To kick off this Friday the 13th & my #spookyspeason #3 series…Rob Zombie. If you’ve loved horror movies over the 20 years, I feel you’ve heard the name. If you didn’t know, before being the film director he is now; Zombie released his first solo album “Hellbilly Deluxe” in 1998 after White Zombie disbanded.
“Living Dead Girl” has been stuck in my head since it released…this song and the accompanying music video helped form my love of horror movies. Seeing Zombie direct many movies I’ve come to love (The Devils Rejects included), I think this song fits properly in my life any time of the year. But, especially during the the Halloween/spooky season.
This is my 2nd spooky season post. A lot of these entries in the spooky series won’t follow my normal formula…I feel it’s meant to be that way.
I heard this song when I was 12, watching the “House On Haunted House” 1999 remake and I feel it set the mood for the rest of the movie. I recall seeing the music video months later (remember it’s before the internet…shocking!). But, that music video kinda traumatized me…in a good way. Looking back to today, I appreciate the “shock artist” side of this song remake.
For me, being so young and seeing this song played right before the catalyst in a horror movie starts to unravel…it’ll always be a moment in my music history that I’ll remember. Around that time Marilyn was being eaten alive by critics and still is. I don’t want to get too deep much about his current situations, I only felt this song fits into this spooky season post. There aren’t any rules in these posts. Tell me your thoughts and enjoy October…another new post tonight!
I’ll begin this post tonight saying that I rarely like to get political publicly…like on this website or in daily life. Only because I believe it divides us as humans; I respect other beliefs and have an open mind, but there are others that can’t allow that to happen amicably. Therefore I decided long ago to stay silent on these issues…not from lack of courage. I only believe it limits the ability to freely blend with the world around me. So I tread lightly…the world doesn’t need more issues based on my opinions.
As the 17th century French Polymath Pierre Beaumarchais once said:
“As long as I don’t write about the government, religion, politics, and other institutions, I am free to print anything.”. A quote that still resonates to this day for me at times.
All that said, I would feel apathetic if I wouldn’t write or mention the attacks from Islamist group #hamas on #Israel. At this writing the death toll is at 1100 and will rise over the few weeks. It’s a war that has always felt never ending and my thoughts are ALWAYS with those in the middle of this conflict. I feel many here on this side of this world living comfortable forget that these war zones and human conflicts are a daily life issue for a significant amount of people in these conflict areas. Im only stating this in the hope that others keep that in mind throughout their daily lives.
With that…this post song is fittingly John Lennon’s “Imagine”. I fell in love with this song in my teenage years and it wasn’t until I understood the message of this song years later that it moved me the way it continues to move me to this day. Written by Lennon & Yoko Ono and released in 1971…it still feels relevant to this day. The lyrics are straightforward and maybe one day the world can learn to live as one one day. Until then, I listen to this song and imagine/daydream of how a world like that could be. Take care of yourself and those around you.
Newdrivehome Blog #10 (Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy Jr.)
Now that it’s “officially” spooky season…this month I’ll be writing about songs and the ambience/spooky uncomfortable they deliver. Songs that deliver a message or vibe that make you feel uneasy…even if the music themselves sound beautiful.
Act one in this spooky series this month…Sufjan Stevens “John Wayne Gacy Jr”, he wrote about the serial killer, who killed many boys in his home and hid the bodies below his floorboards. If you haven’t heard of this story. I’m not trying to write and honor his awful actions. Google It.
This song just delivers best the beautiful of human reactions to disastrous situations. I don’t agree to what he did, but the song Sufjan Stevens writes is relatable, because it tells you that there is a way to make the best of the world around you…he wrote about the evil in the world around him, no matter how heartbreaking it is.
It’s history and he wrote it in a way we can all relate. This song has haunted me for years, and that’s why I posted it tonight to launch my #spookyseason posts this month. Holler your thoughts…send suggestions for spooky season songs too!
Hip hop was king in the house growing up…I’m not talking modern day rap/hip-hop (although I respect its entertainment value). I mean the days of Death Row Records and Bad Boy; Tupac vs. Biggie; East coast vs West coast.
Hip-hop always holds a special place in my heart. Lowkey…I write, play indie/pop music and I started producing and writing music because of the rhythm rap music embedded me. The message this genre delivers is…proper and perfect, the message is only what matters.
So, this introduction brings me to my brother (Conrad Bravo)…he’s always understood the message that hip-hop delivers and I love him for it. He has a way of delivering the heartbreak and reality of life nowadays without being too emo and I appreciate every minute of it.
When I first listened Cipher’s new record…I understood why I listened to music the way I do these days. Although popular music nowadays often forgets the message…this new single reminds me that I’m not alone feeling this way. Hip-hop, my brother Cipher and GOOD Music reminds me why WE do what we do.
Conscious rap/music always delivers the message the rest of the world doesn’t get. And that’s okay, Ciphers new song reminds me of that…toxic relationships in this modern life & attempting to adapt to the worlds nonsense values around us now. Listen to the new single and tell me your interpretation of it in the comments!
Since I can remember I’ve always loved John Hughes 80’s movies (The Breakfast Club; Uncle Buck; Plains, Trains, and Automobiles; Sixteen Candles, Weird Science…you get the picture).
The way he told the timeless story of teen angst that occurred during that time is legendary. The stories told and the characters he created will always be imprinted in my mind and just about anyone that connected to these stories…no matter the year, decade. While growing up John Hughes films were on replay in our house…and will continue in adulthood.
But, what I’ve always loved the most is the feeling of nostalgia the soundtracks and scores made me feel while watching those films. For me, it’s a feeling I can relate to a time but never pinpoint an exact memory. And that with the combination of well written scripts and relatable characters…always stay in the important shelves in my mind.
This brings me to M83…based in France the first song I heard was, consequently “Teen Angst” and the flood nostalgia for a time I wished to be a part of came to me. The ambient synth-pop-shoegaze always makes the world around me feel dreamy and more tolerable while listening. “We Own the Sky” captured that feeling for me and continues to. If you get a chance, take a listen…how ever you stream/listen to music and see if it brightens your day a bit. #music #m83 #life #nostalgia
Newdrivehome Blog #7 (Joe Salazar – “Paradise Ends”)
It was only amount of time before I brought one of my own songs into this blog. I think this song was my favorite writing and recording. I recorded this song at the beginning of 2011, a year after my divorce and I asked my friend Kill Paradise for help with production. I was a fan of KP and the Denver music scene that was explosive around that time when I first moved out there early 2006 and I befriended, made music, and spent a lot of time with a lot of those I looked up to.
I don’t think any of those friends I met around that time ever knew, although distant, how much their friendship meant to me. Nick of Kill Paradise produced my first two singles in 2007 and also did “Paradise Ends”. I was never living in Denver long amounts of time…because my journey went other ways but I still talk to most to this day. Obviously life gets busy but it feels good knowing I’m still able to get in touch with those that helped build who I became to this day.
I wrote “Paradise Ends” about a girl I met after my divorce…when I was a mess. She was easily the most unique and intelligent person Ive ever met and although I wished it could become more than it was at that point (a fling, a few dates, several nights of enjoying time together) I always knew we were both growing and it would eventually end.
There was a night when we were finishing our second bottle of wine and had just finished microwaving a DVD copy of a terrible movie called “The Lake House”, laying in bed at her place unable to sleep, as she slept…I realized how temporary this felt and I didn’t want the night to end…because in the morning, I knew this paradise would end. And it did. I remember the start of the writing of this song, hearing her sleep and hoping she dreamed of this working…
It started there and it took a drive to the studio months later to record the feeling. It added to the heartbreak I was feeling but I’ll never regret the time spent. It was like the Un-condensed part of a com-rom that is still yet to end. I’ve never told anyone this publicly, but this song will always hold a special place in my heart.
(Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash – “Girl of the North Country”)
Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan…what else is there to say? Bob Dylan singularly pushed me to write music and be proud of it. I remember a single moment in my life that I fell in love of Dylan’s songwriting and artistic ability; I was on the road, I was 18(ish) and “Like a Rolling Stone” came on the radio and I immediately felt something inside I’ve never felt…I wanted to do whatever it was he was doing. He’s a poet and I’m a poet. So that same day I went, bought a harmonica and neck holder and learned, I think it was that next day or two I finished my first guitar/harmonica song “Cold and Nowhere”.
To this day every time a Bob Dylan song comes on I get that same feeling again…every time. There’s a scene in Vanilla Sky (great movie!) when “Fourth Time Around” plays and that too makes me reminisce about a time when life was younger. There’s too many incredible Dylan songs to deep dive further right now.
I’ve always loved that both of these legends are on a song I’ve never tired of hearing. I’ve related the lyrics of this song many times in my life; whether being on the road or moving across country and meeting a special someone I’ve briefly spent time with that I occasionally think about. The lost potentials of what it could’ve been or how they’re doing in this season of their life. It’s such a good song that painted a picture of that feeling for years and I’m forever grateful of that. Also…it always reminded me of fall/winter, perfect for the cold weather season coming.
I meant to post yesterday but I’m still getting used to being so open about music, my world that means me so much. But here it is.
I gravitated to this song after my first (only) marriage started to disintegrate and I’ve always found it again when a relationship doesn’t work out. I’ve listened to this song for hours on end to remind me that I’m not the only person that’s felt this way; I’m a writer, poet, artist, weirdo, and hopeless romantic. I wear all those tags proudly. But I’ve only now finally started figuring out things about myself…who I am, what I need, what I need to look for. Although…I’ve made mistakes too.
For me “Everybody Knows” paralleled a good amount of how I felt and went through in just about all my past relationships, not to say their sinking was one-sided because it never is. When I was younger in relationships everything was changing fast and I understood the importance of love and how deep I felt it but didn’t truly know how to be okay with myself. This song reminds me of how it felt to be losing grip, trying to stay from drowning in your own confusions, growth, and demons. And in the end, seeing one of us starting to fall out of love and everyone around knowing it and knowing why. It’s heartbroken and at times I’ve held way too long on to a partner that was the only comfort…like a security blanket I needed when life was changing…when everything was sinking. Going through trials and tribulations made me better for it now, stronger because I’m okay with myself and still getting on the track. Although I’m okay with being myself, I know when the time comes for a new love…I’ll be ready, hopefully. 🙄
That’s what goes through my head every time i listen to this song. Ryan Adams is incredible and a true poet. If you haven’t…take a listen to Ryan Adams.
I remember first hearing Explosions in the Sky in 2004, I was 17? (BTW Thanks for their music introduction Ben Price…hope you’re well man). I immediately fell in love with about what EITS were playing and what feeling they brought out of me. Some may call it “elevator music” and in some sense it is…but their music rolled me into the elevator at the very bottom of my life; continues me to and allowed me to feel it and get the strength to press that elevator button to rise/fight away from the bottom. Their music is phenomenal, their live shows are incredible and if anyone has a few moments to listen. Do it. There aren’t words in their music but it’s made that way…there’s no ignoring or controlling certain things in the world around you and EITS has always given me the power to deal with it with beautiful and grace. It takes a keen mind to understand how EITS allows anyone to make feel. Their latest album dropped 9/15 this last Friday.
It’s been a while since I posted on the blog…but listening to this today reminded me how this album changed my life. I think I first heard a The Postal Service song in high school from a friend, Logan Vath and I didn’t know what to do with myself for weeks. It somehow captured how I was feeling as a lost teenager and was the indietronica synth-pop that understood me. With their one album there were many tracks I connected with but…as cliche it sounds, ”Such Great Heights” always felt right. From the first synth notes until now, no matter how much turmoil I burn through everyday…no matter how miserable, it made me feel like it’s still the summer of 2003 and I can manage it. Is that REALLY 20 years ago?
I remember being around 10 years old…during the summer and coming across The Smashing Pumpkins “1979” video (when MTV played…music, you member?) I heard the nostalgia in that song…a feeling I wouldn’t even understand until my mid 20s. And I kept it in the back of my mind. I think even then I understood the gravity of music’s influence in my life. Something that would never fizzle. Prior to my mid 20s, in high school I had a group of friends in this band called “Epiphany” and during a Class Day ceremony they played “Tonight, Tonight” a Smashing Pumpkins song and it relit the thought in me that music understood me. And I understood music. It’s wild to think about…no matter where you are in life, those little moments always matter. I love “1979” from the Pumpkins…but I had to mention “Tonight, Tonight” here. Because that whole era was glorious. And I don’t think I’m the only one who agrees!
I’ve never felt a need to create a blog like this, but realized with who I am…it makes sense, somehow. I wanted to put my thoughts aloud and hopefully connect, converse with others thoughts/experiences/…failures? I still don’t know what I’m trying to accomplish but we’ll start with songs that molded who I am:
First, this song. I remember when I first heard it…YEARS ago, the emotions I felt hit me like a wall of bricks. Being a hopeless romantic in a world that never seems to makes sense, this song reminded me…it’s totally okay to feel this way. Wanting love isn’t wrong…even if the world is fucked. Took me so many years to understand what that even meant. The words to this song found me; It made me feel it’s okay to be “Lost.” we all are. Thanks to my bro Cipher for showing this first. #brighteyes #music #life
Newdrivehome 