Rocket Queen- Guns ‘N’ Roses

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“Rocket Queen” by Guns ‘N’ Roses is about a girl that was going to start a band and name it ‘Rocket Queen’. Axl Rose was infatuated with this girl and wrote this song for her. I like song, I’m not very familiar with it but I can say that I don’t hate it. I chose this song for this reflection because it is definitely Rock ‘n’ Roll, but it is definitely sex as well because in the bridge of this song, there is actually a recording of Rose and the drummer, Adler’s girlfriend. I’ve never even heard of that happening before so that’s why I chose this song.

The music integrates well with the lyrics and the message of the song. During the bridge, there is a guitar solo with drums and obviously sex noises—I find that so funny! This song is showing how much Rose cares for the girl and he obviously feels lustful towards her and is aroused when he thinks about her, so I think it was a good choice to put the recording into the song. It was a bold move, and obviously it paid off. About halfway through the song, the tempo changes and it’s mainly drums integrated with electric guitar and base. This is a clear transition of the song, and in the second part of the song the lyrics are more loving and affectionate in contrast to the first part of the song. This is done because Rose wants to get his message across to the ‘Rocket Queen’ girl.

This song is autobiographical like I mentioned before, it is about Axl Rose and the girl that he was crazy for. Her name was ‘Barbi (Rocket Queen) Von Greif’ and she was eighteen at the time that Rose had a thing for. Slash commented that although she was pretty young, she had a notorious reputation and was called “a queen of the underground scene”. This type of song is not unusual for Guns ‘N’ Roses at all, it sounds like a lot of their other popular songs, although I’ve never heard another song that has a sex recording in it so this song could also be called unique in that way. I would say it sounds a lot like ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, which is also from the album ‘Appetite For Destruction’.

I would definitely recommend this song, but not really for anything specific. I would say if you just got your heart broken, definitely do not listen to this song. Also, I wouldn’t recommend it for working out either, but I guess it could possibly work if you really wanted to. I would say just put this song on your regular playlist on shuffle and listen to it occasionally. If you happen to have a playlist named ‘Oldies’ then you can definitely put this song in there. All in all I think this song is really cool and worth listening to.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TnL-LJKWE0&spfreload=10

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/gunsnroses/rocketqueen.html

Rose, Axl. Perf. Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler, and Izzy Stradlin. Rocket Queen. Guns ‘N’                               Roses. Mike Clink, 1987. CD.

 

“The Last Night”- Skillet

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The song I chose this week is “The Last Night” by Skillet from the album “Comatose”. This song is about a girl who has decided to kill herself and is saying goodbye to her friend. Her parents think that she is just “going through a phase”, but they just don’t understand her and they never will. She has been cutting herself for a while now and doesn’t want to have to feel like this anymore. The whole song her friend is trying to tell her that she does matter, and he cares about her. He says that this is the last night she’ll be alone; he will be by her side every night after this. I think this is a beautiful song, it really shows how you may feel like you’re alone, but there’s someone out there who cares. I like this song a lot.

The song starts off with a piano, and then electric guitar and drums come in. This song is rock and I like how the music and the lyrics work together in this song. In the bridges the music gets lower and Skillet really focuses on the lyrics, they even sing softer. Then during the chorus, the music is louder and more in your face and I think that is done to try to get the point across that she’s not alone. I wouldn’t say this song is a duet, but since Skillet is made up of two men and two women, they often have one of the women chime in for some of the vocals. They do this in this song pretending to be the girl in the story. I love when bands do this, personally I’m a big fan of duets; I love how the two voices work together to harmonize. So, when Korey (girl singer) came in backing up John (lead male singer), I got so excited and instantly loved this song. I also think it’s really funny because the two singers in this song, are actually married in real life.

This song is not autobiographical, John wrote it because he thought of all the kids that are hurting so badly because they think they are worthless, so he decided to write a song that could possibly help them realize they are loved. Skillet is a Christian rock band, so they were shocked to hear how many kids at their shows admitted to them that they cut themselves and were depressed so he really wanted to help relate to them. And obviously there’s the God aspect in this song, the guy in the story is sort of representing God, in a sense, saying that if she gives Him a chance he will always be there for her.

I have this song on my iPod, and I just hear it when I shuffle my songs. I don’t really think that there is a specific time when you should listen to it. It’s definitely not for break ups, but I could see it for workouts. It has like a ‘head bumping’ feel to it, so I could definitely see it motivating you while you’re on the treadmill. Also, if you are someone who is depressed or has a history of cutting yourself, and you don’t think you matter to anyone—listen to this song. This song is for you. I think Skillet does a great job at helping anyone who is feeling like this. The message they are trying to get across in this song is genuine and true; there is someone who cares about you. I really think this song is worth listening to and putting on your iPod so do it!

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP0Ne9aW7UI&spfreload=10

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/skillet/thelastnight.html

Peters, Lori, and Ben Kasica. By John L. Cooper. Perf. Korey Cooper. The Last Night. Skillet. Brian        Howes, John L. Cooper, Zachary Kelm, 2006. CD.

“No Hurry”- Zac Brown Band

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For this assignment I asked my dad what song he thinks speaks to him best and he told me “No Hurry” by Zac Brown Band. This song is basically about how you shouldn’t worry about the little things that you have no power to change, you should just relax and enjoy life because it is way too short be hung up on the little things in life. I think this song is an accurate representation of my dad because my mom is the complete opposite of that. She rushes through everything and doesn’t really enjoy any of it because she is just worrying about getting through it as quickly as possible. It is extremely frustrating to live with her, and now that I’m in college and so is my older brother, I feel so sorry for my poor dad who is stuck with her. She’s a great woman, don’t get me wrong, but she is just so fast paced and never really gets the chance to “sit back and smell the roses” so to say. I really like this song, it’s country and I love country, so I obviously like this pick but also Zac Brown Band is a very serious group that takes music very seriously so they’re music is always really beautiful.

From listening to the song, I detect there is a guitar, a violin, and a little bit of drums. I think this music works well with the lyrics and the message Zac Brown is trying to get across. The music is very soothing and calm and that’s what the lyrics are all about—relaxing and just enjoying every moment in life. There’s a moment in the song where there is no singing, and the instruments get louder. This represents the hard times in life that we all go through, but then of course the instruments get low and it’s Zac’s beautiful voice saying he “ain’t in no hurry today”. Although we all have hardships in life, they just help us see the important things in life and show us that you cannot get hung up on the little things in life.

Unless you’re heart is made of stone, I think that these lyrics and the music behind them can really evoke emotions out of anyone. It’s just such a feel good song that can really “hit home” for a lot of people. The idea came to the writer when he was driving to meet his friend at an aquarium, and the whole time he was thinking about the other things he should be doing instead. He then realized how those things could wait; he was going to enjoy his day first. There’s a word for that—procrastination—but either way, I think this song sends out a good message about how sometimes you just have to break from the world, and enjoy doing nothing. This song is from the album “You Get What You Give” and I think it really fits in with the other thirteen songs on the album. The song “Knee Deep” has sort of the same message as this song except the music is more upbeat and it’s just basically about being at the beach and relaxing all day!

This song is awesome; I highly recommend it! I also really recommend any Zac Brown Band song; they’re an awesome band. This song would be great to just have on shuffle on your iPod to listen to whenever, but I also really recommend adding this to your beach/tanning/relaxing playlist, if there is such thing hah! I can just imagine sitting in a lounge chair with my feet buried in the warm sand and listening to this song with the sounds of waves crashing in the distance. That sounds like a great time to me!

Brown, Zac. By Wyatt Durrette and James Otto. No Hurry. Zac Brown Band. Keith

Stegall, 2012. CD.

Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBR0yh3CO4&spfreload=10

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/zacbrownband/nohurry.html

“There She Goes” by Sixpence None The Richer

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“There She Goes” by Sixpence None The Richer is actually a cover of a song by a British band named “The La’s”. This song appears to be about a girl that just keeps slipping out of a man’s fingers just when they are getting close. It seems like a classic love story of a boy ever chasing the girl; except this girl is a little tricky to find. This song is actually about heroin, the ‘she’ that is referred to constantly is constantly thought to be heroin. They’re saying that ‘she’ is great, but the high she gives does not last long and the fact that this drug is controlling this person’s every thought. Once you know that the ‘she’ that is being referred to can be heroin, it’s very obvious in the lyrics. I like this song, I remember it being on the radio growing up; it was very popular. Once people hear the chorus of this song, they’re usually like, “oh yeah, I know this song.”

The music to this song is pretty upbeat; there are drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, cello, and a base guitar. I think the music and the way the lyrics are sung integrate well together. The way the lyrics are sung, are happy and make you think the song has a good message, that it’s a love song. When you actually know what the lyrics mean, obviously the lyrics and the music aren’t going to go well together but that’s what makes the song great. That’s why this song is so cool; I love finding out secret messages of songs or books or movies because it’s like you’re getting special information that only a select few know about.

Since this song is a cover, it is not autobiographical for Sixpence None The Richer, but also, The La’s deny the rumor that this is about it is about heroin. I think it can be interpreted either way, but honestly, I like it better as heroin. I think the song is way cooler being about heroin, and not that heroin is cool in any way. The song paints it in a negative light and I think it does a good way of showing how addictive heroin is and I think it discourages people to use it. Knowing this fact about the heroin in the song does not make me, in any way, want to go out and smoke some heroin, or whatever you do with it. By saying “no one else could heal my pain”, I think the song shows how addictive heroin is and how once you start doing the drug, you’re never going to quite feel the same and it’s going to be hard to be happy or even functional without taking this drug.

I think this song would be great to have on your iPod. I would just leave it on your regular shuffled playlist you listen to everyday but I guess it could also be a pretty good workout song since it’s pretty upbeat. I could picture myself walking to class, coffee in hand, and listening to this song. I feel like in movies whenever there is a transitional song where the person is traveling to get to somewhere, I feel like this would be a perfect song to put in there. Like say a teenager is running out of the house with an apple to get on the school bus for school; I would put that song right in as she’s grabbing the apple. This song is a pretty old song though so I don’t think that it will be appearing in any new movies coming out soon unfortunately.

Works Cited

Lyrics:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sixpencenonethericher/thereshegoes.html

Song:

Nash, Leigh. There She Goes. Sixpence None The Richer. 1999. CD.

Music Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68MKLkNSMN4

 

 

6th Symphony-Beethoven

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So this song is basically about the day in the life of someone living on the countryside. It’s also called Pastoral Symphony. I don’t really like this piece very much; I’m not really a big fan of instrumental songs so obviously I wasn’t a big fan of this song. I had some trouble with this assignment because I’m used to having words in a song to tell me what it’s about, so with this assignment I really had to push my boundaries and really use my imagination to sort of see the story behind the music.

In the beginning, the music is very upbeat because at that point of the day you’re waking up and you immediately have to start your day. All the instruments are working together to make it loud to show that you are put to work right away. I imagine someone jumping out of bed, getting dressed quick, grabbing a piece of toast, and then getting right to work; maybe cleaning, or cooking, or going to the market place to trade goods. When the music slows down and get’s more quiet, you know that the person the song is following is probably taking a break; maybe sitting down for some lunch, or maybe brushing the horse or milking the cow.

I don’t think this piece is autobiographical; Beethoven enjoyed taking long walks on his free time and being in nature, so this piece is reflective of that. This sort of piece is not unusual for the artist at all, all of his pieces are instrumental and they are all usually played by a big orchestra. This song doesn’t really have any special meaning to me; obviously Beethoven is famous and I think he is a very talented person but it doesn’t really evoke any special emotions to me. Although, when I hear it, I immediately connect it to the opening scene to Into The Woods. I recently just saw this movie, which originally was a musical on Broadway, then it was turned into a movie, and recently they just redid the movie. This takes place on the countryside and I immediately think of it, because the first scene is a bunch of people singing in the morning all starting their day and the words are fairly quick to show that they all have so much to do already and they only just started the day. So I guess it’s a good reason why I associate the two songs.

I wouldn’t recommend putting this song on your iPod. You can’t really workout to this song, nor would you really want to eat chocolate and cry to this song. I wouldn’t say it’s a go to song either, the only thing I can say is that you might want this song for studying/doing homework. I’ve heard that listening to music with no words is actually really good to study with. Apparently it stimulates your brain and actually helps you retain information and stay focused. So this song might be helpful during finals week when you’re doing your last minute studying for your big Chem final. I’m not saying that this is going to give you a guaranteed A, I don’t think anything will in Stony Brook, but it might help you study and stay focused!

Works Cited

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMJPZ-mu-Ts

Beethoven, Ludwig Van. Symphony No. 6. Ludwig Van Beethoven. 1808.   CD.

Ed Sheehan-‘Wake Me Up’

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Ed Sheeran-‘Wake Me Up’

            Basically, this song is about Ed and a girl, but the whole time he is not sure if he’s actually in love with her or just the idea of her. He goes back and forth, saying that he should ink his skin with her name. I don’t know about you but I would never get a tattoo of someone’s name on my skin because that is going to be there forever and what happens if you break up? So he’s so sure about her that he’s going to get her name tattooed on his skin, but then he’s saying that he can do without a tan on his left hand where his forth finger meets his knuckle, meaning that he’s not really interested in getting married. This is the whole idea of the song, going back and forth between loving her, and only really loving her when she wakes him up. I like this song because it has heart, and it’s deep and meaningful and that’s what I like in a song. I love songs that really focus on the lyrics and have the music enhance the lyrics, but not overtake them. In these kinds of songs, you can really tell if the artist can actually sing or not because there is a lot of focus on their voice. That’s why Ed Sheeran does a lot of songs like this, because he can actually sing, and he proves that at concerts when he does a few songs ‘unplugged’ with no microphone, just his voice. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.

            This song can almost be considered a cappella; there are barely any instruments in it, just a little piano here and there. When Ed Sheeran performs this song live, he usually uses an acoustic guitar though. By using minimal instruments, the listener is more focused on the words of the song instead of being distracted by a bunch of music, like Ed purposely does in the song ‘The a Team’. In ‘The a Team’, Ed disguises the harsh material in the lyrics by adding upbeat music. ‘Wake Me Up’ is completely different then that; the lyrics aren’t as dark as ‘The a Team’ and also the minimal instruments give the listener a different vibe.

Although this song was written by Ed Sheeran, with some help from producer Jake Gosling, I don’t think it is autobiographical. I’m actually pretty sure that Ed was drunk when he wrote this, but then again he was probably drunk when he wrote a lot of his songs because he always sings about how he drinks a lot. One of his songs is actually called ‘Drunk’, which is also on this album called ‘+’. This type of love song is not unusual for the artist at all, most of his songs are about love and mostly acoustic.

I think this would be a perfect break-up song. He’s questioning his relationship; meanwhile you don’t have to question your relationship because it’s already over. This is one of those songs that you can blast in your room, dim the lights, cuddle in bed, cry and eat ice cream. Mourn your relationship with this song on repeat; it will do a great job of getting you in touch with your emotions, and really letting it all out. I’ve never really had to get over a serious relationship before, so I just listen to this song really whenever I want. Ed Sheeran is one of my favorite artists, so I make sure to always get in my Eddie time whenever I’m walking to class or really whenever I get a chance to listen to my iPod.

 

 Works Cited

 Sheeran, Ed. Wake Me Up. By Jake Gosling. Ed Sheeran. Rec. Jan. 2011. Jake Gosling,            Charlie Hugall, No I.D., 2011. CD.

 Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/edsheeran/wakemeup.html

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNym5jZf7V8

 

Song That Tells A Story- “Hero of War” by Rise Against

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“Hero of War” by Rise Against from the album Appeal To Reason tells a very distinct story of, as you can guess from the title, a soldier. The singer Tim Mcllrath acts as if he is the soldier going to war saying in the beginning of the song that it sounds like joining the army would be a great idea; he would get to see the world and he would even get paid to do it. But he quickly realizes that maybe the war isn’t what it’s all cut out to be. He obviously knew it was dangerous and that he could possibly die, and he was okay with that; he just wasn’t prepared for all of the hard decisions he would have to make and all the horrible acts he would have to perform. All in all, I like this song; I like the melody of it, but I don’t really like the message it is portraying. I highly respect the army and all they do for this country and this song kind of takes a bash at them. This song is basically saying that the army is cruel to their prisoners and they unnecessarily torture and kill people. I think that maybe the army has done some questionable things, but I also think that torture and killing is required in war. America is in the war for a reason, soldiers are going to have to kill people in order to win.

The music for this song is mostly Tim playing the acoustic guitar and singing but also a little bit of drums here and there. I think this song should definitely be acoustic because it’s really supposed to be about the story; Rise Against wants you to listen to the words. They did this purposely to give the effect of sadness and seriousness; they want you feel sympathetic to the character but also to kind of hate him. In the music video for this song, it starts off with Tim sitting by a swing set playing his guitar, and then it switches back and forth between him and a soldier in war.

This song is very typical for Rise Against. They are very political in their songs, which makes sense because all the members in the band are Democrats. They also promote animal rights, being that all members are vegetarian and all members except one are straight edge. In many of their songs they have liberal views hiding, or not really hiding, in the lyrics. For example “Re-Education Through Labor”, also from Appeal To Reason, is about people who work really hard that don’t get many benefits. This song takes a stab at the upper class that, they think, doesn’t really work for their money and don’t really deserve it. I love this song, but again I don’t agree with this.

I would say this song doesn’t really fit in any specific categories of when to listen to it. It’s a great song, I would definitely put it on your iPod and listen to it often but it’s not specifically for break-ups or workouts or anything like that really. For me, whenever I have to go on a long drive by myself, I have a specific playlist of songs that are really good to belt out the words really loud and sing from the heart (I only do this when I’m alone because my singing voice is actually treacherous). This song is definitely on that playlist; it’s perfect to sing in the moment, feel the story and become one with the main character. Other than that, I would say to just listen to your iPod on shuffle and when it comes on, enjoy it!

 

 

Works Cited:

 

Mcllrath, Tim. Perf. Zach Blair, Joe Principe, and Brandon Barnes. Hero of

         War. Rise Against. Bill Stevenson, Jason Livermore, 2009. CD.

 

Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DboMAghWcA

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/riseagainst/heroofwar.html

 

Hate Reflection-“A Shot Across The Bow” by Mayday Parade

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“A Shot Across The Bow” by Mayday Parade (Hate)

            This song is about a girl that the singer hates and hopes she dies because she broke his heart and cheated on him. I love this song because it is not like typical break up or hate songs really because of it’s sound. It’s actually a feel good song if you’re not listening to the lyrics. The first time I heard it, I was actually driving and it came on my iPod after I purchased the whole album. I was paying attention to the road, so not really to the lyrics, and I was thinking that it was a nice song. I started listening to lyrics and then I realized that it actually was not a nice song, not a nice song at all. The chorus is about wishing she would drown in the ocean, and then he would hold a funeral for her, but it would mean nothing to him. When I started actually listening to the words, I started laughing because it was so ridiculous.

The music and the lyrics integrate with each other to make the song have even more hatred than a slow paced song. It sends out the statement that the singer hates this girl, and he is completely content with that fact and wants her to know just how much he does hate her. The beginning starts up and he is explaining how he is scared to say what he’s about to say; he says to give him a second, because if he doesn’t say what he needs to say, then he’s going to go crazy. That’s when the music speeds up and he starts wishing she would drown.

After the second chorus, I can detect that him and this girl were in a very serious relationship but something was wrong about it. One of the lyrics reads, “I knew the wedding bells were ringing loud but my bride was missing”. It was probably a break-up that was bound to happen eventually, but both people didn’t want to say good-bye yet. Eventually she cheated on him and he obviously resents her for that. This type of song is not unusual for Mayday Parade. A lot of their songs have to do with girls breaking their hearts, for example, “Three Cheers For Five Years” which is from the EP, Tales Told By Dead Friends and “Miserable At Best” which is from the album, A Lesson in Romantics. Mostly all of Mayday Parade’s songs are about love/hate since those themes go hand in hand. I picked this song from the self titled album, Mayday Parade, because out of all Mayday Parade songs, this one stood out to be because of it’s stark difference from their other songs that have the same themes.

I would recommend listening to this song whenever you want! I usually put all Mayday Parade songs on shuffle and hope it comes on, but if you’re not a big Mayday Parade fan like I am, I think this song would be perfect for break-ups. Not in the stage when you’re still grieving over your broken heart, in the stage when you are trying to move on and in the hatred stage. This song could even be a good workout song. After your break-up, you want to get back out there on the market, or if you want to show your ex what he/she is missing, go for a run and put this song on! It will motivate you to go hardcore and keep on running. Or if you’re just looking for a good laugh, this is your go-to song!

Works Cited

 

Sanders, Derek. Perf. Jake Bundrick, Jeremy Lenzo, Alex Garcia, and Brooks Betts. A

            Shot Across The Bow. Mayday Parade. Zack Odom, Kenneth Mount, 2011. CD.

 

Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/maydayparade/ashotacrossthebow.html

 

About Me

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My name is Marissa Bavaro. I’m from Bethpage, Long Island, which is about forty minutes West of Stony Brook. I have an older brother who is three years older than me, and I also have a dog! Besides my immediate family, I have over eighty cousins. My family is your typical, big, loud, Italian family, who won’t let you in the door without shoving food down your throat.

I’m not musically talented at all and I’m one of those people who wishes more than anything that they had talent. I can’t sing, nor can I play any instrument except maybe, if I’m lucky, I can play Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. I know, not impressive, but my lack of musical talent never stopped me from still loving music. I’ve always been very interested in music; I don’t think I’ve gone one day without listening to some type of music. My parents always know to come to me when they want to know the name of a song, because nine times out of ten, I know the name. I would say my music interest varies through many genres; on my iPod you could find show tunes to country to alternative rock.

I’m also a big movie enthusiast; I can go for days quoting certain movies. Some of my favorite movies include: My Cousin Vinny (which I can quote every single line), Italian Job, Pitch Perfect, Frozen, and Step Up.