Someone who inspires me is Gary Vaynerchuck because he is brutally honest about how life is and how you need to be in order to make money and live the life you want. He doesn’t care about what others think of him at all and he preaches that you shouldn’t care what others think and to me that is very powerful and inspiring words. One of his quotes that is my absolute favorite is “Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, what do I want to do everyday for the rest of my life…do that.” – Gary Vaynerchuk. This is my favorite quote from Gary because it tells you to do what you want to do and do what makes you happy.
“What took you so long? I was worried sick!” Eleanor exclaimed.
“Mother, you would not believe the day I had,” Hetta whined as she walked in dripping wet and shivering.
“What happened to you?” Eleanor ran to Hetta, “you smell like caramel” she said with a confused look.
“One of gigantors dropped something that splashed all over me,” Hetta sighed. “What is it that it’s called? That drink that is for the morning,” Hetta asked her mother.
“Coffa? I don’t remember. This is why I told you not to go out near the gigantors because this is what happens.”
“Mom, I have to live my life. All of my friends parents do not have a problem with it,” Hetta cried.
“Oh my bad!” Eleanor yelled. “I did not realize that if all of your friends flew into a burning bulb you would follow them,” Eleanor stormed out.
Hetta hated going anywhere near all the gigantors. They were big, noisy, and always swatted at her. Even when they said “aw a ladybug so cute!” Somebody was coming and trying to smush her.” Just last year Hetta had to move from her home because they decided to build a Harris Teeter where she lived. She was doing her best at trying to fit in and make more friends. But this was a city and full of danger, she had no idea about anything around her.
Eleanor did her best as to not pressure Hetta into anything but she worried about her. Especially after almost losing their home and each other, she worried about Hetta every day they were apart. She lived in a city when she was younger and the gigantors were just the same. They were noisy and they snapped her sister’s wings. Eleanor was stubborn but she knew she was nowhere near as big or as strong as them. Which is why Eleanor did her best to protect her family by moving them away from the gigantors. Every day was another struggle for Eleanor.
From left to right: John Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May
I decided to incorporate our theme again and find a song from the 80’s that makes me emotional. It was not long before I realized the song that always makes me feel so many emotions at once is from the 80’s. If you did not deduce from the title of this post it is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. A little bit of background; in high school I was part of a madrigal choir that travelled quite a bit to performances. Every time before getting off the bus for a show we sang this song, so it already has some personal nostalgia for me.
I have not met a single person who does not know this song. Whenever this song comes on I feel like everybody I am with just starts belting out the lyrics. Which is ironic because if you have seen the movie Bohemian Rhapsody (released last year), you would know that Queen’s original record label refused to release this song due to the length and the message. The song is about a fantasy that Freddie Mercury saw for himself, who felt he was an outcast to society- bohemian.
Since there are so many moving parts of the song I decided to describe each part and how they make me feel. As the song begins the buildup begins. You feel excitement and if it is your first time hearing it you feel curiosity. The beginning slow part makes me feel peaceful, which is odd since Queen is singing about killing a man. If you really listen to the lyrics of the song you hear how morbid and depressing some parts of the song are. At about minute three we shift into a more fast-paced intense melody. If this is you first or 100th time listening to this song you will be on the edge of your seat with excitement. By minute four we descend into a more guitar-rock style of class Queen songs. Which always make me feel motivated and nostalgic. In the last minute we wind down to the starting piano melody as the song resolves itself. If you are reading this and have not listened to the song I highly recommend!
Music holds a special place in my heart, as I’m sure it does for most people. It can evoke an array of different emotions, memories, and dance moves!
This blog post takes on the challenge of the writing assignment, “Emotional Lyrics.” I’ll be introducing you to three songs that are important to me, and that make me feel distinct emotions. Instead of tweeting, I will be posting the content here on my blog.
Additionally, to tie into the course theme of the 80s, I’ll be adding a bonus video from the 80s!
Hope. That’s what this song makes me feel. It took me a while to place my finger on it, because this song makes me feel rather than think.
To be “lost in the light” is a fascinating concept in my opinion, and it’s one that rings true in my life. All of us have an internal compass that helps guide us through the ups and downs of life. For some, it’s religion. For others, their conscience. Some are guided by their heart, while others rely on themselves. In my case, I think I’m most often guided by my heart. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and other times, it’s hard! But in reference to the notion of the song title, there have been many difficult things that I’ve struggled with in my life. Learning how to face the darkness was incredibly hard, but I did eventually learn. But I remember that afterwards, being in a better, happier situation, I felt confused and out of place… perhaps, “lost in the light.” It can be a struggle, after facing a lot of hardship, to re-learn how to function in the light and be happy. This song brings me hope because it reminds me to be patient with myself, to continue loving myself, and to continue loving others.
NUMBER 2: The Head and the Heart – People Need A Melody
Confidence and happiness. In addition to being one of the most beautiful and uplifting songs I’ve ever heard, this song shares a strong and encouraging message to “pick yourself up,” “let the light in,” and “don’t let it fade.”
The message of this song, as I understand it, is to stop yourself from allowing the past define you. Instead, it encourages you to grab on to the beautiful things that life brings you, and not to let go. Everyone deserves beauty in their life, whether that be in the form of someone who you love or something else. What matters most is to keep the mindset that you deserve this. There’s not one person on Earth that doesn’t deserve to be happy and to be loved!
NUMBER 3: James Vincent McMorrow – Surreal
Awe. This song makes me marvel in the beauty of both his lyric writing and musical creation. ANY of James Vincent McMorrow’s lyrics can be read like poetry. The words carry weight, beauty, and emotion, ALL so vivid that it makes you feel as if you are feeling them yourself.
His music is a wonderful blend of voice, technology, and instruments that together create something, yes, surreal. His voice whispers in certain parts of this song, and other times, he screams. To me, this reflects a wave of emotions. Sometimes, emotions can make you quiet and reserved. Other times, a wave of emotions demand escape, and you need to scream as a form of release.
BONUS: Freddie Mercury – Time Waits For No One
Hope again! Let me start by saying that I can’t explain enough how beautiful this song is. It’s stripped down and yet so powerful and magical.
The reason this song gives me hope is because of its message. Seemingly sad, the premise is that time waits for no one. In other words, everyone is going to die one day! Sadly, time wouldn’t even wait for someone as magical as Freddie Mercury.
But there is hope in the song! And that comes from Mercury’s message that we have to take advantage of the here and now! All the hopes we have, all the wishes we have – we need to make them happen! Now! In my opinion, we need to remember daily that we are going to die. Not because I want to be grim, but because I think that will help people be direct about the things they want out of life. If you love someone, today is the day to show them!
A huge thank you to Freddie Mercury’s memory for such a powerful performance and song.
“Choose an emotion (happy, sad, excited, hyper, sleepy, suprised, inspired, ect..) and then choose three songs that elect that emotion. Name emotion, the song, and why it makes you feel that way. This can be done in three separate tweets to allow for character count. Have fun with this!”
I picked 3 songs that made me feel “longing” and explained briefly in each tweet how I thought so. Here is the original assignment and below are my tweets:
Looking at 3 songs that present/evoke the same emotion, I'll look at 3 that I feel embody "longing"#WritingAssignments2043#ds106
First: Meet me in the hallway by Harry Styles. It tells the story of two lovers, one waiting for the other to forgive them. The longing here is longing for forgiveness and returning back to normal in the relationship.
Second: Seven Words by Weyes Blood. This song tells the story of a relationship also where one party is longing to change to be better for the relationship. The singer admits her faults and longs for a day where both her and her lover will heal.
Third: The Kitchen Floor by Little Green Cars. This tells the story of a relationship also wanting to return to a time that was "normal" for them. It also tells of a longing for love and for a safe place.
I listen to a lot of music all the time and it was not hard at all fo me to pick the songs I wanted to evaluate. But, what I had to consider was if I wanted to evaluate them considering “saddness” as the emotion. I think they’re sad songs! But what does sad mean. Sad is so vague and can incorporate so many emotions within it. “Longing” is different. It’s more specific and it’s hard to explain, but its something you can really feel in the songs. I added lyrics into the thread for examples of where I thought you could hear the songs the most.
Take a listen and you’ll feel it!
For this assignment I did need to use Twitter as a tool so I needed internet access and Twitter access. I also looked up the lyrics for each song using Lyric Genius. I used my own Spotify account to listen to the songs which I’ve embedded below.
Music is everywhere. Its in everything. I can’t go a day without listening to music. No matter what I’m doing nine times out of ten I have earbuds in my ears. Music has the power to move us, it makes a feel a certain way. Often or not a song allows you for about three minutes to forget everything and just get lost.
For my second assignment this week I decided on the emotional lyrics assignment from the writing assignment bank. This assignment is a total of three stars bringing me to a total of seven stars this week. That means I only need three more stars in order to complete my assigned ten for the week.
This assignment asked…
Choose an emotion (happy, sad, excited, hyper, sleepy, suprised, inspired, ect..) and then choose three songs that elect that emotion. Name emotion, the song, and why it makes you feel that way. This can be done in three seperate tweets to allow for character count. Have fun with this!
A fairly straight forward task, that being said I took to twitter to complete this assignment.
"This is me" the popular song from the Greatest Showman strives to motivate and inspire us all. It empowers us by saying that our differences are our strongest attributes and that it's okay to be unique. https://t.co/S4WGadWPr0#WritingAssingments#WritingAssignments2043
Lady Gaga and Bradley Coopers "Shallow" from A Star Is Born is another great motivational song. It's a conversation between lovers who are singing about leaving the shallow behind and diving into the unknown. https://t.co/dThzXWrsKy#WritingAssignments#WritingAssignments2043
The emotion I chose to connect three songs to was motivation or inspiring. I feel both are interchangeable. By choosing this emotion I then sought out to find three songs that I feel perfectly depict this and make me feel this particular way.
The three songs I chose were “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman, “Shallow” from A Star is Born, and “Stand” by Rascal Flatts. “This is Me” and “Shallow” have come out within the past two years and “Stand” came out back in 2006. These songs in my opinion perfectly present the feeling or emotion of being inspired or motivated.
I believe “This is Me” and “Shallow” are two songs that mostly everyone is familiar with. Both coming from very successful motion pictures. I decided to choose these two in particular because firstly I love the movies they are in. The Greatest Showman and A Star is Born are two phenomenal movies that I believe in general inspire us. But more so these two particular songs within the movie do a fantastic job of creating this motivating feeling.
Personally these songs inspire me. They’ve been something I turn to in harder times when I need a reminder that I am enough and will get through whatever it is that I am struggling with.
The third song “Stand” by Rascal Flatt’s is an older song but has just the same affect as the other two. When I was younger I would turn to this song when I was in need of motivation. It’s easy to give up or stay down if you don’t know a way out, but the lyrics in this song remind you to stand and never give up.
I attached a video in each of my tweets for this assignment because for those who haven’t heard these songs, I wanted to provide an opportunity to listen and understand what I am trying to convey. I think the best way to listen to each if you haven’t heard them is to listen once and then listen again but really pay attention to the lyrics and the message that is trying to be conveyed.
Ultimately what made me choose this assignment was my passion for music. As I write this post I have earbuds in my ear blasting music. Having said that I then decided on the emotion of motivation or inspiration because of the power it has on us as people. Songs that elect this emotion hold an enormous amount of power and can change the way we proceed with our lives. Evidently enough these song’s tell stories. I am happy I decided to participate in this assignment. If you want any other music suggestions feel free to ask!
The emotion that I choosing to identify 3 songs with is happy.
Song 1 – Happy by Phareal – it’s pretty self explanatory why that song reminds me of the emotion happy!
Song 2- It’s a Beautiful Day by Jamie Grace – that song reminds me of being happy and thankful bc it’s so positive and the lyrics talk about smiling and the grace of God.
Song 3 – Summertime by Childish Gambino – love this song – the vibe is summertime and it makes me happy
This assignment caught my eye because songs almost always elicit some sort of emotional response from me. I went with the easiest emotion (sadness) be use there are so many songs that make you feel sad. I pulled the tip three that came to mind and are the most recent. If you haven’t heard them before check them out- they’re good ones!
Tequila by Dan + Shay; emotion: sad https://t.co/m19Z4k2qcn While it may not be tequila that brings up old memories for me, certain songs and smells still get me.
Meant to be by Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line; emotion: sad https://t.co/1boF2WvMRY This song used to make me feel so confident and happy and now it just feels like a joke. It was a good coping mechanism when I needed it though! #WritingAssignments2043
We were asked to tweet 3 songs that made us feel angry. I adjusted slightly and added the 3 songs to my sound cloud in a playlist titled angry then tweeted the link so I would only have to make one. tweet. Here are my songs that make me feel angry and get me going. enjoy
