Spend quality time with your children

Staying with songs that deal with or reflect on the parental relationship, here’s another one that can make your heart weep. In this song, the singer ponders over time spent with his little boy, which was next to nothing for work was more important. He missed the important milestones in his son’s life including his first words and when he first learned to walk.

The dad was so busy that he couldn’t spare time to spend with his son. Eventually, his son grew up, became a man and had his own family, and what do you know? He wants to spend time with his son, but the son is too busy to even see him and thus, the singer muses that his son ended up becoming just like him. Some people think the last verse has nothing to do with the way the son grew up. Looking at it from another angle, I think the son grew up resenting his father for not spending enough time with him and he vowed not to be that kind of father when he has children of his own. But in doing so, he is in danger of ending up like his father, so the singer is right when he said his son became just like him. 

This song can hit right in the feels. It’s a cautionary tale about spending time with your children and not taking it for granted, for before we know it, time flies, and no amount of money could ever buy it back. 

What I must say is genius though, is the usage of nursery rhymes during the chorus. The son is represented by “the cats in the cradle” (he’s at home) and the father is the “silver spoon” (he’s away making the money for the bills to be paid). The distance between the father and the son is analogized in “little boy blue and the man on the moon”.

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, thanks for the ball, dad, come on let’s play
Can you teach me to throw, I said, not today
I got a lot to do, he said, that’s okay
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed
It said, I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him

Parents are the first role models for children so be good ones for them to emulate. Also, quality time is very important.

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Tell them you love them while they’re yet alive.

“The Living Years” by Mike + the Mechanics is one of those songs that always make me stop and reflect on all my relationships across the board especially the ones with my parents for we’re to honor and love them all the days of our lives (Exodus 20:12). This song has been on my heart lately. I first heard it when I was younger and it made me upset, angry, and sad for whatever reason. I guess I was going through emotions back then, but as an adult, I understand it better now.

This song explores regret when our parents have passed on and why we should have a relationship with them while they’re yet alive. We ought to listen and not just speak. Life is too short to harbor grudges, to point fingers and for misunderstandings. The song is full of so much love and so much regret that it’s super emotional, but not in an over the top way. The singer grieves his way through this song that it’s impossible for it to not tug at the heartstrings.

Don’t leave things unsaid. Let people know you care. Let them know you love them. Hold your loved ones a little longer. Kiss them and bless them. This song made me appreciate my loved ones even more than I could’ve understood back then.

I wasn’t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn’t get to tell him
All the things I had to say

In relation to this topic, please see T.R.’s poem Dont let my death be the reason.

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Day 16: What are your views on mainstream music?

What even is mainstream music? It’s just the same song, different lyrics sang by so-call talented artists. So many songs/lyrics have no meaning and most of the time, nearly all music have the same beat.

But today’s society is obsessed and fueled by fame and fortune that they’ll listen to anything that the media tell them is hot.

I rather listen to the birds sing.

Day 11: Put your iPod on shuffle. Write down the first 10 songs.

I don’t have an iPod (do these things still exist?), but I can put my phone on shuffle.

1. God and God Alone – Steve Green

2. Peace – Depeche Mode

3. All I Want – Michael W. Smith

4. Pardon – Ridsa

5. Angel – Depeche Mode

6. I Need Thee Every Hour – Fernando Ortega

7. Porto Rico – Ridsa

8. Morning Has Broken – Cat Stevens

9. Here I Am to Worship – Michael W. Smith

10. Sing to Jesus – Fernando Ortega

Day 7: Your 5 favorite songs

At the moment, I am listening to selected  French music (mostly RIDSA’s) to feel out pronunciations and the accent, so I’ll just list my top 5 favorite French songs at moment:

1. Dois-je m’en aller? – RIDSA

2. On Ne Vit Qu’Une Fois – Sidoine

3.  J’ai cherché – Amir

4. Avancer – RIDSA

5. Andalouse – Kendji Girac

Entertainment then and now

Reflecting on entertainment.

THEN

I was a music lover growing up. I loved Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Daft Punk, Backstreet Boys, soft rock music, and the occasional R&B. I used to keep abreast of my favorite musicians so when they drop new music, I’ll be the first to hear/get it. I would stay up late, my eyes glued to the TV screen watching movies until I fell asleep. I also used to write songs and I almost joined a record company in Michigan (?) as a songwriter. I’m glad that did not work out. It took me a while to open my ears to realize that the music I was listening to was not glorifying God. 

NOW

It’s pretty hard for me to listen to music now. I gave away my Michael Jackson CD collection and it was not even hard to do. I don’t miss it. I don’t even look back and go ‘Man, I wished I had kept them!” I also threw out music from Madonna, Def Leppard, Ciara etc. I listen to hymns and spiritual songs, but I also have to be aware of some of these so-call Christian artists. Now and then, I’ll listen to a song with clean and pleasing lyrics.

I am now down to two TV shows which is Criminal Minds and Riverdale. A few months ago, I mentioned that I was losing my interest in movies. I watch movies once in a blue moon now if it holds my interest. The last movie I saw was American Made and I haven’t watched any movies since then. 

Now, when I want to be entertained, I pick up my Bible.

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October 5th: Eye of the beholder

Describe what it feels like to hear a beautiful piece of music or see a stunning piece of art.

I’ll say it’s like, BOOM! Exploding butterflies!

Experiencing a beautiful piece of music makes me feel soothed and that everything in that moment is serene. Well, I can safely say this about “Carl Le Pianiste” when he plays the piano. I actually wrote a short story about talented musicians in Parisian train terminals because I was inspired by some of them.

As for art, well, there is nothing more breathtaking than the free art which God has given to us that makes me stop, pause, wonder, and to be thankful. Nature is unbeatable art! ❤

GIF via Giphy

Reaction Music Video Week!

I have a confession: I don’t really listen to what we call ‘music’ nowadays.

Welcome back to another weekly themed challenge. I am way out of the loop where it concerns rap songs, pop songs, rock songs, trashy songs, whatever songs! I think most if not all the singers sound the same even when they’re not autotuning. Some people told me that I should listen to this one and that one that I may like it, but the offered music is not pleasing and I prefer to stay away from most of these singers altogether. Take Danielle Bregoli for example. She’s only 14 (!) and the industry is rewarding her bad behavior by giving her a music contract. She represents and brainwashes this generation at the same time. She openly disrespects her parents, curses them out, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, grand theft, and filing a fake police report. So why would I support her music if she’s only going to be bitter about life?

Yet, I decided to humor my friends and do this challenge.

Would I change my mind on some of these songs? Would I become a *gasps* fan? I don’t think so, but we’ll see. Here are the suggested songs:

^ Versace on the Floor – Bruno Mars

^ Look What You Made Me Do – Taylor Swift

^ Bad Liar – Selena Gomez

^ Attention – Charlie Puth

^ On the Real ‘Tho – Dobre Brothers 

Book #15: Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?

Author: Steven Tyler
Publisher: Ecco (May 03rd, 2011)
Pages: 390

BLURB:

Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? is the rock memoir to end all rock memoirs—the straight-up, no-holds-barred life of Grammy Award-winning,  Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and all around superstar legend Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith (and celebrity judge on American Idol). This is it—“the unbridled truth, the in-your-face, up-close and prodigious tale of Steven Tyler straight from the horse’s lips”—as Tyler tells all, from the early years through the glory days, “All the unexpurgated, brain-jangling tales of debauchery, sex & drugs and transcendence you will ever want to hear.”

…REVIEW!

“Life is short. Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that makes you smile.”

I don’t like memoirs. I’ve stated the reason why in my first memoir review, but I still have a few more to go.

Anyways, I remember growing up on Aerosmith. I liked many of their songs, including “Janie’s Got A Gun”, “Angel” and “Dude Looks Like A Lady”. To this day, I still like “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and “Dream On”. I like/d Steven Tyler too. He is hard not to like. He is blunt, yet, compassionate. A flamboyant dresser, never a top looker (in many people’s opinions and he is all right with this), but oozes confidence from his pores likes blood. He was also the sole reason I watched American Idol. When he left, I never tuned back in. He is effortlessly cool and I wished he was my grandpa.

In a nutshell, this is Mr. Tyler:

And his Tylerisms is my kind of mannerism.

Basically, this memoir is about sex, drugs, more sex, creating music, drugs, even more sex, medical terms, more sex… I couldn’t stop altering between those. Then it was using, rehab, relapse, detox, back to using, back to rehab, back to re… makes me wonder if he’s using/thinking about using now.

However, there were light moments as well and I learned about the origin of some of the album titles and songs. ST wanted to name the band The Hookers, but no one liked it. I wouldn’t have liked it either and I can’t believe the band and Joe’s wife, Elyssa didn’t like “Dream On”! What was wrong with them? That song redefined Aerosmith.

“People ask me all these questions about ‘Dream On.’ ‘What does it mean?’ What do you mean, ‘What does it mean?’ It means Dream On. You figure it out. You’re the one listening to it… make up your own meaning.”

Steven also makes excuses by pulling the rock star card about can’t keeping it in the pants because he’s a man and what’s a man to do when women (groupies) throw their desperate selves at him just because he’s a rock star. Steven, I got news for you: There are men like you who keep thinking about sex all the time and then there are men who think about their loved ones while out on the road and refrain from jumping a groupie’s bone. And that’s just it, you’re a rock star. Had you not been a rock star, thousands of women wouldn’t have given you the second glance, time or day.

Sometimes I feel as if he rambled, wanting to set things straight and clear the air, but overall, I think it was as honest as I can get while reading a rock star’s diary, erm, I mean a memoir. He holds no punches. Steven was a genius, a troubled soul, a creative banshee, the best rhymer I know and a thief, but overall, he is a survivor. He has come a pretty long way!

So, the noise in his head doesn’t bother me, but if you’re not a rock fan, an Aerosmith fan (I don’t rock out anymore), or simply don’t know what you’ll get from Steven Tyler, you won’t like this book because Tyler is Tyler and Tyler is offensive, rude, and nasty. In another life, he’d be Jack Sparrow’s long lost father.

Yeah! I can’t UNSEE that either! 😛

QUOTABLES:

> Because nowadays, everything’s recycled. There’s nothing new. Everything’s in quotation marks. What wasn’t before?

– Chapter 4; page 101

> I believe in life imitating art, but who is art and why is je imitating me anyway?

– Chapter 4; page 117

RATING:

NEXT UP:

The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat

April 23rd: Earworm

What song is stuck in your head (or on permanent rotation in your CD or MP3 player) these days? Why does it speak to you?

At the moment it’s Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the Time’. I am currently writing a beautiful love story (requested by a friend) and I was looking for lighthearted music to listen to. I remembered this song from my childhood and I’ve had it on heavy rotation while writing the scene where the two characters realize that they’re falling for each other.

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