Category: Music

We haven’t heard from Middle Kids on here since May, and we’ve been overdo.

“I came a little closer to the truth that day, I heard it’s call in the alleyway, and the one resounding answer that I could take, is that I don’t know nothing and I got no way, I got all muddled up and journeyed to the edge of town, and then the road cracked open, sucked me in, and I went down, now standing face to face with the king of the underground, some things just don’t add up, I’m upside down, I’m inside out”

Upside down and inside out is ok sometimes. Gives us perspective. That’s important!

Be good, do good.

The piano in this song is like walking on plush carpet. This song uses a interesting structure, but I think it works start to finish. Managed to see him do a song with Angie McMahon in Montreal! Super talented.

Hope you’re doing as good as can be. Here if ya need me.

Be good, do good.

Man oh man, when the waves break on the song and it lets go at the end. Amazingly gorgeous.

Short one tonight. Kind of just had a “well shit, now there’s no reason to wait to start changing things about your life for the better” realization so I’m gonna go to bed a little earlier. Probably finally go for a walk tomorrow too. Friday of a three day weekend always feels good.

Life’s too short. Change what you wanna change. Cut off what doesn’t work for you any more. Not cruelly, just, it doesn’t fit us anymore, so we’re letting it go.

Love you, mean it. Be good, do good.

I feel like somewhere on the internet I encountered the phrase “if you’re between a rock and a hard place, be water.”

Google tells me otherwise, so I don’t have a source.

Initially, I picked this song because I felt like it was uplifting. The melodies and sounds make you wanna move, and dance. I haven’t felt like doing that much today.

The more I times I listened to Ripple, though, the more I started to feel like it related to that quote. It would be easy to let ourselves give in to dread. Spin out, like the song says. I think the water and the concept of ebb and flow can be applied to time periods in our life. Yin and Yang. Hard times make us value the good, the valuable.

I think it’s important to recognize these feelings of dread we might feel. Genuine fear. Anger. Many of us are grieving.

Coincidentally, I wrote a blog post the last time Trump got elected, eight years ago.

https://wordpress.com/post/everything-etc.com/833

I titled it Don’t Choose Fear. I quoted a Will Smith movie. The idea though, was akin to “be the light”. It may feel like it’s pitch dark all around us. Here’s the other thing; 67.7M people and counting agree with us. Have the same worries we do. We are not alone in this.

“We’re all going to have to wake up tomorrow morning and work like hell to move the world toward what we prefer it to be.”

Let’s choose that. No fear. Never fear.

BE GOOD, DO GOOD!

Despondent. Numb. Empty. This is a very, very difficult song to listen to, I have to warn you.

I’m sorry if this song hurts you.

Tonra’s performance is heart-breakingly real and she wouldn’t have released it if she didn’t want it shared.

I love you. Bg, dg.

PS. The Ensemble version is achingly gorgeous.

Gotta up the energy a little here. Picture it, Saranac, 1998.

I’m a sophomore from Redford and get introduced to “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem”, and more specifically, DMX. I knew Swizzy was a member at some point back then, but I didn’t know he produced RRA.

Fast forward to last year and I just loved the message that this song leads and ends with.

“Wherever you are, SHINE!, whoever you are, SHINE!”

I have a fun playlist called “On my Ted Lasso Shit”, which I’ll link below, and the vibe of this song fits it. Be you. Don’t let haters dim your light. Swizzy says “shake em off “. Do your thing. Change the world a little bit at a time.

Didn’t think Golden Girls and Ruff Ryders made sense together did ya? They do in my life! 😀

Be good, do good.

The more time goes on, the more music she releases, the more I’m in awe of how talented Billie is.

This song is so poignantly beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Barbie was also a dope film…but this song from the soundtrack really grounds it.

“I used to float, now I just fall down, I used to know, but I’m not sure now, what I was made for?, what was I made for?, taking a drive, I was an ideal, looked so alive, turns out I’m not real, just something you paid for, what was I made for?, hm, ’cause I, I, I don’t know how to feel, but I wanna try, I don’t know how to feel, but someday I might, someday I might, Mm, hm, ha-ah, hm, hm, hm, when did it all end, all the enjoyment?, I’m sad again, don’t tell me boyfriend, it’s not what he’s made for, what was I made for?”

Just floors me. A song that just personifies ache…but that ache let’s us know what pure joy feels like too in a way.

Can’t appreciate the light without the dark. I think at it’s core that’s what this song is about.

Be good. Do good. Love you.

Been a little under the weather and got myself a bit behind with posts. That kind of stuff used to stress me out a bit, missing deadlines, even self-imposed ones. Just thinking about it now though, I realized there are a ton of things in our lives we probably don’t give ourselves enough grace with.

We need to be kinder with ourselves.

Love the prose VÉRITÉ uses in her songs.

“Dark distant remarks are calling, to remind me what we are, dim romantic sparks, we all fall down, so we can all cover our eyes, from explosions in the skies, can you feel them burning, can you feel the Earth tilt?, can you feel my heartbeat, pounding into nothing, broken bones are floating, in my empty body, can you feel it reaching?, moving through the feeling, won’t you bring me down?, won’t you bring me down to size?”

Rapid fire posts incoming to catch up!

Be good, do good.

So endeth the run of covers! That was a nice way to end October.

Killer Mike hit my radar with Run the Jewels, but then I started hearing him more and more on songs talking about racism and police brutality. Chappelle’s monologue in the beginning of the song is poignant. The organ. Man oh man.

“So what’s the excuse, I’m not good enough?, I did something wrong, I’m not perfect, we just asking people to be honest, you’re a leader, lead, don’t be afraid, we got your back like the motherfuckin’ Verizon man”

Be good, do good.

Love this heartbreaking cover from Angie of Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die album. The piano absolutely transforms it from Lana’s haunting performance, but as I’ve mentioned about good covers, keeps that same soul of the song.

I had a blast quickly photographing my bookshelves to farm IG content for the blog. I’ve been woefully behind there because of uneventful photographing outside of nephew Jack’s soccer games. Sectional Championships Saturday! GO CHAZY EAGLES.

I mentioned in the first bookcase photo that I am magnetically drawn to bookshelves when I visit a friend’s house, go to a party, etc. It’s the same radar that clocks cats for me. 😀

What got me excited about the photos though, is that I absolutely intend to visit each and every one of those worlds before I expire. Read each and every word of advice about bettering myself. Devour the beautiful art and design of the graphic novels.

In a way, each of those books is a promise to my future self. I think there is value in telling your current self, “we’ll get there in our own time”.

Don’t be afraid to cut yourself some slack! Happy Halloween!

Be good, do good!