Songs You May Have Missed #565

enya

Enya: “So I Could Find My Way” (2015)

If you’re blessed enough to have known at least once in your life the kind of love Enya describes here, you are most fortunate indeed.

A thousand dreams you gave to me
You held me high, you held me high
And all those years you guided me
So I could find my way

How long your love had sheltered me
You held me high, you held me high
A harbour holding back the sea
So I could find my way

So let me give this dream to you
Upon another shore
So let me give this dream to you
Each night and ever more

Yet only time keeps us apart
You held me high, you held me high
You’re in the shadows of my heart
So I can find my way

You held me high, you held me high

So let me give this dream to you
Upon another shore
So let me give this dream to you
Each night and ever more

A thousand dreams you gave to me
You held me high, you held me high
And all those years you guided me
So I could find my way

So I could find my way

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/03/30/songs-you-may-have-missed-378/

Elements of Great Songwriting: Know When to Start with the Chorus

white band

When the Average White Band moved from the MCA record label to Atlantic in the early 70’s, they brought with them the master tapes of their second album, which MCA had opted not to release.

Jerry Wexler was eager to sign the band to Atlantic, but thought the rejected album needed a tweak before he released it on his label. The band and producer Arif Mardin replaced a couple tunes with stronger ones. They also re-worked other tracks to bolster commercial appeal.

One of these was “Got the Love”, and its two versions make the perfect case for why a song which starts with a chorus can often draw a listener in more effectively.

Listen to the earlier version of the song:

Despite a relatively irresistible white-boys-on-funk intro, the song takes about 1:12 to get to its chorus hook.

The re-recorded version, released on their #1 AWB album in 1974, gets to that hook within 20 seconds, and by 1:12 you’re hearing it for a second time.

A good songwriter–or producer–will know when and when not to come out of the gate with a chorus instead of setting it up with a verse or two. Once you start listening for such songs, you’ll find that there are plenty of examples in all genres. Here are a few that come to mind:

Video of the Week: What is the Most Played Song in the World?

A Portrait of Michael Jackson at 50: A Sad and Ruined Life Nearing its End

mike 1

The above image is thought to be what Michael Jackson would have looked like at age 50 without surgery, extrapolated by experts using childhood photos.

The below article appeared on the UK Daily Mail site on August 28, 2008, less than a year prior to Michael Jackson’s death. It carries additional impact with the perspective of subsequent events (i.e. Jackson was preparing his This is It comeback concert series at the time of his death).

In one sense, Jackson wasn’t quite finished as a performer after all. In another, he was closer to the end than even the writer imagined.

by J Randy Taraborrelli for MailOnline

mike 2

A middle-aged man wearing pyjamas is being pushed in a wheelchair down a sidewalk by an assistant. He is gaunt and frail-looking. His skin seems to be peeling. His fingernails are a sickening shade of yellow-brown.

Beneath a red Marines baseball cap a surgical mask is visible, covering the bottom half of his face. A pair of large sunglasses shield the top.

Three children walk ahead – two boys and a girl. All seem happy and look adorable in colourful clothing. Their baseball caps do not seem a deliberate attempt to shield their faces.

‘Slow down,’ the man commands in a hoarse whisper, but the children ignore him and quickly cross the street to stand in front of a bookshop.

When the man in the wheelchair finally catches up, one of the children dutifully holds the door open as he is wheeled inside.

‘Thank you,’ he mutters weakly. All seems calm, but then – just as the children are about to follow the man into the shop – a stranger approaches the smallest of them.

‘Was that…?’ she begins to ask. The boy is about to answer, when a large man steps between them.

‘No. That was not,’ he says, taking the boy by the hand and rushing him inside. But, just before the door swings closed, the young boy turns to his inquisitor, smiles broadly and mouths just two words: Michael Jackson.

Welcome to the very sad world of Wacko Jacko. The scene I’ve just described is typical of what goes on in his life almost every day in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he now resides…

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1050082/As-turns-50-Michael-Jackson-really-look-like.html#ixzz3wiawnoQX

On a Lighter Note…

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criss

dog

rap

bieber

clowns jokers

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kick

kanye

types of rock

bitch please

.facebook_1452072159963

Songs You May Have Missed #564

narsilion

Narsilion: “El Retorn a la Infantesa” (2008)

From Barcelona, Spain come Tolkien gateway drug Narsilion. Their particular brand of neoclassical ambient folk has been labeled Darkwave by whatever entity is responsible for the nomenclature of music’s multitudinous classifications.

narseEthereal and medieval-sounding, Narsilion may appeal to fans of Enya, Loreena McKennit or possibly Blackmore’s Night. However their music generally lacks Enya’s cohesive, populist songwriting, McKennit’s traditional rootedness or Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar wizardry.

Still, there is wizardry here of another sort. If you have a penchant for songs about elves, unicorns and autumnal equinoxes, pour a flagon of mead, sit back and enjoy the musical reverie.

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