Men in Red Capes


For a birthday, today was an extraordinarily normal day.  I woke up, worked for 8 hours, watched my brother’s baseball game, and went to dinner with my family.  Despite this, today was one of the best days that I’ve had in a long time.

For the past year, I haven’t been treating myself very well.  I don’t sleep enough; I work too hard.  I expect too much of myself – I am quick to dismiss my achievements and slow to forgive my faults.  In the past two years, I’ve made a lot of mistakes – I’ve hurt a lot of people that I cared about, and done some things that will take me some time to forgive myself for.  To make up for these, I’ve tried taking the role of a superhero – pushing myself to my limits and giving myself the responsibility of helping anyone in need.  In the process, I’ve pushed away those who have grown close to me, out of fear that they would see my faults and be let down at the realization that this self-declared superman was not as strong as he seemed.  I’ve put up walls and tried to make myself seem invincible, but it’s time that I tear down those walls. Continue reading →

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World,” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole


Photo Credit to Wikipedia

Photo Credit to Wikipedia

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World,” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

After getting out of the shower this morning, I put on one of my all-time favorite songs: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World,” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, and was immediately reminded of one of my favorite childhood memories. Continue reading →

“Ocean,” by John Butler Trio


IMG_4714“Ocean,” by John Butler Trio

In the midst of an amazing vacation in Florida, I woke up early this morning to watch the sunrise with some friends.  This is a ritual that I try to repeat as often as possible.  Since senior year of high school, watching the sunrise has served as my personal form of meditation and reflection – a period where I can listen to music and simply think. Continue reading →

“Take a Walk,” by Passion Pit


 

This morning, I woke up to the song, “Take a Walk,” by Passion Pit.  Instead of my usual habit of turning off my music alarm in my half-asleep and grumpy morning mindset, I found myself in a great attitude – perhaps due to the realization that I would be relaxing on the beaches of Florida in 12 hours – and decided to sit in bed for a few minutes extra to listen to it.

While I have loved this song since the first time that I heard it, today was the first time that I really listened to it.  Lead singer Michael Angelakos appears to be writing an Indie perspective of the song “Superman,” by Five for Fighting, reflecting on his humanness and hardships.

Angelakos takes us through his life, talking about earlier times of poverty, where he sold flowers outside Penn Station to provide for himself and his wife.  From there, he discusses the struggle of touring throughout the country and rarely seeing his family, hearing that his business partner had made some bad investments in their retirement fund, and getting a call from his son, only to realize that his son had been borrowing large sums of money from him.  Angelakos appears to be trying to inform us that, just because he is famous does not mean that his life is easy – he is not a god.  He is still forced to work his ass off to provide for his family, and states that being famous does not necessarily mean living a life where money does not matter.  Angelakos is trying to show us the world through the eyes of a musician, drawing many parallels between his past and present to show that fame has not put an end to the problems of his past – he still spends little time with his family, and constantly worries about being able to provide for his family.

Overall, this is a great song, not only for its catchiness, but also for the words that hide in its beat.  I encourage you to pause for five minutes to listen to this song.

Best,

Pat Ahern

Chief Editor, and the guy trying to share some amazing music

Just Another Subway Performer


Photo credit to telegraph.co

Photo credit to telegraph.co

A few weekends ago, I ventured home to visit my family.  Returning to school on Monday morning, I spent the day driving to the bus to take me to New York, and then sitting on the bus for five hours until we arrived in Manhattan.  By the time I got on the subway, I was exhausted, and only further worn down by the realization that the remainder of the night would be spent studying for tomorrow’s accounting midterm.  I found myself to be unusually short-tempered, and felt frustration at something as simple as those trying to sell fruit snacks on the train.  To add to this level of annoyance, another “typical” subway performer got on the train and proceeded to sing some of his songs.  At first, I found myself annoyed, but soon was surprised to find that this subway performer made my day. Continue reading →

“Iris,” by The Goo Goo Dolls


Written in 1998 as a single for the movie City of Angels, Iris is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. It tells the story of an angel who falls in love with a woman, and is willing to give anything to be with her. The angel, who has never experienced life as a human, states that he would give up eternal life simply to be able to touch her, and explains that he will never truly be happy without her in his life.

The angel has the ability to be seen by humanity, but is afraid that they wouldn’t understand him. The angel then proceeds to express his frustration at the fact that he can’t be with her, indicating that he wants nothing more than his love to acknowledge his presence.

Continue reading →

“Northern Wind,” by City and Colour


Photo credit to lyrics.as“Northern Wind,” by City and Colour

This song, released on the album Little Hell, by City and Colour, serves as a beautiful depiction of what it means to lose the one you love.  Dallas Green, the lead singer, spends the first half of the song describing his love for his lover, describing her as his “other half,” and stating that she is “All four seasons / Rolled into one.”  It seems as though Green is writing about coping with the loss of his loved one, alluding to her passing with lines such as, “You are the other half / You’re like a missing piece,” stating that, without her, he is no longer complete.  He then goes on describe his loneliness, stating, “I’m slowly sinking / Into the slough of despond.”

Green beautifully describes the feelings of hopelessness that result from losing a soulmate, and ends the song by praying that he will find her tonight.  Whether it be the loss of our love or the loss of a family member, this sorrow is a feeling that many of us can relate to, and one that many more of us will face at some point in our lives.  Let this song be a reminder of how grateful we are for those we hold dear in our lives – they won’t be with us forever, so be sure to let them know how much they mean to you.  Pause for five minutes to listen to this beautiful love song and think about what messages you take away from it.

 

Best,

Pat Ahern

Chief Editor, and the guy trying to share some amazing music

“Gravity,” by John Mayer


Photo credit to Wikipedia

“Gravity,” by John Mayer

I was first shown this song by my dad several years ago, and it has since become one of my favorites by John Mayer.  As the title suggests, the song is Mayer’s recognition that, no matter how successful one is, there are always outside forces that we must fight.  To Mayer, the song, released only seven years after his first full studio album, is his way of recognizing that he is not invincible.  He sees that other people far more successful than himself have failed to stay successful forever, and questions how he has not yet fallen out of the spotlight, stating “Gravity has taken better men than me / Now how can that be?”  In addition, I believe that Mayer is also suggesting the issues of material desires, stating “Oh twice as much / Ain’t twice as good…It’s wanting more / Gonna send me to my knees.”  Mayer starts to recognize the issue of always wanting more and more – of saying that you can always have a nicer car or a bigger house – and recognizes that this desire for material possessions has led to the downfall of so many great individuals.

Continue reading →