Song of the Day: Jhené Aiko - The Worst

Saw this artist in an article in USA Today, about Grammy-nominated artists, while traveling last week.  Goes to show that you just never know where you'll find great music!  I love the intimate and direct/open/raw vibe of this song.


Jhené Aiko - The Worst (Explicit)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEm3lY3trRU

Lyrics from AZLyrics.com:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jheneaiko/theworst.html

"The Worst"

Tell me what you say now?
Tell me what you say
Come again?

If you cannot stay down
Then you do not have to pretend
Like there is no way out
I shoulda never let you in
Cause you got me face down

And don't take this personal
But you're the worst
You know what you've done to me
And although it hurts I know
I just can't keep runnin' away

[Hook:]
I don't need you [x4]
But I want you
I don't mean to [x4]
But I love you

Tell me what you say now
Tell me what you say?
You said that you would come again
You (said) that we would remain friends but
You know that I do not depend on
Nothing or no one
So why would you show up
So uninvited then
Just change my mind like that

Please don't take this personal
But you ain't shit
And you weren't special
Til I made you so
You better act like you know
That I've been through worse than you
I just can't keep running away
(But I don't need you)

[Hook]

Everybody's like
He's no item
Please don't like em
He don't wife em
He one nights em
I never listened
No
I shoulda figured though
All that shit you was spittin'
So unoriginal
But it was you
So I was with it
Then tell you the truth
Wish we never did it

Cause I usually do
Stick to the business
But you came out the blue
And then you just flipped it
God damn baby
My mind's blown
Be forgettin'
You live in a different time zone
Think I know what this is
It's just the time's wrong
Yeah I know what you did
But baby I'm grown
And my love is patient
And kind, and shit
This is real we can build
Through different types of shit
If you was really the realest
Wouldn't be fightin' it
I think your pride is just
In the way
Funny how everything changed
Once you got all that you wanted
Nothing was ever the same

[Hook:]
And though
I don't need you [x4]
I still want you
I don't mean to [x4]
But I love you

I don't need you [x4]
But I want you
I don't mean to [x4]
But I love you

Quote of the Day: Ralph Waldo Emerson on Fear and Action

“Always do what you are afraid to do.”  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes the fact that we're afraid to do something is an indication of what we need to do.  Certainly has been true in my life.

Song of the Day: Maria Taylor - Song Beneath the Song

Great mood in this song.

"Maria Taylor - Song Beneath the Song"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDF-AXOEaBw

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/mariataylor/songbeneaththesong.html

"Song Beneath The Song"

Cryptic words meander
Now there is a song beneath the song
One day you'll learn
You'll soon discern its true meaning
An interesting detachment
A listless poem of love sincere
Desire, despair
Overlapping melodies

And it's not a love, it's not a love
It's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song

And now the loops are reminiscing
Recurring dreams of minor chords
Metered time
Muted chimes find the beat

And in the pulse there lies conviction
A steady push and pull routine
Till cymbals swelled
High notes fell into reach

And it's not a love, it's not a love
It's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song

It's not a love, it's not a love,
It's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song

The night the Stars came out

"We're the Stars, we come out at night!"  That's what Torquil Campbell said as the Stars took the stage at the Loft, in Atlanta, Saturday night, November 15, 2014.

Some of the memorable songs of the night, at least to me, many of which I hadn't heard before.  These are the songs that touched me.


"Stars - Turn It Up"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UJU6grLq9g

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stars/turnitup.html


This next song is amazing.  I had never heard it before.  And it blew me away when they played it live.  Just blew me away.

"Stars - Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6sjlZdGCpw

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stars/holdonwhenyougetloveandletgowhenyougiveit.html

Take the weakest thing in you
And then beat the bastards with it
And always hold on when you get love,
So you can let go when you give it... give it... give it.

Reminds me of this quote:

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."  - Lao Tzu

THESE lyrics in THIS song are what I'm talking about, why I love music.  The songs I really like are the ones that express some emotion, maybe some emotion that I'd have trouble expressing in other ways.

The world won't listen to this song
And the radio won't play it
But if you like it sing along
Sing 'cause you don't know how to say it

"Stars - Look Away (Live)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhAHi6wF_Hw

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stars/lookaway.html


"Stars - Dead Hearts"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQT2HVfxJu4

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stars/deadhearts.html


And then two classics from 2004's Set Yourself on Fire:

"One More Night - Stars"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hZ7fgT0CBU


For this next one they did explicitly acknowledge that they knew what their fans came to hear.  This one is a classic.
"Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Or6-HOveg


And the encore:

"What Is to Be Done?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUTrvHVRf0Q

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stars/whatistobedone.html

What do we do about that?

Tha'ts what she said!

Love this!

From BuzzFeed:

"22 Times That’s What She Said"

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/thats-what-she-said

Song of the Day: Rachael Yamagata - Duet, featuring Ray LaMontagne

I saw Rachael Yamaga play Thursday, November 6, at the Workplay theater in Birmingham, Alabama.  Great concert, only about 50 people or less there.  Very intimate, very moving.

I have to say, though, that this song was the best.

"Rachael Yamagata ft. Ray Lamontagne - Duet"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EO0w9i5wmA

She sang it alone, just Rachael and her guitar--Ray wasn't there.  Doesn't matter.  Still fabulous.

Rachael said that she wrote it based on her experience as a touring musician.  Always on the road.  Finding it easier  to make connections with other musicians who understand how that feels, but not being able to be in the same place long enough, yet always intending to cross paths again.  Bittersweet.  Wonderful to find a connection, but so sad to not be able to hold onto it, despite all intentions.  Very touching and sad.

Song of the Day: Ray LaMontagne - Empty

Just a beautiful song.  With some deep truths in it, I think.

"Ray LaMontagne - Empty (lyrics)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY1V0Y7hscw

Well, I looked my demons in the eyes
laid bare my chest, said "Do your best, destroy me.
You see, I've been to hell and back so many times,
I must admit you kind of bore me."

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/raylamontagne/empty.html

"Empty"

She lifts her skirt up to her knees
Walks through the garden rows with her bare feet, laughing
And I never learned to count my blessings
I choose instead to dwell in my disasters

Walk on down the hill
Through grass grown tall and brown
And still it's hard somehow to let go of my pain
On past the busted back
of that old and rusted Cadillac
That sinks into this field collecting rain

Will I always feel this way ‒
So empty, so estranged?

And of these cut-throat busted sunsets,
these cold and damp white mornings
I have grown weary
If through my cracked and dusted dime-store lips
I spoke these words out loud would no one hear me?
Lay your blouse across the chair,
Let fall the flowers from your hair
And kiss me with that country mouth so plain.
Outside the rain is tapping on the leaves
To me it sounds like they're applauding us,
The quiet love we've made.

Will I always feel this way
So empty, so estranged?

Well, I looked my demons in the eyes
laid bare my chest, said "Do your best, destroy me.
You see, I've been to hell and back so many times,
I must admit you kind of bore me."
There's a lot of things that can kill a man
There's a lot of ways to die
Yes, and some already dead that walk beside me
There's a lot of things I don't understand
Why so many people lie
Well, it's the hurt I hide that fuels the fires inside me

Will I always feel this way
So empty, so estranged?