Take Off Your Cool

"Take Off Your Cool"
Andre 3000 ft. Norah Jones

For those of you that don't know... there is hardly a moment in my day where music is NOT present. I often fall asleep with my ipod on random, It's a fun experience because I really don't know what is on there. I've got approximately 8,000 songs on there right now(that number is always growing), but less then half of them were put on there by me (the rest are from other friend's, or family's itune collections) so what ends up happening is... in a daze of sleepy I hear songs that just draw me in and capture my attention. It's funny because I wake up the next morning and vaguely remember hearing something great and amazing, so I go through and try to find what song it was.... I've discovered a lot of great music this way =)

A few months ago.. I remember laying in bed, half awake from the venti soy vanilla latte I had consumed at one of our late night Sturbucks gatherings. A song came on... very unassuming at first. Just an acoustic guitar strumming a few chords... hardly worth opening my eyes for. After the short acoustic intro came the first vocals of the song....

"hey yaaa,
ba-doo-baa
ba-do-baa"

I have to admit I was a bit thrown by this... even thought about reaching over and skipping the track. After all, it was just an arms length away. Lucky I didn't, because Norah Jones soft soothing voice soon followed....

"baby, take off your cool
I want to see you
I want to see you
baby, don't be so cool
I want to see you
I want to see you"

The rest of the song is really just another 2 minutes of acoustic guitar with Andre 3000 chirping in with one more verse of...

"baby, take off you cool
I want to
get to
know you"

The song is SO simple, but still has such a strong meaning.

I think we get so caught up in this material life we live, that we often look at another human being and can't look past the facade they set forth for us to view. It presents two problems...

1. We often don't see the real beauty in the person standing in front of us.
2. We are incapable of viewing the real beauty in the person we see in the mirror, and that's why we post this facade for the rest of the world to see.

I wont lie.. I do it too
I think we all do to some extent, but the song really makes me want to "take off my cool" and be able too see the rest of the world "take off there cool" too. I know there are the ones I'm close with... the people whom the "cool" doesn't really matter, because in those relationships we are past all that immaturity, but when I really think about it... The amount of "cool" we all see in a day far out weighs the "real" we all see.

Baby. take off your cool
I want to see you
I want to see you

Plain and Simple

"this is what the world is for
making electricity"

Ohh, MGMT.... what a brilliant line =)
haha

Car Underwater

"I'm in a car underwater
with time to kill"
-Armor For Sleep: Car Underwater

I don't know how you feel about the little pop rock scene we have going on here.... I'll admit I'm a fan.... haha. They just have these catchy, cleaver lyrics.... and it's fun for me to listen to.

The first time I heard the song "Car Underwater" by Armor for Sleep... I was in fact asleep lol. The first verse passed through me without striking much of a nerve, but as soon as the chorus came on I woke up to actually give a thorough listening to the song.

"I'm in a car underwater with time to kill, Thinking back I forgot to tell you this
I didn't care that you left and abandoned me, what hurts more is I would still die for you"

I felt I could really relate to the words coming out of the speakers. The notion that it really didn't matter how much someone may have hurt me, because I'll still care about that individual. It's such an "emo" concept... but I don't even think of it in that way. I mean, Isn't it a selfless act to care for someone, even if it isn't returned to you?

In some ways I listen to the song and take it completely out of it's context, but I also think it's improtant to be able to pull your own individual meaning out of the music. Thats the beauty behind it all... the fact that all of us can relate to an individual song in very diffrent ways....

It used to feel like Heaven....

Every once in a while you come across a song that is arranged so well, it can send shivers down your spine. It's a fine balance between the words, the music, the melodies, the voice... and when it all comes together it's a true masterpiece. A work of art.

I have so much respect for the artist out there that can even produce one track this way... and as an artist myself I strive for that.

Do you're self a favor and listen to this track while you read through this =)

Corine Baily Rae
"Till It Happens to You"

I can close my eyes and get lost in this... over and over again.

As I set here and let the song slip into my ears and into my bloodstream, I want to pin point a verse or set of words where this song really just catches me and I can put into words why this song means so much to me, but I can't.... just because it's so amazing <3

"Walk Away" Franz Ferdinand

I was driving around today, the hazy California Sun setting in my mirrors... I had my ipod set on random... just because I've been in a random mood today, and this song came on.

Franz Ferdinand "Walk Away"*

*I really wanted to put a video here, but youtube disabled it for this song =(

I swapped my innocence for pride
Crushed the end within my stride
Said I'm strong now I know that I'm a leaver
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
Mascara bleeds a blackened tear, oh And I am cold, yes, I'm cold
But not as cold as you are
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
I love the sound of you walking away, walking away, hey hey

Why don't you walk away? Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
No buildings will fall down Won't you walk away
No quake will split the ground Why don't you walk away
The sun won't swallow the sky Why don't you walk away?
Statues will not cry Don't you walk away
Why don't you walk away? Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away? Hey
mmmmm

I cannot turn to see those eyes
As apologies may rise
I must be strong and stay an unbeliever
And love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
Mascara bleeds into my eye, oh And I'm not cold, I am old At least as old as you are
la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

And as you walk away Oh, as you walk away
And as you walk away
My headstone crumbles down As you walk away
The Hollywood winds will howl As you walk away
The Kremlin's falling As you walk away
Radio Four is static As you walk away
Oh, as you walk away Oh, as you walk away
Oh, as you walk away Hey

The stab of stiletto On a silent night
Stalin smiles and Hitler laughs
Churchill claps Mao Zedong on the back

I know the song... well enough in fact to sing along with it, but it's funny how when you are currently living through a situation... how songs that were somewhat meaningless to you before become such a great medium for being able to express what's unsaid, unseen, and many times unheard. The very first verse just hit me...

I swapped my innocence for pride
Crushed the end within my stride
Said I'm strong now I know that I'm a leaver
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
Mascara bleeds a blackened tear, oh And I am cold, yes, I'm cold
But not as cold as you are
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
I love the sound of you walking away, walking away

"Said I'm strong now I know that I'm a leaver" This can sum up my newest life lesson... 10 words. 10 words!

It was just a powerful lesson for me to learn... I guess to know that walking away from someone or something can make me stronger. I find myself getting caught up in these situations where I feel that leaving shows weakness, when in some ways walking away takes a lot more than staying put.

Like the start of the 2nd verse...

I cannot turn to see those eyes
As apologies may rise
I must be strong and stay an unbeliever

Overall I think this song is amazing, even more so when I sit here and listen to it over and over as I write this...
If you don't know the song here is the link to the music video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qII2RBVcEKQ

(Ok, so I've never actually watched this video... but if you just want to hear the song this will have to suffice, lol)

I love the sound of you walking away....

The Words That Inspire Me

This is where I come to share with you the words that inspire me, and evoke the kind of emotion every artist strives to achieve.

Maybe there lyrics, poetry, a quote, or even graffiti I find on the side of a rail car... but this is where I will share it all with you...

I hope you all enjoy reading from here on out =)

-Matt