Pop Music Notes

Life is a highway, life sucks, choose life, live your life. So many people speak about the quality of life, the length (and brevity) of life, and the pitfalls of life, but what do we really do about it? That’s the eternal question, and until there is a definitive handbook on life, we will all wonder, as will future generations. So why am I waxing philosophical on a music blog? Because as questions are asked in our everyday lives, those same questions are also asked in lyrical musings. As I was enjoying an enjoyable and partially productive Sunday afternoon, Sam Sparro’s “Still Hungry” came up on shuffle. For those not familiar, “Still” is a hidden track on Sam’s self-titled debut, and it reveals a more subtle R&B influence than what is funked up and electrocuted on most of the record. Rather than a full production, Sam goes with an acoustic feel and a jazzy keyboard as his only accompaniment. If you haven’t heard it before, I strongly suggest you listen.

Well I enjoyed all the food on my plate
And believe me when I say it taste great
But I’m still hungry

Besides reigniting my desire to hear new music from Sam, it also made me think about my life, and where it’s going right now. I am making a lot of decisions about my life’s direction at the moment, and some of it has to do with whether or not I am making the most of what I have in front of me. That is a pretty cryptic comment, but we all do this at some point. Life is good, things could be so much worse, and yet we want more. I want more. Not possessions or money in the bank (although the money helps, doesn’t it?), but experience and fulfillment. So here’s what I’ve got: a good job, a wonderful partner, amazing family and friends, an incredible mountain range that I wake up and fall asleep to every day, and the wonders of the world closer than any other generation has ever had them. Life is good, indeed.

So the next song that popped up was by the Indigo Girls, which then reminded me of “Galileo”. While I don’t know if I believe in reincarnation, I am unable to discount it, either. How does one explain deja vu, memories of events that never occurred, and feelings that we have been somewhere, knowing that it just isn’t the case?

How long till my soul gets it right
Can any human being ever reach that kind of light
I call on the resting soul of Galileo
King of night vision king of insight

For those of you who have never heard the Girls live, you must. End of discussion. Listen to the crowd singing along…there is an amazing connection with the crowd at every Indigo Girls show that gives me chills just thinking about it right now. But this song in particular resonates, and I wonder if it is because it is a well-crafted and hooky pop song, or because of the subject matter. Maybe it’s a combination of both. Who knows. From my perspective, anything that makes us think about our existence and where we are going is not a bad thing at all.

So what happens when we do get to the end, and does it even matter? Once again, the magic iTunes answers, in the form of “Everything Must Change”, recorded by Oleta Adams. My first taste of Oleta’s remarkable voice came on the Tears for Fears album The Seeds of Love, where she stole the show on “Woman In Chains”. Oleta had three hits from Circle of One, including the top 10 classic “Get Here”. However, the show-stealer on the album for me was “Everything Must Change”, which was originally recorded by Quincy Jones and Bernard Ighner in the ’70s.

The young become the old
And mysteries do unfold
Cause that’s the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged

It seems almost cliched to do so, but I want to wrap up with a quote from the quotable and infamous Ferris Bueller. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Amen to that. And now I’ve got some living to do.