No Music, No Life Pt. 2

Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last December 21, 2007.

Finally, I had the time to write this blog entry that should have been done late November / early December. It is the time of the year to discuss all of the songs that were memorable to me. Like last year, these songs were not necessarily new ones. These were the very songs that I have lived with through the joys and pains of my daily life. Usually, these songs represent my current mindset or feelings during the time I was overplaying it in my PC. However, there are some songs that were just too catchy or are just good in the musical sense that I had to overplay it without even bothering as to what the message was. But then, I am a person who appreciate the lyrics and the vocals a lot (along with the guitars) that is why in most cases, you can understand what I was going through during the times I was listening to those songs.

Enough of the talk. Let’s start with last year’s December song. (Yes, to start in December and end in November has been my tradition since last year. LOL)

December 2006: The Cure – Just Like Heaven
The Cure would have to be my band of the year last year and the year ended with the very best The Cure song playing in my PC. Save the best for last as they say. I did not appreciate this song when I first heard it but when I read the lyrics, I was simply astonished. The Cure does write excellent lyrics. Shown below is my favorite part of the song:

Spinning on that dizzy edge
I kissed her face and kissed her head
And dreamed of all the different ways I had
To make her go
"Why are you so far away?" she said
"Why won't you ever know that I'm in love with you
That I'm in love with you"
You
Soft and only
You
Lost and lonely
You
Strange as angels
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Twisting in the water
You're just like a dream

The keyboard sounds made this goth rock song even better. Basically, it is one of those songs that you feel that it is full and complete. This song made my nights then as I took a week of NA shift during the Christmas season last year.

January 2007: Muse – Starlight
Cool bassline. Unique sound. Great lyrics. I was able to relate this song very well at that time. It’s a bit idealistic but it is still excellent. The bass line and the high notes make the song a bit dance-able. Shown below are my favorite parts.

I will be chasing the starlight
Until the end of my life
I don't know if it's worth it anymore
….
And I'll never let you go
If you promise not to fade away
Never fade away

February 2007: Jimmy Eat World – 23
Yet another best song of a band. Just like Just Like Heaven, I did not appreciate this song straight away. It was too long and it starts in a quiet tone that I get bored after the first twenty seconds. Boy, was I mistaken! The guitar sounds of this song was simply awesome. The combination of the rhythm and the lead at the start is great. This ballad does not create too much energy but it just fits quite well with the lyrics. It makes the lyrics extra-emotional. The solo lead part would have to be the best. I play it as soon as I was able to practice it from a Guitar Pro download.

This song fits well in the Valentine’s Day mood. I did not have a Valentine’s Day date this year but hey who says I can’t fall in love that month? At least, fall in love on this song. Check this Youtube version and you will feel the good delivery on the emotional parts of the song http://youtube.com/watch?v=tsgtHf9Bewo

Favorite lines of the song: All of it! Just kidding! Here are some:

No one else will have me like you do
No one else will have me, only you
…
I won't always love what I'll never have
I won't always live in my regrets
…
You'll sit alone forever
You wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
I'm here, I'm now, I'm ready
Holding on tight
Don't give away the end
One thing that stays mine

Three straight months of songs for the hopefuls. No whining. It’s all about hope. From chasing starlights to the moment of falling in love. From experiencing heaven to waiting for the right time. These are simply amazing songs.

March 2007: My Chemical Romance – Famous Last Words / Sponge Cola – Nakapagtataka
My Chemical Romance’s not-so-good performance of Welcome to the Black Parade was easily overwhelmed by an outstanding song entitled Famous Last Words. I am not that sure as to what the lyrics meant but the song itself was awesome. Sponge Cola’s rendition of APO Hiking Society’s Nakapagtataka was also great that I had to download and play it numerous times then. Sponge Cola has been sucking badly after their first album as they went mainstream but this song has got to fit them quite well. The song is a bit emo as it is about love quarrels but Sponge Cola’s version has got to fit the lyrics quite well that was why I had to consider it as the song of the month.

April 2007: The Academy Is – We’ve Got a Big Mess On Our Hands
This song was actually played several times in NU 107.5 last February but I was not into it then. I am even doubting if this should be the song of the month last April. I was either listening to so many songs then that I cannot recall a song that would qualify as the song of the month. Nonetheless, this song was one of the summer songs that was overplayed in my PC. Catchy but nothing more special about it. I don’t even know the lyrics.

May 2007: Snow Patrol – Signal Fire / 6 Cycle Mind – Upside Down
It’s a Spiderman song!!! I can remember loving Dashboard Confessional’s Vindicated when it was released for Spiderman 2. The Spiderman 3 counterpart was able to match the former movie smash hit. I was not into Snow Patrol before but this song made me appreciate them. The simple intro was enough to make this song noticeable. Favorite lines:

I could be stuck here for a thousand years,
But your arms still drag me out.

There you are standing right in front of me
There you are standing right in front of me
All this fear falls away to leave me naked,
Hold me close, ‘coz I need you to guide me to safety

No, I won’t wait forever.

6 Cycle Mind’s rendition of Upside Down was also great then. I did not care as to how overplayed it was in NU 107.5 because it served as a Tanduay commercial then. The rhythmic sound of the acoustic guitars at the start of the song is enough to give me the musical orgasm. It has the kiliti factor in the ears. I also appreciate it when some songs are revived because I love old school. Favorite Lines:

Baby, you don’t understand our love lies lost
But you’re still holding my hand
Oh and then you walk away
Just tonight, I want you to stay
…
Every time I hurt you, well it’s hurting me too
Don’t know if I could really stay here tonight

June 2007: JamisonParker – Slow Suicide
“Slow suicide…like it or not, it’s what we do!” This song is oozing with coolness and hard guitar riffs. It is enough to energize me then. It’s a song about night life, sex, drugs, alcohol and cigarettes – slow suicide. I am not into these except for alcohol and cigarettes and a bit of night life. This was the month when I started smoking again as well. Thus, it was more of a song to release some angst. Notable lines:

It's the nightlife that gets them off
So desperately they wait for the excuse of love.
We live like vampires
And we, we, we love like killers
We all die like infants,
And we trust like mirrors.

It's the smoke and the drinks and the smiles that it brings,
It's the pain and the sex disguised as innocence.

July 2007: Funeral for a Friend – Juneau (Acoustic) / Maroon 5 – Must Get Out
Yes, I have to stress that it should be the acoustic version. The acoustic version showed a whinier sound from the vocalist. I thought I should not have been emo this year anymore??? Anyway, it was Funeral for a Friend (the coolest emo band ever) and the lyrics were so true that it gives you an ouchie feeling if you could relate to it. Like most emo songs go, not good for your health and heart but is good for the art behind music.

What is wrong in this month?! I have tried to stay away from emo songs for the year and I just put an emo song as my song of the month. Anyway, it had a co-song of the month. What band performed it again? Maroon 5. What?! Maroon 5. Maroon 5???

I was not listening to Maroon 5 ever since they began playing although I must admit that the catchy-ness of This Love continues to play in my mind every now and then. They were so pop before I began considering on listening to them. Thanks to Dans for influencing me to listen to them and I must admit, their songs are fine. It’s just that I did not like listening to sellout songs before. Nonetheless, Must Get Out became my favorite last July. Add the pop factor in it and we have an overplayed MP3 again. Favorite lines:

I'm lifting you up
I'm letting you down
I'm dancing ‘til dawn
I'm fooling around
I'm not giving up
I'm making your love
This city's made us crazy and we must get out

August 2007: Third Eye Blind – Jumper / My Chemical Romance – Disenchanted
I really got retro on this one. Jumper was released for quite a lot of years back. Nevertheless, I like the high guitar notes of this song. It reminds me of Scottish music. I basically appreciated this song because of the great background music and the nice vocals. I did not care that much about the lyrics but I knew these too.

My Chemical Romance makes it twice in my list. Most people have hated The Black Parade album because of the disappointing Welcome to The Black Parade. As for me, I actually hated Gerard Way’s new look. He looks like a faggot which makes him totally disgusting. Please bring back the long hair, black eyeliner effect and the scary look in him but don’t make him a disgusting gay. Anyway, I was more interested in their music that is why I appreciated Disenchanted. It did not even have a music video in the first place. But then, the song has got to be the best song in the album. I like the intro of this song a lot.

September 2007: Jimmy Eat World – No Sensitivity / Fall Out Boy – The Take Over, The Break’s Over
If MCR can do it, so does JEW. Jimmy Eat World has evolved into one of my top five favorite bands this year. No Sensitivity is a bitter song about break ups. The guitar band was able to deliver in here again with good rhythms. This song is actually mean but I liked it for its musical background as well. Notable lines:

The world don't spin without you
I am amazed you're standing still
You know your problems, they aren't problems
So be glad they never will
I'm taking my kisses back
I want my kisses back from you

September was FOB month. I did not mind Fall Out Boy’s new album last February that much but they made me appreciate them again with this song. I like the music video for this as well. It is funny to see people throwing tomatoes at Fall Out Boy on the video because the band went uber-mainstream this year. I could relate to the same sentiment that hardcore fans had. FOB was not anymore screaming and their tunes were really pop. Nevertheless, they still delivered great music so I have to give them thumbs up on that one. The Take Over, The Break’s Over just showed a different music from Fall Out Boy. Not that much pop-sounding that was why it was cool.

October 2007: Fall Out Boy – I’m Like A Lawyer With The Way I’m Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You) / The Click Five – Jenny
Wow! Another Fall Out Boy song! I dissed them last February when their album was released. But then, they proved that they are just a great band. Forget the mainstream-ness. Forget the publicity. They are for real. They exhibited it in their concert in Manila. I just bought Upper B tickets on that concert because I was disappointed from their new album. I almost forgot that they were the band that I got so addicted to listening to last 2005 that I did not mind listening to their whole albums over and over again. They were never a one, two, three song wonder band. They were the multiple song band. I have to give praise to Patrick Stump’s vocals on that one. I’m Like A Lawyer With The Way I’m Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You) is a classic example of that. It is a song with pop written all over it but Patrick’s vocals made it notable. I did not even care much about its lyrics but it was catchy enough to get overplayed in my PC.

October is mainstream month. For the second straight year, I am listing The Click Five (a bit unfair to the Smashing Pumpkins despite the fact that they are my favorite band) as a song of the month. Just like last year, their song’s lyrics were what made me listen to their song. Jenny is a song for girls that always change their minds. Instances like these sometimes frustrates us, guys but hey that is sometimes a nature of a girl. Favorite lines:

You keep me hanging on the line
Every time you change your mind

First you say you won’t
Then you say you will
You keep me hanging on
But we're not moving on
We're standing still
Jenny, you've got me on my knees
Jenny, It's killing me

November 2007: Jimmy Eat World – Dizzy / Jimmy Eat World – Always Be
Jimmy Eat World rules! Jimmy Eat World rocks! Jimmy Eat World is the band! I seldom appreciate an album the first time I play its songs but Jimmy Eat World’s Chase This Light simply kicks ass. They did not disappoint unlike some bands on their next albums. Dizzy would have to be their most notable song in the album just like 23 was in Futures. Dizzy, unlike the hopeful 23, is about separating from someone you love. Not exactly the sentiment that I was feeling in that period of time but the song’s overall musicality was great. It’s the kind of song that I would like the first time I listen to it. Forget getting fully related to the song – the lyrics are just true to the point so you have to appreciate it. Please note that I was a bit affected with the song too. Jimmy Eat World is a guitar band that is why I have been appreciating them for the past two years. Favorite Lines:

You close your eyes and kiss your hand, then you blow it
But it isn't meant for me and I noticed
…
Respectfully, some honesty I'm calling out
Do you hear the conversation we talked about
…
I tried, but it rang and rang, I called all night
On a pay phone, remember those from another life
…
Oh, oh, take it all back, take your first, your last, your only
Oh, oh, take it all back, take it all back, everything you showed me
Oh, oh, this must be how it feels when the feeling goes...ohhhhh

Always Be has got a catchy tune to it and it is quite pleasing to the ears. I never cared for the lyrics then but I have to admit that these are good to. But its rhythm has got to be the thing that made me appreciate it. Favorite Lines:

I was just a boy like every other
I thought I was something fierce
I thought I was ten times smarter
Love would be something that I just know
(Something I just know)
How you gonna know the feeling till you've lost it
I've been losing plenty since
…
Maybe something else I'm missing
Something good and your the reason
It's a dream but there's a real long wedding

And of course… the catchy chorus:
I'm alone in this
I'm all as I've always been
Right behind what's happening
She's all lost in this
She's all like she'll always be
A little far for me to reach

That’s it, folks! My songs of the year for 2007. There are more new songs in this year’s playlist because there have been lots of new albums from my favorite bands – Smashing Pumpkins, The Used, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World, The Ataris, Funeral For A Friend and The Killers. It will take years before this year’s feat would get duplicated again.

Other Songs That I Listened To: (in chronological order)
Deep Blue Something – Breakfast At Tiffany’s
The Ataris – Boys of Summer
Silent Sanctuary – Ikaw Lamang
The Used – Buried Myself Alive
Sublime – Santeria
311 – Amber
The Cure – Love Song
Maroon 5 – Makes Me Wonder
Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved
The Used – Pretty Handsome Awkward
The Used – Cut Up Angels
Smashing Pumpkins – Tarantula
Smashing Pumpkins – That’s The Way My Love Is
Hellogoodbye – Dear Jamie…Sincerely Me
Fall Out Boy – I’ve Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers
Fall Out Boy – Saturday
Rivermaya – Banda Ng Bayan

Band of the Year: Jimmy Eat World
It started with 23 this year. I began to re-appreciate the band again. After all, it’s not hard to do it – they are a guitar band. I started listening to My Sundown, The World You Love, Last Christmas and No Sensitivity. Four of their songs were featured in my honor roll list. They ended the year with a blast with their new album. I should have put Rivermaya’s Banda Ng Bayan in November but Jimmy Eat World was simply a blast at that time.

Albums of the Year: My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade / Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
This one is really tight. MCR’s The Black Parade hit my playlist all throughout the year with songs Disenchanted, Famous Last Words, I Don’t Love You, Teenagers, and Dead. However, Jimmy Eat World’s Chase This Light was simply amazing to end the year that I have began to appreciate their songs as soon as possible: Dizzy, Always Be, Carry You, Electable (Give It Up), Let It Happen and Big Casino. It already had the automatic five stars in my Media Player because I overplayed them.

Song of the Year: Jimmy Eat World – 23
It’s Jimmy Eat World’s year! I have been playing this song for the whole year. This song is simply great. Enough said. Read the lyrics below:

23
Jimmy Eat World

I felt for sure last night
That once we said goodbye
No one else will know these lonely dreams
No one else will know that part of me
I’m still driving away
And I’m sorry every day
I wont always love these selfish things
I won't always live not stopping
It was my turn to decide
I knew this was our time
No one else will have me like you do
No one else will have me, only you

You’ll sit alone forever
You wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
I'm here I'm now I'm ready
Holding on tight
Don’t give away the end
The one thing that stays mine

Amazing still it seems
Ill be 23
I wont always love what I'll never have
I wont always live in my regrets

You’ll sit alone forever
You wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
I'm here I'm now I'm ready
Holding on tight
Don’t give away the end
The one thing that stays mine

You’ll sit alone forever
You wait for the right time
What are you hoping for?
I'm here I'm now I'm ready
Holding on tight
Don’t give away the end
One thing that stays mine...