How music transcends the whole nine yards

The other day, a friend was talking about how she thinks mediocrity transcends language barriers as she recalls having watched an awful musical at Stadthalle. It was a version of the "Phantom of the Opera" in German, which extremely disappointed her and she felt like she was robbed of her EUR 60. Well, for one, Vienna is home to a number of opera houses so I can't blame her for the major letdown.

Anyway, moving on...I was wandering through a 3-meter long Bulletin Board in the university full of posts, from Spanish tutorials to flats for rent, when I came across a poster that caught my attention because of the line that says "Latin, African, Asian". Then I realized that it's a special event at a Sunday Church service. No biggie, I wrote down the details of the event on my calendar and went to their Sunday service.

Road to the Kephas Church...

There I realized how (gospel) music transcends language barriers. It's amusing and amazing at the same time. The worship team was a set of mostly LatAms and the praise and worship songs were all sung in Spanish. I recognized the melody of the first song to be that of "Take It All" by Hillsong. The other song was unfamiliar. But towards the end of the song, with the repeating lyrics "Con mi fe te exaltare, con mi amor te exaltare, con mi ser te exaltare", I found myself singing as well (of course they had the lyrics projected on the screen). The thing with Gospel songs, it’s easy to get a hold of the tune not only because they’re catchy, but also because of the fact that they keep singing the lyrics of a song, most often the chorus, over and over.

The song is actually "Me Viniste a Rescatar" (English title: Came to my Rescue) by Hillsong.

Talking about how music transcends language barriers, I remember being glued to that performance of Siyaya, an African street-performing group. Listening and watching them on YouTube while reminiscing that moment still gives me goose bumps every time. Imagine me standing on the streets of Cambridge with other engrossed tourists watching these guys perform real awesome music (in an African language). It’s a totally different experience to actually see them perform live! Their music exudes free spirit and vivacity. They are phenomenal, I must say.

Here's a Youtube clip of the group performing at the exact same spot where we saw them last year in Cambridge. This was in 2010.

Music transcends anxiety. I remember back in college, it was my final exam in swimming and it was my first class that day. I was sooooo nervous (you can’t imagine how nervous!!) about the treading part of the exam because I wasn’t able to do it properly during our final practice, so much so that if that was the actual exam, I would have failed. So what I did was I set my mp3 player on loop, playing “Meet With Me”, a gospel song, from when I left my dorm until before I plunged into the pool for the “final judgement”. And I guess the music was a hell lotta help because I passed!

Most of the time, music transcends my indolence. Music is often the key to perk me up, to motivate and to inspire me. It’s my energy bar. Whenever I feel like couch potato-ing (for the second day in a row) at home, I know it’s time to play my perky playlist to get me moving. Even if it’s just tidying my room as long as I’m being productive. Don’t get me wrong, I love couch potato-ing! Who doesn’t?!? It’s heaven! But if I know that I’ve been doing it long enough that I can already feel it’s getting harder to get up on an heavy ass (literally), then that’s already dreadful

Music transcends many other things – fear, conflict, and barriers, be it age, sex, culture or language. And music influences people either negatively or positively. But I’d like to believe that it’s positive for most people, just as how music influences my way of life – living life to the fullest.

I don't say goodbye

Animation: Ryan Woodward

Song: The World Spins Madly On (The Weepies)

I let the day go by

I always say goodbye

I watch the stars from my window sill

The whole world is moving

and I'm standing still

End it the Greek way

It was a memorable journey with the gang and I've grown to love the happy-go lucky Cappie as the show progressed. But Rusty (aka Spitter), the resident polymer science geek, has been (and still is) my favorite since the pilot ep. And I'm so glad that he and Ashley ended up together. Ash had Spitter at "I don't date roommates". Yay.

It ended with a blast and you wouldn't really expect it to be full of so much emotions, making you realize that it's not just another college-themed series, but a story about relationships, family, and meaningful friendships. The finale was a total tearjerker! Or maybe I have been so attached to it that I just got carried away. Not to mention, the finale OST was perfect.

• Jack's Mannequin - "Spinning"
• William Fitzsimmons - "After Afterall"
• The Weepies - "Living In Twilight"
• The Courteeners - "Take Over The World"
• Andrew Belle - "My Oldest Friend"
• Youth Group - "Forever Young"

Plus, I discovered my newest duo to love: The Weepies!

Yesterday when you were young
Everything you needed done was done for you
Now you do it on your own
But you find you're all alone, what can you do?

You and me walk on, walk on, walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

Some things are just meant to end....like Greek. But life goes on.

TheLazySong-inspired

Ironically, the funky tune that says "...today I don't feel like doing anything *whistle whistle*..." makes me wanna do otherwise.

. :

Ergo, I was pepped up by this song to do a bit of tidying up in my topsy-turvy room. :)

From time to time, my maliit na room would look something like this - a complete disaster, à la Payatas.

I just need to open up my curtains, see the light (by light, I don't necessarily mean the bright shining sun in England...if you know what I mean), and listen to the right song to keep me from lazing around. After-cleaning pics next time. ;)

Song of the moment: Wide Open Spaces - by Dixie Chicks

Who doesn’t know what I’m talking about
Who’s never left home, who’s never struck out
To find a dream and a life of their own
A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

Many precede and many will follow
A young girl’s dream no longer hollow
It takes the shape of a place out west
But what it holds for her, she hasn’t yet guessed

[Chorus:]
She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes

She traveled this road as a child
Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired
But now she won’t be coming back with the rest
If these are life’s lessons, she’ll take this test

[Repeat Chorus]
She knows the high stakes

As her folks drive away, her dad yells, “Check the oil!”
Mom stares out the window and says, “I’m leaving my girl”
She said, “It didn’t seem like that long ago”
When she stood there and let her own folks know

—————————————————————————————————————

I first heard this song back in college (final year), basically the same time when I first discovered Dixie Chicks. Whenever I play my Dixie Chicks playlist, it always brings me back to my thesis days. Their songs kind of inspired me and made me keep going, along with the Japanese dramas (‘Orange Days’ and ‘Honey and Clover’, among others) that I was watching in between experiment and thesis writing days.

I haven’t internalized the lyrics of this song until now…

She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces

Growing up with my grandparents, I felt like I have always been sheltered from the “cruel” world. I remember how my grandma wouldn’t let us go out most of the time when we were kids because she’s so scared that we’d bruise our knees, so I’m almost always just playing at home with my brother (which was a good thing in a way). I even remember playing guns with my brother and later on, WWE and Mortal Kombat on playstation. And when I started high school, that’s when I stopped playing (and being a child), I guess. I’ve grown to be that nice, boring person until I finish college. Now I realize that I regret the fact that I haven’t done so much when I was an undergraduate. I was all focused on my academics (not really focused, but that was all that I was worrying about). I haven’t even gotten myself into any shenanigan of any sort.

After the board exam, I decided to move to Europe. It was a big leap and I’ve passed up a couple of job opportunities because of this. But moving with my family turned out to be good…for a while. But then I wasn’t growing as a person and everything was always the same and felt like being inside a box with boundaries. I believe that the world should be borderless in all aspects. So after a year, I was convinced to take the slot at a university in England, one of my spontaneities where I didn’t know a thing about the place and didn’t even had an accommodation prior to my arrival. Now I know that it’s a crappy place up here, but as a friend said, it’s not about the shittiness of this place but how you make the most of your stay. We should not dwell on its flaws. Instead, we should use every opportunity to meet and learn from people, which I did and am still doing. The good thing about this place, especially the university, is its being multicultural. The university prides itself in having students from over 100 countries, mainly because of its Peace Studies programme. You’ll occasionally meet people from Latvia, Lithuania, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya, America, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, China, S. Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, even people from Nepal and Ethiopia (I’ve never met anyone from these countries before), and a looot more!

If it’s a good thing or not in general, I don’t really know, but I always want/need new faces and a new environment every time. You really learn a lot from people and places. I can’t say I’m a changed person, maybe a slightly improved one.

Looking at the Sun - by Gramercy

Plus listening to Gramercy’s “Looking at the Sun” on loop, also on “#JudgementDay”.

Terrified - by Katharine McPhee ft. Zachary Levi

What can I say…Chuck CAN sing!

Beautiful things

New Slang - by The Shins

I’ve always loved listening to this "life-changing" (according to Nat's character in the film) song. Nostalgic, pero di ko pa rin matarok… After watching Garden State (which, by the way, is a great film), I remember, I was loop playing this single track on my mp3 for days, if not weeks. I was literally listening to it whenever, wherever, even when I had to take a trip to brown town! Seriously.

After that, it has been a chain of events for the evolution of my preference in music -- from discovering Zach Braff to discovering The Shins to discovering the Zach Braff-Joshua Radin connection. This series of connections led me to exploring the OST of some Zach-related projects, which eventually led me further to the sounds of other artists like Iron and Wine.

Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.
Only, i don't know how they got out, dear.
Turn me back into the pet that i was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set.

And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, i'd 'a jumped from my tree
And i'd a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well.

New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called
But my head's to the wall and i'm lonely.

And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, i'd 'a jumped from my tree
And i'd a danced like the kind of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well.

God speed all the bakers at dawn may they all cut their thumbs,
And bleed into their buns 'till they melt away.

I'm looking in on the good life i might be doomed never to find.
Without a trust or flaming fields am i too dumb to refine?
And if you'd 'a took to me like
Well i'd a danced like the queen of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well.

Stuck Like Glue - by Sugarland

Stuck like glue din ako sa kantang to. Playlist overplayed.

There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time?
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo

I'm stuck on you
Whooo whooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue
Whooo whooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue

Eet - by Regina Spektor

You spent half of your life trying to fall behind
You're using your headphones to drown out your mind