#musicmonday June 14th, 2010

Rush - BU2B

I was brought up to believe
The universe has a plan
We are only human
It's not ours to understand

The universe has a plan
All is for the best
Some will be rewarded
And the devil will take the rest

All is for the best
Believe in what we're told
Blind man in the market
Buying what we're sold
Believe in what we're told
Until our final breath
While our loving Watchmaker
Loves us all to death

In a world of cut and thrust
I was always taught to trust
In a world where all must fail
Heaven's justice will prevail

The joy and pain that we receive
Each comes with its own cost
The price of what we're winning
Is the same as what we've lost

Until our final breath
The joy and pain that we receive
Must be what we deserve
I was brought up to believe

my qualities. part 1

in an effort to boost my confidence i have been tasked with blogging about the qualities that i like most about myself over the next two weeks. i'm going to try and do it everyday, or at least every other day. so here goes. day one.

i'm quite proud of the talents i have as a musician. what makes me most proud about it is that it has taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to the level that i am at. i was never naturally gifted or talented but i love music so much that i am willing to work very hard at accomplishing my goals when it comes to music.

there were four main goals i wanted to accomplish when it comes to music and i am quite proud of the fact that i have accomplished all four. all of them before i turned 30.

one: graduate college with a degree in music - i am extremely proud of my music performance degree from iup. it is a fantastic music school and the professors i had there are some of the most influential people i have met in my life.

two: hear a work performed that i wrote - in my last year at iup i wrote a fanfare for our trombone choir that was played at the pmea festival in hershey and at our annual on campus trombone studio recital. i also got to conduct that on campus performance.

three: conduct a full orchestra - i was a member of a community orchestra in washington county for around 4 years. i was given the amazing oppurtunity to conduct the orchestra, in rehersals and at the concert. it was one of the proudest moments of my life because my mom got to see me do it. she knew how much it meant to me. which leads me to...

four: orchestrate a piece of music and hear it performed - the piece that i conducted in point number three was a piece i also orchestrated. the music director of the orchestra gave me the task of orchestrating james curnow's appalaichan mountain folk song suite, originally for brass band. i worked immensely hard on that piece and was so happy with the way it turned out.

i'm very happy with the way i have stuck to my guns to accomplish what i set out to accomplish as a musician. it applies to the rest of my life too. i set my sights on something and i go after it, and i keep going until i either get it, or it gets me.


peace

~scott

shuffle surprises on iTunes #3

yep. pretty much.

fleetwood mac - bleed to love her

once again she steals away
when she reaches out to kiss me
and how she takes my breath away
pretending that she won't miss me

oohh i would bleed to love her
bleed to love her
oohh i would bleed to love her

and once again she calls to me
then she vanishes in thin air
and how she takes my breath away
pretending that she's not there

oohh i would bleed to love her
bleed to love her
oohh i would bleed to love her

somebody's got to see this through
all the world is laughing at you
somebody's got to sacrifice
if this whole thing's going to turn out right

oohh i would bleed to love her
bleed to love her
oohh i would bleed to love her

shuffle surprises on iTunes

i haven't posted in a few days, and i know that this is kind of a cop-out post but this song came up on shuffle on iTunes and i wanted to share it. sometimes songs come up that you forgot about and they make you smile. this was one of them. *update* here's a link to the song if you want to give it a listen.

it will be a good day(the river) - yes

Golden forest golden lake
Sanctuary, state of grace
I will find reason a place to begin
It will be a good day

Beginning is one place I've been before
Watching the sunrise on the silver shores
Setting me free again leading the way
It will be a good day

Sometimes I forget
How mighty this earth
Astounding winter skies
Truth is in birth
Peace that it brings to me, my naked eyes
Be a good day

Make me believe again
Making me free again
Making me see again

Golden mountains golden seas
A thousand reasons singing to me
Alive to this message
Realising it all
Be a good day

Learning to listen learning to see
Learning is power making me free
Free to believe again in my human side
Giving me good reason
Giving me good reason

(Come tomorrow)
Make me believe again
(Destiny)
(Take the river)
Making me free again
(To the sea)

(Come tomorrow)
Making me see again
(Will be free)

Like a river

Time feels so much closer now
You are with me, so real

We make our own heaven
Clear through the sky
The making of reason for you and I
I sing of each season
Making us feel
This will be a good day
This will be a good day

(Come tomorrow)
Make me believe again
(Destiny)

(Take the river )
Making me free again
(To the sea)
(Come tomorrow)
Making me see again
(Destiny)
Like a river to the sea

Make me believe again
Making me free again
(Come tomorrow)
Making me see again
(Destiny)

(Take the river)
Making me free again
(To the sea)

(Come tomorrow)
Making me see again
(Take the river)
(Come tomorrow)
(Destiny)
(Take the river)
(To the sea)

a look into the music i listen to. part 2

so this was suppose to be a "regular feature". i stress, supposed to. i posted one entry on christmas eve when i had the original idea and that was the only one i ever posted. so it has gone from "regular feature" to "quarterly feature". hopefully i can get back to "regular" status because i think it's a good idea.

here is the original concept of the feature from the december 24th post:

the plan is to put my itunes on random, press play, then take whatever track comes up first and blog about it.

if any apply i'll relate any personal stories or feelings i have for the songs, if not, i'll probably just rattle off some basic information.

i'm not going to cheat and only select certain groups or genres.

this should be an interesting insite into the music i love. everything from rock to classical.

today's track is house in the woods by tom petty.

i've never been a huge tom petty fan. in fact the album this track comes from, wildflowers, is the only one i own. i believe it may have been a gift.

house in the woods has one of my favorite choruses of all time:

                  Oh my love, what can I do?
                  What can I do but love you?
                  For the rest of my days, the rest of my nights
                  What can I do but love you?

so much said in such simplicity, great writing. i may have the soul of a rocker, but lyrics like this always go straight to my heart.

unfortunately i don't have a lot to say about this one. there are a lot of other great tracks on wildflowers. if you are looking to get into tom petty you can't really go wrong with it. that's my opinion anyway.

i hope to make this a weekly feature. if you catch me slacking on it please bust my chops until i write one.

peace

~scott