Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have all had good weeks. The last few months have flown by for me. It’s been a bit dominated by headaches but a lot of fun experiences too.
Mainly I keep growing in my video creation skills. It might not sound like much to be excited about but it really is thrilling to continue learning and growing. Just today I figured out how to alter color in Adobe Premiere (a really tough software to use). That was a huge breakthrough!
Anyway, it keeps me busy and motivated. Next week we have Batman v Superman and I will be reviewing all the Superman and Batman movies on my blog. I have watched all the Batman movies and in the weeds with the Superman movies right now. This weekend is Superman 4, Superman Returns and Man of Steel…Yikes!
On Sunday I am doing a ranking video with my friends Abby and Jeremy where we are each giving our rankings for the Star Wars films. It’s been tougher than I thought because I like most of them for different reasons. Here’s the link if you are interested in watching. https://plus.google.com/events/c7gog64knsdhfnbve6521ehh6k4?authkey=CLedlabMkNfIhAE
This week for the Friday 5 the topic is Songs from When I Was a Teenager. This one was actually kind of easy for me as they are still songs I love.
- Who Am I? From Les Miserables- I am running out of Les Miserables songs but I had to pick one for this category because Les Mis was the first music I really fell in love with and I still love it to this day
- Ease on Down the Road- Musical theater was pretty much the music that meant the most to me in high school. In fact, theater was more important to me than film or books at that time. The Wiz was my favorite play I was ever in hence this song on the countdown.
- Hands by Jewel- Jewel’s Spirit album really spoke to me. I remember my friends even getting annoyed with me because I would just play it over and over again (that’s so my personality. Repetition never bothered me). I still love the album and song.
- Thy Word by Amy Grant- My Mother and I had a lot of conflict about music. I felt she judged me too harshly for the music I liked and sought her validation. It was kind of silly looking back on it but Amy Grant was a singer I felt was an olive branch to my Mom. She was Christian and a pleasant singer we could both agree on. Thy Word is one of my favorite of her songs.
- Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight- REM’s Automatic for the People is another album I listened repeatedly too throughout my teen years. I still love every song. This is a deeper cut but it’s got a great hook and I love that you can hear Michael laughing in the take. That’s just awesome.
So those are my Friday 5 and a little updates on things going on. What about you? What are your favorite songs from when you were a teenager? What do you think of my list?
Are you pumped for Batman v Superman and what is your favorite Batman or Superman movie? How would you rank the Star Wars films?
Sorry this post is a little jumbled but sometimes it just works out that way. Love you guys!
Rachel's Musings 
REM is a mixed bag for me but they’re the band in your favorites I’ve spent the most time listening to. And I should admit I’ve spent a lot of time listening to Monster or the Eponymous greatest hits album when we drive anywhere in the car trying to feel that it gives me some insight into your world or personality somehow.
Their sound gets repetitive, but some of their work can be meaningful or creative, or it can be derivative or obscurist. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight is interesting because it’s their worst example of lyrics over substance (one reason I never got into Kurt Cobain) – but it’s just such a fun exercise in absurdity you don’t really care.
Ignoreland is my favorite song on Automatic for the People, but I’m surprised you like it because you’re a conservative and it’s basically a long-winded rant against 11 years of the GOP that people have credited as making them decide to vote Clinton into office.
I like the hooks and enjoy every song on the album. It’s as simple as that. I like Sidewinder Sleeps especially the way Michael breaks and laughs in the recording. It’s an engaging song. Glad you enjoy them some. I was also not as strong a conservative in high school. That came as I got a job and started paying taxes and realizing the government couldn’t do everything or should. Anyway I love Automatic for the People to this day. I think REM is better than U2 who is given more credit.
Any other songs stand out that I picked?
Ignoreland is also my favorite REM song as well.
Cool. Great song. I honestly have never heard that GOP symbolism so never affected me. I just like the songs have good hooks and draw you in. Everybody Hurts and Man on the Moon have more obvious meaning so I suppose Ive thought the most about those and find them really moving/intriguing
The whole song is basically about how poor the state of the nation was for the past decade under Reagan and Bush. Notice when “they marched into the capitol” in 1979 refers to Reagan announcing his candidacy for President in 1979 and how quickly the Republicans took advantage of Carter’s perceived failure to deal with the Iran hostage crisis. The song refers to America getting its information from political soundbites in the 1980, 1984, and 1988 elections “Ninety-two, too” was a cynical prediction that Bush would win re-election (the election hadn’t been decided yet when the alb=um was released).
The line “How to walk in dignity with throw-up on your shoes” even refers to Bush vomiting on the Japanese prime minister.
I never thought about it before. I just enjoy the song
My favorite REM song is Man on the Moon or Everybody Hurts but I’ve already used those in Friday 5 as well as Find the River.
I’ve listen ed to Everybody Hurts a lot when I feel really depressed and alone. I can see why you would like that one.
It’s a great one for those moments
Anyway what did you think of Monster?
I like it. I havent listened to it in a while. Automatic for the People was always my favorite. I just liked how the songs blended and had good hooks to draw you in.