Girls

I was listening to The 1975 in the car today and, of course, listened to their song "Girls."  For the first time I actually listened to the lyrics and let them sink in.

Wow.

That's all I am able to say.

The lyrics are very promiscuous.

[Source:  YouTube]

It starts with saying how she is "17 and a half years old / Worrying about my brother finding out / What's the fun in doing what you're told?"

"I said, 'No!' / 'Oh give it a rest, I could persuade you' / 'I'm not your typical, stoned 18 year old / Give me a night I'll make you' / 'I know you're looking for salvation in the secular age, but girl I'm not your savior' / Wrestle to the ground."

The chorus goes, "They're just girls breaking hearts / Eyes bright, uptight, just girls / But she can't be what you need if she's 17 / They're just girls / They're just girls."

"One moment I was tearing off your blouse / Now you're living in my house / What happened to just messing around?"  Now, if she is really 17, why are her parents allowing her to stay in the house of an older man?

"I said, 'Yo, I think you better go; I can't take you / You just sit and get stoned with 30-year-olds and you think you've made it / Well, shouldn't you be f***ing with somebody your age instead of making changes?'"

Now, how I take this song is that this girl is a distraction or someone to "mess around" with.  She's fun and dangerous because she doesn't listen to people, which is why he's into her.  She lives with him because she wants them to be together, but he claims he made it clear that he just wanted to mess around.  The harder he tries to distance himself from her, the harder she tries to stay with him.  That's why he keeps telling himself they she's just a girl.  She is not what he needs because she is only 17.  But this is how I interpret the song.

Comment below to tell me what you think!

I think The 1975 has some of the best songs lyrically and musically.  All around, actually, they're such a talented band.  

The Way I Am

So something interesting was recently brought to my attention.  Hip-hop vs. Shakespeare.  When given the task of determining whether a line is from a famous rap song or from one of the playwright's works, the answer is quite difficult to come to.

You see, Shakespeare was a self-educated man who spoke with deep meaning.  Rappers (although not always) do the same thing.  They take their feelings and modern day issues and address them in their raps, but do so with a lot of emotion.

So, I thought we would play a little game.  I am going to give you a line from either a work of Shakespeare or a line from a contemporary rap song and you will have to guess what it is from.  No cheating!!!  Ready?  Let's go.

1.  "And I rest again peacefully."

2.  "Hell is empty and all the devils are here."

3.  "I must be cruel only to be kind."

4.  "Then I hope this take away from my sins."

5.  "May the Lord protect me as the world gets hectic."

6.  "To destroy the beauty from which one came."

7.  "The most benevolent king communicates through your dreams."

8.  "I was not born under a rhyming planet."

How do you think you did?  Well, you had a 50/50 chance, right?  Let me explain the answers.

First, let's look at number one.  Hip-hop or Shakespeare?  Hip-hop.  This line is from Eminem's song "The Way I Am."  Number two is...Shakespeare.  "Hell is empty and all the devils are here" is from  Act I, Scene ii of his play The Tempest.  Number three should have been a piece of cake!  It was from Act III, Scene iv of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.  Know Kanye West's song "Jesus Walks?"  That was the answer to number four.  "May the Lord protect me as the world gets hectic" sounds like a line from Shakespeare.  Wrong.  It's a line from Nicki Minaj's "Autobiography" which means number five is hip-hop.  The answer to number six is hip-hop.  It 's from Jay-Z's song "You Must Love Me."  Number seven is a tricky one.  If you guessed hip-hop, you are correct!  It's a line from a Wu-Tang Clan song.  And finally number eight, which is surprisingly Shakespeare, Act V, Scene ii of Much Ado About Nothing.  

Stutter

I want you all to check this out.  Notice how I wasn't asking you to, I was telling you to.  It was written by a friend of mine on Twitter, Amelia, @playful_kitty9 (yes, that means you should follow her).  This is from her blog with Tumblr and on this post she talks about my favorite thing...music.

In her "Notebook Challenge" for November 9th, she talks about "Stutter" by Marianas Trench (the band I spoke of last Tuesday), One Direction's "Story of My Life," "If We're Alright" by The Wanted, and "Wildlife" by Hedley.  The post is done so well!

You really have to read it yourself because she wrote it so she deserves 100% of the credits.  She says things "so much better than I do."  The way she explains her feelings and views on each song is done in such a way that I have to think of a way to tell you.

Amelia speaks of each song for about a paragraph and talks about the lyrics, the artist, the beat - all in six or seven sentences.  When I first read the post, I immediately felt what she felt about the song in such a short amount of time.  I have only listened to one of the four songs, yet I already like the "unknown" songs, just from what she wrote.  If you haven't read it yet, read it now.  Here it is again, just in case you skipped the one at the top.

You

I always go through different phases when it comes to listening to music.  For the past few months, I have been really into acoustic tunes.  Today I am going to talk about one acoustic song in particular called "You."

The song is recorded by the band The Pretty Reckless.  For those of you who watch Gossip Girl, Taylor Momsen is the leading lady of this alternative group.  This is a song I first heard on Pandora when I was at my friend's house.  My friend is a huge fan of The Pretty Reckless and I am slowly becoming a fan myself.

Acoustic songs are very calming, especially when they are performed by rock bands like this one.  This song is roughly three and a half minutes, but not many lyrics make up the release.  The chorus goes, "And I want you in my life / And I need you in my life."  I just love those two lines.  She's so forward with what she wants to say.  Yes, I am aware that it is a song and those lyrics were written because they go with the song, but I wouldn't even be able to say that to anyone let alone sing it - that is if this song was written for a certain someone.

There is so much emotion in this song and I hope you will listen to it so you'll understand.