Broken, Beat & Scarred

Long time no blog. Sorry about that. I've been busy the past few weekends - working on a Habitat for Humanity build, attending our youngest daughter's final Color Guard competition, preparing for and participating in the annual fantasy baseball draft.

Featured music in this post: "Breathe" by U2, "Broken, Beat & Scarred" by Metallica, "Bullets" by Creed, and "Buried Alive" by Alter Bridge.

Breathe - An excellent song from U2's new CD, "No Line on the Horizon". When I started this project, I said I wasn't going to add any new music to my iPod. But this is U2. Aside from that, "Breathe" is the first song alphabetically and it was added just in time to slip into this post. Besides, I made the rules, so I can use whatever loophole I want. (Isn't that how things work? It sure seems that way, seeing as how the easiest way to get named to a cabinet post is to screw your taxes up and owe the government tens of thousands of dollars. Dangit - I told myself I would avoid politics.)

Broken, Beat & Scarred - "What don't kill you, make you more strong", "Breaking your teeth on a hard life a-coming (show your scars)/Cutting your feet on the hard earth running (show your scars)/Breaking your life, broken, beat & scarred/We die hard". This is my favorite tune from Metallica's latest CD, "Death Magnetic". I think it's Metallica's best CD, along with the black album. The CD deals with addiction, abuse, and death. That hardly seems like the breeding ground for a song that is relentlessly positive and encouraging - and, yet, that's exactly what "Broken, Beat & Scarred" is. No matter what gets thrown at you, you come out stronger and ready to face more. When I listen to this song (which is very often), especially on this Easter Sunday, I can't help but picture Jesus, whipped mercilessly, having drug His cross up to Calvary, crucified, side pierced, leg bones shattered, and still saving me.

Bullets and Buried Alive - It's appropriate to find these 2 songs back-to-back. Bullets was on Creed's last CD, "Weathered". It's a great example of what went wrong with Creed. Before the release of Weathered, lead singer Scott Stapp told every media outlet he could get to listen that this was Creed's Sgt. Pepper - the CD that would cement their place in rock history. Creed's label and the rest of the band (those who remained, as Stapp had chased off bassist Brian Johnson earlier) allowed the group to dive headlong into Stapp's egomania and associated paranoia. Weathered frequently eschews Creed's former uplifting lyrics and transcendant sound to rail about perceived criticism and a drifting, noisy mess. (Not all of it, mind you, there's still some good stuff there.) So, after Creed had been smashed to bits by Stapp, the remaining members, Mark Tremonti (a tremendous guitarist) and drummer Scott "Flip" Phillips, reunited with Johnson and added singer/guitarist Myles Kennedy to form Alter Bridge. Alter Bridge is what Creed stopped being: a rock band. They make good rock music - some of it built around a message (like Blackbird, discussed in the last AlphaPod post) - but really just music. No paranoia, no indulgence of the front-man. Apparently, the band was asked by label executives to drop Kennedy and re-form Creed. Gladly, they stood their ground, backed Kennedy, and said no. I hope they continue to do so and keep putting out solid music.

• Breath of Water - Cave In
• Breathe - U2
• Breathe In - Paloalto
• Breed - Nirvana
• Bridge Over Troubled Water - Johnny Cash
• Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

This is the first set of multiple versions of a single song on my iPod. I prefer Cash's rugged and rough version.

• Brighter Than a Thousand Suns - Iron Maiden
• Bring'em Back Alive - Audioslave
• Bring It On Back - Jet
• Bring the People Together - Live
• Bringing It On Home - Triumph
• Broken - Jack Johnson
• Broken Road - 12 Stones
• Broken Toy - Keane
• Broken, Beat & Scarred - Metallica
• The Bronze Medal - Idlewild
• Brothers Unaware - Live
• Bryte Side - Pernice Brothers
• Bubble Toes - Jack Johnson : Now THIS is Jack Johnson.
  
• Buddy Holly - Weezer
• Bugs - Pearl Jam : Total crap.
  
• Built For the Future - The Fixx
• Bullet the Blue Sky - U2
• Bulletproof Weeks - Matt Nathanson : "What happened to bulletproof weeks in your arms?/What happened to sweet radio songs?/What happened to thinking that the world was flat?/What happened to that?" - Heartbreaking song of lost love. It will make an appearance later on a list of the saddest songs.
  
• Bullets - Creed
• Buried Alive - Alter Bridge
• Burn Away - Foo Fighters
• Burn Out Bright - Switchfoot
• Burnin' Up - Goo Goo Dolls
• The Burning Down - King's X
• Burning Love - Elvis Presley
• Burrito - Seether
• But Not For Me - Harry Connick, Jr.
• But, Honestly - Foo Fighters
• Buttercup - Sorta
• By-Tor & the Snow Dog - Rush
• By My Side - INXS
• By My Side - 3 Doors Down
• By Your Side - Default
• Bye Bye Love - The Cars

Summary:
Wrapped up the Bs.
Listened to 40 songs, skipped 2 (live versions of "Breed" and "Bullet the Blue Sky")
4 start with "Bring", 4 with "Broken", 5 with "Burn",

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Now playing: Elvis Presley - Burning Love
via FoxyTunes

Brave New World

Featured songs in this post - "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" by Concrete Blonde, "Boat On the River" by Styx, "Brave New World" by Iron Maiden, "Bravest Face" by Rush, and "Breakfast At Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something.

Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) - "Oh, you were a vampire and I may never see the light". Concrete Blonde does (do?) a great job of setting a creepy mood in this song. It almost has to be based on "Interview With the Vampire" by Anne Rice - it's about a woman and a vampire and it's set in New Orleans. A quick search online reveals a surprising number of songs with "vampire" in their titles. I only have 2, this one and "Vampires" by Fastball (one of my all-time favorite songs), which isn't about vampires.

Boat On the River - "And all roads lead to tranquility base/Where the frown on my face disappears". This is certainly not your typical rock song. Styx uses a mandolin and accordion to create a European or even Hebrew sound. That brings me to a list:

My favorite rock songs that use a mandolin:
5. "The Battle of Evermore" by Led Zeppelin
4. "Maggie Mae" by Rod Stewart
3. "Monty Got a Raw Deal" by R.E.M.
2. "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.
1. "Boat On the River" by Styx

Brave New World - Actually, this isn't one of my favorite Maiden songs, but the CD is really good. However, it's a good lead-in for another list (because people love lists):

Most literate rock bands:
5. U2
4. Rush
3. Metallica - "For Whom the Bell Tolls"; "One" is based on Dalton Trumbo's novel "Johnny Got His Gun".
2. The Police - "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov", "Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis".
1. Iron Maiden - Based an entire CD, "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", on an Orson Scott Card trilogy. Other songs include "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "Flight of Icarus", "To Tame a Land" (based on Frank Herbert's "Dune"), "Phantom of the Opera", and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

Bravest Face - I'm going to quote the lyrics, because I like them so much. It's a really good song. In a way both depressing and uplifting - the world ain't perfect, so go make the best of it you can.

"In the softest voice there's an acid tongue
In the oldest eyes there's a soul so young
In the shakiest will there's a cord of steel
On the smoothest ride there's a squeaky wheel
In the sweetest child there's a vicious streak
In the strongest man there's a child so weak
In the whole wide world there's no magic place
So you might as well rise, put on your bravest face"

Breakfast At Tiffany's - "I said 'What about Breakfast At Tiffany's?'/She said 'I think I remember the film/And as I recall I think we both kinda liked it'/And I said 'Well, that's the one thing we got" - Deep Blue Something was a Dallas-area band that looked like they were on the brink of national stardom. I'm not sure if this song was a hit outside of this area, but it was huge here - garnering more local airplay in its year of release than any other song, not any other local song, any song period. Unfortunately, legal hassles delayed and finally cancelled the band's second CD release, and after years of trying they finally gave up. That's too bad, because this is a truly great song, and they had a ton of potential.

• Black Again - Stone Temple Pilots
• Black Math - The White Stripes (I have no idea what he's talking about, but it rocks)
• Black Wave - The Shins
• Blackbird - Alter Bridge : "Let the wind carry you home/Blackbird fly away/May you never be broken again" - About a guy on their road crew who died after battling cancer.
  
• Bleed - Collective Soul
• Bleeding Me - Metallica
• Blew - Nirvana
• Blinded by the Stars - Pernice Brothers : "Give a name to this terrifying change"
  
• Blinding Light Show/Moonchild - Triumph : "And the blind shall lead the sighted/As we lose the candle glow/And no one knows tomorrow/In the blinding light show"
• Blood - Jibe
• Blood & Roses - The Smithereens : "I need your love but it comes out wrong/I tried to live but I don't belong/I close my eyes and I see blood and roses"
  
• Blood Brothers - Iron Maiden
• Blood On the Ground - Incubus : "I bite my tongue every time you come around/Cause blood in my mouth beats blood on the ground"
• Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) - Concrete Blonde
• Blue-Sky Research/What's Left - Taproot
• Blue Collar Man - Styx
• Blue Jean - Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers
• Blue Period - The Smithereens
• Blue Side - Rooney
  
• Blue Spanish Sky - Chris Isaak : "I only wish I could make you cry, like I do"
  
• Blues Before & After - The Smithereens
• Boat On a River - Styx
• Bodies - Drowning Pool : "Let the bodies hit the floor"
  
• Body - Bush
• The Body Electric - Rush : As a computer geek, I love these lyrics - "1001001 SOS/1001001 In distress"
  
• Body Language - Queen
• Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Back to back songs by Queen

• Bold As Love - John Mayer
• Bomb - Switchfoot
• Bombs Away - The Police
• Bones - Paloalto
• Boomerang - Fastball
• The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
• A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash
• Boy On a String - Jars of Clay
• Brain of J. - Pearl Jam : "The whole world will be different soon/The whole world will be relieved"
  
• A Brand New Me - Dusty Springfield
• Brand New Start - Alter Bridge
• Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass
  
• Bravado - Rush : "We will pay the price/But we will not count the cost"
  
• Brave New World - Iron Maiden
• Bravest Face - Rush
• Breadmaker - Brother Cane : "Breadmaker, who sent you?/Can't take your presence anymore/Breadmaker, who made you?/Won't be your savior anymore"
  
• Break Me Down - Alter Bridge
• Breakdown - Jack Johnson
• Breakdown - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• Breakfast At Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something
  
• Breaking My Fall - Jeremy Camp
  
• Breakout - Foo Fighters
• The Breakup Song - The Greg Kihn Band

Summary:
Listened to 50 songs. Skipped 1 (Live version of "Bravado")
2 ampersands, 2 slashes, 1 period
4 Black, 7 Blue
2 Bleed, 5 Blood
7 Break

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Now playing: Iron Maiden - Brave New World
via FoxyTunes