartener trying to read Finnegans Wake. But I can tell you that this song is about loneliness and the inability to connect with other people. It uses the image of the loneliest person ever, someone alone and adrift in a little box, while the rest of the world forgot about them. I'm not going to lie, sometimes writing this blog feels like that. Like I'm just sending transmissions out to a world that isn't listening.
Oceans Divide - Barely Alive
I don’t have a lot to say about the content of this one. More about why I prefer the acoustic version over the regular one. Spotify gave me this one first, so I could just be biased towards it, but the regular version seems so caught up in its own production that it loses some of the emotion. Or something. What do I know? It's a good song, listen to it.
We Are the Emergency - All We Ever See of Stars Are Their Old Photographs
I'm going to warn you, it gets a bit screamy towards the end which is, if nothing else, kind of startling. I only recently (just now) learned what the words were. This one earned its inclusion with its very flowing sound. There are parts where the beginning of one line overlaps the end of the one before and it's just very cool.
That's all for this installment. I hope to maybe introduce people to music they've never heard. Or at least give you an idea of what I'm listening to while pretending to write. Anyone who's been paying attention might notice the lack of a certain band I've been obsessed with lately. That's because I made a deal with myself that I could only include one of their songs in Mad's Music Corner (ever!), and so I had better make it a good one.