Flobots - Handlebars

A local Denver band, the Flobots, released a hit song recently that has garnered a lot of attention. The song is called "Handlebars", and has some really incredible lyrics. To me it seems to follow the rise of a person, and by extension humanity as a whole, and our incredible potential with technology and compassion to do great things, and how sometimes that goes horribly wrong - which is especially poignant in todays world where we seem to be surrounded by injustice, war, and suffering.

Here is the song on youtube, lyrics to follow:

I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars

Look at me, look at me
hands in the air like it's good to be
ALIVE
and I'm a famous rapper
even when the paths're all crookedy
I can show you how to do-si-do
I can show you how to scratch a record
I can take apart the remote control
And I can almost put it back together
I can tie a knot in a cherry stem
I can tell you about Leif Ericson
I know all the words to "De Colores"
And "I'm Proud to be an American"
Me and my friend saw a platypus
Me and my friend made a comic book
And guess how long it took
I can do anything that I want cuz, look:

I can keep rhythm with no metronome
No metronome
No metronome

I can see your face on the telephone
On the telephone
On the telephone

Look at me
Look at me
Just called to say that it's good to be
ALIVE
In such a small world
All curled up with a book to read
I can make money open up a thrift store
I can make a living off a magazine
I can design an engine sixty four
Miles to a gallon of gasoline
I can make new antibiotics
I can make computers survive aquatic conditions
I know how to run a business
And I can make you wanna buy a product
Movers shakers and producers
Me and my friends understand the future
I see the strings that control the systems
I can do anything with no assistance
I can lead a nation with a microphone
With a microphone
With a microphone
I can split the atoms of a molecule
Of a molecule
Of a molecule

Look at me
Look at me
Driving and I won't stop
And it feels so good to be
Alive and on top
My reach is global
My tower secure
My cause is noble
My power is pure
I can hand out a million vaccinations
Or let'em all die in exasperation
Have'em all healed of their lacerations
Have'em all killed by assassination
I can make anybody go to prison
Just because I don't like'em and
I can do anything with no permission
I have it all under my command
I can guide a missile by satellite
By satellite
By satellite
and I can hit a target through a telescope
Through a telescope
Through a telescope
and I can end the planet in a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust

I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handle bars
No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars

Jack Johnson - It's All Understood

I have been a fan of Jack Johnson for a couple of years, but for some reason I had not realized the profound message behind his song "It's All Understood" from his album "Brushfire Fairytales". I was listening to it in the car today, and was blown away.

Here is a video from youtube with the song:



Here are the lyrics:

Everyone laughed at her joke
As if they'd never even heard it before
And maybe they were truly amused
But every word that she spoke was a bore
And maybe it's because they had seen
The previews on the TV screen
Well this part is good and that's well understood
So you should laugh if you know what I mean

But it's all relative
Even if you don't understand
Well it's all understood
Especially when you don't understand
Then it's all just because
Even if we don't understand
Then lets all just believe

Everyone knows what went down
Because the news was spread all over town
And fact is only what you believe
And fact and fiction work as a team
It's almost always fiction in the end
That content begins to bend
When context is never the same

And it's all relative
Even if we don't understand
And that's well understood
Especially when we don't understand
Then it's all just because
Even if we don't understand
Then lets all just believe

I was reading a book
Or maybe it was a magazine
Suggestions on where to place faith
Suggestions on what to believe
But I read somewhere
That you've got to beware
You can't believe anything you read
But the good Book is good
And that's well understood
So don't even question
If you know what I mean

But it's all relative
Even if you don't understand
Well it's all understood
Especially when you don't understand
And it's all just because
Even if we don't understand
Then lets all just believe

But there you go once again
You missed the point and then you point
Your fingers at me
And say that I said not to believe
I believe
I guess
I guess it's all relative

***

To me there are several important messages in this song, one of which is the trend in society to believe what you are told rather than thinking for yourself - this is a powerful message that is incredibly relevant in today's society that is so highly commercialized. It also has a great deal of relevance for everyone as they come of age, and start making their own decisions in life.

Coldplay, "The Scientist"

I am a big fan of Coldplay, and one of my favorite songs of theirs is "The Scientist". The words and music are so simple, yet so moving. To me, the song is about a guy that, despite all of his searching for greater meaning in life, realizes that nothing really compares to love, which is where true meaning in life is found.

Here are the lyrics, and the music video from youtube (which by the way is pretty cool in its own right - notice how everything is moving backwards, yet he still is singing correctly?)

***

Come up to meet ya, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need ya
And tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets, and nurse me your questions
Oh lets go back to the start
Running in circles, coming in tails
Heads on a science apart
Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm going back to the start

Beethoven Symphony No.9

I grew up with the music of Mozart in my home - my mom played it all the time, and I credit her for my love of classical music. I never listened to a lot of music by Beethoven growing up, and really discovered his genius while in college during my music courses there. Next to Mozart's Requiem stands one other juggernaut of truly inspirational and moving music, and that is the fourth movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, or the "Ode to Joy". It is perhaps one of the most famous pieces of music ever written, but have you ever listened to it all the way through? It gives me shivers every time I listen to it. Below are two clips from youtube showing the first part of the fourth movement. (Side note: The clips show the piece, renamed "Ode to Freedom" being played in Berlin in 1989 as a celebration of the falling of the Berlin Wall).

Mozart's Requiem

Quite possibly the most moving piece of music I have ever heard is Mozart's Requiem. It was his final composition before his death, and actually was only partially written by himself - much of it was completed by a colleague Franz Xaver Süssmayr. The opening bars of the first movement are just sublime as they build layer upon layer into a masterpiece of powerful music. Below is a video from youtube of the first two movements. I highly recommend that anyone who enjoys this to go and get a CD of the complete requiem (14 movements).

Once (2007 film)

I recently saw a very moving film called Once. The movie follows the fortunes of an Irish guitar playing busker (who remains unnamed throughout the film). He meets a Czech immigrant girl one day on the street, and almost by accident they realize that they make great music together. There is a great scene near the beginning where they sit in a piano shop and play one of his songs together. The effect is quite magical, and the rest of the movie plays out like a musical, but feels grounded in the real world. A quasi, un-requited romance develops between the two as they move into a studio to record an album, and we begin to learn about their past loves and shipwrecked dreams. The movie is soul searching, inspirational, and thought provoking. I can't recommend it enough, it is fast becoming one of my favorite movies of all time.

Here is a great video featuring my favorite song from the movie, and a bunch of clips :

"Dig" - Incubus

OK, another song. For much the same reason that I liked "What I've Done" I really like the song "Dig" by Incubus. It seems to have received a lot of airtime on the radio, but I never get tired of it. The lyrics are so deep, and make even the cloudiest of days seem bearable.

Incubus had a contest in which they asked fans to make a video for the song. I am not a huge fan of the videos that are on youtube, but here is one so you can listen to the song:



Lyrics:

We all have a weakness
But some of ours are easy to identify. Look me in the eye,
and ask for forgiveness.
We'll make a pact to never speak that word again.
Yes, you are my friend.
We all have something that digs at us,
at least we dig each other.

So when weakness turns my ego up
I know you'll count on the me from yesterday.

If I turn into another
dig me up from under what is covering
the better part of me.
Sing this song
remind me that we'll always have each other
when everything else is gone.

We all have a sickness
that cleverly attaches and multiplies
No matter how we try.
We all have someone that digs at us,
at least we dig each other.

So when sickness turns my ego up
I know you'll act as a clever medicine.
If I turn into another,
dig me up from under what is covering
The better part of me.
Sing this song!
Remind me that we'll always have each other
when everything else is gone.

"What I've Done" - Linkin Park

Linkin Park's music has been described as many things, from innovative, to heavy metal's boy band. I personally find their lyrics quite insightful and from the heart. This is especially the case for one of their new songs, "What I've Done". The song is not as hard or screechy as some of their other stuff, and has a very powerful message.

The song has great meaning to me personally, because I have made many mistakes in my life, but remain generally optimistic and happy. This happiness was hard earned though - struggling through tough times, and getting over the regret and pain of things in my past.