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Court Polls #3: What is the Greatest Beatles Song of All Time

5 Nov

The Beatles Abbey Road

The Beatles can be split up into three stages, each one awesome. They first popped on the scene as the innocent mersey-beat British band who sang about holding hands and love. After a few years the mop-tops started growing and the music became a little more experimental and rockier (a made up term by yours truly). The third stage was a psychedelic movement that saw many of The Beatles best lyrical and musical work. With The Beatles I think the only thing that may be hard is picking what is their best work and we are ambitiously going to leave that question up to you. Below in this incredibly tough poll, please do not hurt me if I do not pick your favorite song, I am going to list five of, what I believe to be the greatest Beatles songs of all time. Vote on what you believe is their best work and drop a comment telling me why your choice is the best song or why you believe another Beatles song is the best. I will be leaving a response soon as well.

 

Song of the Day #67: “We Shall Overcome”

4 Nov

We Shall Overcome

It is sure funny how time flies. It has been one full year since President Barack Obama was elected to the office of president of the United States. Now, personally, I like to remove myself from politics because it just seems rather unsavory to me and, also, it just does not interest me. I like to say it is because, generally I like to tell the truth, but I should not say this because all politicians do not lie. Also, politics sparks to many arguments and, well, arguments are not healthy. Yet, what particuarly excited me about last election was the fact that we would be getting a new face in an office of great power who seemed more fit for the job than former President Bush. Let us stray away from politics for a second and move on to a little history.

November 4th marked triumph for human beings, in my opinion. To long have people focused on racial differences and unfortunately, while this may remain a reality throughout human existence because people look different from each other, the election proved that at least the majority of the country did not let antiquated judgements sway their opinions and, for a brief moment, we collectively ignored the triviality of race and focused on what was best for the United States.

Pete Seeger

This is the topic of this song of the day and I would like to focus on the 90-year-old Pete Seeger’s version of the old gospel song, “We Shall Overcome,” which symbolizes a journy for African American Rights which came to fruition on election day. Seeger, whose version is most popular, first learned about the gospel song, originally written by Rev. Charles Tindley of Philly , after founding “People’s Songs,” an organization focused on keeping songs of labor alive. He learned the song from Zilphia Horton’s version which was used for the Civil Rights Movement. Seeger writes: “I changed it to ‘We shall’… I think I liked a more open sound; ‘We will’ has alliteration to it, but ‘We shall’ opens the mouth wider; the ‘i’ in ‘will’ is not an easy vowel to sing well. He also added some verses.

The reason this song is influential is because its malleability. It has been sung by so many musicians and has been tremendously flexible throughout the years. The message is also incredibly topical for anyone who has been somewhat discriminated against. We shall overcome is a true American song and last year on November 4th, the hopes of the dreamers who wrote this song came true.

Seeger’s version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhnPVP23rzo

Lyric of the Day #66: Top 100 Lyricists #81

3 Nov

 

zack de la rochaI’d like to put a small disclaimer on this lyricist section. Tonight’s lyricist expresses emotions and opinions that are both strong and, well, very angry. He was the lead vocalist, lyricist, and activist in the band Rage Against The Machine, who is most definitely the most politically charged band to ever gain a load of airplay. This, of course, is a testament to their musical skill and the fact that most of the lyrics were rapped and hard to here (this excluding several portions of “Killing in the Name”) Yet, while this is the case, the keen lyrics of Mr. Zack de la Rocha just express a different look at great lyrics. They cannot all be self-reflective and pretty. Some must be angry, and Rocha’s lyrics are.

Born into a politically charged family, Rocha, was immersed with left-wing political causes from the moment he could talk. His childhood was spent dealing with his German-Irish mother and his father, who, after experiencing a nervous breakdown after divorcing Zack’s mother when he was one, became a glorified religious nut. It is safe to assume that in experiencing his odd family background and by living in Los Angeles some of this racial anger was able to brew and he was able to see how racist people actually are. This just extended into staunch campaigning for left wing politics and with this he was introduced to punk music which seemed to express exactly what he was feeling. Rocha became involved and his musical career began.

Let us focus on his excellent work with Rage Against The Machine where we certainly can read and hear the anger emitted from the music. But, it is important to see how skillful the lyrical craft is as well. Here are some lyrics from Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls on Parade.”

“Weapons not food, not homes, not shoes
Not need, just feed the war cannibal animal
I walk the corner to tha rubble that used to be a library
Linin’ to the mind cemetery now
What we don’t know keeps the contracts alive an movin’
They don’t gotta burn the books they just remove ’em
While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells
They Rally round tha family! With a pocket full of shells!”

Zack De La Rocha

What one first recognizes about these rapped lyrics are that they roll off the tonuge nicely and they flow perfectly. The rhyme is not forced and is rather smooth. It is a form of poetry, good rap, and Rocha certainly demonstrates this with his lyric. Now, to the message. I believe there is something special about his line about libraries. Rocha is saying that this “they” concept (being the government most likely) does not need to burn books, they just take them away, while warehouses fill up with guns quite quickly. There is something fundamentally wrong with society when violence replaces education and this is what Rocha is portraying. It is social critique, like good social music should be, unlike most rap which is unfortunately trite and juvenile.

Take a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-58-36lSqG4

Court Links: Sex, Jagger and The Beatles

2 Nov

I hope everyone’s Halloween was safe and fun, but now it is time to get dangerous again with this monday’s Court Links. As I searched the internet for suitable links I came across two, one fairy humerous, one absolutely disturbing. Both, which, spark the title of the post.

Mick Jagger has had a lot of relations with women and plastic surgery. Surprised? Neither was I. One of those women that explored the Jagger has recently come out with a book about her groupie relations with several famous rockers, including Mick. In it she has joked that the job description of personal assistant to The Rolling Stones should have included sleep with Mick whenever he asks, which, she did.

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/sex-with-jagger-was-part-of-the-job_1120835

Also, because everyone loves flow charts, I have one of the more literal music one’s from loveallthis.tumblr.com. Great Job guys, gave me a good laugh

Hey Jude ----> Don't...

Halloween Song of the Day 2009

31 Oct

Happy Halloween

 

Happy Halloween from your always faithful jesters at the music court. We hope that while you go out tonight and fill your body with sugar that you are safe and are singing a tune as you walk. If I can make a suggestion, how about “The Monster Mash,” which this year is 47 years old. Created originally by Bobby Pickett and reaching the top 100 charts just before Halloween on October 20th, the song has been the most enjoyed Halloween hit and it certainly is quite scary that it got so famous. Horrible pun.

Fun Fact: Pickett was an aspiring actor performing with a band called “The Cordials” during the nights. One night, while performing, Pickett did an imitation of horror movie actor Boris Karloff while his band performed The Diamond’s “Little Darlin.” It was a hit and the song stuck.

Have fun tonight folks and make sure not to get to spooked out when the sound of rustling leaves and howling wind do a ballet dance in your ears. Happy Halloween.

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