Called out in the Dark Song

Hey again! I forgot to post the link to the song this week, so here it is!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DRnxmIdC1Gs

Called Out in the Dark

                I never would've heard of this week's song if I hadn't gone to a NASA summer academy over the summer. It was played along with the end of week video compilation, and it brought tears to many of our eyes to see the great times we had together that week. The song is called Called Out in the Dark from the album Fallen Empires (2011), and it is by a band called Snow Patrol. Snow patrol is a Northern Irish/Scottish alternative rock band known for their song Chasing Cars, and this Called Out in the Dark, though different, had stuck with me since I first heard it last year.

                After listening to the song dozens of times, the song, to me, means that everyone has a different dream, and we, as a people, try to fight for those dreams no matter the cost. Snow Patrol tells us that "we just can't help ourselves" because we were "called out in the dark." As a Christian, this makes total sense to me because God has a plan for everyone, and we were made to carry out those dreams and carry out God's will, and if not for God, then because we feel as though we need a dream to guide us in our lives. "Every eye [is] trained on a different star," and these stars are what keep us going in this crazy world. I relate completely to this song because I know where I want to be in 10 years, I know I can accomplish my dream, and because "this is [my] life" and "this is [my] time," I won't let anyone take that away from me. I hope every one of you do the same.

Called out in the Dark Lyrics:

It's like we just can't help ourselves
'Cause we don't know how to back down
We were called out to the streets
We were called in to the towns

And how the heavens, they opened up
Like arms of dazzling gold
With our rain washed histories
Well they do not need to be told

Show me now, show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This magic
This drunken semaphore
And I

We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time

We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time

I was called out in the dark
By a choir of beautiful cheats
And as the kids took back the parks
You and I were left with the streets

Show me now, show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This magic
This drunken semaphore
And I

We are listening
And we're not blind
This is your life
This is your time

[repeats 5x]

Fallen Empires (2011)

Snow Patrol

Russians

Russians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq9FZ8e6d1Q

            Sorry I'm late! This week, the song I'm going to interpret and explain is called Russians. It is a very different song that was wrote and sung by Sting and released November 1st, 1985 on the album The Dream of The Blue Turtles. Sting, otherwise known as Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, used to be the main songwriter and bass player for The Police as well.

            There are multiple historical references I want to explain briefly as well. Mr. Khrushchev was the Russian Premier , or leader of the Soviet Union at the time, J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the head physicists that worked on the Manhattan Project, and Mr. Reagan, of course, was the President during the time Sting wrote this song.

            Now that the boring history is out of the way, back to the song! The song, Russians, is of course about the Russians like many songs produced during the Cold War, but this song has a different perspective on the idea of going to actual war with them. Sting writes that he "hope[s] the Russians love their children too." Until this song, I've never even considered that idea, but it really stuck with me, and though the Russians were considered "the bad guys" during that time period, they still loved their families. Now, whenever I think of countries like the old Soviet Union or even North Korea today, I look at them in a new light.

            The ideas behind the song hold true today, over 30 years later, and will hold true indefinitely. We are all humans, and we all care about our families and loved ones. Sting wonders how we can fight one another when all we're doing is hurting our children, with nuclear war being the best example.

            I hope you like the song this week! Check back next Friday for another.

Russians Lyrics:

In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mr. Khrushchev said we will bury you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy
There is no monopoly in common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the President
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie we don't believe anymore
Mr. Reagan says we will protect you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me, and you
Is if the Russians love their children too

The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985)

Nikita Khrushchev

Einstein and Oppenheimer working on the Manhattan Project

Hallelujah

Jeff Buckley's Cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4_Sm-rgQ

Leonard Cohen's Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTiXoMCppw

                This week, I'm writing about a song that I've loved for years, but never spent the time to really understand. It's a song I'm sure many of you've heard of, and multiple covers of the song exist. The name of the song is Hallelujah, and though it was originally written and sung by a man named Leonard Cohen, the cover by Jeff Buckley, an American Singer-songwriter and guitarist who passed in 1997, is my favorite version. The cover was released in Buckley's only completed album Grace in 1994.

                Okay! Onto the actual song, why it's important to me, and what it means.

                The cover is lengthy, at 6:53, but every minute transfixes you with his masterful, yet subtle guitar skills and the beautiful lyrics slightly adjusted to suit Buckley's style. He puts his heart into every word, and because of this, the lyrics seem to come alive in my mind more than simply reading them. Whenever I feel the need to calm down and unwind, I listen to Hallelujah.

                 The first two verses have multiple allusions to the Bible, which is meaningful in itself because of my strong faith (Though I had to brush up on my knowledge of the story of King David and the Nazarites). The main meaning I deciphered from the lyrics though, was that love isn't always smiles and happiness, but pain and sadness as well. Real love isn't supposed to be all happiness because that isn't realistic, and Buckley illustrates that point by saying "love is not a victory march…And it's not a cry that you hear at night; it's not somebody who's seen the light; It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah." By working through the pain and sadness together, however, love becomes stronger in the process. The lyrics mean a lot to me because I'm able to work through hard times and sadness with my relationships with my Girlfriend, Youth Group, and family. Their love encompasses not only our happy, perfect moments but our painful ones as well. Without them, I would be a total train-wreck. :)

                Lyrics:

Well I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this:
The fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor (you know)
I used to live alone before I knew you
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
and love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me, do you?
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...

Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

Grace (1994)

Shades of Grey

 Billy Joel- Shades Of Grey

The first song I'm posting is sung by a man most people I hope have heard of from his hit songs Piano Man and River of Dreams. Billy Joel is an exceptional singer and musician who writes all of his songs, and the song I've chosen by him is called Shades of Grey from his album River of Dreams (1993). This song really spoke to me because of its truth. The song is essentially about how nothing in life is in black and white, and although he saw it that way when he was young, as he matured and became wiser, he began to understand that there are two sides to every story. While he used to see the enemy as simply his target, now “Shades of grey are all that I find when I look to the enemy line.”

 In our world, barely anything is absolute, yet people seem to see many issues that way. Compromise is something hard to find, and Billy Joel includes this by saying "the only people I fear are those who never have doubts. Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes they're for." People without doubt are the ones who act without thought, or refuse to act out of ignorance and arrogance. I see this every day everywhere from school to the Government, and nothing seems to change.

The meaning behind the song is complemented, simply, by the masterful music itself. Billy Joel sings the verses in a way that sounds like a story, while he sings the chorus the way he sings most of his songs, though the chorus is followed by an interlude that sets this song apart from the rest of the album. All in all, Billy Joel succeeds again at creating a great song that not only sounds great, but relates strongly to my life.

Lyrics:

Some things were perfectly clear, seen with the vision of youth
No doubts and nothing to fear, I claimed the corner on truth
These days it's harder to say I know what I'm fighting for
My faith is falling away
I'm not that sure anymore

Shades of grey wherever I go
The more I find out the less that I know
Black and white is how it should be
But shades of grey are the colors I see

Once there were trenches and walls and one point of every view
Fight 'til the other man falls - kill him before he kills you
These days the edges are blurred, I'm old and tired of war
I hear the other man's words
I'm not that sure anymore

Shades of grey are all that I find
When I look to the enemy line
Black and white was so easy for me
But shades of grey are the colors I see

Now with the wisdom of years, I try to reason things out
And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts
Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes they're for
I won't be righteous again
I'm not that sure anymore

Shades of grey are all that I find
When I look to the enemy line
Ain't no rainbows shining on me
Shades of grey are the colors I see

Shades of grey wherever I go
The more I find out the less that I know
Ain't no rainbows shining on me
Shades of grey are the colors I see

River of Dreams Album

Billy Joel (2006)