Tag Archives: Music

09.07.14
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Writing Prompt #4: Music and Identity

Music is so powerful. It takes a person through so many life stages. There are countless quotes, research, studies, and so on about the benefits of music and how amazing it is for the soul, the mind, brain development, and more.

I played piano for about five years and then switched to viola for eight years. Even though I was trained in the “classical” instruments, I enjoy music with lyrics a bit more than classical pieces.

Photo Credit: music-lessons-pa.com

Photo Credit: music-lessons-pa.com

I love having conversations with my friend Justin. I know we are friends for life because we can literally talk about anything and everything, at any time. He’ll tell you that we were chatting on Facebook very early one recent Saturday morning, until almost 4 a.m. We’re always sharing things with each other, whether it be a story, a news article, research, or something funny.

He shared something amazing with me recently: The music video for Kelly Clarkson’s “Dark Side.”

Before Justin shared this with me, I had only heard snippets of the song on the radio. I’m so glad he shared the video with me. How powerful.

I’ve always found music lyrics to be incredibly meaningful and powerful.

Case in point:

Everybody’s got a dark side
Do you love me?
Can you love mine?
Nobody’s a picture perfect
But we’re worth it
You know that we’re worth it
Will you love me?
Even with my dark side?

It takes incredible talent to write something like that, and then have it be listened to thousands, if not hundred of thousands or millions, of times over. The “Dark Side” video on YouTube currently has over 21 MILLION views. It was uploaded to her channel on May 24, 2012. Wow!

The reason behind Justin sharing this with me stemmed from this weekend – Al and I got together with Justin and our friends Katie and Drew for most of the day on Saturday. We played through the whole deck of Cards against Humanity, and then the conversation changed over to music and relationships (Justin’s girlfriend, Heaven, is in her last semester at Longwood). Katie and Drew have been together the longest of the three couples – They’ll be celebrating 7 YEARS in October! That’s amazing! (Al and I just celebrated 4 years together this past Thursday, and Justin and Heaven are approaching their 2-year anniversary very shortly)

Anyway, the topic shifted to weddings and dancing, and the like. Katie and Drew asked Al and I if we had a song for us – and we were a bit stumped. Al and I like a lot of different music! Unlike us, Katie and Drew’s is an Eric Clapton classic.

Justin shared “Dark Side” with me with the thought that I might identify myself with it, in regards to my relationship with Al. After listening to it, it doesn’t just apply to me! I consider this to be a “blanket song,” or one that a lot of different people can relate to or identify with, across the board.

I love songs like this. It’s not exclusive to just one person or a specific couple / category / identity. I’ve noticed a lot of mainstream music is becoming less and less blanket-like, with certain genres in particular.

Take country music, for example. I hesitate to try to identify myself with a lot of it, although I like listening to the genre in general. To showcase my point, have you ever noticed that a lot of the girls in country music songs tend to all be blonde and blue-eyed?

Yep. That’s not me, literally. Total brunette and hazel-eyed over here.

There’s a difference in listening to music and identifying with music. Music affects all of us in some way, shape, or form. And if it doesn’t do that for you, I’m very suspicious.

Anyway, see below for the songs that I truly identify with.

1. “You Raise Me Up” – Josh Groban

2. “Here I Am, Lord” – Dan Schutte

3. “Don’t Stop Believin'” – Journey

4. “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” – Kelly Clarkson

5. “The Way” – Clay Aiken

6. “Who I Am With You” – Chris Young

7. “September” – Earth, Wind & Fire

8. “I Knew You Were Trouble” – Taylor Swift

9. “Shine” – Clay Aiken

10. “Hooked on a Feeling” – Blue Swede

11. “Dark Side” – Kelly Clarkson

12. “You’re the Inspiration” – Chicago

13. “Fire and Rain” – James Taylor

14. “Carolina in My Mind” – James Taylor

15. “Smile” – Uncle Kracker

16. “Haven’t Met You Yet” – Michael Buble

17. “Against All Odds” – Phil Collins

18. “As Long As You Love Me” – Backstreet Boys

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject!

Happy Sunday, all. Welcome to September!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

05.13.14
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Writing Prompt #1: A Few of My Favorite Things

I want to pick up writing prompts again. Years ago, one of my dearest friends, Melissa, turned me onto “The Pocket Muse.” This little gem is a great resource for writers who may be suffering from the horrors of writer’s block, or just need something new to put pen to paper, or fingers to computer keys.

I’ve done a few of these lists through Facebook, but I wanted to expand upon a few of my favorite things. Besides, I thought it was time for a new blog post, anyway. Enjoy!

Favorite TV Show: Glee — I’ve been a “gleek” since the pilot aired five years ago. I own almost all of the soundtracks. I sobbed when the CNN Alert on my iPhone showed that Cory Monteith had died of an overdose last summer. I pre-ordered the very first soundtrack through a Facebook ad and was pleasantly thrilled that my “surprise gift” was an 11″ x 14″ poster of the cast, and signed! That poster, now framed, is one of my most treasured possessions.

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Favorite Cuisine: Italian — Hello, my name is Laura Beth, and I’m a pastaholic. I love Olive Garden’s fettuccine Alfredo. I frequent the Fazoli’s on Jefferson Avenue at least twice a month for lunch. There are several local restaurants in Newport News that also serve excellent Italian – Tuscany, Al Fresco, and Azzurri!

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Favorite Place to Eat: Applebee’s — They have such good food! I usually order something different every time.

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Favorite Dressing: Ranch — That obsession started with Mom giving me baby carrots (and celery, as shown below) as a kid.

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Favorite Time of Day: Evening — Especially in the spring and summer, when I can sit outside and listen to the crickets and frogs. Sunsets have been a big part of my life as well. As a photographer, I’ve tried to get better at shooting them better. Thanks to Al, I’ve also become more interested in night shooting. When we went out to his parents’ farm in early April, we took our cameras and attempted to get shots of the stars. I can’t wait to go back and visit – Their farm is located in one of the darkest places on the Eastern Seaboard! To view Al’s photography and videos, check out his website!

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Favorite Flower: Roses — It was really hard to pick just one. I’ve loved flowers for forever. But roses have a special meaning to me. Red roses are romantic. I was given purple roses once. And yellow roses are the flower of my beloved sorority, Alpha Sigma Tau.

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Favorite Pizza Toppings: Veggies! — I love supreme pizza. My favorite combo is peppers, mushrooms, black olives, and onions.

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Favorite Color: Purple — I’ve always liked purple. My parents let me paint my walls lavender when I switched bedrooms. I think it’s a romantic color. My go-to purse from thirty-one is purple. And the Longwood chapter of AST has purple as a local chapter color – Our old unity letters were emerald green, gold, and purple.

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Favorite Movie: Forrest Gump — Hands down. I remember watching this movie on TV for the first time, a few years after it came out in theaters. I love historical movies, so this movie is a great reflection of several important events. Since that first TV block, I’ve watched it pretty much every time it’s aired. Ironically, I currently don’t own a copy of it on DVD, but I think I can make that change.

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Favorite Vacation: Europe in the summer of 2005 — This was one of my best trips ever. I traveled with my high school classmates and teachers to England, France, and Spain over the course of 17 days. I had the opportunity to see all the great sights, to learn a lot of history, and put my Spanish studies to use. I learned a little bit of France, which was beneficial when I returned to Paris three years later! One of the best memories was that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the book, not the movie) was released on our last day in England. We were staying in London, so a bunch of us went to Waterstones (England’s equivalent of Barnes & Noble) for the midnight release. Because of this, I own the hardcover British edition of the book. As a bonus for attending the midnight release, we also received a copy of Lionboy, which is the first book in a great trilogy. In addition to London, we went through the Chunnel to Paris, explored Nice and Monaco, drove over the Pyrenees, and experienced Barcelona and Madrid before returning to the States.

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03.08.14
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Right Here

I love music. Like most of us, I have certain genres that I love (country, oldies, rock and roll) and ones that I detest (rap, hip-hop, metal). But there’s one genre that I’ve had a love-hate relationship with for many years: Christian music.

I grew up in a United Methodist church about 10 miles from my house. My parents and I moved to Chesapeake in the fall of 1992, and Mom & Dad proceeded to “shop around” the churches in our area – and there were plenty to choose from. I was 4 years old at the time, and we all easily fell in love with Aldersgate from the first visit. Someone remind me to tell the church bathroom story later 😉

When we became members, I grew to love singing the hymns in worship. Then, as I reached middle school in the early 2000s, our youth group had stacks of CDs (and some cassettes) of contemporary Christian music. See examples below:

Avalon – Testify to Love

Casting Crowns – If We Are The Body

MercyMe – I Can Only Imagine

Newsong – The Christmas Shoes

Steven Curtis Chapman – Dive

Switchfoot – Dare You to Move

There are so many more I could list, but I’ll spare you.

As I journeyed through middle school and high school, I developed the love-hate relationship I mentioned earlier. I loved certain songs – Case in point, all of the YouTube links are some of my absolute favorites.

And then there were periods of weeks or months that I couldn’t stand to listen to any of it. The hymns in worship kept me grounded, but the contemporary stuff drove me nuts for certain periods.

Part of the problem was me – when I found out the local library carried a ton of the contemporary music. I remember grabbing up to 10 CDs at a time and working my way through them for each two-week loan period. Once I received my iPod halfway through high school, I filled it to the gills with full albums of easily 20-30 different Christian artists. The “Christian & Gospel” genre was by far the biggest group in my iTunes.

Fast forward to starting college at Longwood, fall of 2007. I still had a high number of Christian artists on my iPod and iTunes from all of those CDs, but I found myself skipping over 95 percent of the songs. I fell back to the small list that are still my all-time favorites, especially Avalon, MercyMe, and Steven Curtis Chapman.

I was also struggling with my faith in general. I was very homesick for the first several months, having moved 150 miles away from my parents and my church. Add to that my boyfriend, who became more and more abusive over a long and arduous 4-year period from 2006 to 2010, and the love-hate relationship continued to evolve.

I don’t remember when this happened, but one day at Longwood I found this song embedded in my iTunes:

Jeremy Camp – Right Here

I had heard a few of Camp’s songs before, and I wasn’t particularly impressed. I felt he was straining in the songs, like he was trying too hard to get the message across.

However, seconds into “Right Here,” I was taken. I was overwhelmed. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I had a few moments of peace.

This instantly became one of my go-to songs. I have it on my iPhone now, and whenever I’m feeling stressed, I know I can go scroll through my artists and find that song. It has an incredible calming effect on me.

Another song I love by Camp is an oldie but a goodie – “Walk By Faith.” It has similar effects on me as “Right Here.” They both make me well up with emotion a little bit, and I have to become acutely aware of my surroundings when listening, because I am known to break out into spontaneous singing.

I’ll leave you with an excerpt from both “Right Here” and “Walk By Faith.”

All the world is watching

All the world does care

Even when the world weighs on my shoulder now

These feelings I can bare

Because I know

That you’re here

Chorus

Everywhere I go

I know you’re not far away

You’re right here

You’re right here, yeah, yeah

———————————————–

Well I will walk by faith
Oh even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

Help me to win my endless fears
You’ve been so faithful for all my years
With the one breath You make me
Your grace covers all I do
Yeah, yeah , yeah, yeah, yeah

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂