So drifting away from the beauty stuff for a minute to discuss my second favourite topic: music. I figure with the past few posts being makeup related, I would take a small break for some real talk.
We've all experienced those days where absolutely nothing goes right and the most tempting thing to do is to crawl into bed and scroll through depressing Tumblr quotes. Don't lie to yourself. I've done/do it, and if you haven't done it, girl, you need to hop on that band wagon. Not that I'm saying embarking on the endless scroll of depressing quotes is healthy or right, but to some degree, it does make us feel better having something to relate to.
Classic Rock 'n' Roll to Soothe the Soul
I have an alternative to depressing quotes and that is music. It's old as time and never goes out of style. Unless you listen to mainstream pop, in which case, yes, style changes more times than a girl's moods while she's PMSing. Which is why I am writing this post. To encourage you all to step away from the One Direction and put the Drake on mute for five minutes (sacrilege, I know, but bear with me, Kendrick Lamar and Justin Beiber will forgive you) and listen to some good old rock 'n' roll to soothe your soul. Seriously, do it. I've provided a quick easy link for you guys down below so all you go to do is click and listen while I continue my post.
Honestly, listen to that riff at the beginning. If I could have that one minute played on repeat over and over again, I'd be in heaven. This song is by far one of the best experiences of my life, and the best part is, I can keep reliving it. That's the power of music you know. A single song can trigger a whole host of memories.
Summertime Happiness
For example, over the summer, I went out a lot with a group of friends from where I worked. It was one girl's birthday, so she invited four of us, which became our usual bar hopping group, to the bar where she was having her birthday. She leaves at 11 o'clock! On her birthday! Guys, can I first say, I don't care if you're turning 50, you can't leave your own birthday early! Side note, she was turning 23, not 50, which makes it even worse, but I digress. All her other friends dwindled off too, but the four of us stayed until the bar closed. There was this tiny dance floor and we stayed on that dance floor the entire night! We left once or twice to refresh our drinks, but otherwise, we danced on that dance floor until the lights came on. There were tons of songs played, a butchered remix of Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness, some other remixed top 40 stuff, but one that seemed to keep playing was Aviicii's Wake Me Up. For some reason that song stuck and I remember shouting the lyrics with my friend while our other friend danced with us in our happy little circle. There were two guys and two girls, including me, in our group, and it was the best time. One of the guys dances like he's some dope black guy while our other friend drunkenly knelt in front of this random girl and kissed her hand before running away once the lights came on.
Another song that I loved during the summer and shamelessly blasted and belted whilst in my car, was Vita Chamber's Fix You. I remember it was after my shift during the first couple weeks I'd been working there, I think. I was driving down the road that would take me straight into my neighbourhood, I had that song blasting, the sun roof down, and giving myself a mental pat on the back for actually being good at this hostessing job (as opposed to the nearly scarring experience of my first hostessing position which had also happened to be my first job ever). I was at a red light behind this gold Ford SUV thing, singing my song, being oblivious as per usual, when one of the guys I worked with, the bartender, sticks his head out the window and waves at me. Semi-mortifed I waved back and continued to drive home without the embarrassing singing, but I stubbornly kept Fix You on repeat the entire way home. It was also then that the bartender and I realized we actually lived pretty frigging close to each other. He later became one of my best friends, a title which is given to few and lost by many. Nonetheless, that song never ceases to remind me of the simpler days and of a simpler me.
All that to say, music, for me, brings on stronger memories than any object, sight, or smell. Although there's research that says our olfactory senses are the strongest triggers for memories. Maybe for some people, but I feel like I have partially dead nostrils since my sense of smell is crap. Unless you're wearing something strong or I'm right up in your business, I'm not smelling anything. Which I guess comes in handy when in super BO prone situations, but the likelihood of me being in a sweaty locker room of dingy club is almost slim to none. We like to keep it classy 'n' sassy here at the Chronicler.
*****
So, when I'm having an off day, or a day when nothing went right for me (I had three months of pure wrong before anything went semi-right for me), the songs I listened to the most were really mellow and calming ones. Ones that reminded me that it goes right eventually. Like the more down life drags you, the higher you'll shoot up (credits to depressing Tumblr scrolling for that one), which only strengthens my belief in the saying that it'll all work out in the end, and if it doesn't work out, then it's not the end.
In the fall, I listened to a lot, and I mean an entire seasonally themed playlist a lot, of Lana Del Rey, and later, Holly Henry from The Voice. I feel like as the year progresses, and I mean in terms of seasons, not days, so does my perspectives. In the fall, everything is dying, it gets darker faster, and instead of a warm summer breeze tickling at my neck, I get crisp fall air whipping at my spine. I find it's during these fall/winter months that I'm my most down, and it affects the people around me more than I thought. As we move more into January, which is almost over (which means my first January Favourites 2014 post) I am becoming more optimistic, more hopeful, and more excited about everything. Literally, the amount of enthusiasm I display for the teeniest things, like buying two boxes of jasmine today, or grinning at the new salad selection at the grocery store, or hell, even going into my local Bulk Barn for the first time, put me in such a good mood.
Sappier than a Maple Tree
This new found good mood has resulted in less Lana Del Rey, more Pretty Reckless and 8tracks. I love 8tracks! I love the guy who told me about 8tracks! Without 8tracks, half the songs I download would not exist to me. Basically, 8tracks is a vamped up radio app that plays playlists compiled by users and are categorized into moods! It's the greatest thing ever. It's free to download on both iPhone and Android, so get on that ship before it sails!
Prior to my fall depression days, all I would listen to, aside from my upbeat summer playlist, was 8tracks. Only downside is, it plays through wi-fi which wasn't too convenient when I was cruising down Highway 21 in my little Jetta. But nonetheless, it did introduce me to some crazy good songs I wouldn't have known about otherwise. One of them I listened to religiously, on repeat for the entirety of September and October. Here is the video for it down below, it's called Wings by Birdy.
I don't make it a habit to listen to sappy songs purely based on principle, but I do have one more I want to share with you guys and it's called Private Parts by Lzzy Hale (lead singer of Halestorm) and James Michael. It's such a good song and I feel like a lot of people can relate to it.
Illegal Immigration, whaaaaat?
Now I know I said put down the Yeezus for a minute and then go ahead and post a link for Wake Me Up, but stay with me. At heart, I love rock 'n' roll. I love the guitar riffs, the drums, and the bass. When you crank it up so high it makes you feel. That's what music ought to do and is probably why I can't stand the hip hop genre. If the deepest thing I can glean from Alien Girl is that "she looks like Miss Jolie or Halle Barry" and that nobody knows where she's from cause she's got no ID. My friend, that is called illegal immigration, not romance. Sorry, Kendrick, looks like your Alien Girl went back to the motherboard cause she didn't get her papers done.
There are plenty of rock songs out there that are probably just as senseless, but listening to Alien Girl doesn't make me feel excited or motivated or happy. It makes me feel tired, and slow, and turtle-ish, if you guys understand what I mean. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a pretty decent song as far as the genre goes, but it just doesn't tug at my cold, shrivelled, and blackened heart strings like Sweet Child O' Mine does. For those of you who haven't heard Alien Girl, here it is:
Old Loves are Loves for a Reason
The Pretty Reckless is a band that formed fairly recently in '07. Their lead singer is Taylor Momsen (yes, I know I made a joke about her makeup in my last post, but who didn't at the time? Plus, she can rock the racoon eyes). Some of you may recognize bad ass Taylor Momsen from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) since she played our favourite little Who, Cindy Lou. She also starred in "Gossip Girl" as Jenny Humphrey, which she's more well known for. Her band is a classic rock band, and in an interview she did, she said she was trying to bring good old rock back into the industry. The band's most popular single to date, Make me Wanna Die was featured in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2011 and was also the end credit song for the movie Kick Ass.
Shameless promotion for a band I love, but their latest album, Going to Hell is going to be released in March on the 17/18! I'm stupidly excited about this! It's taken them two years to release this thing, and I cannot freaking wait! One of the songs on their new album, which Taylor and Ben, her guitarist, sang live is called Sweet Things, and I love acoustic versions of songs. I used to abhor them, but I've grown to love how raw and real they are and how you can truly hear the talent not only from the singer, but the instruments as well. I'll insert that clip down below because, let's be honest, I can't help myself.
Do you hear that rawness? Uuuuhg, eargasm! Like I said before, I've rekindled my love for this band. I still love Lana Del Rey and Holly Henry and Marina and the Diamonds (another artist featured mainly in my September-October playlist. Teen Idle and Bubblegum Bitch are both amazing, check them out!) but I'm in love all over again with Taylor's voice.
"Those" Days
So I know this post has featured mainly female artists and doesn't quite get to the point of this article in a very direct way, but if you are having one of "those" days, I always find myself listening to Monster You Made Me by Pop Evil. It's a ballad rock song so it's nothing too hardcore. This song is definitely one I've listened too for a year now. Less so in the summertime when everything was perfect, but it was still there in the beginning before everything got good and certainly after everything went down the drain.
Another song I listened to a lot this time last year for my "those" kinds of days was I Can't Do This by Plumb. It's not really a rock song, but it is something that made me feel and was a lot like those Tumblr quotes. They make me sad, but I kept scrolling. This band/song isn't really for everyone, so I'll leave it to you guys to YouTube it if you would like. Waiting for Superman by Daughtry is one that I currently listen to when I'm feeling down and need to feel up. That song always smartens me up. Why would I wait for Superman when I can be Superman? See? Instant pep up.
Also, I recommend Broken by Seether ft. Amy Lee. No extra words needed, just listen to it, and you'll know why it's in this category.
It's Getting Hot in Here so...yeah, you know how it goes
I also really love Boss's Daughter by Pop Evil, but it's more on the grittier, dirtier side of rock (which, let me tell you, can get pretty hot 'n' heavy). Along those same lines, I'm sure you've all heard or at least remember the song Whatever You Like by TI. It was on the top 40 list in '10 I wanna say, but it could've easily been in '09 to. Whichever, I'm sure you can all YouTube that and give it a listen if you like. While binging like crazy on Gossip Girl towards the beginning of the school year, Netflix had just put it on their site and it saved my hours of looking for the perfect link to watch it on some shady online site (go Netflix!) I heard a cover of that song by Anya Maria and that one I will definitely link down below. Girl, grab your boyfriend, fake or otherwise (what? Real boys exist? And here I thought they were just myths) and turn up this song. It is amazing. I know I bashed hip hop, but if it makes the top 40, it's just another pop song (feel free to dispute this, but as soon as a song makes it onto that top 40 list it's like death to originality). Plus, Anya Maria isn't a very popular artist, though with her voice, I'm not sure how that's possible, but I am nonetheless grateful. Like I mentioned before, I did hear this on Gossip Girl, and for those of you who are as obsessed with GG as I am, it was during the Dan-Vanessa-Olivia scene that this song was played.
Whatever you like by Anya Maria
Another longtime "get frisky" song I've loved actually comes from a book soundtrack from one of my all time favourite authors, Karen Marie Moning. The soundtrack correlates with her best-selling Fever series which starts with Darkfever for those of you who are interested in checking it out. It's seriously the most amazing thing I've ever read. I digress, her soundtrack is done by her hubby and this one song is crazy hot. It is marked with a parental advisory, so if you're not into hearing very outright sexual things in songs, skip this particular link.
(apologies, I couldn't find a proper video so follow the link and enjoy! But come back...please.)
Also, check out Bad Girlfriend by Theory of Deadman if you're more into that side of rock....
Anger Management
We all have those days where we just need to scream. Believe me, I've done it multiple times in less than an hour and it didn't actually help me out all that much. I was still angry. For almost an entire week I was a raging bitch, excuse the language, but we've all heard swears before. I don't believe in the censorship of word choice, sorry. When the screaming and stomping around the house like a bull seeing red obviously did nothing to lighten my mood, I would get in my car and blast the loudest, most hardcore rock song I knew. And it happens that I actually knew quite a few. One of them being another song by The Pretty Reckless called Going to Hell.
I need to blast these next two songs. I honestly can't help it. It's one of the reasons I love rock music so much. It just gets your blood racing and your heart pounding. I've never listened to another genre of music that can do that to me. Rock music to me is like what pot would be to a stoner. It's my high. These two songs are by the band Skillet and are one of my favourites. You can say all you want that Skillet isn't a proper rock band, but if I can blast it and my hand or foot taps along to the beat and there's a head bob happening, it's rock to me.
Monster by Skillet
Hero by Skillet
I have more! Told you guys I had a lot of angry songs. Stand Alone and Voodoo both by Godsmack and Last Resort by Papa Roach are worth a listen though. I'll let you guys check that out on your own, so we can move along to the next section, which is a touch lengthier than I originally intended...
Oldies but goodies- Songs I listened to this time last year
An older song I used to always listen to when I was in a not-so-great mood was Cold by Crossfade and Falls Apart by Thousand Foot Krutch. The rest are goodies, but oldies in my books and all sound great when you blast them. Then again, what doesn't sound great at top volume?
- Headstrong by Trapt was my "screw you" song to the world
- Bye Bye Beautiful by Nightwish was my badass song for a while pre-Pretty Reckless days
- Beast Within and Whore by In This Moment are my pump up, blast it, type of songs
- When I'm Gone by 3 Doors Down
- If I Could be Like That by 3 Door Down
- Mz. Hyde by Halestorm (Lzzy Hale is amazing with a guitar! Major fangirling here!)
- Also by Halestorm, Familiar Taste of Poison is simply amazing. So many feels! I encourage you guys to check out the rest of their songs too, if you enjoyed these two suggestions!
- Angels by Within Temptation (the lead singer's voice = magic)
- Vox Populi by 30 Seconds to Mars
- Attack by 30 Seconds to Mars
- This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars (actually, all their songs are amazing. Dear Jared Leto, marry me?)
- Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin (if you're not into rock, start off with this one. It's pretty mild, some would call it more alternative rock than true rock)
- Let the Bodies Hit the Floor by Drowning Pool (warning: another angry song)
- Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry
- Here in My Room by Incubus
- Not Strong Enough by Apocalyptica
- Guilty Pleasure by BECCA
And Finally...
I think that about wraps it up! Surely it's enough to keep you guys busy if you're looking for something new to listen to. Like I said, I love Lana Del Rey and her latest album EP thing, Tropico, is fantastic, I'll leave some links for a couple of my favourite songs by her below since I'm not too sure what mood her songs would fit other than a mellow one. I'll also put a favourite cover of mine by Holly Henry and leave a link for her first EP below!
Gods and Monsters by Lana Del Rey
Body Electric by Lana Del Rey
Get Lucky (Cover) by Holly Henry
Download her first EP here:
or check out her soundcloud for all her covers:
I hope you guys enjoyed this post as much as I did! I love music almost as much as I love makeup and fashion, if not more. Let me know what your favorite songs are for your moods and I'll check them out! Don't forget to let me know if you guys listen to any of my suggestions on Twitter by using the hashtag #CurlyMoodSongs and tagging me in it @aly_bean!
As always, thank you so much for reading, and stay in touch for my next post which will be a review of the LUSH H'Suan Wen Hua.
XOXO,
A. Bean
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