"Future Says Run", by Tonic

Holding lightly
Words that make you aware
Your head's spinning
No one knows you're not there
Blankly staring
Strangers call you a friend
The power you hold
Is a power that mends

You can't go on
No you can't even talk
Your future says run
But you can't even walk

So you harbor
Standing idly by
Indiscretions, slowly turn into lies
You're half empty
They don't know how it feels
The power inside
Is a power that heals

But You can't go on
No you can't even talk
Your future says run
But you can't even walk

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Lost?

The song "Lost?" by Coldplay is, to put it quite simply, a very sad and yet uplifting song. Not to be confused with "Lost!" which is the same song, but electric.

Just because I'm losing,
doesn't mean I'm lost,
doesn't mean I'll stop,
doesn't mean I would cross

Just because I'm hurting,
doesn't mean I'm hurt,
doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserved
no better and no worse

I just got lost
Every river that I tried to cross
Every door I ever tried was locked
Oh and I'm,
just waiting til the shine wears off

He got lost. He can't admit it at first, but even though he does it doesn't mean he's giving up. He's accepted that this is just what's going to happen. If I had to point to a specific event, he's talking about getting dumped and getting trapped in the mire of despair and confusion that can come with that.

He doesn't see it as the end, just an ending.

You might be a big fish
in a little pond
Doesn't mean you've won
'cause along may come a bigger one

And you'll be lost
Every river that you tried to cross
Every gun you ever held went off

Oh and I'm,
just waiting til the firing stops
Oh and I'm,
just waiting til the shine wears off

He goes on to talk about the other, the lover who jilted him or the person who thinks they're better than him now. He says that there's always someone bigger for him - maybe his true soulmate - or bigger than them. Then that other will be just as lost as him. It can happen to anyone.

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Name that Song (Answers)

Answers will be posted as tomorrow morning's post. Artist and Title; No google please.

1. How cruel is the golden rule
   When the lies we lived are only golden plated
   Golden, Fall Out Boy
2. Now please a don’t bother knockin'
   cause God knows I ain’t now stopping till you breathe none
   Gravemakers & Gunslingers, Coheed And Cambria
3. The first star I see may not be a star
   We can't do a thing but wait
   So let's wait for one more
   For Me This Is Heaven, Jimmy Eat World
4. What's the use of autonomy
   when a button does it all?
   Idiot Box, Incubus
5. And perhaps the piano knows
   The piano knows something I don’t know.
   The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know, Panic At The Disco
6. Feel the building all around me
   Like a wrap of armoured skin
   But the more we are protected
   The more we're trapped within
   The That Ate People, Peter Gabriel
7. When you just cannot remember
   how you came by the memories that you have
   These are days that go on too long,
   these are days that you really don't want to last
   Come Undone, The Delgados

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Name that Song

Answers will be posted as tomorrow morning's post. Artist and Title; No google please.

1. How cruel is the golden rule
   When the lies we lived are only golden plated
2. Now please a don’t bother knockin'
   cause God knows I ain’t now stopping till you breathe none
3. The first star I see may not be a star
   We can't do a thing but wait
   So let's wait for one more
4. What's the use of autonomy
   when a button does it all?
5. And perhaps the piano knows
   The piano knows something I don’t know.
6. Feel the building all around me
   Like a wrap of armoured skin
   But the more we are protected
   The more we're trapped within
7. When you just cannot remember
   how you came by the memories that you have
   These are days that go on too long,
   these are days that you really don't want to last

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More Linkage

Yeah, I'm being lazy. Here's some more links (to various places, instead of from one place):

• Penny Arcade talks about ninjas and offers a new t-shirt affirming the desire to "tap that" in the geekiest way possible.
• Slightly out of date, but Rock Band blog/news ran the first part of a guide to starting a band back in April.
• Amazon has a pretty awesome deal on the 4E D&D corebooks if you pre-order.
• Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the movie WarGames and Slashdot decided to link a retrospective on the film and it's effect on popular culture.
  

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Remix Culture

Shawn Gaston - artist, DJ, GM, and more from St. Louis - has posted a very catchy remix. It's a blend of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and NIN's "Discipline".

Of course, then Luke from Fear the Boot (see right), decided to challenge people to a high score competition in Audiosurf, which is available on Steam. I've tried it out before, and it's an interesting game, mostly useful for passing time and "actively" listening to music.

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Historicity

Sign in SF,
originally uploaded by jcoulton.

Nor should you jump on the historic beds.

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Narrow Stairs

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Freezepop

It's a band that has a song in quite a few of the rhythm/music game that Harmonix has produced, probably because Kasson Crooker is the Audio Director there. Regardless of what else may be going on below, know this: the rhythm is catchy.

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Life Begins at the Intersection

Alright, time to move into a tangential topic or two before finishing up the tale I've been telling.

I've been a fan for long time of spiritual music that mostly skirts of the edge of naming any one particular religion. I don't know why, but it rings truer to me. This has led me to the likes of Switchfoot, Anberlin, and others like them.

This one's about a dream
I had last night
How an old man tracked me home
And stepped inside
Put his foot inside the door
And gave a crooked smile
Something in his eyes
Something in his laugh
Something in his voice
That made my skin crawl off

Said I've seen you here before
I know your name
How you could have your pick
Of pretty things
You could have it all
Everything at once
Everything you've seen
Everything you'll need
Everything you've ever had in fantasies

In the depths of a dream the man is offered everything he's ever wanted or needed. But the figure giving the offer is fairly creepy and it makes the deal seem off. (I realize I may not be saying much "new" here, but bear with me)

You've one life, you've one life,
You've one life left to leave,
You've one life, you've one life,
You've one life left to leave

This bit isn't immediately evident to me. It subtly changes at the end of the song, though. It's important though: we only have this one life to be who we want to be.

I woke up from my dream
As a golden man
With a girl I’ve never seen
With golden skin
I jumped up to my feet
And she asked me what was wrong
And I began to scream
I don’t think this is me
Is this just a dream
Or really happening

You've one life, you've one life
You've one life left to leave
You've one life, you've one life
You've one life left to leave

The man wakes from his dream to find that the offer in the dream was true, and it's worse than he feared.

What direction, what direction
What direction, what direction
I’m splitting up, I’m splitting up
This is my personal disaffection
What direction, what direction
What direction now

This is the first of two parts that really hits me at home. The man wonders what path his life should take. The one he's stumbled into clearly isn't it. But this lack of direction is his "personal disaffection."

I looked outside the glass
At golden shores
Golden ships and masts
With golden cords
As my reflection passed
I hated what I saw
My golden eyes were dead
And a thought passed through my head
A heart that's made of gold can’t really beat at all
I wanted to wake up again
I wanted to wake up again
Without a touch of gold
Without a touch of gold

This has two important points. The man is vehemently rejecting this world of gold, the offer of his soul for all his earthly desires - because, as it turns out, he doesn't really want them. The second, that a heart that's may of gold isn't real, can't beat, can't sustain life.

What direction, what direction
What direction? what direction?
What direction? what direction?
What direction? what direction?
What direction? what direction?
What direction? what direction?
What direction?
Death or action,
Life begins at the intersection!
What direction? what direction?
What direction now?

And again, to the part that moves me most. I wasn't actually aware of the "death or action" bit until just now. That makes what comes after even more power: life begins when we make the choice of how we want to live, and make it for ourselves.

I woke up as before
But the gold was gone
My wife was at the door
With her night robe on
My heart beat once or twice
And life flooded my veins
Everything had changed
My lungs had found their voice
And what was once routine
Was now the perfect joy

You've one life, you've one life
You've one life left to lead
You've one life, you've one life
You've one life left to lead

The man wakes up from his second dream to realize that his life is back to normal. You know what? He's figured out that the life he's in is the one he's going to live, and it brings such joy and harmony to him. You'll note the change in the ending lyrics: he's not going to leave this life, he's going to lead it.

Sad that I feel adrift so often, then.

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Random Stuff (1)

Apparently, Twitter is turning Japanese for some people.

A Florida judge has smacked down one of the RIAA's member corporations.

Peter Gabriel's servers were stolen from their data center. Apparently this isn't the first theft like this to happen recently.

That is all.

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JoCo

AKA, Jonathan Coulton, mentioned way back in one of my first posts, is a singer/songwriter, mostly of humorous music. He's most famous among my co-workers for "Code Monkey", but he's also semi-famous for the song mentioned in that earlier post, "Still Alive". He's got some seriously hilarious stuff, though. He's a pretty good live singer too, which makes sense given that he used to be a Whiffenpoof (you'll forgive them the girly name, I hope).

"RE: Your Brains" is all about a group of zombies trying to convince holdouts in a shopping mall to let them in. It's really funny with audience participation.

"First of May" is a song some might consider close to some of Tenacious D's stuff (it's not rock, but it's definitely vulgar).

"Ikea" is a song about, you guessed it, Ikea. It's also a song that uses the not-quite-rhyme of "Norsemen" with "[Di]vorced men".

Interesting fact: most of his music is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license. This means that your welcome to give your friends copies of (most of) the songs, remix them, rerecord them in another language, etc. Provided, of course, that you don't make any money from them.

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Miscellany

It's a little late for a morning post, but this is it. Due to a confluence of events it managed to take this long. Mainly due to getting caught up in completing some hunts (FFXII, because the only way to get access to the Bubble, Reverse, Bravery, and Faith spells is to have killed at least 14 or so marks) while the dishwasher was using up all my hot water.

While I've been spending time on FFXII, I've been listening to Pandora Radio. It's an interesting idea: take the "genome" of music you like - melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, etc. - and try to match that to other music. Personally, I find its efforts on that front a little vague, but I have been enjoying the "Alternative Pop/Rock" genre station.

In somewhat sad, but still good news, one of my co-workers is leaving us. I have to say that it sounds like quite the learning experience, even though I've never put much, if any, stock in certifications. It's too easy to have a lot of knowledge and no experience - though I know Brian won't fall into that category/trap. I suppose they are good for giving clients a warm, fuzzy feeling, though.

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The Fourth Wall (Commonality Answered)

What do the songs have in common? They all break the fourth wall in some sense - they don't just tell a story or express some feeling, they actually talk to the audience.

• "The Hook" by Blues Traveler - Possibly debatable, but the song goes on at length about how to get people to listen to something that has no real content - while following those rules itself.
• "Epilogue (Nothing 'Bout Me)" by Sting - The eleventh song on the aptly titled Ten Summoner's Tales, this song's words speak to what came before on the album. Namely that they were just that - "tales" - and that they bear no relationship to the singer.
• "We're So Starving" by Panic at the Disco - The first song on Pretty. Odd. (and also the shortest), this could really be written off as just an introductory song. Panic takes some time out to say "We're so sorry we've been gone. We were busy writing songs for you!" and to reassure the fans that "you don't have to worry 'cause we're still the same band." Of course, it seems like some the fans don't believe them.
• "Thriller" by Fall Out Boy - The opening track from Infinity On High, the song is mostly story about their rise to fame, so it's inclusion is admittedly debatable. However they do take the time to say to their hardcore/"true" fans that those fans are the only ones they really care about because, "crowds are won and lost and won again/but our hearts beat for the diehards."

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Commonality

What do "The Hook" by Blues Traveler, "We're So Starving" by Panic at the Disco, and "Thriller" by Fall Out Boy have in common?

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Nine in the Afternoon

So, I listen to lots of different kinds of music, and one thing's always struck me as interesting: it's often easier to move forward with a band - for me at least - than it is to move backwards. For some people it's the other way around: a band evolves their style or experiments with something new and suddenly they can't stand what used to be their favorite band.

This comes up because of one of the bigger shifts I've seen in style: Panic at the Disco's Pretty. Odd. Previously I would have classified them as one of my guilty pleasure bands (like Fall Out Boy, which is a different story) - you know, among the things you do/listen to/watch that you'd rather people not know about - but at least with regards to Pretty. Odd., their sound has matured. In fact, if you listen close enough (or, not that closely as the case may be) you may hear the direct Beatles influence their music seems to have picked up. See the video below for an example of what I'm talking about, in both audio and visual media.

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Mix CD, Part 1

It's not something I do very frequently - maybe 2-3 times a year - but occasionally I like to pick a theme and make a mix CD that matches it. Even though it may be easy this time, try a pick the theme for a CD made from the following tracks:

• "Fearful Experience"* - Shoji Meguro - Persona 3 OST
• "Aura (Evil Version)" - .hack//EXTRA
• "Come Undone" - The Delgados - Universal Audio
• "Perfect Blue Buildings" - Counting Crows - August & Everything After
• "Yellow Cat/Red Cat" - Say Anything - ...Is A Real Boy
  
• "Upside Down" - Barenaked Ladies - Everything to Everyone
  
• "Balaclava" - Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
  
• "Insignificant" - Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
  
• "The Dreaming Tree" - Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
  
• "Fear" - Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
  
• "Walk On The Ocean" - Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
  
• "Did I Sleep Through It All?" - Tracy Bonham - Blink the Brightest

While I was making this, I came across another subset of music that I'm going to have to try a mix of someday - sort of related to this theme.

*instrumental

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Cookie Jar

Ok, time for another bit of lyric analysis, this time on something down but nowhere near as dark. It's not like the song is particularly opaque either. "Cookie Jar", by Jack Johnson, off the album On and On.

And I would turn on the TV, but it's so embarrassing,
To see all the other people, I don't know what they mean.
And it was magic at first when they spoke without sound,
But now this world is gonna hurt.
You'd better turn that thing down.
Turn it around.

This part, I don't quite get. I realize he's setting a point up for a repeat (these lines end the song as well), namely that if you're fed up with the way the world is, turn off the TV and do something about it. If someone has some more insight into the other part of this, please enlighten me.

"Well, it wasn't me," says the boy with the gun,
"Sure I pulled the trigger, but it needed to be done,
Because life's been killing me ever since it begun.
You can't blame me, 'cuz I’m too young."

If you didn't get it from just reading that, we're investigating a murder. Like in many investigations, the blame is gonna be passed around (or attempted to be passed around). In this case, we start with someone we know committed the crime, but claims he's too young. It's even a semi-valid defense in this country: for all crimes, there's a difference in punishment for minors unless explicitly tried as an adult.

"You can't blame me; sure the killer was my son,
But I didn't teach him to pull the trigger of the gun.
It's the killing on this TV screen.
You can't blame me; it's those images he's seen."

Now we go to the parents. This is probably the PoV for which I have the least sympathy. They try to pass the blame off to TV, Movies, Video Games, Music, etc. Those may have help your son on the path, but only because you probably weren't there with him. First, pay attention to what your kid's exposed to. There are ratings now on TV, Movies, and Games, and Parental Advisory stickers/labels on Music. Second, watch/play/listen to what you've bought your child with them. That way, you can answer questions and, if necessary, remind them if what they've seen is acceptable behavior.

"Well, you can't blame me," says the media man,
"Well I wasn't the one who came up with the plan.
And I just point my camera what the people want to see.
Man, it's a two-way mirror and you can't blame me."

Now we get a look at the man behind the media, but not the source of the media, that's up next. He's kind of got a point, but it all boils down to the way most media corporations - hell, most corporations, period - are run. They want to make a constantly increasing profit, and do that they only produce what they think, and have focus-group tested to prove, people will watch. They don't normally think of the way their content might effect the intended and unintended audiences.

"You can't blame me," says the singer of the song
Or the maker of the movie which he bases life on.
"It's only entertainment and as anyone can see,
Its smoke machines and make up man, you can't fool me."

Here we have the source of the media, directed by the media man above to create what the parents blame for the murder. They don't see anything wrong with what they're doing because they know all too well that what they do isn't real.

It was you, it was me, it was every man.
We've all got the blood on our hands.
We only receive what we demand,
And if we want hell, then hell's what we'll have.

The only reasonable response from all of this: we're all to blame in some, probably minor way. Do your viewing habits prompt the creation of violent media? Do you let your children watch that media without supervision, that you know of? Did you bully other kids? Did you let bullies go unopposed? “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people,” said Martin Luther King, Jr.

Then we go back to the beginning, which kind of makes sense given the admonition there to go out and change things for the better yourself. It also makes sense in relation to the source of the song's title. Fake internet points to the first person who knows it.

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Cacophonous Melodies

It may not be as uncommon as I frequently make it out to be, but there's a kind of music I tend to like that isn't exactly a genre: music that contradicts itself. Happy melodies sung cheerily about terrifyingly depressing or horrendous topics and sad music played and sung in minor keys about glorious events. Though there's far more of the former, I believe. Oh, who am I kidding, I get a weird kick out of some dark, dark music - but still beautiful music.

When I think that kind of music, the band that comes most to mind is the now defunct Scottish group The Delgados (sad really, but according the members themselves, it was amicable). You'll note I'm not talking about the whiny, "I'm gonna kill myself" kind of music. I'm talking about music that talks about strange and dark situations or general depressions of life. So, I'll start with "The Drowning Years" from the album Hate.

This is the life of a woman with demons
The first time we met I was sure she was steaming
This is my life, this is my life, what a life

So we're introduced, at the start, to a man telling the story of a woman he knew and it would seem that she has some mental problems. It would also seem that the man himself isn't particularly happy, maybe even depressed.

Life isn’t precious and life isn’t sacred
Sometimes release only comes when you meet death
A night of reprieve we were wrecked when we slept in the park
When we woke in the morning you cried could I squeeze out the dark

This is the first time we broach the subject of death in the song, the idea being there are some pains that only death can release. In the continuing story, we find out that one morning after they'd spent the night together, the woman asks the man singing to kill her.

Destroy the noises that make all the voices
Get them out of my head
Bring on the screaming and I’ll take your demons now that I’m already dead

This is the chorus. Her cry out to the world, the man. She wants it all to end. At least, that's what I get from the first two lines. The third, I think is the man, who will take on the responsibility. He's already dead inside, so this might give him something to feel.

Days of release when she almost felt better
Gradually faded and words couldn’t get her
Where is the light, where is the light, get the light

Gradually she gets worse: fewer lucid days, she's less responsive in general. I know I'm stating the obvious here, but this is an exercise for me too: to actually think about what I listen to and analyze it a bit.

Fearless and clear all her doubts had been cast off
Last night alive is a nightmare I’m part of
Dreams are a lie, dreams are a lie, so am I
If that’s all there is then I might as well get in the fire

She's made her final decision; she wants to die. He's there for her last night, either to aid in the suicide or as just a figment of her imagination. In fact, given some of the language, you have to wonder if he's real at all, or if he's just a hallucination she's using to push herself over the edge. From here we go back into the chorus.

Oh how the rights of the righteous kept coming
Shining before like the day
I stand before them and cried that you’re dying your way

Followed by the above. All the doctors, who think medication or therapy would help, all her friends and family, who don't want to see her go and think she could get better, try to stop her from taking her own life. The man, however, gets in the way and to defend her choice, as it's her life. I don't think that's entirely the case - you have a profound effect on those around you, usually anyways - but it still boils down to an issue of personal right.

I’m still not sure if the right and the wrong side is one

The song then fades out to that last line repeated several times. It's an interesting thought. How many times are we all right and wrong at the same time? Even if the answer's right today, couldn't it be wrong tomorrow?

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