Category: Blog Postings

I know this post is supposed to be about one specific song, and that song shouldn’t be done in English or have any lyrics, but I’m doing this anyways. I feel as though it is important and still fulfills the task.

So, without further ado, please enjoy my innermost thoughts and emotions.

Maroon 5 is the greatest band ever. Without them, I would not be the person I am today. Hell, I may not even be here today had it not been for Maroon 5 saving my life so many times. They make every day brighter, as if I am never alone in what can be a very scary and selfish world. They let me know being scared is okay, and that everybody is human, so they have no right to let you believe you are any worse or better than them (it’s a real confidence booster too). They make me feel as though I deserve to be loved, that it is my God-given right to be loved by another person. I deserve love, and you do too. No matter how many mistakes you make, no matter how many times your heart is broken, no matter how many times you try to guard you heart from any other pain, no matter how many times you feel like it is all over, no matter how many times you feel like this is the last time you can ever screw up, they are there for me and let me know that there is hope to keep pushing. The emotions I can be afraid to express in public, this band has released for the world to hear, showing that you should be proud to feel different, not shun it away. It taught me how to respect and treat women, and that they should be my world. If they are happy, I am too. That is the way to real happiness: love for you and you loving another. That should consume your life no matter what, and trust them, everything else will fall into place eventually. However, you can do everything right and have everything wrong happen. Sometimes it is better to break, no matter how hard it may seem at that time. The happiest of times aren’t always the best of times for some, but that time will come for you soon enough. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but it will come. Even the best screw up, and we deserve to be ridiculed and punished for that, and it takes a true man to admit these mistakes, learn from them, and move on without ever forgetting what got you here in the first place. Nobody’s perfect, as cliche as that may sound, it’s true. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive for a perfect relationship, as those can be perfect even with the biggest flaws and fights. As long as you are happy, and more importantly, they are happy (which makes you 1,000,000,000 times happier), it is perfect. You can’t be lazy, though. You have to fight for this love everyday as if your life is on the line, which it technically is. That person holds the key to the other half of your heart, so you should fight for it, but that’s just my opinion. Every time they leave, you shouldn’t be alright. You should feel, almost dead inside, as you should feel the need to never let go of that person, even if the sun crashes into you two, the last thing you should want to be doing before death is holding that person’s hand. But, like Maroon 5 constantly explains, these traits don’t just come to you. Nobody’s perfect, and we will have our ups and downs, but life is just a roller coaster anyways. Every up follows a down, and vice versa, but as long as you have that powerful, beautiful person standing next to you, these dips seem smaller each time. Now you, yes you, after all that hard work, adventure with each new date, still feeling more butterflies in your stomach each time, crying into your pillow each night, wondering if you will ever find that special someone, and even telling everyone at a young age that your main goal in life is to find love, can finally put that ring on her finger and cry into your pillow one more night, but this time, a smile as wide as you have ever seen stops those tears from falling down to your chin. Of course, a very beautiful thumb helps as well, especially when it comes from the most beautiful girl in the world, of course, always being there…always.

Getting back to the assignment, listening to Maroon 5 has given me a 360 degree view of the world. I can go anywhere from crying my eyes out because the world seems hopeless, to feeling anxious or nervous because you don’t know what to think of the world, to being happy and excited because you don’t know what to think of the world, to feeling confident and hopeful that love can come to anyone, especially you. I know that this is a very broad scope, but this is one reason why I love Maroon 5 so much. They literally have a song for every emotion known to man. I can possibly relate to it and find my own story in the music, or have no idea about the topic and see the song as a piece of advice to keep in the back of my head for future reference. As far as colors go, Maroon 5 can be a beautiful colorful rainbow that invites vibrancy and happiness to a dark whirlpool filled with depressing and hopeless thoughts that you never seem to escape. It can cause beautiful, bright blue tears that stream from your face as a release of pain and depression, or to exult happiness that after all that pain and suffering, you have achieved your dream. On the other hand, the tears may almost seem like a bloody red and purple, where they can provide a physical representation of your pain and suffering, and just as those tears fall slowly to the bottom of your cheek, so does your self confidence and hope for yourself die out and almost fall out of your body to the point where you become and feel like nothing in the world. The instruments amplify this point, as the piano and drums are sometimes played all alone and isolated, as to represent your isolation of feelings. Other times, one instrument can awaken you and give you hope that you too can rise and rejoin society just as that guitar in “She Will Be Loved” appears to suddenly melt into the other instruments.

I hope this post allows you to realize that one song may not change your viewpoint on something, but that an entire band can change your life, especially for the better. Thank you Maroon 5.

 

I recently saw a video of a three-year-old piano prodigy playing the keyboard with all her heart. She is brown skinned, dark-eyed, and has a a considerably long name: yes, you guessed it, it was a video of me.

I’ve got to tell you though, I was (and am) no prodigy, nor did I know how to play the piano. I was, however, three years old when that video was taken. I also put every bit of my heart into playing the keyboard, although it didn’t sound ANYWHERE near as good as the piece I have chosen for this blog post (Sorry, I can’t post the video of me here, in fear of causing immediate danger to you and those around you; I can guarantee your device will catch fire)

This piece, “All of Me” by Jon Schmidt (attached, watch the whole thing!!!), is the epitome of modern piano music. It’s a very bright yet suspense filled song, and there are numerous melodies (I like to call them thoughts) that occur; you’re at the edge of your seat pretty much the whole time.

When I wasn’t beating myself up about the fact that the Schmidt has more talent in one hair of his head (P.S. He has no hair) than I in my entirety will ever have, the song made me feel like I just conquered the world. The music sounds like something you would play whilst (yes I said whilst, I have to sound classy at some point) dominating the world.

The Night Is Ours by Alpha 9

My understanding of this song has not changed. In comparison to the pieces used for blog post #5 I would consider this to be extremely upbeat and happy but I thought of that even before these blog posts. The pieces I had to listen to yesterday would change between sadness and happiness, this song doesn’t which is why it’s one of my favorites. I would consider this song very radiant and beautiful (I’m biased, I know) My body feels light when I hear this song, like I’m floating on a cloud.

As someone who likes all genres of music, it is very hard to choose just one song, especially when people often assume that song describes who you are as a person. I decided to choose a song from a musical, so everyone thinks that I am classy. “For Forever” by Ben Platt which was used in the musical Dear Evan Hansen, holds a special place in my heart. Dear Evan Hansen was the first play I ever saw and changed my views on musical theatre forever. While you’re watching the play the meaning of this song is different than when you are just listening to it. When watching the play, you see how depressed Evan is, but if you forget about the play it can be a very happy song. I now see it as a hopeful song and the music plays a big role in this. The music behind it reminds of me of the same type of music that plays in a happy movie. The song reminds me of the color blue, a very light blue. A blue you would witness on a nice day when there a few white clouds in the sky and the sun is bright. I feel very hopeful and happy. My body is transported to a random nostalgic moment in my childhood, when there were no worries in life. Ironically, in the play the complete opposite is happening to Evan. It is also a song whose meaning changes with your feelings. When you are sad, you get the lonely feeling that Evan has when he sings it. However, if you are happy this is a song about friendship.

Where’s My Love by SYML was the first song I could think of when I thought of magnificent and exquisite music that has changed for me over time. I do love the lyrics in this song but the piano is what truly pulls me under the water in this one. Disregarding the lyrics, the melody of the piano still brings to me the same mood and tones that the lyrics do. It is a melody of yearning and passion for me.

I provided a link to a live performance by the artist. His piano playing is what is the most powerful and I can easily think of Copeland when watching or listening to this performance. I definitely found this piece to be melancholy and unbelievably moving.

In terms of colors, I see many shades of blues and hues of grey clashing together. I see them mixing in to paint a dark ocean current hugging the shore. It’s cold and blue and grey and yet somehow hopeful. I listen to this song particularly thinking of the expressive plane. I don’t listen to this kind of music to escape, but rather to feel more and express some unknown feelings. It’s the movement of the passion in this song through the piano that is what really captivates me. It’s not as heavy as either Beethoven or Tchaikovsky but it is still as powerful to me, personally. This is definitely a cry-all-night song for me which is another reason as to why I’m in love with this music.

Over the summer I was watching a documentary on climate change, and there was a scene of potential consequences of rising sea levels. Requiem for a dream began to play in the background as the images of tsunamis, hurricanes, children being swept away by monstrous waves flashed across the scene. The intensity and power of the music made me want to learn the piece myself. I printed out the sheet music and for several weeks I practiced playing requiem for a dream on the piano. My perception of the piece changed as I struggled to play with the same intensity that had caught my attention. In the beginning, whenever I was playing or heard the piece, the horrific images of the natural disasters would flood my mind. However, after several weeks the music became almost encouraging. When I finally learned the piece I was no longer thinking about the horrible images, instead, I felt empowered. Now, whenever I remember the tune I instantly get an adrenaline rush and motivation to carry on with whatever I am doing whether it be getting up in the morning, climbing the stairs or even doing homework. I can not choose one specific color for this song because when I think about it in terms of colors fireworks pop into my head. I can imagine the spectacular multi-colored explosions being painted across the sky in sync with the rythm of this music. Requiem for a dream is too intense for just one color, it needs the entire rainbow to display its glory. 

I always told my friends that I would be an opera singer in another life, but the funny thing is that I never listen to opera songs. My fascination for this art form began the first time my cousin and I watched the film The Phantom of the Opera (2004). Throughout my entire life, I always considered The Phantom of the Opera to be an opera; however, I discovered that it is classified as just a musical. This did not diminish my love for the music since the structure of the musical is very similar to that of an opera. The song from the musical that I have listened to frequently since 2008 is “Think of Me” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. When I was younger, I thought of it as just a beautiful sounding song, but in 2010 I had the chance to see the musical live. All I need to say is that little fifth grade Fadwa had tears in her eyes the entire time. The words in the song are a thing of beauty, but the element of the song that makes me drift into another world is the instrumental. The intensity and passion of the live performance gave new meaning to the song for me. I pictured scenes of ballroom dances from Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, and Anastasia. Colors that resemble elegance would flash through my mind like bright golds, and silvers. Even now in 2017, I still see the same colors and can picture people ballroom dancing when I listen to “Think of Me,” or any song from Phantom of the Opera.