Tag Archives: Music

Hip hop Slam

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I won’t pretend to be some knowledgeable hip music guy, but I wanted to make a quick slam here at the hip hop status quo.  There is this song I heard on the radio that I kind of like and so I looked it up on YouTube.  Of course I found the hip hop version (second YouTube video below) with the “stars” and the lights and the costumes…the YouTube post had almost a million views.

But, then I stumbled on the below YouTube video (first one below) that has three people playing the same song in a van.  I’ll take the version in the van seven days a week including sunday.  Of course this version and performance of the song only had around 11,000 views.  I am glad social media enables such a version to exist…a version most of us would never have seen prior to the existence of an alternative outlet to mainstream media.  A good example of how the creative process can be used to make money or to sing from the heart.

Higher Expression

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Often words fall far short of what you want to say.  This blog is full of posts and words and pictures, but this Symphony No. 7, 2nd movement, by Beethoven, expresses my feelings, thoughts, and emotions regarding the Human Direction so much more accurately and profoundly than I could ever attempt through this pathetic means of translation (this blog). I hope you enjoy and understand.  Hopefully your computer has good quality sound.  Turn up the volume.  If you blog via phone…well….so much for that.  If you can’t sit still…quietly….for nine minutes….well…so much for that:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE-GotNlXSo

Symphony Greatest Human Achievement

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In my humble opinion the symphony is man’s greatest achievement.  Of course, it depends on what the symphony is performing.  I don’t want to get into my favorite composers…well…ok….my favorite is clearly Beethoven, but there are many other great composers.  When I am feeling negative about man’s direction and a feeling of despair begins to weigh my spirits down, I always tend to think about the symphony as a symbol of hope. 

Men and women performers come together for an audience and produce sounds and images that seem to come from another world.  A symphony seems to have the power to combine all the Muses into a single language that elevates above all the other art forms.  Of course, one must be in the frame of mind and spirit to accept and receive the gift from those wonderful performing artists and the composer.  There is no point listening to a profound symphony while stuck in traffic or rushing to a performance straight after a mind numbing day at work.  One must take the time to prepare one-self for such an event. 

I am not sure I am in a place to accept such profound gifts at this current time, but in my past such symphonic performances touched my soul and lifted my spirits to immense heights.  At the peak of my youth, I quit my job in Europe and traveled for over a year.  I re-read many of the great classics (Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Renaissance), wrote, pursued photography, frequented numerous museums, absorbed the architecture, enjoyed great food and wine, observed the beautiful women walking here and there, and on occasion would attend symphonies. 

These performances seemed to synthesize everything I had been absorbing around me and elevated the senses to even greater heights.  Oh, how far away I am from that state of mind to be able to accept such gifts.  If only I could again hear that beautiful pagan-like voice cutting through all the clutter that surrounds me lifting my spirit up to demigod like status.  I fear that I may never again be in the state to receive the greatest gift mankind has to offer…but I will nevertheless try.