I suppose every state (or country for that matter) has their own weather quirks. Here in Michigan, the weather is a subject of humor almost daily. There is a plethora of funny cartoons/memes about that very subject. Here are a few of my favorites:
Alas, Spring is trying to get here. We had a few nice days this week, but it was still a bit chilly. All the kids had to see was that it was sunny and they wanted outside.
Before they went out, they had been playing in the “dress-up” bin. Ella was in her Skye from Paw Patrol outfit, while Andrew was Cat Boy from PJ Masks. They wanted to go out and ride their bikes, scooters and electric car. They didn’t even take off their outfits. Instead, they played out in the front of the house in them. One can only imagine what folks thought as they drove by.
Ella as Skye
The Cat Boy mask has a see through blue plastic window. I am almost positive that Andrew had it twisted upside down because the mask didn’t look like it fit him properly.
Andrew as Cat Boy
Another sign that spring and summer are coming is that the baseball teams are practicing out on the field behind our house. I love when they practice. The kids usually play on the swings or in the sandbox while I watch the practice.
I don’t remember seeing it last year, but they actually have a pitching machine this year. It’s kind of funny to watch because the coach acts like he is going to throw the ball and when his arm comes down, he drops the ball in the machine. I thought this was weird until I heard him tell the batter “When my arm get’s up here, that’s when you gear up to swing.” Ok, makes sense now.
In all the years I have watched the practices, the batters have always used the aluminum bats. Summer is full of the “Tink” sounds of the ball hitting the bat. At this particular practice, I was surprised to hear the sound of the ball hitting a wooden bat. Oh, how I know that sound!
When we would play ball every day in the summer as kids, we never used aluminum bats. We’d have 10-12 wooden bats of different lengths and with different players autographs etched into the bat. When the ball would hit the sweet spot, it made such a glorious sound!
Detroit Tiger legend and announcer George Kell
There were about 4-5 kids out of 15-16 on the field that used a wooden bat to hit with. When they connected, that ball would launch over the fielder’s heads. I am anxious to see just how many use them in games this spring/summer.
Whether we decide to take a trip out of town or just sit in lawn chairs watching high school baseball, I am SO looking forward to nice weather.
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
As you might remember, I started this last May on my birthday. I have tried to work a week or two ahead on this feature. One thing I have noticed as we move into the late 2010’s and 2020’s is that there are not that many songs that mean anything to me. No life event connects with them. There are only a few I may like. That being said, it is very possible that I will combine two or three years into one week. I also have a feeling that there may be upcoming years where I don’t pick any songs. If that happens, the feature will wrap sooner than expected, which may be a good thing.
2014 was actually a good year of music for me. I turned 44 that year. I had a new career in sleep and was still able to do a few hours on the radio. Many of the songs from this year were ones I played on the air …
It didn’t mean much to me in 2014, but Let It Go by Idina Menzel sure does today. It is the first song I danced to with my daughter at our first Daddy/Daughter Dance. That may have been the only song we danced to that first year, but I will never forget it. It is from her favorite movie, Frozen.
“Kids don’t want to stand out all the time, they want to fit in,” Menzel said regarding this song. “It’s about finding that thing that makes you different that’s going to make you special and extraordinary.”
Let It Go won for Best Song at the Oscars in the 2014 ceremony. It also earned an entry in the 2016 Guinness World Records book for “Most Languages Featured on a Single.” It was recorded in 42 different languages for Frozen‘s foreign releases.
Let It Go
Paramore was primarily known for their rock music. Ain’t It Fun is a very different sound for them. It was more pop/dance than rock. (From songfacts) Bassist Jeremy Davis told The Guardian that the band had their largely teenage fan base in mind. “After we started writing weird stuff like ‘Ain’t It Fun,’ we got nervous,” he said. “But that was a comfort. We’ve grown and we don’t like the same music we liked, so why would [our fans] not? That idea kept us pushing ourselves.”
Songfacts also says, “This upbeat track mixes gospel, soul and some Prince-style R&B. Hayley Williams told The Sun: “Taylor (York) and I came up with the melody and I thought about Prince, too. Then it got layered with more groove and funk and all the cool elements. The next thing I know there’s a gospel choir in the studio and we have that track. It’s been so liberating to write this record.”
The xylophone in the song really helped the song to stand out on the air. That’s what I remember most about the first time I played it. “Well, that’s certainly different,” I thought.
The song is catchy. I don’t know that I’d call it an earworm, but you get hooked right from the beginning.
Ain’t It Fun
The next song is one that I have written about before. I chose it in the 2021 Song Draft that Hanspostcard hosted. It is one of those songs that I love to listen to. Here is the blog I wrote for the Song Draft:
Who would have imagined that in 2014 a Cole Porter song would be popular? Thanks to Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Porter’s Anything Goes was very popular … again.
The recording of the song took place over a year in New York City. Bennett’s quartet was present, as well as other musicians. It received mostly positive reviews. The Chicago Tribune said that it found Gaga to be in “good voice” and Bennett in “classic form”. V Magazine called the song a “fresh take” on the original. MTV News said “Gaga is clearly having a blast, doing her best Broadway belting with tons of energy and enthusiasm”
On the Billboard Jazz Digital Songs chart, the track debuted at the top, becoming Gaga’s second entry on that chart, following “The Lady is a Tramp”. The song was Bennett’s 15th entry on the Jazz Digital Songs chart, and his third number-one single. “Anything Goes” sold 16,000 digital downloads in the US during the week of its release.
Lady Gaga’s voice is one that could easily sing the American Song Book. The true sound of her voice is lost on current music. And how could you not like Tony Bennett?
Anything Goes
One song that really stands out to me from 2014 is Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran. It was one that many brides I DJ’d for picked as their first dance. It’s a great choice.
The first time I heard it, it reminded me a bit of Into the Mystic by Van Morrison. Little did I know that Ed says Van Morrison heavily influenced this song. He told songfacts:
“No one’s really channeled Van Morrison for a long time. Everyone always channels, Michael Jackson and the Beatles and Bob Dylan, and I feel like Van Morrison is a key figure in the music that I make.”
The video features Sheeran and his partner Brittany Cherry ballroom dancing and was shot all at once in 16 mm film. “I wanted the video to be a little different, so I opted for ballroom dancing,” he explained when the video was released in October 2014. “I had lessons for five hours a day when I was on my US tour last month.”
Songfacts says: With electronic music ruling the airwaves, this was one of the few hit songs of its time with a guitar solo (played by Chris Leonard), which is near the end of the song in place of a bridge. Running 4:41, it was also very long by 2014 hit song standards, although this extra time makes the song more appealing as a first dance wedding number.
Thinking Out Loud
When Shake It Off hit the radio, it drove me crazy. At that time, Taylor Swift was everywhere. There was a ton of publicity leading up to her 1989 album. This was the lead single.
This song IS an earworm. Even if I switched stations or turned down the monitors in the studio, I still found that it would run through my head. Gee, I don’t know why? The phrase “shake it off” shows up 36 times in this song, mostly in the chorus. “Shake” appears 70 times. URGH!
Songfacts says: The song originated from Swift learning to overcome her fear of not being accepted. “I think it kind of takes not caring what people think about you a step further to kind of locking the fact that people don’t get you,” she explained to BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast Show. “Kind of taking pride in the fact that you know you are and it honestly doesn’t matter if someone else doesn’t want to understand you. We go through these scenarios in so many different phrases of our lives, no matter what it is.”
“I’ve had to learn a pretty tough lesson in the past couple years that people can say whatever they want about at any time, and we cannot control that,” said Swift. “The only thing we can control is our reaction to that… You can either let it get to you… [or] you just shake it off.”
Shake It Off
Another big song that worked well as school dances was Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon. I used to love watching folks jumping around and dancing to it. It was always great to hear them shout the chorus as it played.
Vocalist Nicholas Petricca told American Songwriter magazine the story of the song:
“Well, (Guitarist) Eli Maiman and I were working on something that’s now the verse. And it had this great feeling that we couldn’t stop playing over and over. We didn’t have a chorus and we didn’t have a subject or a lyric.”
“So over the next weekend, I went to this awesome party they have at The Echo in Echo Park, Los Angeles, called Funky Soul Saturday. The story of ‘Shut Up and Dance’ is based on a true story of hanging out there with my friends… this girl actually told me to shut up and dance with her. We took it back to the studio and it spun out very quickly after that.”
It was only later that Petricca realized he could use the girl’s comment as a song lyric. “At the time, I was in my head and not with it,” he said. “She’s one of my best friends and pulled me out into the moment, and that really became the subject of the song. Encouraging people to let go of whatever it is that’s bothering you and get into your body and out of your head. Coming home and working on the song I thought, this is it. This is totally it.”
Shut Up and Dance
OneRepublic makes a second appearance on the list with an amazing song – I Lived.
Songfacts says:
While opening for U2 in the summer of 2012, OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder observed the effect of Bono’s lyrics on the Irish band’s fans, as they sung along to their songs. “These lyrics are so from his gut and so like honest, but poetic,” Tedder told Radio.com. “They’re not trying to be ambiguous or trying to be cool.”
Inspired, Tedder decided that with the Native he was going to write lyrics people could relate to, which meant he would have to share a little bit of himself. Accordingly, nothing on the album is a work of fiction. This song, for instance is a love letter to the singer’s son, Copeland Cruz, who was born in 2010.
How often are we told to live life to its fullest? The chorus is an example of doing just that:
I, I did it all I, I did it all I owned every second that this world could give I saw so many places The things that I did Yeah, with every broken bone I swear I lived
The song’s music video pays tribute to teenage fan, Bryan Warnecke, and his struggles living with cystic fibrosis. The clip ends with Tedder driving Warnecke to a concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado to see OneReublic perform.
I Lived
Another song that jumped out of the radio at listeners was Honey, I’m Good by Andy Grammer. The song almost sounded out of place on Adult Contemporary stations because of its “country” sound. Grammer even went as far as to call the song, “a fun hoedown!”
The song’s music video features a montage of around one hundred real-life couples that have been together from several months to over 70 years. Grammer said, “My manager and I were on the phone talking about an idea for the video. We wanted to press home the concept that this isn’t a song about a guy who’s cheating. This is about a guy who is being true. So we started calling all of our friends and family that we knew had been married for a long time and asked them to lip sync the song.”
“They all started sending videos in and we started asking by word of mouth if people knew a couple who’d been married a long time. It was so fun getting all our friends and family involved that we decided to just put it up on social media and ask the fans to be part of the video too. We asked them to get their parents and grandparents to be in it also.”
Honey I’m Good
Finally, another song that just clicked with the school dance crowds, as well as adult crowds. Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars struck gold with Uptown Funk.
The intro reminds me of the intro to Smoke on the Water. As it progresses, you get another instrument, then another, etc… Songfacts explains:
This intro sets the stage for the rest of the song, introducing the hooky “doh doh doh” vocal and the clapping drum sound (made with a Linn drum machine) that show up throughout the song. Before the intro ends, various other key instruments in the song appear: bass, snare drums, cheery guitar, horns and a swishy synth effect.
Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars and the producer Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Drake, Alicia Keys) share writing and production credits on the song. It originated from a lick that Mars and his band were playing on tour.
“When we hit on that opening line – ‘This s–t, that ice cold. Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold’ – we knew that we had the seed of this really exciting idea,” Ronson told Billboard magazine. “I pushed myself much more than I have on anything else in the past.”
Mars and Ronson create a monster party vibe in this song, starting with the title: “Uptown” implies high class, while “Funk” is the rhythm and release. The lyrics are way over-the-top, with Mars explaining that he’s so hot he’s forcing dragons into retirement. It’s clever, fun and outrageous, but also meticulously constructed with a mix of rhyming patterns.
The song went on to be the biggest of 2015.
Uptown Funk
So there you have it, 2014 in song. Did I miss one of your favorites from that year? Tell me about it in the comments.
Next week, we’ll look at 2015. My list includes the first song my wife and I ever talked about (before we were married) and one by her favorite country singer. It also includes a “tribute” to Frank Sinatra and the worst dance song since Gangnam Style! All that and more next week.
Wednesday night into Thursday, we got hit with some decent snow. Travel was treacherous and they were telling folks to stay home. Naturally, people with a sleep study scheduled, still showed up! Urgh!
I loved playing in the snow as a kid. We made snow forts and such and would be frostbitten when it was time to come inside.
I have yet to make a good snow fort with my kids. That’s not to say that we didn’t have some fun in the snow, because we did. We did a lot of sledding and just snow silliness.
This was one of my favorite pictures. My two older boys and I sledding down the street from our first house. The hill wasn’t too big, but it was fun for them.
They really loved just playing in the snow. Just like my two younger kids.
I have always loved the look on Ella’s face in this one. All I was doing was pulling her around the yard. She loved it.
Andrew is all about going outside no matter what the weather! He’s a snowballer. He loves to throw snow balls.
I’m sure I have plenty of other snowy shots, but for now, these warm my heart on a cold Michigan day.
Ella had a fun birthday! She thanks everyone who sent birthday wishes.
She had really hoped to go to the Children’s Museum, but it was closed. So we decided to take her down to Build a Bear where she could pick her own animal, stuff it and pick an outfit. She loved every second.
Despite the many bears, she chose to Build a Cat! The lady at the stuffing machine had her step on the pedal to shoot the stuffing in the kitty. She then got to pick a heart and put it inside the kitty. After she was stuffed, Ella went and got her a rainbow tutu and rainbow shoes to match!
Andrew got Chase from Paw Patrol. He had to get the uniform, the boots, and the hat and “pup pack.”
You can’t put a price on fun or kid memories. But this was an expensive trip! I can’t imagine my folks ever spending almost $200 on two stuffies!
They loved it, though and they will always remember that! On the way home we had to stop by Nana and Pa’s house to pick up her “Mermaid tail” cake. Nana made it out of cupcakes and she was thrilled with it.
After dinner and cake, Ella finally got to open her gifts. She got a huge box of beads and such to make necklaces, rings, bracelets and more. She also got a princess game.
Basically, the game is like the game Cootie. You spin the spinner move along the board and collect your earrings, your ring, your necklace, your bracelet and finally the crown. Collect all of those without having the “cursed ring” and you win.
When your birthday girl asks you to play … you do!
Ridiculous!
Tuesday morning, she couldn’t wait to show her class her cat! Her teachers were nice enough to let her sit up front and tell her story about building the kitty and she passed it around. I was there because she wanted me to make sure that the cat made it home safe. She wanted her to be ok when she got home from school.
Five years! Wow. It is so hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday that I was posting about her being born.
I am so glad she had a good day and I hope she’ll always remember it!
Five years ago, my life changed forever. I became a girl dad. Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl.
My wife made me shed a tear or two with her post today:
HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY to my sweet Pamela Rose!!
Today you are officially 5, the day that you have been waiting for, for so long! This has been such a year of growth for you! You started sports and completed a year of TBall. You are in dance which has totally turned into your favorite thing. You started preschool and have the best teachers and friends! You have turned into such a great friend who is always so proud of your friend’s accomplishments. You have started to read and write and just all around thrive.
This year you have asked us to start calling you your “big name” Pamela instead of your nickname Ella. Which totally made my mommy heart melt when you told me it is because you wanted to have matching names with your best friend (Nana!)
Sweet girl keep being the stubborn, funny, loving, best friend and best big sister, the smart and caring girl you are! Because you are loved!
Loved indeed!! Oh, the love I feel for her!!
From the moment I first saw her my heart was bursting with love. That love continues to grow every second of every day!
Happy birthday, Sissy! Daddy loves you more than you will ever know! I am so thankful that God gave you to us! What a blessing you are!!
Sam pointed out to me that next to Christmas, the day of the Daddy Daughter Dance is what our daughter looks forward to most. She is SO right. We’ve been counting down the days since Christmas!
Thanks to the steroids that the doctor put me on, I packed on a few more pounds than I anticipated. So, I had to alter my outfit at the last minute. Ella, of course, noticed. She asked, “Aren’t you going to wear a tie tonight, daddy?” I told her this year I wanted to be different, and she was ok with that lame excuse.
She looked just beautiful. What an honor to be escorting her to the dance.
We arrived early, and she insisted that she wanted to go inside. I told her we were 30 minutes early and the door was probably locked. She made me get out of the car and try the door, which was open. LOL. We went upstairs to get the professional photo taken, then headed to the gym.
The DJ was already playing music. He was one of those “gotta mix the songs at the same beat guys.” I’ve never been that way. I always felt it sounded weird when two songs were playing at the same time for 30 seconds. Ella didn’t notice and started to dance, even though she was one of four girls in the gym.
The theme this year was Barbie. So we had to get a photo with Ken and Barbie.
They also had a Barbie car for us. Naturally, I let Ella drive….
I think we just avoided hitting a roadrunner on that trip!
One of the projects that we could do together was to “bedazzle” some sunglasses. We made a pair for each of us. She said she wanted to make glasses for her brother and for her mom, so we went back later and did that.
She requested Let It Go from Frozen and we got to dance to that again. Three years in a row, that has been our first dance together. A while later, she was sitting drinking water and they played My Girl by the Temptations. I said, “Oh, Daddy loves this song!” She set her water bottle down and said, “Then we have to dance to it!” I picked her up and swayed with her, singing it to her. She was all smiles.
Not too long ago, on my Music of My Life feature, I mentioned how the song Daughters by John Mayer took on a new meaning when I became “girl dad.” Well, that new meaning went a lot deeper last night. This will forever be one of the best moments of my life:
When Daughters started to play, we were still swaying. She put her arms around my neck and leaned her head against mine. I reached up and wrapped my arm around her. For 4 minutes, it was just her and me. I swayed with my eyes closed, holding back tears. It was the most amazing dance. I was lost in my thoughts, too.
I know that as a 54 year old man, I may not be around when she gets married. We may never get the chance to have THAT Daddy/Daughter dance. So I treasure the ones we do get, and that one was extra special!
Every year, we take pre-dance pictures. It is amazing to compare them and see how much she has grown. This year’s was eye opening. In the first one, she still has that “baby” look to her. She would have been three for that dance. My beard gets more grey in them, too. The photos are a reminder of just how fast time goes by and how every moment is important.
Ella, thank you for spending such an amazing evening with me. Every day my love for you grows. I am already looking forward to next year’s dance. I love you forever!
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year
In 2008, I turned 38. I was now a father of two boys, one with special needs. I was working in country radio at the time. Still grieving my mom’s passing, my emotions were heightened. Happiness was extra happy, sadness was extra sad, if that makes sense. So let’s get into 2008 and feel all the emotions…..
The first tune was released in January of 2008 and it struck me like a brick to the head. It was a song that really made me stop to realize how I had to take in all the little moments that were going on with my boys, even when I was too upset to do so.
I’ve written about this song before on here. It meant a lot then, and even more now. You’re Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins blew me away the first time I heard it. It is all about how the things that aggravate you now, are the same things that you will miss in the years to come.
The song written by Ashley Gorley and Lee Thomas Miller. When they first worked on the song, they were so busy writing it and getting it recorded that they didn’t get into the emotion of it. It was only when Adkins recorded it that the duo realized its depth. If you have children, young or old, it hits home.
You’re Gonna Miss This
Natasha Bedingfield’s Pocketful of Sunshine is a song that kind of jumped out of the radio at me. It was one of seven songs that were recorded for her Unwritten album that were included to be “radio friendly” to American audiences. It was a good choice, as it was a Top 5 record for her.
Outside of the rhythm of the song, and the cadence of the vocal, the only other reason I can think of for liking the song is the chorus. The idea of having a bit of sunshine in your pocket, that struck me. On crappy days, you always carry sunshine with you to help you get through. I guess I needed to think about life that way. I had a lot of good going on in my life, and I needed to start focusing on that.
Pocketful of Sunshine
Brad Paisley is not only a fantastic guitar player, he is an amazing songwriter! He can write some of the most beautiful love songs and at the same time a “raise your beer at the bar and get drunk” song. The ones I really like are those where he finds those male vs female angles. That’s the next song, I’m Still A Guy.
The lyrics of this one are just great. Male perspective vs female perspective come verse after verse. “When you see a deer, you see Bambi, and I see antlers up on the wall” is just one example of the fantastic writing of Paisley.
From songfacts.com:
Brad Paisley explained to Great American Country: “I just wanted to capture this struggle a little bit between men and women in a playful way, which is ‘Why don’t you get a little cosmopolitan here and feminize up for me just a bit?’ [laughs] We’re fighting that every step of the way, some of us guys, and ironically in talking to the radio guys, they say the majority of the calls for it come from women, and I think the same thing happened with ‘I’m Gonna Miss Her.’ These women want their men to hear it, and by golly, that is the best way to get a man to hear something is to play it for their significant other. They’re gonna be forced to listen to it. It’s got that nudge-your-partner-with-your-elbow factor to it.”
I’m Still a Guy
“Kid Rock on a country station?!”
Those were the words of more than one country program director when All Summer Long came out. It was one of those songs that hit the Top 40 Chart for both Modern Rock and Country! Because Kid is from Michigan, it made sense for us to play it, but the rest of the country?
Kid Rock explained to MTV News why the song was so big:
“I knew the track was solid – it’s got two of the best songs of all time mashed up together [‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Werewolves of London’], it’s got great melodies, so really, my work was done. I knew people would hear it and know I wrote it. They’d know it was real, and there’d be that connection. And that’s what’s missing in music today. I think people don’t believe half the s–t they hear some rapper or some pop girl singing about… but with me, they do. And that’s why people have reacted the way they have to the song.”
All Summer Long
The next song is on my list for a weird reason. I can nail the drum line!
Pink told the story of this song: “‘So What’ was a joke. I heard this beat from Max Martin. It’s such a fun beat, so fun. And I was actually kidding when I said, ‘I guess I just lost my husband, I don’t know where he went.’ Ha ha, that’s really funny. Let’s keep it and it just kind of went from there. And it just got more and more wrong. The more lines we wrote, the wronger it was. And we kept it because I don’t really care. I don’t think about the consequences when I write songs and now I am regretting every second of it. No, I’m not.”
At one of our family Christmas parties, one of the brothers-in-law had brought over their Playstation or X-Box with Rock Band on it. He had the guitars, the drum kit and whatever else they needed for the game. So What was a cut on there. I had never even heard the song at the time. I couldn’t do squat on those guitars, but the drums … we’ll I did ok!
Whenever I hear the song, I always remember jamming on the drums to it.
So What
I remember thinking, “Now that’s a great band name!” when I hear of the All-American Rejects. Gives You Hell didn’t mean much to me back in 2008, however, during my divorce it applied to a lot of people.
The group’s front man, Tyson Ritter, told MTV News:
“It’s kind of this tongue-in-cheek way of looking at someone you hate, whether it’s your mom, for some reason, or it’s your teacher at school, or it’s your boss at work. It’s just someone who makes you struggle, and it’s giving them the finger.”
Now, “hate” is a strong word. I certainly don’t hate some of the folks I think of when I hear this song, but I certainly would give them the finger….
Gives You Hell
“Oh, great, Keith has another Nickelback song on his list!”
I have always tried to live by the mantra, “Live every day as if it were your last, someday, you’ll be right.” That’s what this next song kind of meant to me. If Today Was Your Last Day, what would you do with it? It is a song that makes me wonder every time I hear it.
According to songfacts, the song had been around for awhile without ever being completed. Bass guitarist Mike Kroeger noted on the record label’s website, “Chad (Kroeger) brought it out of the vault and the creative juices started to flow.”
If Today Was Your Last Day
Not Meant to Be by Theory of a Deadman was another song that meant little or nothing to me when it was released. But when I was in therapy prior to my divorce, it started to hit me. Let’s face it, not all relationships are meant to be.
The group’s Tyler Connolly wrote the song with Kara DioGuardi at the American Idol judge’s house. He commented in a press release: “Amazing. I went over to her place, drank some wine and we wrote ‘Not Meant To Be’ in 5 minutes. Our writing styles fit together so perfectly it was almost like it was ‘meant to be.'”
“I remember giving Kara the song title and she said, ‘I like that! I don’t I’ve heard of a song with that title.’ So then I just wrote the chords right there on the spot. From there, she started humming the vocal melody and wrote the lyrics off of that. I took it home and finished the rest. The next day I show up with the finished song and she says, ‘That’s a hit.’ Once I sent Roadrunner Records the demo, they loved it.”
It only went to #55 on the charts, so I’m not sure I’d call it a “hit,” but I liked it.
Not Meant To Be
I believe when I blogged about the Trace Adkins song above, I also included this next one from Darius Rucker. Basically, it is the same song, or at least the same theme.
When Darius put out his Learn to Live album, a lot of folks (myself included) wondered how “Hootie” was going to make it singing country. Well, he showed us! He fit the format like a glove! His country stuff was better than some of the established artists at the time (in my opinion). He took It Won’t Be Like This For Long all the way to #1.
He said, “This is about my two daughters. I’ve got a 13 year old and 7 year old. I wrote it with Ashley Gorley and Chris DuBois, who also have daughters. This song may be my favorite song on the record. I love playing it acoustically. We play it when we visit radio stations, and there wasn’t a day where at least two people didn’t cry. We’d just look and count. It’s absolutely bittersweet. When we were writing it, we were talking about how fast our families were growing up. That first week after the baby is born is awful: you’re up all the time. Then when it’s not like that, you miss those times.”
Last night, my daughter asked me to tuck her in. She asked me to sing our song to her, which I haven’t done in a while. It had me almost in tears. The time goes so fast….
It Won’t Be Like This For Long
After Hey There Delilah, I made sure to listen to more of these Plain White T’s fellas. They packed my interest with their sound. 1,2,3,4 is one of my favorites from the decade.
Plain White T’s Lead singer Tom Higgenson wrote it for his girlfriend at the time, Angie Chavez. In the song, he tells her over and over that he loves her, which she makes as easy as counting. This is something I could easily sing to my wife.
The video is well done, too. It shows Higgenson busking in Chicago on a December day in 2008. As he plays, crowds gather and some people recognize him – nobody in the clip is an actor. Throughout the video, we see couples and groups of families and friends with graphics explaining who they are and how they got together. In the end, Higgenson meets up with Angie, and we learn that they met in Chicago.
What a wonderful little love song!
1, 2, 3, 4
Wow, that’s ten songs already. Ok, which hit from 2008 did I miss that is on your list? Tell me in the comments.
Next week, we move into 2009. My list includes a former sister-in-law’s wedding song, a surprisingly powerful song from a Disney kid, a song that tells how every expecting parent feels, a song from a group I knew would be a success the first time I heard them, and one that just makes you feel good and want to dance.
Thanks for listening and reading. See you next week.
It seems like it’s been a while since I posted a non-music/personal blog. Believe me, it is not because of a lack of things going on! It seems like my wife and I have been on the go constantly with the craziness of every day life. So here is a brief update:
Happy Anniversary!
It certainly does not feel like it has been seven years, but who am I to question WordPress? Today marks 7 years of blogging on this platform for me.
This blog has been such an important part of my life the last 7 years. Those who have been with me from the beginning know that it started as my place to vent. Then I began sharing memories that I wanted to document before I couldn’t remember them anymore. Then I began to sprinkle in music, movies and entertainment themed pieces. Over time, I added features and that sort of brings us to where this blog is today.
This blog began shortly before I got remarried. The story of our courtship, proposal and wedding are chronicled here. The roads that led to the excitement and wonder of the birth of our two children are also well documented. Highlights from the last 7 years are here for future reference. The blogs here hold answers to questions my kids might have. These are for the future, just in case I am not around to share them.
I am so grateful to have this place in the Blog-o-verse/Blog-o-sphere to share things. I am happy to have connected with wonderful people – LIKE YOU – who interact with me, share your stories and offer encouragement. Thank you!
Kid Stuff
The entire country is experiencing the cold weather and many places are seeing snow for the first time in ages. I was surprised to see the snow on Pensacola Beach! There were plenty of snowy photos from my friends in the southern states on Facebook.
The cold temperatures canceled the entire week of school for my daughter. She loves school, so she was sad to miss. However, it did allow her and my son to join my wife and her mom at the local Children’s Museum. They had a blast spending the day there. She told me all about it when I got home.
They had a dress up area and a “carriage” that she got to ride in. All princesses need a carriage, right?
We have been waiting to get my son in for his CPAP sleep study. Our lab has been so busy that their first available appointment was in February. The problem is, we wanted it done before his appointment with the sleep neurologist next week. Thankfully, I heard that we had a couple cancellations this week. I called my wife and asked if she could come in that night with him. She was at Dance rehearsal with my daughter. So we made some arrangements and were able to get him in.
He wore CPAP for a short while when he was about 2 years old. He has since had adenoids removed and tonsils shaved. There is still apnea, so we thought it best to try the PAP route again.
Side Note: As a sleep technologist, I can tell you that there are plenty of adults who have trouble with CPAP. When people hear that my son (or any child) is on CPAP, they wonder how they do it! I think my son is a bit more prepared as I wear CPAP and my mask every night. He thinks he’s gonna be cool like dad with his mask.
This time around it was a bit more difficult for him. He was waking up WAY more than he did before. It was strange, because he has done it before. This time, however, he comes in with a diagnosis of Restless Leg Syndrome/Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. His arms and legs seem to move constantly!
Midway through the study, the tech asked my wife if this was what he did at home. In conversation, she happened to mention that his breathing looked shallow and wanted to know about any respiratory weakness. My wife said that he was working on core muscles in physical therapy. That was all the tech needed to know.
She returned to the tech room and adjusted the settings to ones we use for people with neuromuscular weakness. With a couple tweaks of the setting, my son settled and slept! Now all we have to do is wait for the doc to finalize the results. When finished, they will send over the script for the new machine. With that, my wife and I may actually sleep at night!
He was SO tired here!
Numb
You may recall that I have been suffering with numbness in my hands since the weekend after Christmas. At one point there was swelling, too. After a visit to my PCP, I was given a referral to another doctor in hopes of getting answers. This might include getting an EMG done.
I scheduled that appointment and it is finally happening next week. The problem I am having is that the numbness in my right hand is almost gone. Now there is just pain in the finger tips. My left had still has numbness mainly in the fingers. The pain and numbness is worse when I get up for the day. As much as I wish it would go away completely, I hope it is still there when I visit the doctor.
Favorite Childhood Book
I will begin posting the contributions from other bloggers for Share Your Nostalgia Part 2 the first week of February. It isn’t too late if you want to take part. The topic is to write about your favorite book from your childhood. It could be one your parents read you or the first book you checked out of the library. It could be one that you read to your children as they grew up. If interested, drop me a note at: nostalgicitalian@yahoo.com
Time Off – But Not For Fun
I am hoping to work ahead on the blog. At the end of February and early March I am taking time off work. My wife is having some surgery and I will need to be home with her. She’s not going to be able to do much, and I will have to play referee to the kids. She’ll be in a lot of pain, and so I need to be there with her. I’d appreciate if you would keep her in your thoughts.
I will try to post updates as I am able during that time.
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
I started this feature with 1970 and we have come to 2006. As each year progresses, it has been interesting. I have noticed that some years it is difficult to get 10 songs, while other years I have trouble narrowing my picks to 10. I have a feeling that as I get closer to the end, there may be the need to pick less than 10. We’ll see.
2006 was a year of ups and downs. It became clear that my mom’s cancer battle may be drawing to an end. There was quite a change in her. After ten years of fighting, she was tired. She passed in October.
In October, just 11 days before my mom passed, the Detroit Tigers went to the World Series for the first time since 1984. My dad and I were so excited. Of course, the high was brought low when they lost it in 5 games.
Musically, 2006 wasn’t a bad year. My list has a variety of genres and a few songs that mean more now than they did in 2006. So let’s turn on the radio …
I love the sound of a good acoustic guitar and a simple vocal. If you look back over the years I’ve covered, there are quite a few songs like that. In 2006, Hey There Delilah jumped out of the radio for me. I loved the sound.
Delilah is a real person. Her name is Delilah DiCrescenzo. She is a steeplechase runner Plain White T’s lead singer Tom Higgenson met through a friend. He thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
He told Songfacts:
“I was like, ‘Well, all right, I’ve got to write a song for this girl.’ I literally started playing it. The first verse just poured out exactly as it is, all the way through to the chorus. I didn’t really know the girl, you know? So, it was like, ‘What’s it like in New York City? Tonight, you look so pretty'”
He told Clickmusic that he felt this was possibly the most well-crafted song on the album:
“I think I definitely spent the most time on the lyrics with that song. It’s a lyric-driven song, so every line was important. It’s very exposed and vulnerable, but it’s very simple.”
Tom didn’t get the girl – Delilah was dating somebody and wasn’t interested – but he did get a number one song out of the encounter.
Hey There Delilah
The next song was one that I played when working in country radio. It was one of those songs that surprised me and became a country hit. I don’t know that country music would have ever been associated with Bon Jovi!
Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora wrote two versions of Who Says You Can’t Go Home. Both are on their Have a Nice Day album. One version is just the band and was a hit on the Adult Contemporary charts. The other is a country version featuring Jennifer Nettles of the band Sugarland.
At first, Jon Bon Jovi wanted Keith Urban to sing with him on the country version and play the banjo. It didn’t work out since their voices were so similar and the banjo didn’t sound right, so they used Nettles. The song went to #1 on the Country charts, the first time a rock band has done that.
Jennifer was a bit anxious about singing with Bon Jovi. In an interview she said, “I had his New Jersey posters on my door when I was in the seventh or eighth grade. It made me nervous because the last thing I would want is to ruin a Bon Jovi song.” I think it is safe to say that she didn’t.
Who Says You Can’t Go Home
The next song is just one that struck a chord lyrically. When I heard the story behind the song, it took on a deeper meaning. Isaac Slade of The Frey explained to Songfacts how he came up with How To Save A Life. He explained that he wrote this song about an experience he had working at a camp for troubled youths:
“One of the kids I was paired up with was a musician. Here I was, a protected suburbanite, and he was just 17 and had all these problems. And no one could write a manual on how to save him. I got a lot of email about it. One kid died in a car accident, and I guess it had been the last song he downloaded from his computer. They played it at his funeral, and some of his friends got ‘Save A Life’ tattooed on their arms. The response has been overwhelming.”
Lead guitarist David Welsh told I Like Music the story of this song:
“The song came about very organically. Isaac had this idea on the piano of this kind of lullaby. Then he concocted this repetitious drum beat that moved the lullaby along with Ben. The lyrics came from an experience Isaac had with a teenager he was mentoring who was struggling with drugs and addiction. It was just a very natural process, the song developed and the lyrics fitted very well.”
The Fray is comprised of devout Christians, and this song certainly has some religious subtext, with specific references to God:
And I pray to God he hears you
The Christian music community embraced the song, sending it to #4 on the Christian Songs chart, but it wasn’t marketed as a religious song and was also a hit in the secular community – it made #3 on the Hot 100 and was also a #1 Adult Contemporary hit.
How To Save A Life
The first and only cover song on my 2006 list is a classic. In 1960, The Drifters recorded Save The Last Dance For Me. It was originally a B-side. The legendary Dick Clark thought Save the Last Dance For Me was the better of the two songs and started playing it on the radio. Bingo – it became a number one song.
It is a song that has been covered by many artists including Buck Owens, Dolly Parton and John Davidson! In 2006, Michael Buble’ released it as the third single from his It’s Time album. There were many remixes of the song before the single was released. After Bublé performed the album version of the song during the closing credits of the film “The Wedding Date,” that version was released to radio, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
I love his version! I love entire feel of it. It is so different from the original and the instrumentation is SO good. Every time I hear that horn line, it gives me chills. I like that it gives a little nod to the original by going from the strong brass sound to the lone guitar with the opening vocal.
Save The Last Dance For Me
If I mention the song Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol to my wife, she will immediately remind me that it was used in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. A friend of mine will remind me that it was used in an episode of One Tree Hill. I have seen neither one of these shows – by choice.
It was a song I heard on the radio and I remember thinking was a great love song it was. It’s a great song about just getting through day by day with just you and your significant other. Lead singer Gary Lightbody, who called it “the most pure and open love song I’ve ever written.”
It’s such an amazing song, and Lightbody was even impressed with it. He wrote it under unique circumstances. He says he wrote it in the garden of producer Garret “Jacknive” Lee’s cottage one night while in “a blur of red wine and Percocet.” He says he wrote about 10 songs that night, and when he looked at them the next day nine of them were terrible, but “Chasing Cars” stood out like “a diamond in the s–t.”
It took 35 weeks to get there, but the song did reach #1 on the Top 40 charts. It was the only Top 40 hit foe the band in the US.
Chasing Cars
Country music listeners can get offended easily. In my years working in the format I can recall the division that songs like Goodbye Earl and Honky Tonk Badonkadonk stirred up. You had people who loved them or people who were offended by them. So when Love You by Jack Ingram hit my desk, I wasn’t sure about adding it.
You ask, “Why? Why would a song called ‘Love You’ be one you didn’t want to add?” Well, the “love” in the song means anything but “love.” Wikipedia says that this is a “kiss off” song. “Its lyrics feature several phrases where the F word is replaced with the word “love.”
It’s the ultimate “radio edit!” Here is part of the chorus –
“Love you, love this town / Love this mother-lovin’ truck that keeps breakin’ lovin’ down”.
There are also more traditional replacements in the song, with “dang” (“damn”), “heck” (“hell”), and “shoot” (“sh*t”) appearing several times in the first verse.
The song took on a whole new meaning for me when I was going through my divorce. It was a song that I would often listen to after a heated interaction with my ex.
My next song is here because I have a distinct memory of my oldest song when he was about 5 singing it in the back seat. I remember thinking, “Where did he hear that?!” Nothing like hearing your 5 year old singing, “You got soul, you got class. You got style, you’re badass!” Thanks a lot, Christina Aguilera!
It had been 4 years since Aguilera had released an album. Ain’t No Other Man was the first single from her Back To Basics album. The song samples a 1968 Latin soul tune called “Hippy Skippy Moon Strut” (aka “I’ll Be a Lucky Man”) by Dave Cortez and the Moon People, and “The Cissy’s Thang” by Soul Seven.
She said of the song, “I wanted to make it light and easy for people to dance to and sing along to, so the whole song is based on feel-good elements of soul and blues and jazz. Lyrically, I just got married, so it’s about someone in particular, but it’s all about feeling good and not taking anything too seriously.”
It’s definitely a catchy tune and people still like to dance to it. I dig the horns.
Ain’t No Other Man
The next song on my list is one that many can relate to. At any workplace, you are going to have people who will stand around and tell you what would make life better or what the government needs to do. They are right there with “solutions” to the world’s problems, but all they do is talk. They are not doing anything to make a change in things, instead, they wait on the world to change.
When you hear the lyrics of Waiting on the World to Change, you can see just how deep John Mayer is. You’d think it was written by someone in their 40’s, but he was only 28 when he wrote it.
Songfacts says that this song is how most people deal with problems in the world. When Mayer sings, “Me and all my friends, we are all misunderstood, say we stand for nothing but there’s no way we ever could,” he’s talking about his generation and their lack of faith in the government – all we can do is wait, and it seems like everyone is waiting for the world to become a better place. We sit on our hands and watch as the government takes control.
In an interview with the Daily Mail December 21, 2007 Mayer explained why he wrote this song that makes a point without laboring matters: “I wanted to start a debate. Most of us are happy to wait for things to change.”
Waiting on the World to Change
The next song is another example of a song that didn’t mean much to me in 2006, but means more to me now. In 2006, I had only my one son. My second son arrived in 2007. Until 2020, I was a “boy dad.” In 2020, my daughter was born. All of a sudden, all of those Daddy/Daughter songs started to hit hard.
Working in country radio, there is no shortage of songs about kids, songs about family and songs about daughters. If I had a dollar for every time I played My Little Girl by Tim McGraw as a Bride/Bride’s father song …. I could go on a long trip!
It was featured in the film Flicka. It is one of many that I want to dance with my daughter to.
My Little Girl
My final song for this week is one that I heard while visiting a church. Many of the modern churches will sing contemporary Christian songs instead of traditional hymns. I love those hymns, I won’t lie. I get chills singing many of them.
My brother-in-law at the time invited us to their church. It was odd for me, as I felt like I was watching a play or production instead of being in church. To me, it should be about the message and not so much the “tug at your heartstrings to make you cry” production. Anyway, I heard this song there and I did like it.
Chris Tomlin has had many Christian hits. Songfacts interviewed him about the song:
Tomlin said, “I wrote that song when I was living in Austin, Texas. I remember sitting on my sofa in my little apartment. And Psalm 104 was the psalm I was looking at. It said, ‘You our lord are very great. You’re clothed with splendor and majesty, wrap yourself with light as with a garment’ – through those opening verses and just describing a little bit of God, the glory of majesty, that little chorus came out. I started singing the chorus and, man, I had no idea, I thought the chorus was just a little simple thing and it was. And I had no idea it would become such a song in the church, and a song that finds its way in so many different cultures, different languages. It’s so transferrable, so accessible. I had no idea that it would ever become that.
I remember I had the song, I thought it was finished. I didn’t have a bridge to the song, and I met Ed Cash who produced that record it was on. First time meeting him and talking to him about maybe producing my new record. And I remember he picks his guitar up and says, ‘This ‘How Great is Our God’ song, I think it’s pretty good, but it’s not finished.’ And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? Who do you think you are?’ And I remember him grabbing his guitar. I believe it was something about, ‘What if you do something like this?’ And I remember he just started singing, ‘You’re the name above all names, you are worthy of our praise.’ And it’s really good, but when you open up and let somebody else sneak in, it just makes it better. So that’s when we knew it was taking it to another level.”
How Great Is Our God
With all I have been through, I know my faith got me through. They say that it is often played with the hymn, How Great Thou Art. I can totally see the two songs complimenting each other.
So what song from 2006 did I miss that was your favorite? Tell me in the comments.
Next week it is 2007. My list includes one of the biggest dance crazes of the 2000’s, a song about murder, a song about time flying, and a fantastic song by a classic group from the 70’s and 80’s. Join me next week …
I truly hope that you and your family had a wonderful holiday! I’m a bit late getting my update written, so please forgive me. It has been a busy, yet relaxing few days.
On Monday, we got quite a wintery mix of weather. The day started with rain and freezing rain. It eventually changed to snow. As the temperatures dropped, the accidents were piling up. All throughout the day, there were messages on social media and on the news about the roads being icy.
Sam had to work Monday, so I was worried about her driving. She promised that if the roads were too bad, that she would turn around and call in. The weather wasn’t a surprise, and the main roads were salted pretty good, so her drive was not too bad. The drive home was a bit trickier, but she made it home ok.
Christmas Eve morning I knew I had to get out and clear the driveway. My sons were planning on coming over and I wanted to be sure it was clean. Ella and Andrew, who have been in the house TOO long, wanted to go outside with me. They ran around the yard, made some snow angels, played tag, and enjoyed the snow. Despite me telling them that it was not “scooter weather,” they played with them anyway!
The boys arrived about noon. They brought pizza and we all had lunch together. When they walked in, each of the two little ones ran to one of the older ones and hugged them. My second oldest was caught off guard by this. All I could say was, “They miss you, obviously.”
It was a nice time catching up. Phone calls between us are often cut short, possibly because of “listening ears.” Texting is hit or miss, so to have them with me and in conversation was very nice. My oldest and I talked about his job and his girlfriend. He also told me of his plans to move in with a friend from work. My second oldest told me that he had a girlfriend, too. He showed me a picture of them from when they went to the homecoming dance. My ex’s family had their holiday get together the previous weekend. Both boys were allowed to invite their girlfriends to the party. They both seem genuinely happy. This makes me happy.
They were able to stay for a couple hours, but my second oldest had to work that night. He works at a movie theater, and the holidays are always a busy time for them. I was glad that they were able to come over and spend time with me and their siblings. Of course, I am THAT dad who has to get a picture of all four of them together. You’re guess is as good as mine as to how many photos were snapped before getting one with all of them looking at me.
The little ones and I hung out for a bit as we waited for Sam to get up. We watched some Christmas cartoons and snuggled on the couch. Sam joined us in the living room and told us that her folks were coming by. They were going to drop off the kid’s Christmas gifts on their way to church.
I had to laugh because when they arrived, I went out to help bring stuff in. There were three boxes. I brought the first one in and set it on the floor. Ella was like, “Is this mine? Can I open it now? I wanna see what it is?” Sam’s folks weren’t even in the house yet and she was ready to rip off the paper!
Once every thing and everyone was inside, Ella was allowed to open her gift. It was a table top vanity. It came with fake cosmetics, but we didn’t know that. Sam bought some cheap – real – make up to go with it. This led to her giving everyone a makeover!
It was not exactly my shade of lipstick ….
She really loves it. I hope it is just a phase. She’s too young for makeup.
Andrew got something called Squigs. I guess they are toys that he uses at Physical/Occupational Therapy. He loves them. They have suction cups on them, and he can so all sorts of things with them
Nana and Pa couldn’t stay too long, because they had to get to church. Thankfully, they both made it out with out a makeover.
About 5:30, we grabbed out coats and hopped in the car. It was time for our yearly Christmas Eve tradition. We drove over to the county park where it was totally lit up for Christmas. For $10 a car, they have it set up so that you can drive through and see the lights. (During the holidays, they have a Christmas Train ride that we like to go on, but didn’t get the chance this year.) As you drive through the town, Christmas music plays and it is really beautiful.
They really do a nice job here. The old houses are even decorated in period decorations.
This tree always amazes me. The detail is brought out so well with these lights.
They have things like this at the Detroit Zoo, too. I wish we had been able to come up for the train ride and village walk. That way we could have gotten a picture in that ornament bulb.
By the time we got home, it was time to get ready for bed. The kids knew that their Elf on the Shelf was leaving with Santa that night. They loved seeing the craziness that she’d do every morning. They wanted a picture of her with them before bed. After hugs and kisses, they thanked Twinkles and told her they’d see her next year.
Andrew fell asleep pretty quickly. Ella, on the other hand, was talkative. Typical “night before Christmas” stuff. She is so sweet, though. As she turned over to close her eyes, she stopped and looked at me. She said, “Daddy, I really hope that Bubby (Andrew) doesn’t get coal from Santa. He doesn’t mean to be bad all the time.” I told her that he would probably be just fine. I made sure she was aware that Santa knew that he was good “most of the time.”
When the kids were asleep, Santa got to work. There were a few toys to put together, but nothing too complicated. I think the house was asleep by 11:00pm. That is always good, because you know how early so Christmas mornings can be!
Lucky for us, it was just after 8am when Ella burst into the bedroom and said, “It’s Christmas!!! Time to get up!!” If we hadn’t stopped her, she probably would have been out the door, into the living room and had all the presents unwrapped before we could put on our slippers! Andrew was still asleep, but once we told him that it was Christmas, he shot up and was ready to go.
They each got a Santa gift. Ella got a balance beam that she can practice on. Andrew got a Paw Patrol Big Wheel!
Andrew got new books, an explorer kit, Bluey toys, and a set of construction vehicles that you can put together and take apart.
Ella got some things for he Gabby’s Dollhouse, a Barbie changing room, Pocahontas pajamas, and a Tiana cookbook.
They had just the right amount of things to open. It wasn’t overly elaborate. There were not hundreds of gifts stuffed under the tree. It was simple and they were happy with everything!
Someone posted this on a Facebook page and I completely agree:
“I understand now. The Christmas magic I experienced as a child wasn’t about the decorations, the food or the gifts. It came from my parents and the effort they put in throughout the year to make the holiday special for me. I’ll always be grateful for that. Now, I have the privilege of sharing that same joy and magic with my own children.”
When everything was opened and the playing commenced, Sam was off to make her homemade cinnamon rolls. I made a pot of coffee, and called my brother. As we sat and enjoyed breakfast, I chuckled as Bitsy, our kitten, looked at the piles of wrapping paper and boxes. She would eventually make the boxes her new toys.
There were plenty of wonderful memories made this year. I will look back on them fondly. I’m already looking forward to next Christmas!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 