The world we are living in right now is one of great uncertainty and fear among many people right now. Including myself. And the communities that surround me. We seem to be entering a political place where people are not treated as human, but as “other” and therefore not worthwhile. And we’ve got to find ways to fight that. Demonstrations, rallies, sit-ins, phone calls and postcards to representatives, and other means of direct action are important right now.
Also important: Art. Music. Writing. Things that inspire us and keep us going.
When She Speaks I Hear the Revolution started as a college project. This was a place I’d document rad musicians–especially women–who were fighting gender stereotypes and kicking ass and taking names. Over the years, the blog as a whole has fallen by the wayside as these projects do. Life happens. You forget to spend that time writing and instead find yourself lost in working and surviving. You convince yourself that your voice isn’t important when it exists in a sea of other people’s voices, and besides your few followers you have have probably forgotten you. And besides. Writing a blog isn’t important. Making money is.
So I stopped.
But these days, I’m feeling a lot of anxiety, and a lot of fear. And dealing with this world is hard, lately. So I’m going to do what I keep encouraging others to do, and focus on things that make me happy. In this case, I’m also going to focus on things that help inspire and motivate. A return of sorts to the original mission of this blog.
I’m starting a M-F Daily Song series. The songs will be a mix of old and new songs by artists who’ve got attitude and bite and most of all–have something to say. The daily songs will
be posted on the When She Speaks I Hear the Revolution facebook page. On the weekend I’ll compile the daily features into a list here on the blog so you can see the weekly picks.
So….stay tuned. And feel free to share your faves!
…..and welcome back! I really do hope you all have been enjoying this series, and would love to hear from you all on songs that you would apply to all of these categories! Please feel free to share. There are few things I enjoy more than discovering new music!
Day 13: A song that is a guilty pleasure
I knew when I posted the last entry that the next song title on my list would have to be a “guilty pleasure” and I’ve been spending quite a bit of free time over the last few days trying to figure out if I had a guilty pleasure. I am of the opinion that if you love a song, you should love it, and not feel bad for doing so, so the concept of a “guilty pleasure” bothers me. The whole idea that you love this one thing, while the rest of the world hates it and thus you’re left feeling bad about it is troublesome. So. Guilty pleasure? I personally don’t have one. I love a song the rest of the world appears to hate, but I don’t feel bad about it. Starship’s “We Built This City” was a song I grew up with, and the idea that a city had been built on rock and roll was a source of inspiration. Can you imagine? A city where rock and roll is church. Where the culture is built around rock and roll. I wanna live in that city. I’m not going to post the video proper, as most of the world is well familiar with the song. Instead, I’m sharing the Rock of Ages clip that uses it. When I first watched Rock of Ages and saw this clip, I about died. I LOVE THIS SEQUENCE. So much. Fight me, I dare you. (Ok. Don’t. I’m a terrible fighter.)
Day 14: A song no one would expect you to love
So….y’know that song, “Shake it off” by Taylor Swift? I really like that song. When done by Screaming Females.
True story: I don’t listen to a lot of radio. Mainly because I’m a pedestrian and public transit user 99% of the time, so I don’t listen to music in a car, which is where most people still listen to radio. So when Swift came out with “Shake it off” it never crossed my radar. But I’d been following the AV Club’s Undercover series on youtube and the premise of it is so fantastic. They have a list of songs, they invite bands into their space, and the bands choose a song and it’s crossed off the list forever more. The results are spectacular. G.W.A.R. covering Kansas’ “Wayward Son.” They Might Be Giants covers Destiny’s Child classic “Bills, Bills, Bills.”Iron and Wine covering G.W.A.R.
There are so many rad covers.
Including this one. Which if I had the option of paying money for, oh would I. And I’d probably listen to it every day. Because I’m sorry Swift, but this song was made for Marissa Paternoster’s vocals. When I finally did hear the real song, there was a very odd sense of deja vu and the song is great….but Screaming Females did it best.
Day 15: A song that describes you
Out of all my favorite songs, each which I love for very personal reasons, what song describes this being that is “me”? What a peculiar question. But I have an answer. And I’m going to share it and the runner up.
The first song is obvious. Look at the title of this blog. “When She Speaks I Hear the Revolution.” Sound familiar? It should. I have long been inspired by the riot grrrl movement and the song “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill is a song that inspires me still. It’s defiant. It’s celebratory. It’s punk rock at its finest. It’s a reminder that we are revolutionary creatures. It’s a reminder to be confident and be yourself.
The runner up is a song that I have a deep attachment to. Much like “Rebel Girl” it’s an inspiring song, one that I use as a reminder as I go through the world. “Be Brave” by My Brightest Diamond is deeply personal as a reminder of just that. Be brave. Yes, it’s scary. But it’s a beautiful thing.
The lyrics:
I am a bird in water, a whale on sand
I am the flood, the fire, the oil spill
I’m feeling scared and I am overwhelmed
And so I don my mask and finger bells
Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara now get to work
Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara this is going to hurt
Be brave dear one
Be changed or be undone
Be brave dear one
Be changed or be undone, undone
I am a slave, I’m under house arrest
I am the beater, I am beaten for less
Than being punk and feeling anger swell
And so I don my beaded dress and finger bells
Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara now get to work
Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara this is going to hurt
Be brave dear one
Be changed or be undone
Be brave dear one
Be changed or be undone, undone
It’s so hard, it’s so heavy
To be hungry, to be happy
It’s so light, it’s so easy just to be
It’s so hard, it’s so heavy
To be hungry, to be happy
It’s so light, it’s so easy just to be
Oh God, what would you do with me
Oh God, what’s my responsibility
God, what would you do with me
Oh God, what’s my responsibility
Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara now get to work
Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Shara this is going to hurt
Be brave dear one
Be changed or be undone
Be brave dear one
Be changed or be undone
Be brave dear one
Be changed or be undone
Be brave dear one
Be changed, be changed, be changed
Changed
Daily rituals are hard to keep up, especially once you start slipping up. But this challenge will be done, one way or another! And this week I’m going to recommit myself to doing this daily, instead of playing catch-up. Last week was a long, crazy week, with one wonderful moment that I hope to write about later today. But we’ll see.
Okay. So where are we?
You’ll notice that #12 has been changed. The original text was “A song from a band you hate”. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I don’t really enjoy dwelling on things I don’t enjoy. The world is full of brilliant, interesting music and our lives are too short to listen to all of it, so focus on the stuff that is enjoyable!
Day 8: A song that you know all the words to
I’m going to start this one with a fun story about me, and then give you an actual answer.
So way, way back in my middle school years (mid 90’s), I believed I had the key to one of the MOST ANNOYING PROBLEMS EVER. You know how pop radio loves songs that are ultimately earworms? The songs that you can’t get out of your head no matter what? Well. I was a genius. And I had the answer. The answer: Find one of your favorite songs. Listen to it a couple of times so that you know the lyrics, especially the chorus, and any time an earworm tries to get in your head, use the song you have purposely memorized to defeat the earworm.
For the record, it worked. My trouble with earworms has really only happened over the past few years, and even now it’s minimal. My song of choice? “Sheep go to Heaven, Goats….go to Hell” by Cake.
See? Even as a young ‘un, I was brilliant.
Okay, the actual answer. So a moment of confession: I’m the WORST with lyrics. the worst. Even on songs I think I know, I forget a line, or think I know but come up with something super bizarre. So the songs I know all the lyrics to tend to be the songs that were truly part of the foundations of my love for music. There are exceptions, of course! I’m going to share one of the exceptions, I think. I could share “Just a Girl,” by No Doubt or “Shatter” by Paula Cole or “You Oughta Know” by Alanis, but I’m going to share this song instead. It’s a track by Regina Spektor that you can find on her Live in London album. I love Regina Spektor and have for a great many years. Soviet Kitsch might be one of my favorite albums, partly because of the tracks “Ghost of Corporate Future” and “Your Honor.” She has of course gone on to release a lot of amazing songs, but those two songs are forever favorites. Anyway. Back to Live in London. So there’s a track that she sings called “Silly Eye Color Generalizations” that is absolutely beautiful. It’s unaccompanied, vocals only, and the message is simple, but important. When I first heard it, I listened to it on repeat several times over, and singing along to this track is a very enjoyable activity, I highly recommmend it.
Day 9: A song that you can dance to
I am not a dancer, so my form of dancing tends to be the awkward dance of bopping along to a song as best as I can, or in the case of frenetic punk rock doing the pogo thing or in the case of metal doing a super tragic headbang type of thing. Again: Dancing is so not my thing. That said, all music is inherently something you can experience through dance/movement. And I suppose one of my favorite examples of that would be “Y.A.L.A.” by M.I.A. This is a track that has jumpstarted many mornings and gets included on any party playlist I put together. And the power of the last line in this song makes it extra explosive. (Fun fact: MIA and Deap Vally are completely different artists in so many senses, but their music together? Just…..YES.)
Day 10: A song that makes you fall asleep:
I disagree with the language of this particular entry. To me, “a song that makes you fall asleep” suggests that the song is either a)super boring or b)one of those songs that you listen to as you fall asleep and as such any time you listen to it, you fall asleep. I personally don’t like when art (especially in music or written forms) becomes part of that category. Art is meant to be appreciated.
That said, this category does have some merit in the idea that songs can be soothing and create that space needed to fall asleep on those nights where sleep seems so far away. Way back in the day, the album that would help facilitate sleep for me was Loreena McKennitt’s Book of Secrets. I just had to make sure I was asleep before her cover of “the Highwayman” because if I wasn’t the verses would settle in deep and I’d find myself in tears.
These days, the album that I’ve been listening to when I can’t fall asleep: Agnes Obel‘s album Philharmonics. This album is beautiful, and the soundscapes that are created are powerful and delicate.
Day 11: A song from your favorite band
My favorite band? Just one? Does anyone really have ONE favorite band? How do I choose this? Hmmm. I have so many conflicting emotions here, because I have so many favorites.
But since I can just choose one, I’m going to choose a song by the DC based band Priests. The reason? Since I discovered their album Bodies and Control and Money and Power, I have found myself listening to the album in full on repeat multiple times. Over, and over again. From start to end, this album is perfect.
Day 12: A song in a different language
As mentioned above, lyrics are easily forgotten for me. That isn’t to say I don’t believe good lyrics can help make a song, because oh do they ever. “Silly Eye Color Generalizations” is a perfect song to prove that. I do think music is powerful, no matter what language is used for the lyrics. Songs have an ability to create mood and atmosphere that transcends words. And the world is a huge place. To limit one’s enjoyment of music to their spoken language does the world of music a disservice. Just like one should travel beyond one’s state or country, so too should they do that with music. Keep your options open, and your musical playlists will be so much better for it.
I think I’m gonna cheat with this one and pick two. The first track is proof that rock and roll goes beyond american and british borders. The Mexican rock band Ruido Rosa has been rocking since 2005 and this track is one of my favorites. It’s intense, it’s loud, and if you love rock and roll, this song is for you.
The reason I really want to cheat on this category is because I will take any and every opportunity to share this next track. I am a military brat. I’ve been outside of the United States and during my high school years in Germany, I very eagerly looked into the popular German alternative artists and found some favorite songs that I’ll still go back to. But it wasn’t until I moved back to the states and was in college that I found a song that truly captured the idea I expressed above. The lyrics aren’t the most important. It’s the song. I believe when I found this song I was enrolled in college level Spanish courses. I made an effort to find Spanish songs and try to learn the lyrics where I could. During this period I discovered the Colombian rockstar Juanes thanks to his duo with Nelly Furtado, and then the Argentinian musician Federico Aubele. There are some songs that will live with you forever. Whether it’s the music, the vocals or just the atmosphere it evokes, they will be there. This song is one of them. “Postales” is a beautiful and haunting song and the video that accompanies it such a perfect piece of art, all on its own. I don’t really have the words to express my love for this song. So….listen to the track. And enjoy it.
Welcome back! It’s been a crazy week around here, with lots of small adventures, but I assure you I haven’t abandoned hope on this excellent project. For one thing, I enjoy sharing music. So this project provides all the reason I need to come back. But in case you were upset that I missed a few days, here’s a few pretty pictures to prove I’ve been doing things worth documenting.
My girlfriend and I recently moved into a beautiful apartment in downtown Salt Lake City, which means the last couple months have been very much centered around trying to put our house together, and when we have time, exploring downtown. I had Saturday and Monday off, so we were able to put art on the walls, fix a few things around the house, and each day we get this stuff done, the closer we get to having a legit home. The breakfast image in the collage was our very first breakfast together in this new place. The picture of Siouxsie the Cat is her on the bookshelf that contains our extensive non-fiction music library. She seems to know that the Rolling Stone Women in Rock book mentions her namesake. Smart cat. Then there’s the cover of the latest issue of Jem and the Holograms, featuring Blaze and Pizzazz fighting for the microphone. Jem and the Holograms (IDW) is seriously one of the best comics and if you like comics and aren’t reading it, I encourage you to fix it. It’s been a while since I’ve picked up my comics from my pull shelf, and getting this cover this weekend made my day. Blaze is one of my favorite characters in the history of characters. I’m not even kidding. Finally, completing this collage, is the valiant Starbuck the Pibble, defeating Memorial Grove Park and announcing her presence as Best Dog Ever.
See? Important things have been happening.
But. Now. Onto the music! (Thank you, dear reader, for your patience!)
Day 5: A Song that Reminds you of Someone
My musical journey has never been boring. Outside of my youthful blind hatred of jazz, I’ve been fairly open to everything. It’s gone from Queen to top of the pop charts in the 90s, to Meredith Brooks and Sheryl Crow and Garbage, to Evanescence to Nightwish to…. oh goodness, the list goes on. And that is only naming a few.
In college, I went to the University of Chapel Hill and my main music player at the time was iTunes. My favorite thing about iTunes was the fact that if you made your library shareable, other people could see it. And I actually met a very good friend through this very odd medium. I had an obsession with discovering women that rocked, and at that point I was especially interested in the kickass ladies in metal. Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, and later on Arch Enemy and Otep. The friend I met through our mutual tastes introduced me to the epic world of metal, the different subgenres and bands. One especially notable band was Opeth, a kickass band from Sweden who defines epic in sound and lyrics. One very memorable experience I had with the friend that introduced me to this band: we went to a live show with them and one of Devin Townsend’s bands. Opeth was, naturally, the headliner. The show was on a February 15. Because of how late shows can run and the fact that my birthday is on February the 16th, it became one of my absolute favorite concert experiences. I also caught a towel that one of the musicians threw to the audience. And I may have kept it for some time.
This friend and I have lost touch since college, but I will always appreciate the impact he had on helping me discover new music.
Day 6: A Song that Reminds You of Somewhere
I love this question. It actually took me a second to track down this song, because the time between college and now has been…well….significant. But this actually is a fun 360 with this blog. Way back when in the days of college, I started this blog. My love of music and music discovery continued to grow. In addition to discovering riot grrrl (many years too late for the original wave) I also fell in love with the Chapel Hill/Durham music scenes. The bands were varied and supportive of each other, and as soon as I saw my first local show that had been organized at the campus, I knew I was hooked. One of the bands I couldn’t get enough of is not active in the original form I knew them (International Orange), but the musicians are active all over the place. One of the musicians in the band, Django Haskins, had another band called the Old Ceremony. In one of my classes that would provide the inspiration to launch this blog, I actually got to interview Haskins and it was without question one of my favorite experiences.
I cannot emphasize this enough. I. LOVED. THIS. BAND.
So Much.
I was so grateful they were local, because it meant that they had shows over town, and whenever I could go to them, I would. I loved their jazzy, sleazy sound, and most of all, I loved this song, which I know best with The Old Ceremony, but was also done by International Orange.
When The Old Ceremony launched into this song, I would swoon.
I’m not kidding. I would fall back into the couch we’d be sitting on and close my eyes, and let the music wrap itself around me.
So this song reminds me forever of evenings spent at West End Wine Bar with good friends, red wine, and the Old Ceremony owning the small crowd with their music and showmanship.
Final note on this song: Friends, if you don’t have songs that make you swoon, fix this. Music should be loved heart, mind, and body.
Day 7: A Song that Reminds You of a Certain Event
This song was a hard one to choose. Did I choose a song from my first concert? My favorite concert? Or should I try to choose a non-concert event? What does this question want, really?
Finally, I decided on a song. This summer, Salt Lake City had its very first Rock n’ Roll Camp For Girls. Very First. We had 41 girls between the ages of 8-18 form bands, learn instruments, and at the end of the week, on a Saturday afternoon, performed in front of an audience that Kilby Court and In the Venue would’ve died for. It was packed. These girls rocked. As someone whose passions exist in the realms of feminism and music and creating opportunities for young women to step up and own their identities and passions, I volunteered. I took the week off of work and spent every day from about 7:45 am to 6:30pm at Rock Camp. My first part of the shift was general: help with check-in, snacks, miscellaneous as needed. The second part was as band manager. Instrument instruction was at the beginning of the day, and the rock camp venue was small, which meant that the vocal group ended up making their space outside, near the volunteer snack tent. On one of the days I was helping with snacks, the girls in the vocal group were learning the lyrics of the classic “I Love Rock & Roll” by Joan Jett. Because of the frequency of the chorus repetition, each girl got to solo a piece of the chorus as well as sing together. And hearing 8 girls defiantly sing this song….made it. That moment is why Joan Jett is so damned important. After the Runaways ended and Jett tried to pursue a career in music, label after label refused to work with her and she had to pave her own way. Her valiant work helped lead to moments like these. That moment at rock camp is a future of promise. And the future is fucking beautiful. That moment ruled so much that when I finally saw Joan Jett in concert for real last month, her performance of this song paled in comparison to this moment. There are few moments that will ever stand up to that moment.
Because I don’t have a video of that moment: here’s the classic track.
Whew. For just three songs there were a lot of memories. Thank you for those who read and enjoyed this entry. The mere act of writing this blog and reliving these memories has been truly enjoyable, and I hope that translates in the reading.
I’ve spent most of the day wondering how I would write about this song, and have come to no conclusions. So this is going to be a short introduction. I’m going to let the song speak for itself, as it should. This song, “I Have Never Loved Someone” is by My Brightest Diamond, the project of the brilliant musician Shara Nova. I was first introduced to My Brightest Diamond through a friend of mine, who shared her cover of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.” Shara Nova’s voice is beautiful, her mastery of her craft unquestionable. As I listened to more My Brightest Diamond it was clear to me that she is something special. Her way of creating lyrics that are poignant, genuine, and clever, of bringing everything down–lyrically and musically–to the heart of things….She is a musician who has truly had an impact on me. If you aren’t familiar with My Brightest Diamond, I deeply encourage you to check out her music. And we’ll start with this. It’s a song that carries so much love, and is so gentle, and so beautiful….and….well. Let’s let the song do the talking.
I have so many songs that make me happy. When it comes to music, one of the best things a song can do is make me happy. Witty lyrics, cheerful tone, a dose of snark, all of these things can easily make me happy.
A few artists specifically have the ability to capture all of those things. The defunct band Agent Ribbons had that ability, and the musicians Zoe and Kim Boekbinder are both too clever for their own good and when they make music together as Vermillion Lies? Gameover. They win. They celebrate geekery (“The Astronomer”), circusy weirdness (“Circus Fish”), the macabre (where does one start? They’ve got a few of those tracks…) And then….
Vermillion Lies: What’s in the Box (2008) cover pose. Find this and more pictures on their facebook!
There’s this song.
This song in many ways is a very, very serious song. It’s about the devastation to the environment caused by climate change…what is also known as global warming.
But this song delights me in the way only something this theatrical could. It’s a conversation between Kim and Zoe about the future of the planet, how everything is going swimmingly and how soon no one will have to wear clothes because it is far too hot! And oh my! What will we do about those poor polar bears when the heat becomes unbearable? As the listener you are an eavesdropper into this absurd conversation, and you can either walk away saying “what the fuck did I just listen to?” or you can join in with the antics. And singing along with this song is one of the very best things. I promise you.
When it comes to the subject of least favorite songs, I try not to hate on things too much. The world that we live in has far too much music to hate on one specific song, so why do it? I suppose it also helps that I don’t listen to a ton of radio so I don’t hear the same song over and over.
But I definitely have least favorite songs. And some I’ve grown out of. I’m not going to go out of my way to listen to Nickelback, for example, but the hate on them is so universal that it’s almost a cop out. Why add to that? If you love the songs I (or anyone) dislike, Good! Music is for everybody and everybody has different tastes.
Anyway. For this entry, I’m not posting a video. It’s a least favorite song so I’m not encouraging the traffic to listen if I can help it.
I was in high school when Puddle of Mudd became popular. By then my music tastes had grown pretty eclectic. I listened to No Doubt, Cake, Sheryl Crow, HIM, and quite a few artists in between. I grew up and good ol’ rock and roll like AC/DC and Queen and loved them and still do.
Enter Puddle of Mudd. I don’t think I liked anything by them. Ever. Could my hatred be attributed to Wes Scantlin’s voice? It’s kind of whiny, and on a song like “She Hates Me” the whining seemed exacerbated. Was it because I didn’t care how they treated the women in the lyrics and in the videos? I certainly remember not being impressed by that. It also could have been in part because I was one of those good kids who didn’t really develop an enjoyment of swear words till much later. Though even with that said, Meredith Brooks “Bitch” was a favorite song. So it could have been any of these reasons. Really, probably all of them in small doses. I’ve listened to “She Hates Me” twice in order to write this entry so I could remind myself of why it is one of my least favorites. And it holds true still. I could go my whole life without hearing Puddle of Mudd ever again and be quite happy about it.
Anyway. Now that I’ve tormented myself for this blog post, I’m going to go listen to something that makes me happy now. Maybe some Regina Spektor will help balance out the bad taste left behind….
