In which I rant about Love Songs.

You'd think that people would have had enough of Silly Love Songs. Seriously. They're every where. Most songs in some way shape or form have something to do with the concept of love. Paul McCartney and Wings were not the first nor the last to say those 3 silly words and set them to music. But honestly, if we're going to talk about love songs and Wings then we need to talk about Maybe I'm Amazed. Now not everyone can be Paul McCartney, and even older he still evokes a raw passion in all his music. Of course everyone should enjoy the love story of Paul and Linda. He loved her so dearly and wrote her this wonderful song. If we could all love a man (or woman) so grateful and talented.

But it's still pretty traditional. It waxes poetic about the writers one and only, whom amazes and does all the other wonderful things that everyone else's objects of affections ever do. I would like to take a moment and look at a few love songs that tell things a bit differently. Most of these are newer songs, and again I will say that these are only my opinion. You probably hate the song Maybe I'm Amazed and think that I'm crazy for considering it one of the best songs that Paul McCartney has ever written to this day. Again opinions all over this blog sweetheart. ****Let me also say for the record that I am making a point in this post to not talk about The Decemberists o Ben Folds. But I love them and consider everything they write to be genius.****

Let's start with a fairly new and Indie song by the band Zoey Van Goey. You Told the Drunks I Knew Karate is one of those love songs about a feeling most people deal with. Love even though you know you should not love at all. The writer's object of affection tends to get him in a lot of trouble, he even says, "I'd be much safer on my own, but I didn't care you were the most exciting thing I'd ever known." A common thought, but presented in a newer light than I've ever experienced. I find myself often wanting to find a relationship similar to this, because excitement often seems more interesting when you have very little around you.

Parachute is an adorable love song by and adorable writer. Ingrid Michaelson has written some of the most wonderfully wistful love songs I've ever heard. This song might be the tops in my opinion. Her seemingly stereotypical renderings of love are so mundane they become something fresh. When I hear her lyrics I think, "Oh duh, why didn't I think of that." The lyircs, "I don't need a parachute/ baby if I got you... you're gonna catch me" It just makes sense. Often her writing just feels so effortless to me, not over wrought like some artists and it always makes me smile. That's probably the most important part of all this. What love song should make someone sad?

This love song makes me so sad. While I under the age of ten for pretty much all of the 90's I have this feeling inside of me, (like most of us who grew up and watched most of the cartoons from the era), that I AM the 90's. Deep inside this decade embodies the way I feel about a lot of things, and the music influences me and my peers greatly. Best I Ever Had by Vertical Horizon is the quintessential one sided love song. It's gotten me through the toughest of relationships, and the best of relationships. This song is that obnoxious opening to The Tale of Two Cities. This song is everything great from the 90's  and everything horrible from it. It embodies all the wonderful parts of love and all the horrible parts. Whenever I want to feel miserable, (which is more often than I'd like to admit), this is the go to song for me. A lot of people, myself included, live off of the sick pain that love gives us and this song is for those freaks like us who enjoy this heart wrenching feeling in your chest. No song can recreate that better for us.

I heard this song yesterday. Sydney I'll Come Runnin' is a fantastically written love song by Brett Dennen. It embodies all the great points. Extreme circumstances in which the writer will prove his love to the object of his affection, the name of his affection, high tenor male voice, catchy chorus, and the promise of better times to come in regards to the relationship. Honestly, this is just a fun song and I wanted to be sure to share it with all you.

Lastly I have an interesting song(s). Originally this song was penned by Band of Horses, and in their incarnation it's a very awesome song. Again it's a sadder love song. The thing that sticks out is the title line, "No One's Gonna Love You, more than I do." Before you listen to it, it seems like it'll be a bit of an "Every Step You Take" kind of song. In a way I guess it might be. Band of Horses keeps it pretty sweet, and maybe it's the sound of the lead singer's voice. And he does say, "things start splittin at the seams now, it's tumblin down." There's is the degredation of a relationship somewhere in there, but it's still that out pouring of love. There is so much love that no one can love you more.

BUT WAIT, there's more! Cee Lo Green covered this song for his latest album, The Lady Killers, (Which is awesome go buy it now.) I personally prefer his version. I feel the love more in it for lack of a better term. The line, "They really should have warned you" sticks out most on this version to me. Maybe it's the ballady Motown beat behind it that sucks me in so much. Regardless, both versions are wonderful, nothing can kill the fact that this is just an fantastically written song. Even Rebecca Black couldn't destroy the loving power of this song, (but please don't try to.)

I have no witty way to end this post. So I'll leave you with a gratuitous post of me playing a love song. Well, sorta. This is as close as it gets.
<3

[By the way sorry it's been so long between the last post and this. I kind of started a new job recently and have been enjoying the benefits of working two jobs. Benefits like lack of sleep and free time. It's getting better though and I hope to have more content soon. Thanks all three people who read this!]

Allow me a brief moment to speak about my personal life...

2007 Senior Pic. Playing Carlos
my father's guitar. We're roughly
the same age.

I was asked recently about what my goals are involving music. Where do I see myself going with it? How do I think it will support myself? What do I even want to do involving it? I realized this is not something that I've actually shared with someone else, or really even dwelt upon. 


Music has been something that's been pretty ubiquitous in my life, it's motivated most of my life decisions. From deciding to ask if I could join the church choir at nine, (I was terrified because I was then the youngest person in said choir by about 20 years) to deciding to take a break from school to see how my life would be given the time to pursue this music thing much more seriously. While I can't say I've always made the best choices in my life, and I can't say that the path I've walked down has been a very consistent or straightforward one by any means one thing remains the same. No matter where my life takes me, what city, what income level, what job, I will always be writing music, listening to music, and performing music. That's never going to change in my life.

2008. Choral Spectacular. Carlos'
last performance.

For those who don't know I'm lucky enough at this point in my life to be able to teach voice and piano to students in the Louisville area. I'm 21 and this is pretty much my dream job. Not many 21 year olds can say that they are actually working their dream jobs. I would love to keep this job for the rest of my life, or allow it to grow into something on my own, but I realize I need more training. That's the thing I love about music. It's never stale, there always seems to be something new for me to learn. I need to become a better pianist, I want more theory practice, and I need to figure out how to perform a set without telling a really bad joke that no one laughs at. I'm young. I feel like everything in my life is a learning experience. I've never been the type of person who knew where they were going. I learn while I go. There isn't a manual for life, and I don't plan ahead very well.  When I graduated high school I picked the college with the most options, but even then never seemed to make the right choice. Coming back home was actually a great decision because it gave me a chances to pursue music like I didn't have an opportunity to when I was at IU. The best thing that came out of Bloomington were the people I met there and the life experiences gained there. None of that was learned in a classroom. 

2009. Disney Open Mic. Ellie and I performing "Be Prepared"
 from The Lion King

What lead to this post was a bad performance at an Open Mic on Monday night. My mother claimed I did fine, that people still enjoyed what I put out there, that I was still one of the best that night. That doesn't matter to me. I have personal standards at which I hold myself. If I don't meet my personal standards I'm not happy. I personally don't think it's all that bad to expect myself to perform at a certain level. I know I'm talented and so when I miss an opportunity to show off that talent and entertain people, especially in a performance setting, I feel I have failed. What I think my mother was concerned with was me being blind to my talents and blind to the reaction to my talents. I know I did well that night, but I also know I can do better. Every audience deserves to see me at my best, even if they didn't come to see me. I feel another musician would be able to understand this kind of feeling, but at the time I was unable to express myself. (I feel I should also note that this was the first time I tried playing after having drank a slight amount of alcohol. I usually perform completely sober and will continue to follow that rule just in case.)


Most people assume that singer songwriters such as myself all want to "make it big" and become a "star." I don't really. That would be easier, yes. If I were to be a "star" I'd be able to pursue music only and not worry about money the way I do. I'm not saying I wouldn't take the chance if it were presented to me. However, music is one of those things that I have to do. I've always found it hard to express myself the way normal humans will. I rarely confide in people my problems and I keep a lot of my feelings close my chest. I'm not an open book when it comes to emotional things, that is until I write a song. Dolly Parton once said, “I think to be a true songwriter, you have to really allow yourself to feel and allow yourself the freedom to write it the way you want to,”  No matter what I'm doing in life, teaching music, making coffee, having kids (maybe), living in my Dad's basement, living with 18 cats and a corgi, in love, or out of love, I will always be writing music. It's not a switch I can turn off. I don't write because I want to, I do it because I have to. 


I think I have a hard time relating to non-musicians because for me these ideas I've just discussed are obvious, as I'm sure they are to other musicians. When I write a song, and I fret over every little syllable I'm not doing so because I think other people are gonna really enjoy it. I do it because each sound is a part of conveying the story I'm portraying. And I'm one of those personal writers, I can't make anything up, never was a good story writer unless it was Non-Fiction. Besides every writing class I ever took said to "write what you know." Maybe my songs won't win me a Grammy and maybe my vocal talents will never impress many outside of a Louisville bar but it's not about awards and other people. I'm very selfish in regards to music, it's all about me and what I can get out of it. Teaching is where I make music selfless, but that's another blog rant for another time. 

2011. Tonight. Joy.

[I'll try not to make these long personal rants a common thing. I've been in a funky mood all week, and have been dwelling on a conversation from Monday since it happened. Like music, blogging is a way of arranging my thoughts. I hope you'll allow me this moment of reflection. I'll post something more interesting soon.]