Happy New Year/Decade, folks!! I can't believe I've been doing this blog for (almost) 10 years now! It's been a wild ride, ain't it?! As the day draws closer to my actual blog-iversary (February 11th - 12th this year, since that's a Wednesday), I'll have something very special planned!! Though I don't know what that is yet. In the meantime, four brand new songs for a brand new year AND decade! Here goes:
"Dawn" by Fruition: What's been one of the most popular things to grace the internet during the past 15 years? Did you say "cute animals"?! Perfect! Because that's what the music video for Fruition's latest song, "Dawn", is all about! You can view the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OStNjwHRjh4. Much to the dismay of cat fans like myself, the video focuses more on dogs, but it's still a cute video that's well worth the watch. As for the song itself? Musically, it's almost as sweet as its video with its peppy folk-rock sound. Lyrically, it's a therapeutic song that tries to deal with negative emotions and thoughts. The title, "Dawn", represents a beacon of hope amidst all the darkness that is talked about during the rest of the song. What a fitting way to start out the first new blog of both the new year and the 2020's! Here's to the "Dawn" of a new era! May it bring us plenty of sweet music and cute animals!
"Go Easy" by Matt Maeson: And now, for more positive sentiments and comfort for this new year/decade. Matt Maeson was previously known for his lyrically quirky and musically smooth song, "Cringe", which made waves on both alt and adult charts in late 2018/early 2019. Matt returns for late 2019/early 2020 with "Go Easy", a fun and somewhat spiritually cleansing indie-folk-pop tune about trying to learn from your mistakes and improve on how your life is. "Please just go easy on me, baby", Matt sings during the chorus, in which he also claims that you "can't change" and "can't blame" him. Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch to compare the sentiments of a contemporary alt musician to someone like Mr. Rogers, but this song shares Rogers' famously warm point of view that we all have someone out there who loves us just the way we are!
"Happy Birthday, Baby" by Hiss Golden Messenger: They say it's your birthday?! It's my birthday, too! Well, at least it WAS 10 days ago. Coincidentally, many of the gifts I got that day were related to either cats (see entry # 1 for this week) or Mr. Rogers (see entry # 2 of this week). On the subject of Rogers and other old PBS children's shows, if there's any show I loved in childhood on PBS other than his, it would undoubtedly be Sesame Street, which taught about numbers, just as this song does during its chorus. Specifically, the song counts up to 5, starting with a clever allusion to Three Dog Night's "One (Is the Loneliest Number)" and working its way through the rest of the numbers up to 5. With 2, we hear how the subject of the song was "born in thunder", on 3, they were "lightning quick", and finally, with 4 and 5, we hear how the subject of the song is "a wonder" and how the singer wants to tell that person he loves them. Not sure if this is directed to a girlfriend or a child, but either way, it's a cute song with a pleasant sound, as pretty much all the entries have been so far this week/year/decade. I remember hearing the Three Dog Night song I mentioned earlier in this entry back when I was a kid, disappointed that there were no mentions of numbers higher than one except on the "two can be as bad as one" line. Thankfully, this song mentions all the numbers from 1 through 5 during its chorus. Where was this song when I was a kid?! I probably would have loved it!
"Shine A Little Light" by The Black Keys: As usual, The Keys have had quite an album where their latest one is concerned! I've heard five songs off of it so far, this being the fifth, and their impressive streak of being the last great rock and roll band continues to be proven here! Their latest song, "Shine A Little Light", is a bit like The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" with a slower beat and slightly less intense sound. With its rather apocalyptic lyrics, "Shine A Little Light" could have easily fit in the Stones' catalog during their heyday, although Dan Auerbach offers a beacon of hope with the title of the song in a tune that otherwise seems lyrically bleak. The song itself, thankfully, is not a downer, although then again, I have not known a single Black Keys song to be one!
