Category: Music

Top 10 Workout Songs

~ K ~ 1 Comment

It’s a new year and my goal has been to get to the gym on the weekends. I’ve been trying to do 30 minutes or more on the elliptical. As such, there are 10 songs that I’ve selected that help me get through that crunch. In parentheses is the length of the song.

1. Free Bird: Lynyrd Skynyrd – Also on a list of songs I shouldn’t be listening to, this 10-minute power song is perfect for a warm-up that leads into an all-out energy charge. (10:08)

2. The New Workout Plan: Kanye West – This should also probably be on the list of guilty pleasures, but I really do push myself harder when he intones “double time.” (5:23)

3. King of the Dancehall: Beenie Man – The only song that I own by the Jamaican dancehall king, this is another song that’s actually crass. But the beat in the chorus helps keep me on track. (3:37)

4. Bionic: Christina Aguilera – A high-energy song from the get-go, this futuristic hi-tech sound makes for a heart-pumping few minutes. (3:21)

5. Less Talk More Rokk (Guitar Hero Version): Freezepop – Anything by Freezepop is pure techno heaven and perfect for exercising, but the slow beat at the beginning builds up like a roller coaster ride, taking you through musical twists and turns. I love this song to get my energy up then leveling it out. (4:59)

6. Bulletproof: La Roux – A dance hit during the summer of 2010, this song keeps me going nonstop for 3 straight minutes. (3:26)

7. Nothing in This World: Paris Hilton – I’ve listed Paris Hilton’s music as a guilty pleasure because, really, who should be listening to her? But thanks to some solid producers, this social heiress made a song that’s worthy of exercising to. The catchy beat revs me up on the elliptical. (3:11)

8. Oh Timbaland: Timbaland – A little known song off of Timbaland’s album Shock Value, Mr. Moseley encourages the listener to “bounce,” which is exactly what I do on the exercise machine. (3:32)

9. Come into My World: Kylie Minogue – How I could I not include a pop queen like Kylie on my list of workout songs? This song has a steady tempo that’s great for leveling energy out before cool down. (4:32)

10. Make It with You: Bread – It’s no secret that I’m a fan of soft rock, and this Bread song is perfect for slowing my heart rate down. (Or conversely, warming it up.) It’s a mellow song with great tempo. (3:14)

10 Guilty Pleasure Songs

~ K ~ 1 Comment

Almost everyone’s got songs that they listen to that they wouldn’t want to fess up to if you heard it in their car. But here I list 10 songs that I listen to that I really know I shouldn’t be.

1. Free Bird: Lynyrd Skynyrd – About a man who goes a-cheatin’ and isn’t repentant about it. There’s nothing redeeming in the song except perhaps that awesome guitar solo.

2. Turn It Up: Paris Hilton – I really shouldn’t be listening or paying attention to anything Paris Hilton does, but I love the beat in this song. Her voice is a tad annoying and breathy, but I can get past it.

3. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey: Paul McCartney – This song is stupid and makes no sense. “Butter pie?” But I grew up with Paul McCartney as a solo artist and absolutely love the silliness of the song. The silliness and stupidity are what endear it to me.

4. Only Thing I Ever Get for Christmas: Justin Bieber – I always feel a bit like a teenage girl listening to the Biebs. I’m in my thirties. I really ought not to be listening to someone a full decade younger but gosh darn it, he’s so cute!

5. Hot Tottie: Usher featuring Jay-Z – Another song with no moral redeeming value. It’s about cheating too. But Usher’s singing is so sexy, the beat gets my body moving, and Jay-Z’s rap is clever (if not crass). It’s a song I really shouldn’t be listening to.

6. Circles: Christina Aguilera – On the same album in which she sings about loving, not hating, this song is totally about flipping the bird. “Spin around in circles on my middle, middle finger” is not really something I should be listening to but the playfulness of the song draws me in. Even if she ends it with a fine point like “motherf****r.”

7. Gangnam Style: Psy – This man could be talking about pooping on my mother for all I know since I don’t understand Korean. But I love doing that crazy horse dance. This will probably fall off my guilty pleasures list once Psy’s 15 minutes of fame are up, but I’m enjoying the song while it lasts.

8. Cheers (Drink to That): Rihanna – A song that celebrates drowning your misery in alcohol. I’m not an alcoholic (or much of an alcohol drinker) so I don’t know why I’m drawn to  the song. (It may be the sample of Avril Lavigne’s “Yeah Yeah” from “I’m With You” that draws me in.) But I love to play it at the end of the long week and sing “Cheers to the freakin’ weekend.” Bonus points if I’ve got a beer in hand while listening to the song.

9. Hungry Like the Wolf / Rio: Glee Cast – Glee manages to do a bang-up job mashing up these two amazing Duran Duran songs. I don’t even watch Glee (I’ve seen a few episodes though) but I discovered this mix and haven’t looked back. I love singing along to this.

10. Reggae Strut: Neil Diamond – A Jewish boy from Brooklyn donning a bad Jamaican accent. Need I say more?

10 Songs That Comprise the Soundtrack of My Life

~ K ~ 1 Comment

I’ve put together a musical playlist of my life and what I hope my future entails. The following 10 songs express some kind of hope, things that I’ve gone through, or how I feel. They are in no particular order.

  1. This Journey Is My Own: Sara Groves – The title of my blog. I’m still trying to live and breathe for an audience of one.
  2. Paperback Writer: The Beatles – I hope to get a novel published someday!
  3. Real Bad News: Aimee Mann – This is the song I always think of when I stepped off the plane from college and received the news that my father had died.
  4. I Shall Believe: Sheryl Crow – I’m a hot mess in many ways but I resolve to believe in God even when it’s difficult.
  5. OK: Rebecca St. James – If I could have told my teenage self anything, it’s that life would get better. And everything will be okay.
  6. Gone Too Soon: Michael Jackson – In my opinion, my uncle and my father died much too soon. It’s a beautiful song that expresses loss.
  7. Show Love: Mary J. Blige – Too many people have hated on me in my life and tried to bring me down. This song encourages me to keep my head held high.
  8. In Christ Alone: Keith & Kristyn Getty – I want my hope and my life to be found in Christ alone.
  9. C.S. Lewis Song: Brooke Fraser – A hopeful song about waiting for God.
  10. Surrender: BarlowGirl – I have such a hard time giving up my dreams and desires to God, but this song reminds me that they are best left in his hands.

I originally had 25 songs listed (!) and cut it down to a top 10. I hope you click on some of the songs and enjoy.

My Top 10 Favorite Songs of All-Time

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Here’s a list of some of my top 10 favorite songs of all-time in no particular order. It was hard to narrow it down to just 10, but they’re songs that I could listen to over and over and never get sick of. (I’ve tried to vary the artists since I could list whole albums by the same artist.)

  1. “Look What You’ve Done” by Bread
  2. “Nocturne” by Billy Joel
  3. “Shoot the Moon” by Norah Jones
  4. “Irish Sea” by Margaret Becker
  5. “This Journey Is My Own” by Sara Groves
  6. “Gone Too Soon” by Michael Jackson
  7. “Today’s the Day” by Aimee Mann
  8. “Linus and Lucy” by Vince Guaraldi Trio
  9. “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” by George Harrison
  10. “Dear Prudence” by The Beatles

Top 10 Songs I Loved in 2012

~ K ~ 3 Comments

I look forward to seeing the new music that comes out in 2013! But in the meantime, here’s a list of 10 songs I loved in 2012. (I think you know all too well which one of them that will appear on here.) Continue reading “Top 10 Songs I Loved in 2012” →

My favorite artist/lyricist: Aimee Mann

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Aimee Mann is the best song lyricist that I know of. Her lyrics are funny and clever in a way that many other artists’ lyrics are not. Two of the songs I enjoy by Ms. Mann include “Driving Sideways” and “Stranger into Starman.” With another song, “Save Me,” I resonated deeply with the lyrics because I felt like I was part of “the ranks of the freaks who suspect they could never love anyone.”

Growing Old along with Alanis Morissette

~ K ~ 2 Comments
Image from AP

Yes, I admit it: I was one of those people who gave up on Alanis after her Unplugged album. When I heard “Hands Clean” from Under Rug Swept, I disowned her as the voice of my tortured soul.

When Jagged Little Pill came out, I was a teenager scorned who had never had a boyfriend but a series of crushes that went all wrong. “Ya Oughta Know” screamed my angst and pain, “Perfect” explained the pressures I felt from my parents to be the overachieving, A+ child, and “You Learn” reminded me that life taught me lessons that I would have to learn from. Morissette’s follow up, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie still had the right amount of angst for me. 1998 was the year that I became a Christian, but was still searching for inner peace. “Baba” was a cynical song about Eastern religion that I identified with as I wasn’t fully sold on Buddhism, “Thank U” reminded me to be thankful to God and the universe for all the blessings life afforded me, and “Heart of the House” inspired me to become the “goddess” of my home one day.

Most people thought Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie was a let-down, but I thought it was an astonishing sophomore follow-up. Unplugged was my last Morissette album. “No Pressure Over Cappuccino” spoke about the paradoxes of life to me, and “Princes Familiar” made me think that one day, just one day, I’d meet a man who treated me like a princess the way my father always treated me. (That dream has come true, by the way.)

Then I heard “Hands Clean” and thought, Alanis doesn’t speak for me anymore. I need angst. Alanis sucks without the angst. But that’s because I had just gotten out of a relationship gone wrong, and suddenly songs like No Doubt’s “Ex-Girlfriend” were speaking for me.

But I’m rediscovering Alanis. She has grown out of her angst and so have I, making me more receptive to her softer, more contemplative side. Now, I am going through and listening to havoc and bright lights, Flavors of Entanglement, So-Called Chaos, and Under Rug Swept only to realize that I can still identify with her songs but on a different level than before. I’ve grown older with Alanis Morissette, and I’m glad that she didn’t stay trapped in her angst because really, who wants to experience that emotion forever? She would have been stagnant as an artist and artistry is all about evolving. And art sure imitates life.

 

The Voice: Coach Xtinarcissist

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Guess who’s got the biggest ego of these 4 coaches?

I’ve been a dedicated viewer of the new NBC series “The Voice” this season, and I’m thrilled to know that it’s doing so well that it’s been picked up for a second season. (I tend to kill brand-new shows simply by becoming a dedicated viewer as exemplified by the death of Martha Stewart’s “The Apprentice” and “Vanished.”) I was drawn to the show because of the star-studded coaches—one in particular really—and ended up loving the contestants.

I’m a huge Christina Aguilera fan. Haven’t always been that way (didn’t care for her “Genie in a Bottle” days), but after listening to the Stripped album (from her so-called skanky days), I became a dedicated fan. I don’t love all of her songs and it’s not that the girl can do no wrong in my eyes, but I’ve always seen her as a smart, strong female apart from her smart, strong vocals. Compared to Jessica Simpson and some of her other contemporaries, I know she’s not a dumb bottle blonde.

So when I heard Xtina was going to be one of the coaches on the new show, I was thrilled. After the debacle with bungling The Star-Spangled Banner lyrics, I couldn’t wait to see Xtina brush the dirt off her skirt, get back up, and woo us back to her by guiding other talented artists. For me, Xtina was the biggest draw into watching “The Voice” and I could have cared less about the other coaches, Cee Lo, Adam Levine (frontman for Maroon 5), and country singer Blake Shelton.

I’ve watched every single episode of “The Voice” this season, and while I can go into in-depth detail about why I love the show (maybe in another blog post), this post is really about how disappointed I am to see Christina living up to her diva/prima donna status (and I mean that in the bad sense of the word).

I know she’s been pretty self-absorbed and narcissistic all season long (her boobs always play a prominent role in each episode), but her height of conceit really came to a head for me at the show finale when all of my respect for her as a person came crashing down.

Xtina’s loyal friends

During the 2-hour long finale in which the remaining four contestants performed, Xtina looked dour and her comments for others were curt as if she seemed upset that one of the other contestants would beat her shining star, rocker Beverly McClellan.

Each of the coaches sung a duet with their final artist and Christina chose one of her favorite songs—“Beautiful,” her very own chart-topper! Of course, Beverly was simply honored to share such a fantastic song with the original singer and songwriter (Linda Perry), but Christina would expect nothing less because the song is so amazing. (Which it is but it’s totally another thing to shamelessly promote yourself like that.)

Then upon the conclusion of Beverly’s energetic performance of “Love Sick,” an original song written exclusively for the finale, Xtina had perked up significantly and gave her artist an enthusiastic standing ovation when she barely deigned to acknowledge the other singers (who, quite frankly, had much better original songs — iTunes sales back me up on this). (Disclaimer: Bev was one of my favorites this season so don’t think I’m slamming her.) A Twitterer I follow said it best about Xtina last night:

She’s been that way the entire season. EVERYTHING she says about everyone somehow comes back to her & her career.

And upon evaluating several performances over the course of the season, he couldn’t be more correct. Watch Beverly’s performance of “Love Sick” below or skip ahead to 6:45 to see how Xtina brings Beverly’s performance and singing all back to herself.

That really did me in. As much as I love Xtina’s singing ability and many of her songs, I lost respect for her by the end of the show. She proved herself to be a narcissist and to only care about things that revolve around her. I’m pretty sad to feel this way about her especially since she’s the only female on the show and the reason I even got interested in the show in the first place. I’ll still buy her albums and still consider her smart and strong but she’s too self-absorbed for me to like as a person any more.

So when I tune in to watch the second season of “The Voice” next February, I’ll instead be tuning in to watch Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, coaches whom I have grown to love, are clearly more fun, and don’t sit on too much of a high horse. (Cee Lo’s more down-to-earth as well, but his performances are weird and he’s creepy the way he hits on all the female contestants over 18.) Based on the coaches’ picks earlier in the season, I quickly jumped on the #TeamAdam bandwagon, but based on last night’s songs and performances, I’ve suddenly (and unexpectedly) found myself joining #TeamBlake and #TeamDia. And that’s the fun of the show for me: the person you end up voting for by the end of the season just might surprise you.

Fast-forward to 1:40 to hear Dia Frampton’s original song, “Inventing Shadows” that hit number one on iTunes.

“Moves Like Jagger” — Maroon 5 Featuring Christina Aguilera on #TheVoice [Video]

~ K ~ 1 Comment

If the above video doesn’t work, use the following link:
The Voice – Semi-finals: Maroon 5 Featuring Christina Aguilera Sings “Moves Like Jagger” – Video – NBC.com.

In Christ Alone

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Whenever I can’t come up with a blog post, I think I’ll just refer you to my favorite hymn, “In Christ Alone” because right now, I’m struggling with so much and need to remember that everything I need is indeed in Christ alone.

Listen to In Christ Alone.

Musical Discernment

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Image from paducahtruth.blogspot.com

My years in the independent fundamental Baptist (IFB) denomination encouraged me to think that practically all music except for the old-time hymns were bad. This came after 16 years of listening to virtually any and every musical genre I wanted. I attended a strict, legalistic Christian college in which all music submitted was evaluated by those in authority to see if the music met the college’s criteria of something that could be listened to during the school term. If it did not meet the college’s criteria, the album was held until the end of the term then returned to the owner.

I spent quite a bit of time in which I listened to nothing but songs and hymns that would fall very much under the genres of classical, choral, and non-percussion instrumental. While I enjoy listening to these genres at various times, limiting myself to these genres alone proved trying. At times, I found classical or choral music quite boring and sleep-inducing while non-percussion instrumental music could contain brass instruments making the song loud, distracting, and downright annoying.

At that time, I really believed that classical, choral, and non-percussion instrumental were sinful and harmful to listen to. I discarded all of my secular albums, ripped up my Beatles and Michael Jackson posters, and thought I was doing my best to be obedient to God. But my actions certainly weren’t motivated by an attitude of love and grace; I did those things in obedience to the commandments of men (Matt. 15:9).

Granted, the general principle behind the legalistic rules is not bad:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  —Philippians 4:8

A great many songs in the secular realm do not meet the criteria above hence the radical fundamentalist view of shunning “worldly rock music.” But then again, a lot of songs that pass for what is called “Christian” don’t meet the criteria above either.

After leaving IFB churches (perhaps even a bit before that), I began to listen to a variety of songs again and discovered how much these songs could positively impact my mood. Here are a few personal examples:

Those are only a few examples of how various songs (Sara Groves being the only overtly Christian song on the list) minister to me that would never meet the criteria outlined by my old Christian college and old IFB churches. (Yes, that includes the Sara Groves song.)

A lot of the songs above don’t fly for a lot of Christians. It may be that the songs don’t meet their musical preference (ie, don’t like the sound or lyrics) or that they’re not godly enough. That’s okay as long as they are the ones determining what’s good for them and not someone else. Continue reading “Musical Discernment” →

Approval from Others: I Shouldn’t Drink to That

~ K ~ 1 Comment
Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve been dealing with a huge “fear of man” issue lately—I care too much about what others think of me. I second-guess everyone’s motives, and if my friendship is rejected, speculations fly in my head in determining the possible reason of how I caused the rejection.

There’s a song by Rihanna called “Cheers (Drink to That)” that I really like. (The Avril Lavigne sample from “I’m With You” though? Not so much.) Yes, it’s a song about drinking.

Cheers to freakin’ weekend,
I’ll drink to that (yeah yeah).
Oh, let the Jameson sink in,
I’ll drink to that (yeah yeah).
Don’t let the bastards get you down,
Turn it around with another round,
There’s a party at the bar,
Everybody put your glasses up
And I’ll drink to that!”

I’ve gotta admit, I consider for the length of song drinking all my troubles away. The idea of drinking alcohol to drown all my paranoia and the possible criticism people might be leveling my way sounds enticing. The song somehow gets me all warm and fuzzy with the idea of sitting around a bar happily drinking myself stupid with a bunch of people I don’t know in an effort to escape my troubles. I never even dreamed of romanticizing the idea until this song. I wouldn’t lay blame with the song or the singer so much as I do with my interpretation of the avenue I think it gives me.

I’m constantly seeking approval from others. And I know that’s it’s wrong. I know that can only come from God, and I struggle with that. So I desire to drink alcohol to drown out the internal war in my head. I want to drink to deal with the war of truth and lies that rages in my brain.

As the song fades out, each time I need to tell myself, “No, drinking to get comfort only exacerbates the problems you’re dealing with. You must get ultimate comfort from God.”

But God doesn’t dull my senses like alcohol does. When I’m depressed, God doesn’t put me to sleep right away like alcohol can. And whether I drink or pray in the evening, the internal critics return in the morning to torment me. I can’t escape them; I don’t know what to do.

—

The song is just one example that leads into a larger issue of how music (not just melody or beats but also lyrics) can influence a person’s moods and thinking, but ironically, I’ve had a beer tonight (with a BBQ pizza!) and I don’t have the brainpower or energy to tackle a post of that scale tonight.

Hello? Is it me you’re looking for?

~ K ~ 5 Comments

My love for Lionel Richie’s sappy ’80s songs is immense. So I simply needed to share the current Internet meme that has gone viral with those of you who may not have seen it. (That, and I’m currently hurting for original blog material.)

And if, for whatever reason, you don’t get it, it means you don’t know the song so you don’t get the joke. Listen to it below: