Also note: If SOPA and PIPA pass, I could go to jail for this post, for daring to embed my favorite songs into a post and giving these musicians free advertising. This post could also be used to shut down Wordpress and YouTube...permanently. Please write your congress-critter and protest these bills--or any future bills like them, being passed.
Today's challenge? Songs I listen to when I'm happy, sad, bored, hyper, and mad. Translation? An excuse to link spam! SQUEE!!!
The problem is, this is going to be difficult, since I have no one particular song for any of these emotions. Not to mention, these are very rigidly defined. For instance, the song I would listen to if I were mad at some jerk for cutting me off and making me miss my exit would be different than the song I listened to if I were fuming over an ex. And for either of those situations, I have probably fifty songs in my arsenal.
I am a music-o-holic, always have been. Even as a child, the radio was on in our house (back when radio was still good) more often than the tv. I took to cassette tapes like a duck to water, and I probably owned a million of them. My musical tastes in rock run from practically the birth of rock all the way up to the present day, and I love songs that you've probably never heard of. I also dip into industrial, jazz, blues, folk, symphonic metal, experimental, pagan, comedy, some older country, a very little rap, and gods only know what else. And if you have explored every one of those links, congratulations, you are as music crazy as I am. And probably up as late.
Choosing just one per mood is not easy; it's tantamount to simply pulling a title out of my ass and calling it Gospel. It irks me. But on the flip side, if I went off on a music-y tangent, we'd be here all year.
What to do...what to do....
Edit: Eh, screw this. I was laying down a pretty good post, when the system screwed up enough of the formatting that I had a choice to laboriously redo it, or go back and just do the original question.
Hellooooo, original question! Let's get this done in five minutes, shall we? I'll probably still be giving it my own take, it's just a different take from the one I was using before.
EDIT 2: I tried, I really tried, to make the page pretty and move the text away from the videos. But every time I did, the video coding vanished. I have no idea what's going on with it, but it just seems a better idea to leave the magical motherflipper alone and not to to provoke another vanishing act. So, sorry about the crappy formatting.
Happy:
I don't have a song on tap for being happy, per se. I tend to skim my iPod to find a song that enhances my mood, or just fits it. As for becoming happy from listening, again, it really depends. I have listened to some sad or eerie crap to make myself happy. It's not so much content as the tunes that turn me on.
So I think I'll take this to comedy music instead--which, by the way, I rarely listen to in order to become happy. I actually just listen to it whenever.
So, without further ado, one of my favorite comedic singers that no one knows exists:
And one that everyone knows:
But, I think the better definition of Happy in this case is determination, or...
Confidence:
Because happiness isn't that hard to achieve, but the times I feel really down are times when I feel I'm against a wall with no way out. And, hey, we have music for that!
There is nothing better than this song when I'm feeling down. It just celebrates the individual in such a great way. The message is so positive; "No one can do the job like I can, for this job I'm the best man, and while this may be true, you are the one and only you!"
(And I'd never seen the video for this before--holy crap, he's young!)
Then there are those times I feel I'm losing myself. When that happens, a little reminder of things I believe in are in order. And for that, I tend to turn to Manowar. Many of their songs give me the motivation and confidence I need, but one in particular embodies everything I try to strive towards. I often fail, but I keep trying:
The song is also awesome in German.
Trigger Warning: The links I have here are pretty safe, but this is heavy metal, folks. If you explore the band further, expect a few (thankfully very few, and mostly early in their career--I find that crap tiresome) references to Hell and Satan, and a lot of references to violence including some to rape. Yes, I still love their body of music, though in some cases it's a guilty pleasure. I'm even okay with "Pleasure Slave," since I did once know a woman like that (including being quite happy about her state), and so it probably has different connotations to me than other folks.
The band is very Ancient Norse/viking warrior in their lyrics, but both they and the fans seem to know the difference between fantasy and reality--I have never been safer than as practically the only woman at the testosterone-fest that was a Manowar concert. While I am as feminist and rape aware as the next soul (and gods know I have the background to be easily squicked) I'm okay with this band because of the overall message. If you aren't, fine, but no lectures please. To each their own.
Moving on....
Sad:
*sigh* Refer to Happy for how this works. I have far too many songs I listen to, some for extra wallowing and some to pull me out of it. But I do have a couple songs that make me feel all wistful and longing, so I'll share those.
For the next one, I am embedding the same song twice. Why? Because I am unable to choose between the two versions. They are both incredibly beautiful. Enjoy.
Bored:
Ummm...people have songs specifically for boredom? Truly? I thought all music cured that state of being.
Screw it, have some Leonard Cohen instead. This man is an unsung genius, and what he can do with words makes a word lover like me just curl at the toes. I am picking only three, but he has so many more good songs, hours of blissful listening. Check him out.
Hyper:
Hyper? Pretty much anything I danged well feel like. Refer to Happy to get the general idea. Now, songs to get my engines going? That I have.
One of my favorites for draggy days is this one:
Nothing like it to get engines revved on "wish I weren't breathing, just let me go back to bed" mornings.
I also tend to favor this one, and one listen will tell you why; it's breathless, happy, anticipatory, and just catches me up and makes me want to celebrate.
Mad:
Mad is so easy. I actually have a boatload of songs for anger, but a perennial favorite is one that everyone should be familiar with. The song is an anger cliche for a reason...
Seriously, is anyone really surprised?
I highly suspect I have done enough damage here, and that anyone with a slow connection or an older computer wants to string me up by my toenails right about now, so I think I will curb my enthusiasm. And if you managed to follow every video and link, no matter how long it took, you, my friends, are as big a music-o-holic as I am. I hope I introduced you to something new and incredibly cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment