life through music

The Beatles: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
The Beatles are widely famous. They are perhaps the most recognizable and influential band of the 20th Century. Not only have the influenced the musical world, but they have even infiltrated the film industry. Using their musical success, The Beatles were given several opportunities to translate their music to screen. One of their popular films is “Help”. This movie follows a mysterious cult that John, Paul, George, and Ringo get caught up in, and, at the same time, incorporate their widely famous songs from the album entitled the same as the movie.
I remember seeing this when I was quite a bit younger. Being young Beatles fans, my brother and I watched and listened to most anything related to The Beatles. For some reason this movie ran on television, though I have yet to see it ever broadcasted again, and my brother and I eagerly watched this movie with a crazy storyline of human sacrifice and a sacred ring that incorporated the Fab Four and their hit songs. These songs used in the movie were the first to be “imprinted” on my brain. I have never forgotten the opening lines of the title song “Help”, or various lines of the song that started with an enthusiastic “Hey! You’ve got to hide your love away…” Probably because of my young age and naïveté, the numerous drug and sexual references often flew over my head, and I was left with a childhood of catchy songs that colored my childhood in a certain way, and that I still remember to this day




Bob Dylan: Cross the Green Mountain
In 2003, a war movie came out. Not just any war movie, but a war movie about the American Civil War that had a length of about three hours. “Gods and Generals” was released when I was an eighth grader, and though this film is not your typical movie that all junior highers would rush out to go see, I was quite excited to see this film. My family was one of those that went on vacations to see battlefields and other historical sights, so I was brought up with an appreciation for history, especially American History. I was even taking American History at school during that year, and our study of the Civil War coincided with the release of the movie. I went to this movie, and though it was tremendously long, stayed not only awake, but interested throughout the entire movie.
The soundtrack to this movie was what you could expect from a war movie: sometimes sad and bittersweet, and at other times grandiose and victorious. The song that played over the credits, Cross the Green Mountain by Bob Dylan was especially poignant. I really couldn’t tell you what the lyrics of the song were, except for maybe the first few lines. I just remember sitting through this terrifically long movie that actually had an intermission, and tiredly laying in my seat in the movie theatre as if I had just gone through a marathon while Bob Dylan’s rough, yet melodic voice sang in the background.




The Verve: Bittersweet Symphony
Sometime there are songs that you hear only a few strains of, and that’s it. You don’t know who the artist or composer is, if there is even an entire song you are not hearing, or if there are even lyrics to the music. Sometimes it’s from a car commercial that uses a few seconds of a song to advertise their latest model. Other times it is because you only hear the last few seconds of a song on the radio, and the title is never revealed for some reason. This mystery can haunt and drive you crazy to figure out what that song was. That few seconds of music can stick in your mind like cement for years to come.
I remember hearing only about the first thirty seconds of a song that was being used on a short-lived PBS presentation that I watched some point in junior high. The strains of music that I heard were melodic and grand. The sophistication of the sound of violins and other stringed instruments was juxtaposed to the rhythm of a trap set that gave the song a modern feel to an otherwise classical song. I had no idea that this was an actual song. However, one day I was watching TV and the song that I thought did not exist apart from a thirty second piece of music was being played. From then one “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve has become a favorite song that conjures of memories of long gone junior high days that were fun, very awkward, and “bittersweet”.




John Williams: Battle of the Heroes
Sometimes, a movie comes along that you have to go see at midnight on opening night. When “Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith” was released, I like many other people around the country, waited in line for hours with our tickets that we had bought in advance, just waiting and anticipating what was to be viewed at midnight. I was a junior in high school, still awkward, but now more at peace with my awkwardness than I was in junior high. My friends and I got in line at four in the afternoon and waited eight hours to see the final piece to the saga. Like the rest of the movies in the series, the music plays a special and key part to setting the scene, the themes that everyone knows, and that have been carefully developed over the past 30 some years by John Williams.
The music has to be just right, and the music in the pivotal final battle between Anakin and Obi-wan Kenobi had to be the culmination to the “space opera”. It could have been a letdown, but John Williams did not disappoint. “Battle of the Heroes” ranks as one my favorite Star Wars themes along side “Duel of the Fates” featured in “Phantom Menace” and of course the theme to the films itself. However, “Battle of the Heroes” has a special place because it calls up specific memories of mine. Memories of having fun and wasting time while waiting in line with friends, of seeing the trailer for the first time, and of trying to stay awake the next day at school by talking with my friends about the movie itself.




The Flaming Lips: Do You Realize?
Generally, I don’t watch music videos. Unless someone recommends one or I hear that a music video is particularly interesting, I just don’t watch them. I never have. I have also found that watching the music video can alter the way you remember the particular song. A particular song might have some sort of significant meaning to you, because you associate it to a specific time or place in your life, but when you finally see the music video, it can change the way you can feel about the song.
For example, “Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips has been a favorite song of mine since I first heard it mid-way in high school. I recall listening to it numerous times while driving home from football practice in the late fall when the sun sets early and it the cold weather finally making its way in. The eerily melodic synthesizers would make my speakers shake as I drove over the gravel roads. I was certainly confused, but not surprised when I saw the music video and how it featured men in bunny rabbit costumes and a circus elephant with the blaring lights of what looks like Las Vegas in the background. Definitely a unique music video, and a music video that has nothing to do with my memories attached to the song. Sometimes personal point of view does not match up with the artist’s intent.




Coldplay: The Scientist
Coldplay has there own style. It’s somewhat generic, but it is theirs nonetheless. You can always identify a Coldplay song when you hear it. Usually there is a piano being played softly, and gradually the song builds to a climax to a barrage of varying instruments and melodies that combine usually to make a pleasant sounding piece of music. “The Scientist" is a good example of this. It begins with a simple minor chord progression that soon expands and then ends on a somewhat melancholic feel. The music video expands on the sad feeling of the music, showing the affects of a car accident by going backwards, which gives the video a very unique feel. At first the viewer is confused by what is happening, then it is made clear that everything is being “rewound”. However, the ending of the music video turns the “unique” music video into something more poignant.
Because of the simplicity of the song, like many Coldplay melodies, it is easily learned by the amateur piano player to play. In my choir class during my junior year of high school, it seems that I can recall very few days when one student or another would play the beginning chords to this song on the piano. Often he or she would begin like the song itself, soft and somber, and develop the melody to its peak before softening back down to the soft, simple chords that began the song.





Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan: Girl from the North Country
Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan are legends of music. Each of them paved a path in their particular genres that is still being emulated and copied today. In their duet, “Girl from the North Country” their voices, though very different, Cash’s is deep and gravely, and Dylan’s is lighter and rough, it forms a very distinctive piece of music. The story they sing about is of a girl living far away who is obviously of great importance to them.
I had a long drive in high school. It was at least twenty minutes, and in the winter, it got to be quite a bit longer, so I often had time to listen to a lot of music going to and from school. For some reason this song sticks in my mind. It brings back memories of that long drive specifically in the winter. The roads are icy, and though the landscape was often picturesque, I never could really pay attention to it because I had to obviously focus on the now very dangerous road and other drivers who might slide through an intersection. However, this song, with its lyrics of “howling winds” and “snowflake storms” brings back those drives through the ice and snow, over gravel roads and icy bridges.





Sufjan Stevens: Chicago
Sometimes there just isn’t a music video. There are a lot of great songs that don’t have one. I suppose this can be a good thing. This can let the listener make up his own mind about the song without being influenced by what might be a crappy music video, and sometimes the music video does not at all match up with your “version” of the song. Without a music video, the song can speak for itself, and you decide what you want to about it. Sufjan Stevens is an artist who very few “official” music videos. He has around six albums, which include humorous musical pieces, poignant melodies, and several Christmas songs. I was first introduced to his music by my brother and throughout high school I bought his albums and have replayed his songs numerous times.
“Chicago” is one of his more famous pieces. It is part of an album totally dedicated to the state of Illinois. This album his part of his project to make 50 albums dedicated to each of the 50 states. This song in particular brings back memories of the end of school. As opposed to “Girl from the North Country” that brings back memories of winter driving, this song, and entire album, brings back memories of the imminent beginning of summer, of free time, and sunny days without having to be inside a school building all day. There is an optimism that is paired with anxiety in the music that reflects what I felt those last few weeks of my senior year.

Free as a bird....

I really never watched music videos. I still don’t. Perhaps it is because I didn’t watch many of them when I was younger, so that now I really have no interest in them. However, there are a few music videos that have caught my attention over the years. One of those videos being “Free as a Bird” by the Beatles.
For some reason, about eleven or twelve years ago, my older brother was going through a sort of “Beatles” craze and he was grabbing books, videos, documentaries, and basically any other sort of thing that had to do with that band. I had known who they were and was quite familiar with at least their most popular songs such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Yellow Submarine”, but I became much more acquainted with the band of the past through the influence of my brother. He began watching a VHS of The Beatles Anthology, a documentary detailing the history of the band. On that documentary was this music video.
This was the first music video that really struck me for some reason. The song is somewhat melancholy, yet not in a negative sort of way. It is a video that looks back at the past years with fondness for the good times and sadness over that bad times. It seems to be a mix of nostalgia for the past with contentment with the present. The Beatles are almost legendary, so it is a very peculiar thing to realize that the four guys were human with their own personalities, hopes, and faults. These mythic musicians were actually were now viewed from a different perspective, and this music video showed an interpretation of their vulnerability.

there there

This is a weird music video. It really is. The way it is shot, the action that takes place, the special effects, pretty much everything. I first heard of Radiohead from my brother. When I was freshman in high school, he would drive us to school, and because he was the one driving, he was the one who chose the music we listened to. I hated that. He would pick “weird” music, and I would complain and nag that I hated it and so on. There was even a point where I just brought along my c.d. player to listen to so I wouldn’t be forced to listen to the stuff he was playing.
That was a long time ago it seems. I now have a great appreciation for his music, even to the degree that I now name many of the artists and songs he played as some of my favorite bands and songs. The transition was slow, but sure. I remember when I first saw this music video. We were at his friends house after school one day, and I was dragged along because he was my ride, so where he went, I had to go also. We were going to stay for just a “minute”, but that soon changed into two hours. When he showed me this music video, I was just humoring him so that we could hopefully leave soon. Now that I look at it again four years later, my opinion has completely changed. Not only do I like the music, but I guess I even have a fondness for it. It brings back so many memories. It brings back memories of that really awkward first year of high school. It brings back memories of driving that half hour to school at 7:30 in the morning. It was a simple time. Who would have guessed that a music video that I once despised now brings back to mind such great times and fond memories.

25 cents..

When you think of commemorative coins, you might think of a late-night infomercial about some gold-plated silver dollar stamped with the seal of the United States, which can be yours for only 3 payments of $9.99 plus shipping and handling. Sometimes, these coins are collected and even handed down through generations. You don’t buy anything with these coins. However, there are some commemorative coins that you use all the time. These are the state commemorative quarters. These quarters first showed up in 1997, and every year for ten years, the government would mint five new quarters that would somehow represent each state. The process of choosing a design for the commemorative quarter started with several residents of the state submitting their designs for the quarter, and then the state government would vote on the final design.

Some states depicted scenes from history such as Washington crossing the Delaware, or the first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Other quarters depicted various objects that the particular state was known for, for example, the Tennessee quarter depicts several musical instruments to symbolize the state’s musical heritage, and the Wisconsin quarter is illustrated with various dairy products. Each different quarter is in itself an argument that announces to the rest of the United States what defines that particular state. Because of the limited space, the argument has to be simple and to the point. Chimney Rock has long been a symbol of Nebraska, and by depicting the iconic images of the famous, natural landmark along with a wagon of passing pioneers and the rising sun, the quarter then displays a myriad of meanings and values which represent the state of Nebraska.

The image itself employs mainly one rhetorical strategy, which is illustration. The landmark of Chimney Rock itself takes up a great portion of the quarter. This image is even inscribed with the name of the landmark at its base. Chimney Rock was used as a sort of a guidepost to pioneers making their way out west. Because of its significant height and its abnormal shape, it was a very recognizable landmark in a land that was for the most part very flat, which was called by most “The Great American Desert”. The importance of it seems a little obscure. It just was a tall rock formation. To the pioneers, though, it meant that they were nearing their destination. To the pioneers, it represented hope, and it signified that they were making progress.

As stated above, the images depicted on the quarter are “representative” of many ideals and principles that Nebraska as a state would want to be represented by. Therefore, the argument of this image is for the most part based on the ethos of the image. Logos is presented, such as the obvious use of a well-known landmark of the state and depicting the pioneers that first populated the state. Through the use of the logos, however, the ethos of the image comes through even clearer.

The images of Chimney Rock, the pioneers, and the rising sun are iconic images that have attached to them numerous and deep meanings. Chimney Rock represents a guidepost, an image that the pioneers would recognize as symbolic of their approach toward home. The pioneers are symbolic of the ideals of bravery through hardship, venturing into the unknown, and forging a new path. The rising sun depicted has often been representative of a new beginning and a new start.

The coin could have depicted Chimney Rock alone, but the artist decided to include the pioneers on their journey west as well, which by doing so, narrates a short and simple story. This addition adds a lot to the image. The pioneers are very important to the history of Nebraska. They were the ones who for the most part founded the state. What is more important, though, is that inclusion of the pioneers also gives a reminder of not only the literal pioneers themselves, but also the pioneer spirit that categorized them. They were going to a place they knew little about, and they still went forward despite the many dangers and hardships that they faced. This image conveys that spirit of bravery and determination, which Nebraska as a state often likes to associate itself with.

There is another part of the image, which could be overlooked, as it does not at first glance seem to bear much significance. That element is the sky, or more specifically, the sun. The artist could have depicted the scene differently, but for some reason, the sky takes up a great part of the scene, and in the sky near the horizon is the sun. The next question to answer is, is the sun setting or rising? Because the sun is situated behind the pioneers who are headed west, the answer must be that the sun is rising. Did the artist mean to have a rising sun? I have no idea. Does it have some significance? I would say yes. The rising sun in art often symbolizes a new beginning or a fresh start, a new day. By depicting the pioneers marching westward under a rising sun, this gives the picture an almost encouraging and bright feeling, a feeling of looking forward optimistically.


This commemorative coin shows a simple image of a famous Nebraskan landmark. However, the image conveys something much more than that. This image is quintessentially Nebraskan. It conveys in a small and confined space most of the values and ideals that Nebraska as a state wants to be known for. Like the raised torch of the Statue of Liberty was for dispossessed immigrants, the lone peak of Chimney Rock stands as a beacon of home and a new beginning, a sign for a better life. The artist is trying to convey the spirit of Nebraska through depicting something iconically Nebraskan. It’s simple, but the argument that the image is getting across is much deeper. It depicts a heroic resolve that is optimistic about its outcome, even in the face of the unknown.

Apparently, Jesse James spent a lot of time in Nebraska. The famous outlaw evidently had many connections with the state. He traveled through Nebraska on several occasions, he had friends here, he even had family here, and even wanted to move to Nebraska when he had enough money to buy the land. I remember first hearing about this interesting fact when I was on vacation in Missouri with my family. One of the things we did on this particular family vacation is visit Jesse James’ childhood home. Really, it was nothing more than a log cabin with a few rooms. In the information building that was a short walk from the house itself, there was a display that housed various artifacts, pictures, and personal documents and letters. One of the letters was a letter that was sent by Jesse James to the Journal Star inquiring about buying several acres of land.
What I find interesting in all this is that for some reason we almost glorify this man who was basically nothing more than a regional outlaw who robbed banks and trains. So why is someone like this so popular and almost even looked up to? It seems that part of the reason is that he has become somewhat of a Robin Hood type figure, being a poor man who is revolting against his oppressors. For some reason, our society likes this type of image. Another popular image in recent years that seems to be akin is the image of the pirate. Because of such popular movies as “The Pirates of the Caribbean”, we have this romanticized version of people who in actual history were people who would be in jail today. Its an interesting irony that infamous people, such as Jesse James, are elevated to a legendary status when if we could evaluate them without the romanticized baggage that these characters often come with, we would probably be shocked to find normal, everyday burglars and bandits.