American Girl

[Photo:  dearagi.com]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' second single from their debut album, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  It is from 1977 and people still play it all the time.  That is when you know a song was a good one.

The chorus is only four lines, but it is sooo good:

Oh yeah, all right

Take it easy, baby

Make it last all night

She was an American girl

And along with the chorus, the second verse is astounding:

Well it was kind of cold that night,

She stood alone on her balcony

Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by,

Out on 441 like waves crashin' on the beach

And for one desperate moment

There he crept back in her memory

God it's so painful when something that's so close

Is still so far out of reach

Is that not a powerful set of lyrics?  "God it's so painful when something that's so close / Is still so far out of reach," hits home I think for everyone.  But while it is so relatable, I guess you could say it is a tiny bit depressing.  "And for one desperate moment / There he crept back in her memory."  A "desperate moment" is always a hopeless moment.

So many different feelings I feel are tackled in this song, which is partially why I think it is formidable.  The band made it an upbeat, fun-sounding song, yet they talk about a girl who stands on her balcony alone thinking about some guy who has no meaning to us as listeners.  It is like, you want to feel badly for her, but the song is so dance-worthy that you...can't.  Am I misinterpreting it?  Probably.

Heartbreak Girl

One of my favorite songs by the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer, "Heartbreak Girl."  Enjoy!

Welcome to the Black Parade

It doesn't matter what genre a song is if the song has amazing percussion.  If your band has an impressive drummer, you will most likely win over my heart.

My Chemical Romance is one of those bands.  I vividly remember when their song "Welcome to the Black Parade" came out in 2006.  When it was released in 2006, I was in fourth grade, but the song wasn't popular in my school until fifth grade.  Everyone loved it.  It was requested so many times to the DJ at my fifth grade social.  Anyway, when I first heard it, at 11-years-old, the percussion was the thing that caught my attention.

Bob Bryar was the drummer for the band when the song was recorded.  The boy has major talent.  He's like the Stewart Copeland of alternative rock - to me.  In the song, the drums are really apparent, so when you listen to it, the drums kind of smack you right in the face.  But don't worry because the smack doesn't hurt.