My Eyes on Brand New Eyes (A Paramore Album)

            Ok, so it's probably no secret by now that I love the band Paramore.  And not just the lead singer Hayley Williams.  I'm a fan of Josh Farro (lead guitarist), Zac Farro (drummer, brother of Josh), Jeremy Davis (bassist), and Taylor York (rhythm guitarist).  But how do I feel about their latest album "Brand New Eyes"?

            "Brand New Eyes" is Paramore's third album, the first two being "All We Know is Falling" and "Riot!".  This CD is definitely deeper than the previous ones.

            Spoken by Hayley, "I was like, 'This isn't a feel-good song, because I'm writing about something I'm going through right now, and it's still painful. And I confused that with actually not liking the songs, when actually I was prouder of them than I've ever been before. They're heavier emotions for me... I'm still going through some of this stuff, and these songs are really healing to me."

            As a big fan of Paramore, I know to be true the fact that these songs have a deeper meaning that the others.  "Riot!" and "All We Know is Falling" were made when the band was still knew and just starting out.  By the time recording of the new album started (January 2009), the band had gotten some experience and knew better what they were doing.

            Concerning the lyrics, they obviously were words that came from the heart.  "Playing God" is a song about some unnamed person, well, playing God; pretending that he/she isn't doing anything wrong and putting all the blame on the singer.  Goes the chorus:

"You don't have to believe me

But the way I, way I see it

Next time you point a finger I might have to bend it back

And break it, break it off

Next time you point a finger I'll point you to the mirror"

            I thought this a clever way to say that the blame-er is the real blame-ee. (and I can play it on guitar now!)

"Feeling Sorry" is one of the lesser known songs on the CD. The bridge goes:

"And all the best lies,

They are told with fingers tied

So cross them tight,

Won't you promise me tonight

If it's the last thing you do, you'll get out."

            An upbeat sounding song about a person that just didn't try hard enough to make it (hey, whattaya know, I can play this song too!)

            What about the actual instrumentals of the album, you may be wondering? 

            The sounds of the songs, the skill with the instruments being played, are just AMAZING.  The songs are very catchy without being too pop-ish.  The direction that the rhythm goes is sometimes foreseeable but nowhere near cliché.  Paramore comes up with their own guitar parts, bass parts, everything.  And I'm no expert drummer, but even I can recognize that Zac Farro is good at keeping time and performing complicated fills and bass drum rhythms.  I even enjoy the parts of the bass guitarist, who is also good at what he does.

            Most of the songs are up-tempo, rock songs.  "Brick By Boring Brick" and "Ignorance" are sure to get you head-banging by the chorus.  There are solos galore (what's a Paramore album without a plentitude of guitar solos?).  There are also the slower songs. 

            "Misguided Ghosts" is played with only two acoustic guitars and a steady beat on the bass drum (if my ears are informing me correctly).  "The Only Exception" is faster yet is still a slow song that many of you might have heard before (it was sung on "Glee").  "All I Wanted" is faster still, with a display of vocal skill evident enough to give Beyonce the chills.

            I realize that I haven't said one bad thing about the CD.  That's because I have nothing bad to say.  Honestly, I don't, and I'm not being willingly blind to any faults.  I just don't see anything wrong with the album.  But that's just my opinion.  I am URGING you to give the songs a listen.  I promise you won't regret it.

Paramore - Brick by Boring Brick (Live Acoustic) from James Crusher on Vimeo.

Poème de l’Hiver

Snow
It drifts slowly and silently
Like a Tokugawa ninja
Lights
They twinkle
Like mischievous eyes
Trees
They sway, bare
Like Adam and Eve, ashamed of their nakedness
Schools
They sit gloomy and dark
Like forlorn and forgotten pets
Children
They cavort and prance
Like reindeer in the sky
And I
I sit alone and wonder
How to make a snowman

Fo'Realz o' Fo'Notz

            Alas, we are now reading "The Great Gatsby".  That great book of American literature during the great period of the Jazz Age.  Having just begun the book, we know not yet what twists and turns the developing plot will take but we can speculate.
            So far, we've learned that Gatsby is madly in love with Tom's wife Daisy.  I mean, MADLY.  He spent thousands of dollars, maybe millions, just to live in this expansive mansion across the pond from her.  He gazes across this pond, to the opposite Egg, to see a green light near her house (?).  He holds expensive parties most nights just because he's hoping she will stop by one day.  And-what's this?- his next door neighbor Nick knows Daisy!  Not only does he know her, he is somehow related to her!
            That's when Gatsby starts to invite Nick over to his house.  He finally reveals his reason for the sudden uber-friendliness when he asks a mutual acquaintance to ask Nick to ask Daisy to tea (will she have to ask for tea?).
            Hmmm...seems sort of suspicious doesn't it?  Once Gatsby discovers Nick's relation to Daisy, he all of a sudden becomes very neighborly.  Maybe I'm being too suspicious but it sounds to me like Gatsby is using Nick.
            We have already seen Jay Gatsby change the way he acted in front of people (at the first party Nick attends, Gatsby turns from being eager to Baker to being formal when others approach).  So forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical of his true purpose for befriending Nick.  Something just doesn't seem right.

Thank You... for the Queso.

            Okay, this isn't really going to be about cheese.  Although j'adore queso.  Really, what's not to love about it?  But that's not anywhere near what I'm supposed to be writing about.  I'm supposed to be writing about how I'm thankful for all the OTHER Thanksgiving food.  I'm thankful for turkey and dressing and macaro - what?- I'm what?- I'm supposed to write about a person?- in this class? OH, that makes much more sense!

            Let me start over.  Hmmm…a person in my American Lit class that I’m thankful for…  How about people?  I’m thankful for Kate, Mauricio, and Paulina.

            To Kate: My Mexicana gringa amiga.  It’s been fun sitting next to you in Am. Lit.  and in geometry.  I’m thankful for the inspiration you give me when I have nothing to write about.  Thanks for helping me in geometry, too, when I don’t understand what I’m supposed to be doing.

            To Mauricio: Hey buddy!  You have a somewhat disturbed way of drawing and looking at things.  But that’s okay.  I’m still thankful for you.  I’ll never forget when you told me how to discipline the Mexican way and for teaching me what a flauta is.

            To Paulina: It’s too bad we don’t sit near each other in American Literature or in geometry.  But we still have fun at lunch.  I’m thankful for how you always need help with your Chinese homework, because it amuses me greatly.

            So those are my thankfuls.  Thank you for reading them.

P.S.  I’m still thankful for turkey.

Je Suis Une Charrue (The Life of a French Plow)

       Je suis une charrue.  J'habite en France.  J'habite sur une ferme.  Je travaille dans un champ.  La famille, ils doivent aider.  Alors, je les aide. Ils m'utilisent.  Je tourne de la terre.  J'aide à planter.  Ils plantent des fleurs.  Des belles fleurs.  J'aime les fleurs.  Ils sont tres gentilles et amusantes.  Je sors chaque jour, en automne.  Chaque matin, je travaille.  Le job est difficile.  Mais je l'aime.  J'adore la terre, les fleurs, le soleil...  C'est mon job.  Parce que je suis une charrue. 
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       I am a plow.  I live in France.  I live on a farm.  I work in a field.  The family, they need help.  So I help them.  They use me.  I turn the earth.  I help to plant.  They plant flowers.  Some beautiful flowers.  I like flowers.  They are very nice and amusing.  I go out each day, in autumn.  Each morning, I work.  The job is hard.  But I like it.  I love the earth, the flowers, the sun...  It's my job.  Because I am a plow.

Black Power! And white...and all the rest...

            Slavery.  Another blemish in our country's short history.  It seems like that’s how many of these blogs start, huh?  Hey, don’t blame me.  Blame the U. S. of A.  But this time, it’s one of those problems that lasted a really long time and that everyone knows about from an early age.  And we like to think that it’s all over, there’s no such thing as slavery anymore right? WRONG!  Unfortunately, slavery is still alive and still not well.

            Back in the day, slavery was just a fact of life.  No need to hide it since everyone was doing it.  Now, slavery is looked down on.  I’m guessing it’s illegal, too.  But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.  It’s just that people are really careful not to get caught.  Because if they do get caught, it’s kinda really bad for them. 

            Modern day slavery mostly occurs in Africa, India, Haiti, and Pakistan.  The people in bondage may be forced to do anything, including convert to a different religion.  In Sudan, it has been discovered that some slave traders cut the Achilles tendon of the people that wouldn’t convert to being Muslim (OUCH!). 

            Child slaves in India are forced to weave carpets if they want to eat.  Shackled slaves in Pakistan are cane-harvesters.  Girls are sold into prostitution in Thailand and the Dominican Republic army drags random people off of buses or out of their homes and drops them in the cane fields.

            So yeah, slavery does exist.  After hearing about examples like this, how could you think it doesn’t?

Salem Gets Witchy

            So many things happened in our country’s early history.  One of the blemishes of that history is the constant accusations of witchcraft.  As I discussed before, the book “The Crucible” was written by Arthur Miller.  It recounts the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts that began in 1692.  In it, John Proctor and Abigail Williams were said to have had an affair.  After some research I have concluded: that is utter fiction.  Some of you may already know the falsehood of this untrue falseness (heh heh). 

            But what you do not know is the actual ages of these two major characters.  At the time, John Proctor was actually 60 years old and Abigail was 12.  So there would have been something very, very wrong if they did have an affair.  Besides, they lived more than eight miles from each other.  Considering that the fastest way of travel in that time period was by horse, it would have been even more difficult to have constantly rendezvoused with each other.

            Our next novel of choice (although we didn’t actually choose to read “The Crucible”) is “House of the Seven Gables”.  In this fine yet complex story, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the tale of a large house in the 17^th century.  The plot of land it sits on was originally owned by a man named Maule that was hanged for witchcraft.  Now think: the actual house of the seven gables was completed in 1668.  The Salem witch trials commenced in 1692.  Could these witch-related events be a coincidence?  I think not.