Now you're just singing like you used to... oh.

So I stumbled upon this article recently, (Ok, 'stumbled upon' makes it sound like I got it from "Stumble Upon" which I didn't, I just follow mashable and you should too) and I though, gosh there sure are a lot of covers!  I wonder how many of them really suck?

I am a huge fan of this song.  I'm thinking of doing a cover of mine own one day (and it will involve amazing instruments I can assure you).  But there are certain elements that shouldn't be changed in order to preserve the greatness of this song.  One of the most important things is the male-female voice exchange.  Including both voices brings the song up to a higher level, one that simply cannot be reached by a single voice or even a male-male combo.  That's probably my biggest peeve, with many of these covers, I'll explain more of them as I go along because now I'm going to rate all 18 of these covers... (please feel free to skip/skim the rest of this post).

Original
Great song, strong vocals from both guy and girl (that's why they're professional musician, right?).  The instrumentation is nice, gives it a haunting feeling which adds a lot to the song.  Video is weird, and unimportant.

Glee Cast Cover
One of the worst covers here, guy-guy is never good, their voices sound so similar  you can barely tell there's two singing.  They do do a good job of keeping the feeling and meaning of the song.. as long as you don't actually watch the video, then you just stare awkwardly as they awkwardly stand next to each other in an oddly lighted high school auditorium... awkward.

Lindsey Pavao from 'The Voice'
So she has a decent voice (although I'm still not sure she deserves to be on the show).  Tempo changes = sucks.  I think she's trying to be a little too stylized and different, and I think she totally butchers it, I agree with Adam Levine on why it's bad (only he puts is way too nice).

Elsie and Philip from 'American Idol'
After hearing 'The Voice' interpretation of this song I was expecting to really hate this one, but going back to the male-female interchange makes up for a lot.  Their voices are a little weird, I think American Idol is more about stage presence and looks than it is about voices though.  They do a good job of keeping the proper feeling and mood of the song.  Also the B&W graphics are suh-weet!

Walk off the Earth
I don't love the way he sings it.  With all the musical tallent they have boxed inside this frame you'd think they could have lowered the key a bit so he wasn't so strained on the vocals.  Other than that I LOVE the instrumentation on this video.  It does a wonderful job of preserving the mood especially if you watch the video, all black clothing makes her blond hair stand out and helps the mood (and her voice is great).  In the chorus you can feel the angst, which is important.  His not-so-great voice actually makes it all the more angsty.

PS22 Chorus
These kids totally rock.  Not the best cover, but they're kids and the main kid has an amazing voice for a 5th grader.  You loose some of the mood with the kids, so it's not so great as being true to the original, but it's still surprisingly good.  You should check out more of their videos.

Peter Hollens ft. Evynne
Crazy cool video here.  I don't love the "Ooo Ooo" background music, almost a little too ghostly.  Oh and it just drives me crazy how he looks like a creepy alien when he's arranging his face!  His all a capella style is unique to this list and I like it.  He gets the haunted mood too much, and just barely misses the angst level (his face looks mad, but his voice is so smooth it doesn't seem like he's upset at all).  Twisty face girl's voice is great, and the twisty face is a great effect, but he could have used her voice more than he did.

- take breath, stretch your legs and get set for 7-12 -

Army of 3
Who doesn't love Ingrid Michaleson?!  Watching this video helped me to learn the notes to play for when I do my own cover... someday.  Her soulful singing fits pretty well into the mood, and the bass/snare combo does great too.  I like that she says "nothing" and not "nothin'," nice style.  Missing out on a male voice here, but I can get over it.

Boyce Avenue
One guy singing and playing the guitar.  Slower tempo than normal, and lack of interesting instruments (hands as drumsticks do not count) make me yawn, and move on to the next video before realizing that at least he has some passion in his singing.

Sam Tsui
He does one great thing that, while subtle, makes this effort worth a listen.  He sings the girl part like a girl.  Props to him for even trying, and he pulls it off ok.  Also vocal percussion is well done, but the electronic sound of the background vocals isn't so hot.  It's decent.

Pentatonix
Five voices get five stars!  It's great to sing a capella by yourself and all, but singing with other people is special.  Rock out camera man also gets five stars.  The mood is a little off because it's so acoustic, but it's not bad.  All the back up and percussion vocals are great.  Water drop noise FTW!

Tim Whybrow
Why you gotta slow it down so much, why bro, why?  The glass bottle instrumentation is wonderful, but other than that the mood is a little lost on too much guitar, too much sadness, and too many earings.

Jake and Madilyn
They've both got fine voices, but they forgot about this thing called tempo and they turned this exciting and engaging song into a lullaby.  A very nice sounding lullaby, but the angst has all turned to tears.  If you want a peaceful rendition to play before you go to sleep, choose this one.

- ok break time again -  turn off this song, find someone to love, and go outside....
- 13-18 coming up now

Chris and Kirsten
Uh... they're like what 14?  They used the original sound track and added in their electronically adjusted voices... boo.  They do get points for the awkward dance in between singing.  If one of these covers understands teenage angst, it's these two pimple studded stars.  Costuming is also a plus here... but I'm not judging videos, I'm judging covers.

Olivia and Corey
I like the heavy rock sound, it's a good rendition.  Good voices, good instruments (although the continuos off beat chord is a little over balanced) and a good cover.

Freak Morice
Woah! they've got accents to the max(ents)!  Turns out they're from Australia so props for being a fan of/covering your own countrymen.  They probably covered this before most of us americans had even heard it.  Alas they're only 14 and I think they could have put a lot more emotion into this, and I'm disappointed that really only one girl has the lead.

Gavin  Mikhail
Piano rendition is suprisingly well done.  The angst and passion come right through with the pounding of the ivory, but his passion is clearly in the playing and the singing is just a byproduct.  It's about as good as you can get using only one instrument.

Chester and Tiffany
His voice sounds a lot like Chris (the 14 year old in teal,) they must have used the same filter.  Tempo is a little off, but it fits in okay with their country rock beat.  This one gets points for just being different.  Country is not my favorite, but here they adapt it well with out too much twang.

Michael and Max
er... umm... ok, I'm about out of words for the guitar-only cover.  meh.


After those covers there are two parodies.  The first is pretty funny but not amazing, the second is wholly inappropriate and not worth watching.  But what is worth watching is this music video I found independently.  Points on that one for the editing and funny kids.

Let the Sunset in!

"What did I tell you about this window.... Always leave it open!!" 10 points for getting that quote. Moving on, opening windows is a thought that I've been pondering today. A beautiful song I know says, "open the window, let the sunset in..." and it happens to not only be good advice on seeing some beauty in life, but it also a beautiful metaphor for an ending relationship. I believe that this is a great attitude toward life, not only accepting an end, but embracing it. I've recently gone through an ending relationship which has taken me some time to fully resolve within myself. Today I began to feel really good about just opening the window, and embracing the end... although maybe not just quite yet. It's hard to think of what was, and have that empty longing for what there could have been, however I look forward to many beautiful 'sunrays and saturdays' to enjoy with others, friends and lovers alike. Someday I suppose I could be good friends again with my former love (as of right now I'm pretty much avoiding everything about her, just to help me let go).

Some things just don't work out, despite all you put into it, all that you strive to develop and work out together... you find that it simply wasn't meant to be, so it has to end. In such a case there is no blame, there is no resentment, and once both sides can fully realize that neither blames either and truly admit that it just wasn't possible, then I think (I think) that it is perfectly possibly (even natural) to remain good friends. Clearly they have things in common, clearly they were friends before, just being out of a relationship shouldn't stop them being freinds. I do see though, the great importance of having the relationship comletely end before being friends. Today I simply feel that I have taken a good step in the right direction, embracing the end and realizing some of these truths. This song, illustrates much of what I feel today, 'Sunrays and Saturdays' by Vertical Horizon.

Where in the world is....

Today in my History of Creativity Class we discussed the Islam, and the Muslim explosion that took over the civilized world through the dark ages of Europe. We discussed how Spain was controlled by Muslims far into the middle ages and we learned of many of thier influences, one of which was The Alhambra, a palace/fortress built in the 14th century. I remembered/recognized it because of a computer game we used to play about the one and only, Carmen Sandiego. So, "many thanks for the food, now off we go to Fort Jesus."

The past week has represented a large change in my life. I find myself with a lot of extra time on my hands, and I also find myself, in some ways, more relaxed, open, care free, talkative oftentimes, and yet lonely all the same. I've begun a whole new socially experimenting me. It's hard to explain, but especially today and yesterday, I've been returning to a forgotten zone of flirting (something I was never good at) and seeking out social situations. I must admit there is a level of excitement, mostly adventure, not knowing what will happen at any given moment, and despite this exhilaration, I can't quite say it "just what I wanted." We shall see though what I do with this newly re-found freedom.

The Dream Maker's Gonna Make You Mad...

Interesting how frustrating life can be. With or without outside influences, our lives can become full of frustration, guilt, and anger, why? because of the dream maker. Who is that? Why, it's you! It can be so easy to become frustrated with things beyond our control, yet it is only ourselves and our over obsessive perfectionism that drives us to such anger and frustration. If we could just truly understand that those things aren't in our control then life could be so much more simple.

Today has been an extraordinarily tough day. What do I mean by tough? I mean it is becoming physically difficult for me to continue living. Each time I leave the house, begin a conversation, make a decision, it takes the greater part of my concentrated effort and stamina to do so. I am making me mad today. I am having so much trouble getting out of my own little head and it's bringing me down. There's been to many times today that instead of going on I was so close to just giving up, breaking down and crying... I have a friend who once described a similar situation where, "you just want to cry but can't because you have life to do." that's kind of how I feel today... but I know the sun will come out tomorrow, because the Storm Maker said it ain't so bad, and I know that He is right. I also know that this time is so necessary to my progression, it is simply taking so much from me to do all that I need to do (which is also part of it, since that fatigues helps create humility, which humility is needed to allow sufficient change).

Tomorrow will be better.

The Troublesome Duo

Trials and Blessings....

Two occurrences in life that come too close too often. Example: I get a huge tax return, day later, I get a speeding ticket.... I have a great time performing in dancesport with my super awesome girlfriend, day later, we break up.... point proven. Life really isn't fair, although I think this evens it out a little more. Think of it, those in more unfortunate circumstances sure don't experience quite so much heart break since they're dealing with where's my next meal, and not who's my next date. So in the end I'll try not to complain, but if you don't mind, let me paraphrase one of my favorite bands in saying, "It's giving me hell." Although blessing: I was able to sleep last night :-) and I'm not terribly ill today, just a little on edge. Also I had wicked cool dream where we were plaing soccer and I scored the winning goal... that was random considering I don't really play soccer at all. It was a pretty amazing shot too, although the game wasn't super intense so the defence was lacking at the moment and I had a nice shot and I curved it right into the corner, wow!

I am very baffled over life at this time. Part of me wants to wait patiently while it heals, and another part of me wants to tear it apart 'til it bleeds itself out. I'm scared and trying to be courageous, but the truth is I'm terrified. Most of life I can deal with, most of life's problems I get over pretty quickly, I deal with things and they go away, but I don't know if this is going to just go away....

.... Actually I think it will. Luckily I have great friends, and lots of help in life. I am beginning to remember that life is only what you make of it, and I am going to make this fun... or at least not not fun. I could be miserable and hate life, but that's just silly and I'm ready to have the best life ever. So brighten up sunshiny day! Watch out mr. raincloud, I have no time for you! It's my time now. I'm gonna take those many blessings and let them trump this trial.

A new favorite

Funny story, my grandmother often says the world favorite giving emphasis to the 'a' but pronouncing the 'i' as 'eye' not 'eh' like it usually is... when we were kids we thought that was the right way say it. :D

So yesterday I stumbled across an amazing song... it's funny 'cause I'm not entirely sure just where it came from, but I think Pandora played it for me. It's by Snow Patrol, which I've heard a lot of, my sister has a CD or two of theirs I think, but I ever really gave it too much notice. Yesterday however when I was idly trying to write a seven page paper I was listening to some background music and all of a sudden what I heard caught my attention. I listened even more carefully for a moment and it was amazing! It was a most amazing and beautiful song, and I loved it!! I haven't had a new favorite song for a long time so this was kind of a big moment for me. Hearing this song made me do a little reading on the Snow Patrol which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it gave me a nice little break from my homework.

Naturally after this the song was stuck in my head, but that's okay because I do love it. Then this morning it was like an addiction, I HAD to hear the song... so I listened to it like four times in the past hour... I love it! Having a new favorite song is for sure an important thing, and I feel it give me a solid step in the 'adjusting' to normal life that everyone keeps asking me about.


I love music.

On the Way Home....

This is a CD that I've listened to a hundred times, not one of my absolute favorites, but one that I have and often gets played for its namesake, Dashboard Confessional. I love their 'early material' on The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most and such, but their middle CD where they took some big changes in their overall sound I never got really into. This of course is the rather notable A Mission, A Mark, A Brand, A Scar which made much of their popularity in the early 2000s. This morning however I idly turned on some music to get ready to and this CD happened to be conveniently located in my CD player already (it's been a dashboard sort of month I guess ;-] ) So as I listened to the music it all of a sudden had a bunch more meaning than I had heard from it. Not just song for song, but the album as a whole is quite the amazing story.

I LOVE the lyrics of all dashboard songs, and these ones are particularly potent, and thier story is so moving. As you listen to the album straight through you are indeed taken on a journey with the singer as he loves, lies, dies, and somehow fights through the sorrow to live and love again.
And as we see, the Dashboard Confessional goes on. That name in and of itself is a wonderful lyrical majesty. The song, “Sharp Hint of New Tears” speaks of driving home, and letting the car “hear my confessions.” Giving the idea that all these songs could be considered as though sung in the car, trying to choke back the sharp hint of these new tears, but being beaten with ease.
If anyone is up for some intense poetry just check here http://www.azlyrics.com/d/dashboard.html under the first three full albums, any of those songs will amaze you with amazingly poetic lyrics.

The German Roller Coaster Ride

Okay, first off, if anyone can name the movie from whence I stole this title, I love you (hint: I replaced 'Hawaiian' for 'German')

So I decided I need a blog, but I'm to lazy to actually start one since I don't currently have a personal computer and I know that if I were to start it now, I'd probably stop being up dated within a couple of weeks, if not days. But I do like the opportunity to sit here and write nonsense about life, with or without the hope that anyone may or may not read this.... (captain ambiguity strikes again!)

So as far as this roller coaster goes, it was more like bungee jumping, or actually, better yet, paddle ball. you know when you have the rubber ball on the elastic string and you bounce it off the paddle.... I've had a couple of days the felt like that. First it was absolutely amazing and wonderful, then it was crappy, then it was totally awesome, then I had this really great plan that started falling apart, and as I pieced it back together and started to be happy with the piecing... it was destroyed again. Upon trying to reassemble, it was reconstructed quite differently, but turned out quite nice. Of course during the execution of the plan there were some ups and down, ending on a really deep low, an insanely ridiculous high, and then me laughing, by myself, at nothing in particular, just laughing, for at least a minute, then I nearly cried. As I wandered from my car (which was parked at the furthest end of the parking lot, away from my apartment) I wondered and prayed and could've cried, but I gave up on thinking and went to sleep.

The next day started pretty flat, but later turned up and down like crazy again. First being stressfully strained to a worrisome cringe, then exuberantly exploding with joy. Shortly thereafter that leveled off again, dropped out the bottom and floated back up to goodness land. My feelings of happiness then took about five hours to slowly, slowly wear down till I was quite depressed, and yet again surprised that I could have so many feelings. In the end some chocolate milk and a phone call to one of the most amazing people I know saved me enough to live on.

So this may perhaps be the most random and meaningless note ever written, and that's probably true. But it feels good to write.

All this roller coaster goodness is now quite beyond me now... It's like when you're at Knots Berry Farm ridding the Boomerang. It's a wicked crazy twisting ride that takes like ten seconds... then as you come to rest, you go through it all again backwards, which of course prepares you quite well to spill your guts. Assuming you're still alive, you walk away feeling better and better every second. You look back and say, heck, I'd do that again! forgetting the intense nausea that nearly killed you. And as they say, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's why we can look back and be glad it happened.

So to end, I'll offer another 'mikes heart' to anyone who can get this quote "...drops us like a new born giraffe...' (*descending whistling sound, ending in a lip/tounge pftpthppttsphphpstb*). (for those of you who know the movie "Hook," that's where the sound comes from (bangarang Rufio) but the quote is something else) :D