Glee

This is a number from my new favorite show:




I'm obsessed. Did I mention I myself did show choir in school? Oh yea, baby. For one year only, I was a proud member of Bonita Vista High School's Sound Unlimited. Why one year only, you ask? My mother remembers it this way: my grades slipped, and I was forced to pick between the school paper and show choir. My memory: I was cruelly forced to give up the thing I loved the most because of a couple of "C" papers, and I still weep at the sound of 4-part harmony.

Theatre kids, drama kids, band kids... they are often the most humiliated and ridiculed of high school genres. Trust me, I did pretty much all of the humiliating genres in school. I majored in them, and logged endless extracurricular hours. But even though I suffered at the time for being part of "those groups"... I wouldn't have done it any other way. In college, it motivated me to audition for Naked Voices, an acapella group that changed my life. (Check out their myspace page to listen to some current recordings, they're going stronger than ever.) I won a soloist award with them at regionals at USC; and gained endless self confidence about my ability to command a room. Without them, I turned beet red and mumbled. With them, I was Whitney Houston. Pre-crack. We were fearless. We got the crowd on their feet, and their is no drug stronger, man. It was magic.

These days, I take whatever opportunity I can get to sing. We go to kareoke pretty often, and I've auditioned twice now for Star Spangled Banner honors at local sports games. I did backup vocals for some local guy's album. That pretty much wraps up my singing experience for the last five years. It's pathetic!

I hear music in me, all the time. If I had the cash to record an album, I would. I've attempted to learn to play both the left-handed guitar and the keyboard, without success. It sucks having the music beating in you, and no outlet. Anyone want to form a Glee Club?

The Music that gets me through.

Watching the VMA's is a must every year - I love award shows, period. When I was a kid, we'd gather around the TV to watch the Oscars. It was the ONLY night of the year when we could A) eat in front of the TV, and B) order pizza. It was the biggest, biggest treat.

These days, award shows still give me a thrill. Especially all of the ones that are music-related... yea, I know the performances are often lip-synced, and over the top, and I really rarely like rap performances on them, for some reason. Maybe I like my rap pre-produced?
Anyway, it got me thinking about the music that inspires me, that really keeps me going. It changes all the time, but this is the stuff I'm currently hooked on.



I actually just heard this for the first time today. I'm not crazy about Susan Boyle, although I think she has great talent... but Wild Horses has got to be one of the most beautiful, endlessly gorgeous songs of all time. And the way her voice reaches up to the notes in the chorus... I just tear up thinking about it. It's lovely.



I watch this video all of the time. It's some school music teacher who loves Tori, and taught a bunch of songs to his kids... this one is my favorite. The looks on their faces are so sweet. Doesn't hurt that the song kicks ass, either.




Somebody's Youtube comment on this song says "years can go by, and then some brutal sunday morning finds me singing it like it were my soulcry." That's exactly how I feel. I know every word, every beat, and even though the lyrics seem depressing, it really ends up being uplifting for me.



This song has a really deep connection with me... I actually heard it for the first time in college, long before Sara was signed to a record label. She was a member of the Awaken acapella group at UCLA, and I was a member of Naked Voices at UCSB, and I saw them perform this and bought the CD. I wish I could upload the acapella version, because it's even better than this one. This song got me through a lot of bad times.



Rufus... oh, Rufus. You make me weak in the knees with your fabulous self. I could pick another dozen songs I love just as much as this one... Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk, your Across the Universe or Hallelujah covers, but this song is killer.




This is the best audio quality I could find on the live version of this song, which is the way I like it best. Ben Folds can really write a sweet, touching song... but the audience participation he does with this track always puts a giant knot in my throat. The way they sing back to him, and they know it all, and it gives me such joyful squishies.

I could go on forever here. These don't include my favorite dance songs, or R&B, or rock, and it's a little light on the dudes. It's just a few of my introspective tunes, that I thought you'd enjoy! What song makes your heart sing?