Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby”

I had my music on shuffle the other day and one of my favorite songs came on. It was “Cry Baby” by Janis Joplin. I have loved Janis since I was in middle school and finding new music that the other kids around me weren’t listening to. I was always captivated by the way she sings this song. It has something a little different than the rest of her songs. Although all of her songs have soul and feeling within her words and voice, this song in particular always gets me in my feelings because of the pain I can feel in her voice when she sings. It is a cover that she did of a song by Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, a blues artist and band from the 1960’s. The song is about someone who was completely in love with another someone who had left them for their old flame. Basically, the lyrics are saying, “Go ahead and let yourself get screwed over with them, I want to see you cry like a little baby when you want to come back to me.” Knowing the type of person Janis was, this seems like it hit really close to home for her with one of her past loves. I wonder if she still felt that pain every time she recorded or performed that song? Listen for yourself and see if you can feel her pain, too.

Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next

This week, Ariana Grande has dropped another album titled after one of her popular singles Thank U ,Next.  Being a fan of Ariana since a young age, I believe that she has entered into a new chapter of her life and it is shown through her music style and lyrics. She has become a pinnacle of feminine power in the music industry and I think that is very admirable for young girls and women everywhere. Her lyrics show how it is okay to use your sexuality to express yourself and not be degraded for it. In our society today, this kind of message needs to be heard by so many of us women. As a woman who has been through hell and back within the past year and a half, Ariana has definitely rose from the ashes and is simultaneously changing how we, as women, view ourselves and the patriarchal world around us. Ariana is a beacon of feminism and I will not be surprised if she goes down in history as one of our most influential artists of our time.

If you haven’t checked out Ariana’s new album yet, I suggest that you do. The messages behind her lyrics tell a great story of all that she’s been through. Not to mention that most of her songs are complete bops. Highly recommended.

How Music Evolved

I have recently found a very cool website that I think a lot of people would enjoy. It is an ongoing interactive chart of Billboards Top 100 Songs since 1958. I had spent hours just sitting and listening to how each new wave of music was popular for a certain number of years until a new sound came through. It was very interesting to see how the styles of music in each decade melted into each other slightly when they are heard evolving together. I find it fascinating how we wouldn’t have the music of the 90’s if it weren’t for the music of the 80’s. When you compare music from the 70’s to the 90’s, it’s like a whole different world without the transition in the 80’s. I think it’s amazing how music has morphed over the decades into what we listen to now. I wonder what our popular music will sound like in 10 more years? Or maybe 20?

Here’s a link to the website; check it out!

https://pudding.cool/2017/03/music-history/

Skate Punk and such

Lately, I have been thinking about the type of music that I always seem to be listening to. I was never really sure what genre it was; it could be punk, pop punk, with a little singer-songwriter sometimes, but it could be angry, or funny, or sad, or hype. It was hard to pin-point what exactly I was listening to. After a quick search, I found that this music was mostly identified as skate punk in the ’90s. It was called skate punk because most of the bands in the sub-genre were from California and were more than likely emerged in the skateboarding fad of the time. When I was in middle school, I had found my love for Blink182 and Sum41 and tons of other more modern bands that were more relevant in the punk scene. When I got to high school, I even bought tickets to Warped Tour in 2014. Since then, I still bump Blink182, Bad Religion, Sum41, The Offspring etc. Although I loved the music, I never learned to actually skateboard. I’ve tried so many time and I’ve found that I have absolutely no coordination… So does that mean I’m not actually a skate punk?