Music Monday #3

Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE


I found this song a couple months ago and it has been my go-to chill jam ever since. It's beautiful and sweet and very VERY calming. I found out that Gordon Downie actually passed away a few months ago, so that made this song even more bittersweet.

Phoebe Bridgers is one of my new favorites. Her album is so melancholy and so wonderful and it's exactly what I've needed lately. She was actually kind of discovered by Ryan Adams (a lot of the album is about their relationship) and she's now BFFs with Conor Oberst (from Bright Eyes). Plus, this music video is just great.

What have you been listening to lately? Have you heard of either of these artists already?

Dear You: Besties

Dear You,
I've always appreciated what good friends we've been and I'm so grateful for you in my life. I was thinking the other day about the kinds of best friends in books that makes me think of you and my first thought was obviously The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares. That's the kind of friend you are and reading those books makes me laugh a bit because I can relate to that group in a lot of ways. It also got me thinking about Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson, another book about a group of friends who learn how to stick together. And these are all the kind of books I think you'd actually read, so I'm glad we have some books in common:)
Well, here's the mix I promised I'd make. I hope you like it. Like those books, I've tried to find music you'll like (since our artistic tastes differ so greatly). Good luck and thanks for everything.
Love,
Anna





What books make you think of great friendships? What music do you want to share with your best friend?

On books to read if you want to learn more about music

One topic we talk about a lot on this blog is music and books that you can use to connect with music, learn more about it, and become a music expert. Here are a few books that you can use to expand your knowledge of music - the history, the science, and the theory of music.

• Roots of the Classical: The Popular Origins of Western Music by Peter Van Der Merwe 
• This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin 

• The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
• Introduction to Musicology: A Survey of the Fields, Systematic and Historical, of Musical Knowledge and Research by Glen Haydon 
• Hugo Riemann and the Birth of Modern Musical Thought by Alexander Rehding 

• Noise: The Political Economy of Music by Jacques Attali
• Rethinking Music by Nicholas Cook 
• America's Musical Life: A History by Richard Crawford

In this blog post, I referenced this article, this article, and this article.

You can also check out this Goodreads list


Which books have taught you about music? Which books would you add to this list?

Dear You: Driving Mixtape

Dear You,

Congratulations! You just got your driver’s license. This is a fun and exciting time and your life is about to change quite a bit - if your parents will let you use the car (he he). But in all seriousness, I’m proud of you. It’s really cool that you got to this point and that you’re growing up. And I love seeing that.

I’ve been thinking about some books that might be beneficial to you right now and a couple came to mind. If you’re looking into going on a road trip, try John Green’s Paper Towns - it might convince you it’s time to hit the road. For a more cautionary tale, try Jordan Sonnenblick’s Notes from the Midnight Driver. And definitely stay away from Stephen King’s Christine - that’ll just freak you out. If these books aren’t working for you, that’s okay. I’m attaching some music you should enjoy as you explore your new-found freedom.

Good luck out there.

Love, Anna

On getting back with the ex

There are lots of mixed opinions on getting back with your ex. Some say it’s a great idea, others say it’s the worst thing you can do. Need something to think about while you consider getting back with yours? Or need a bit of advice for how to go about getting back with your ex? Here are a few books that may help you:

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Betting on You by Jessie Evans

Forever, Jack by Natasha Boyd

Bold Tricks by Karina Hale

The Princess Bride by William Goldman


The Trouble with Love by Lauren Layne

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

The 5 Phases to Get Your Ex Back: Where You Are Now and Where You Need to Go to Get Your Ex Back by Clay Andrews (for if you really need advice)

And a few songs to get you through this situation:

• “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” by England Dan & John Ford Coley

• “Telephone Line” by Electric Light Orchestra

• “Lips of an Angel” by Hinder

• “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from the “Grease” Soundtrack

• “If You’re Not the One” by Daniel Bedingfield

Any other good songs or books about trying to get back with an ex?

On songs that I wish were books

This post was inspired by the Broke and the Bookish.

There are plenty of songs that tell a bit of a story, but not enough of one to satisfy book-lovers like me. Here are a few songs that I wish were books:

• “The Shankill Butchers” by The Decemberists - A terrifying tale about what the Shankill Butchers do to little kids who don’t listen to their parents. I would totally read this book and it would be chilling.

• ”Elevator Operator” by Courtney Barnett - This story of a man who just wants to be an elevator operator would be a delightful novella. I’d love to read more details about him giving his tie to a homeless man and talking with the woman in the elevator.

• Splendor & Misery album by .clipping - I know this album already is a story (it even got nominated for a Hugo Award), but I’d love to read this in book form.


• ”Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1”  by the Flaming Lips -Who doesn’t want a heroine who battles robots with martial arts? This book would be hilarious and delightful.

• ”Crawl Out Through the Fallout” by Sheldon Allman - There are plenty of post-apocalyptic love stories, but this would be my favorite book.

• ”Five Years” by David Bowie - If everyone finds out the world would be ending in five years, what would happen? Bowie addresses it wonderfully in this song, but I’d love to see more details about an individual and their experiences during the last five years of Earth.

• ”Touch-tone Telephone” by Lemon Demon - I have absolutely no idea what this song is about (except he’s studying UFOlogy), but I think it’d be a hilariously random book.

• ”If I Were a Pirate Ninja Zombie” by Captain Ambivalent - What would happen if someone was a pirate ninja zombie? Would he finally win her heart? This book would be so sweet and silly.

• ”Ouija Board” by Morrissey - Boy meets girl. Girl dies. Boy debates using ouija board to call girl? I want to read this horror novel.

• ”I Love You More Than I Hate My Period” by Say Anything - Stalker fangirls can be kind of funny and also terrifying. I want to read this book about musicians and killer fans.

What songs do you wish were books?

On the best rock 'n' roll biographies I've read (so far)

It’s impossible to read every rock biography ever written. I’m trying, yet it always seems just out of my grasp. There are countless biographies on so many people in the music industry that I’ll never get to all of them. My goal right now is to read a few here and there and to eventually get a good overall view of the music industry and the history of music.

While I’ve read quite a few music histories, I like to focus on musician biographies. In looking at the biographies I’ve read so far, I realized a few things:

1. I read mostly rock musicians from the 1970’s - maybe it’s time to branch out a bit more - to understand the influences of other people from other eras and other genres.
2. I haven’t read a single biography about a female musician. I need to find some of those.
3. Apparently I really like music biographies with black and white covers.

Anyway - with those thoughts in mind, I present to you a commitment to read more broadly in music books. Also, here are my favorite rock biographies so far.

• Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life by Graham Nash - I honestly wasn’t too interested in CSNY until fairly recently - After I read Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970 by David Browne, I was intrigued and wanted to know more about CSNY (especially after hearing about Crosby’s two month sailing trip to get over his dead girlfriend). So this book was perfect for that. I liked Graham Nash immediately and he quickly became my favorite member of CSNY. I like his attitude and I like the work he’s done and I especially loved his friendship with David Crosby. This book is a lot of fun and definitely worth reading if you like CSNY.

• Change of Seasons: A Memoir by John Oates - I wasn’t too into Hall & Oates until I read this book, which sparked a fervor in me for H&O that I wasn’t aware I could feel. The first half of this book bored me, but once I got into the second half, I couldn’t put it down. I feel like John Oates would be buddies with my dad, which endeared him to me. This is a fun look at 1970/1980’s pop and rock.

• Bowie: A Biography by Mark Spitz - This was only the second Bowie biography I read, but I enjoyed it quite a bit more than the first. I especially loved that Mark Spitz discusses Bowie’s musical influences and spends quite a bit of time sharing specific bands and songs that a Bowie fanatic should familiarize themselves with. For me, that was priceless and gave a whole new view to Bowie. I’ve since read more Bowie biographies, but this one sticks out in my mind as the best so far.

What music biographies have you loved? Do you agree with my picks? Which biographies would be on your list? Is there a different subgenre of biographies that you prefer reading?

On REVENGE

It isn’t easy harboring resentment towards someone else and sometimes, the best way to resolve your feelings is to destroy the person who hurt you.

Okay, I’m not actually advocating for painful and serious avenging. While it can be tough to actually get revenge on someone (not to mention quite unhealthy), revenge plots are lots of fun to hear/read about.

Here are a few books about getting back at someone:

• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas - After having his life destroyed, one man gets a second chance at living and the means to get back at those who hurt him earlier.
• The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - A group of thieves must work to save their city - and avenge their friends.
• The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski - A girl born into nobility purchases a new slave and must suffer the consequences of his vengeance-seeking - and of falling in love.
• Gone Girl by GIllian Flynn - When his wife disappears, one man seeks answers - and finds more than he bargained for.
• True Grit by Charles Portis - After her father dies, one young girl seeks to avenge his death with the help of the local marshall.
• Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson - A boy watches his father be killed by the superhuman beings that rule his world. He dedicates his life to learning more about them and soon finds a group that can help him finally get back at the killer.

And here are a few songs to go with those books:

• “Comeback” - Ella Eyre
• “Before He Cheats” - Carrie Underwood
• “Mariner’s Revenge Song” - The Decemberists
• “Goodbye Earl” - Dixie Chicks
• “Forget You” - Cee Lo Green

What revenge books and songs would you recommend?

On John Green and Avril Lavigne

Warning: Spoilers ahead

Avril Lavigne is every early 2000’s teen girl’s idol. Her music touched the hearts and minds of chick rockers everywhere and her music helped define the early 2000’s. John Green is a very different individual. He currently wears the internet nerd king crown, due to his YA novels and his famous vlogbrothers correspondence. What could the two possible have in common?

Maybe angsty teen girls?

While listening to Avril Lavigne the other day (because she’s still fantastic), I was struck by how much her songs can apply to John Green heroines - specifically, Margo Roth Speigelman (from Paper Towns) and Alaska (from Looking for Alaska). Both of these girls are insecure, misguided, and quite angsty. One song really stood out to me - Avril Lavigne’s “What The Hell” - as the anthem for these heroines. Just check out these lyrics:

”You’re on your knees, beggin ‘ Please stay with me.’/But honestly I just need to be a little crazy.” - Pudge is absolutely taken with Alaska. In Looking for Alaska, he muses,

“I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.”

Being madly in love with Alaska causes Pudge to be ridiculously (and I mean ridiculously) clingy and to want more from Alaska than she’s in a position to give. Q is in a similar position with Margo, wanting more from her than she’ll ever give him. While both these boys fawn helplessly over their love interests, Margo and Alaska are far more occupied with doing whatever they want - which consists mostly of being different, being unique, and being a bit crazy.

“All my life I’ve been good, but now, ooohhhh, I’m thinking ‘What the hell?’” -After an experience they share in Paper Towns, Q and Margo have this quick conversation.

“My heart is really pounding," I said.
"That's how you know you're having fun," Margo said.

While neither Margo nor Alaska have been especially good throughout their lives, both girls share the mentality that it’s fun (and necessary) to do things outside the norm, to shock those around them. Suddenly, both girls feel the need to start doing things more exhilarating, more bizarre, and more daring than they’ve ever done before. Both Alaska and Margo drive up the stakes and start being more crazy and more desperate for attention than they were before.

“All I want is to mess around and I don’t really care about if you love me, if you hate me.” - These girls both are doing all this nonsense in order to get the attention and love and to distract themselves from how much they’re hurting. But they put on this facade of not caring at all about Q and Pudge’s feelings and being too caught up in their own issues to notice. This

‘Messing around’ take precedence over their relationships with those around them.

“You can save me, baby, baby.” - Both Q and Pudge try to help Alaska and Margo, going to great lengths to support their insane ideas and coping mechanisms. Q even chases Margo to a paper town, hoping that she always wanted him to save him. But in the end, Margo and Alaska don’t need to be saved by the boys they know, no matter how much the boys think they can help. Finally, Q realizes,

The fundamental mistake I had always made - and that she had, in fairness, always led me to make - was this: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl.

And Q didn’t need to play the white knight to save that girl. She was fine on her own and the idea that she needed him to swoop in and save the day was wrong.

I love “What the Hell” - it’s a fun song and it’s great to sing along to at the top of your lungs. But looking at the lyrics in a more serious light, it embodies two characters that I don’t like or connect with that much. Why do so many of us put such a focus on living exciting, daring lives, when a quiet life can be enough? I don’t have an answer for this, but it’s something I’ll be pondering for the next little bit.

Are there any songs that remind you of book characters? Are there any book characters that remind you of songs?

On fiction books to help you learn more music

Music snobs are constantly on the lookout for new music and are willing to look anywhere to know more and to hear that new song before anyone else does. These books offer a lot of music lists, music suggestions, and music mentions that may help you expand your musical knowledge.

All book summaries taken from Goodreads.

• Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - “It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.
  This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be and where the next great band is playing.
  Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you’ll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.”
• Heavy Metal and You by Chris Krovatin - “If Nick Hornby had a metalhead little brother, he'd write a book as clever, music-drenched, and observationally direct as this, Christopher Krovatin's rock-solid PUSH debut, now in paperback.
  Boy listens to lots of loud music and hangs with his friends. Boy meets girl. Boy falls dippy-happy-scared-as-hell in love with girl. Friends meet girl -- and aren't impressed. Girl meets friends -- and isn't impressed. Boy meets big dilemma. Boy plays music even louder. Big dilemma meets big, complicated resolution.
  With humor and heartfelt observations, debut author Christopher Krovatin strikes some very loud chords about life, love, sex, and friendship.”
• Supergirl Mixtapes by Meagan Brothers - “In Meagan Brothers's Supergirl Mixtapes, a music-obsessed girl travels to New York City to find herself.
  After years of boredom in her rural South Carolina town, Maria is thrilled when her father finally allows her to visit her estranged artist mother in New York City. She's ready for adventure, and she soon finds herself immersed in a world of rock music and busy streets, where new people and ideas lie around every concrete corner. This is the freedom she's always longed for—and she pushes for as much as she can get, skipping school to roam the streets, visit fancy museums, and flirt with the cute clerk at a downtown record store.
  But just like her beloved New York City, Maria's life has a darker side. Behind her mother's carefree existence are shadowy secrets, and Maria must decide just where—and with whom—her loyalty lies.”
• The Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz - “Summer is here, and 16-year-old Allie, a self-professed music geek, is exactly where she wants to be: working full-time at Berkeley’s ultra-cool Bob and Bob Records. There, Allie can spend her days bantering with the street people, talking the talk with the staff, shepherding the uncool bridge-and-tunnel shoppers, all the while blissfully surrounded by music, music, music. It’s the perfect setup for her to develop her secret identity as The Vinyl Princess, author of both a brand-new zine and blog. From the safety of her favourite place on earth, Allie is poised to have it all: love, music and blogging.
       Her mother, though, is actually the one getting the dates, and business at Allie’s beloved record store is becoming dangerously slow—not to mention that there have been a string of robberies in the neighbourhood. At least her blog seems to be gaining interest, one vinyl junkie at a time….”
• High Fidelity by Nick Hornby - “Do you know your desert-island, all-time, top five most memorable split-ups?
  Rob does. He keeps a list, in fact. But Laura isn't on it - even though she's just become his latest ex. He's got his life back, you see. He can just do what he wants when he wants: like listen to whatever music he likes, look up the girls that are on his list, and generally behave as if Laura never mattered. But Rob finds he can't move on. He's stuck in a really deep groove - and it's called Laura. Soon, he's asking himself some big questions: about love, about life - and about why we choose to share ours with the people we do.”

If you’re really looking to expand your music knowledge, I suggest this book. Bob Boilen interviews musicians and asks them which songs influenced them the most. It definitely taught me a bunch of new stuff.

• Bonus: Your Song Changed My Life by Bob Boilen - “From the beloved host and creator of NPR’s All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others—published in association with NPR Music. Is there a unforgettable song that changed your life? NPR’s renowned music authority Bob Boilen posed this question to some of today’s best-loved musical legends and rising stars. In Your Song Changed My Life, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), St. Vincent, Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Cat Power, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Jenny Lewis, Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia, Sleater-Kinney), Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Trey Anastasio (Phish), Jackson Browne, Valerie June, Philip Glass, James Blake, and other artists reflect on pivotal moments that inspired their work. For Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, it was discovering his sister’s 45 of The Byrds’ “Turn, Turn, Turn.” A young St. Vincent’s life changed the day a box of CDs literally fell off a delivery truck in front of her house. Cat Stevens was transformed when he heard John Lennon cover “Twist and Shout.” These are the momentous yet unmarked events that have shaped these and many other musical talents, and ultimately the sound of modern music. A diverse collection of personal experiences, both ordinary and extraordinary, Your Song Changed My Life illustrates the ways in which music is revived, restored, and revolutionized. It is also a testament to the power of music in our lives, and an inspiration for future artists and music lovers.”

What musical books would you suggest to learn new music?