Whoever came up with this challenge reserved the hardest for last, no? For the past month I’ve been racking my head for a song that fulfills such dictate, but truthfully, I don’t reckon there’s a particular song that elicits these reactions in me.
“Help the world, help the environment, end poverty, help society” — that’s a pretty tall order, wouldn’t you say?
I’m sure there are plenty of Michael Jackson songs that would suit the challenge, but I didn’t really follow the King of Pop. The closest I can get is a song that makes me want to be a better person — a better person for myself and a better person for other people. (So cheesy!)
Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen Baz Luhrmann Something for Everybody (Released March 1999)
The first music CDs I got were compilations of nursery rhymes and folk songs. At 7 years old I was not exactly in the know when it came to pop music. But I could sing a Don Spencer song by heart if you asked me to.
In Year One of primary school, our Mondays began with a show-and-tell session. I remember how proud I was to share with my classmates that my dad had gotten me two CDs. You see, my dad had won a stereo set from this local contest so we took a trip to the record bar that weekend. I don’t remember bringing the CDs with me to class but I was excited to be able to share something with everyone. So I did; I said “my dad got me CDs this weekend.” But the teacher’s response had me rather perplexed: “Wow, that’s nice. Did you water them?” My English was poor so I didn’t know how to ask her to clarify her question; I just thought it was best to nod my head.
It later dawned on me that my teacher thought I said, “my dad got me seedlings this weekend.” Hilarious! And for I while I’d pictured myself with a watering can in hand, sprinkling water on my new compact discs.
Sometimes people ask me where I find my music. Well, I have two primary sources: TV series (and I watch a lot) and Amazon.com. I find Amazon to be more useful than Last.Fm because it offers a vasterselection of song samples.
Now when I chance upon a song that I absolutely love, I look it up on Pandora to find similar music, courtesy of the Music Genome Project. It’s all very scientific and very amazing! The incredible people behind this project set out to identify the “genetic” composition of virtually every song that’s out there so that music lovers could discover tracks that belong to the same family. So when you search for Bell X1’s Bad Skin Day, you’ll be presented with a list of the song’s attributes:
Acoustic rock instrumentation
Electronica influences
A subtle use of vocal counterpoint
A subtle use of vocal harmony
Mild rhythmic syncopation
And, more practically, a list of songs that share those attributes:
It’s Too Late by Evermore
Angel by Unbelievable Truth
A Way to the Heart by Noise Ratchet
Amazing, isn’t it? Compared with Amazon’s “related artists” feature, I’ve found that Pandora’s Music Genome Project has brought me closer to finding more songs that I love. But y’know, it was through Amazon that I discovered a good majority of what I consider the best music in my library.
Well, I wish I could play all the songs I love to sing. Which means, every song in my regular playlist. But if I did know how to play the guitar (my instrument of choice), I’d probably play and sing this song ad nauseam:
Sweet Child o’ Mine Guns N’ Roses Appetite for Destruction (Released August 1988)
Haha it’s kindof out of character, I know, but to be able to play that legendary guitar riff would be something! Plus, I just love singing along to the song whenever it comes on.
Hand in My Pocket Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill (Released October 1995)
Hand in My Pocket — not You Oughta Know — was the Alanis song that made me an instant fan. I loved it the first time I heard it. It was also the first song I wanted to learn how to play on the guitar. But you know me: I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I can’t play a music instrument. So just like Day 9 (A Song that You can Dance to), this song does not exactly fulfill the day’s challenge. Still, it’s better than a simple “N/A.”
For my 7th birthday my parents got me a Yamaha organ. This present got me very excited, even though I never asked for it. Plus, I never really considered learning to play music at that age. But for this child it was a big deal and I enjoyed every moment I clumsily hit the keys and pretended to be a keyboardist. Till now I still don’t know how to play it, and musical notes still read Greek to me. It beats me why I never bothered to learn how to play the organ. Perhaps if I did I’d be able to pride myself on being talented at something.
