Listening Journal Assignment

Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
Bing Crosby
Recorded in 1932

Brother Can You Spare A Dime, by Bing Crosby was possibly the first recorded protest song ever. The music was written by Vip Harburg, and the lyrics by Jay Gourney. The song was written during the great depression and tells the story of a worker who has helped build his country and then finds himself out of work during the depression. Brother Can You Spare A Dime? soon became the anthem of those going through hard times during the depression and is historically noteworthy. I think that this song is pretty depressing to say the least, but the fact that it was written during the great depression and is telling a story of the great depression just really gives an in-depth look at what it was actually like.


All or Nothing at all.
Frank Sinatra
Recorded 1939, Columbia Records

All or Nothing at all, was the first song that Frank Sinatra recorded as a professional singer. A songwriter named Arthur Altman wrote the music for this song, and a man named Jack Lawrence, who had written for Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby wrote the lyrics for it. Publishing mogul Lou Levy found three prominent orchestras to record it; One lead by Freddy Martin, another by Jimmy Doresey and the third by Harry James, with vocals by Frank Sinatra. All three of these recordings were a flop with the public. Despite this set back, Frank Sinatra soon joined a successful bandleader named Tommy Doresey and his career took off. This song has also been recorded by John Coltrane, Barry Manilow and Diana Krall. My personal opinion on this song is that it’s really nice and smooth. I love the instrumentals and the style of this music.





Nature Boy
Nat King Cole
Recorded 1947, Capitol Records.

Nature Boy, recorded by Nat King Cole, was released in 1947. It was written by Eden Ahbez, one of the strangest writers in the pre-Hippie era. The content of this song is based on a 1940’s Los Angeles based group called “The Nature Boys” of which Ahbez was a member of. Although Nat King Cole was the first to record this song, there have been many other versions of this song preformed by David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Kurt Elling and Jamie Cullum. The song has been used in many movies such as The Boy with Green Hair, (1948) Untamed Heart, (1993) and the opening credits of Moulin Rouge (2001.) A Canadian film called Nature Boy (2000) was inspired by this song. My personal thoughts on this song are that this song is a bit unusual for Nat King Cole, and a bit eerie sounding but I really love it. I think Nat is extremely talented and he has such a calm and sweet voice.


That’ll be the Day
Buddy Holly
Recorded 1957, Decca Records

That’ll be the Day, written and recorded by Buddy Holly was a song that Buddy Holly wrote with his band mates. This is the song that Buddy owes his success to, the song that kicked off his career. The idea for the song dawned on him after seeing a John Wayne western movie called The Searchers, where Wayne’s character proclaims “That’ll be the day” whenever someone suggests that something unlikely will happen. This song was originally recorded with Buddy Holly’s band The Three Tunes, but later re-released with The Crickets. I think this song is so extremely catchy I don’t know how anyone could ever dislike it. I can definitely see how people would think of Buddy Holly as a major music icon, he is very talented in singing and writing.


Respect
Aretha Franklin
Released 1967
This song was written by Otis Redding in 1965. It was originally made to be sang from a man’s point of view. Aretha recorded the song in 1967, for Atlantic Records. This was Aretha’s first song to top the charts in England. The song has been used in many movies including; Platoon, Forrest Gump, Mystic Plaza and Back to School. There is still much debate on weather the lyrics go “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take care TPC” meaning “the coloured people” or “R-E-S-P-E-C-T , take care TBC” meaning “taking care of business.” The recording took place in New York with Muscle Shoals Rhythm Sections. This song is how she got her title as “The Queen of Soul” This song is definitely a classic. I think Aretha Franklin is extremely talented and this song is perfect for her amazing voice.

Let it be
The Beatles
Released 1970
The song Let it be was written by Paul McCartney. Many people believe that the "Mother Mary" was a biblical reference. However, the song was inspired by his mother Mary, who died when he was 14. The idea for the song came one night when Paul had a dream about his mother, and she came to him and spoke words of wisdom to him. Despite Paul McCartney’s disapproval of the Christain undertones of this song, the song did really well on the charts and is still one of the most memorable Beatles songs to this day. This is one of my personal favorite songs. I love the meaning behind it and the lyrics. I always thought that Mother Mary was a biblical reference too, but now I’m glad that I looked up information on this song, it makes the song just that much better.



D’ya Think I’m Sexy
Rod Stewart
Released 1978

Most of the music for this song was written by drummer, Carmine Appice. Rod Stewart had always been known for his soulful blues and folk ballads, but when the disco era came around he wanted to try something new. Inspired by The Rolling Stones song I Miss You, came D’ya Think I’m Sexy. This song became a huge hit and Rod Stewart donated the proceeds of the song to UNICEF. In 1979 an anti-disco parody of this song “Do You Think I’m Disco” was made by a Steve Dahl, it is actually really funny because it supports that like Mr.Edwards was saying, disco kids were the emo kids of that era. Many artists have covered this song. My personal favorite covers of this song are the N-trance version, and the Paris Hilton version.

Blitzkreig Bop
Ramones
Released: 1986

This song was written mostly by Tommy Ramone. Blizkreig is a German term for “lightning war.” Many fans interpret this song as a reference to Hitler, but it’s unknown weather it actually is or not. Some examples of how that could be interpreted is the “Hey, Ho, Let’s go” being the marching of the soldiers and “Shoot’em in the back now” possibly meaning Hitler being shot. Whatever this song means, it’s super catchy and fun and has been used in movies such as Jimmy Neutron, and commercials for AT&T Wireless. I’m pretty sure everyone who speaks English knows this song, and how could you not love it, it’s wonderful.


Santeria
Sublime
Released 1996
Santeria means “way of the saints” in Spanish. It is a kind of black magic and is in some places considered as a religion of cult. The song is about a man who is out for revenge of the Sancho, (Spanish slang for the man your woman is cheating on you with.) of his Heina (Spanish slang for beautiful woman.) The music video was made about a month after lead singer Brad Nowell died, created out of old concert footage. I think Sublime is one of the most amazing, most wonderful, epic bands in the whole entire world. They are definitely my favorite band ever, and this probably in the top five of my favorite Sublime songs.

Me Against the Music
Britney Spears feat. Madonna
Released: 2003
After a brief period of not being in the spotlight, Britney managed to reinvent herself yet again to make her fans (including myself) fall in love with her all over again. This was the first single on her In the Zone album. Madonna has traditionally believed that duets are gimmicky, and generally refuses to do them, but for Britney Spears she made the exception. Another reason why this song is so epic is because Madonna was an icon of an earlier generation and Britney, an icon of our generation and bringing the best of both worlds together had a great outcome. I was personally obsessed with this song in grade 6, and still continue to be an avid Britney Spears fan.

Banana Pancakes
Jack Johnson
Released: 2005
This song is my favorite Jack Johnson song. It’s from his 2005 album In Between Dreams. The story behind this song is that Jack was trying to get his wife’s attention when she was doing something, so he started playing: “You hardly even notice, when I try to show you, this song is meant to keep you, from doing what you’re supposed to” and from there the rest of the lyrics were written. The song is just about those lazy, rainy days. I really like this song because it’s so mellow and it’s a song you just want to chill to and one that’s fun to sing along to.


United State of Pop (Blame it on the Pop)
Dj Earworm
Released: 2009
Dj Earworm is known for annually creating a mash-up of the top 25 billboard hits from each year. So far, the best United State of Pop song is the most recent 2009 song Blame it on the Pop. It features 25 song from artists like Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West and Katy Perry. Ironically, I think this song is better than any one of the songs in it. This is probably the most well-done mash up I’ve ever heard, I put it on my facebook the first day I heard it. It really makes you remember the year that it is talking about.