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Jun 28

Daughtry – What About Now (music video and lyrics)

Activism, Good News, Lifeways, Relationships, Video, music No Comments »

Activism | Effective Living > Music | Lifeways

What About Now - Skate Board Summary. The song What About Now by Daughtry has been hugely popular for it’s inspirational and motivational message about making a difference in the world.

At a time when the world is in crisis on a large-scale level as well as down to the individual level, this video paints a picture of the challenges we face, yet it also presents hopeful solutions and images of people who are making a difference in the world.

Video. The music video (below) has had over 3 million views. Use the volume control as needed to adjust the sound level. You can click the [x] in the upper right corner of the advertisement in the video to close it and move it out of the way.

Lyrics. Below are the lyrics to What About Now by Daughtry.

Shadows fill an empty heart
As love is fading,
From all the things that we are
But are not saying.
Can we see beyond the stars
And make it to the dawn?

Change the colors of the sky.
And open up to
The ways you made me feel alive,
The ways I loved you.
For all the things that never died,
To make it through the night,
Love will find you.

What about now?
What about today?
What if you’re making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love never went away?
What if it’s lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it’s too late,
What about now?

The sun is breaking in your eyes
To start a new day.
This broken heart can still survive
With a touch of your grace.
Shadows fade into the light.
I am by your side,
Where love will find you.

What about now?
What about today?
What if you’re making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love, it never went away?
What if it’s lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it’s too late,
What about now?

Now that we’re here,
Now that we’ve come this far,
Just hold on.
There is nothing to fear,
For I am right beside you.
For all my life,
I am yours.

What about now?
What about today?
What if you’re making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love never went away?
What if it’s lost behind words we could never find?

What about now?
What about today?
What if you’re making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love never went away?
What if it’s lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it’s too late,
Baby, before it’s too late,
Baby, before it’s too late,
What about now?

Tagged with: music • music video

Jun 28

The Fray – How To Save A Life (music video and lyrics)

Activism, Good News, Lifeways, Relationships, Video, music No Comments »

Effective Living > Music | Lifeways

The Fray - How to Save a Life - Green Caterpillar on Piano Keys Summary. The song How to Save a Life by The Fray was influenced by band member Isaac Slade who worked as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens. The song was the title song for the album How to Save a Life.

The song has sold over two million downloads. The music video of the song (below) has been viewed over 10 million times. It is one of the fifth longest charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100, at 58 consecutive weeks.

Music Video. The music video of the song (below) shows images and videos of troubled youth combined with words and other images that convey how delicate life is. The green caterpillar shown here on the piano keyboard is juxtaposed to the image of a butterfly elsewhere in the video. You can click the [x] in the upper right corner of the advertisement in the video to close it and move it out of the way.

Lyrics. Below are the lyrics to How to Save a Life by The Fray.

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it’s just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you’ve told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you’ve followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he’ll say he’s just not the same
And you’ll begin to wonder why you came

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
How to save a life

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

CHORUS:
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life

Tagged with: music • music video

Jun 28

Montgomery Gentry – Some People Change (music video and lyrics)

Activism, Good News, Lifeways, Video, music No Comments »

Lifeways

Summary. The music video Some People Change by Montgomery Gentry is an inspirational video about how people can turn their lives around.

One examples given in the video is of a young man who’d been raised to have racist beliefs.

The other example is of a woman (pictured here) who turns away from a life of alcohol addiction. At the moment when she makes this decision, she opens the window and bright white light rushes into her life.

The lyrics to the song, and the music video are included below.

Video. Below is the music video of Some People Change by Montgomery Gentry. You can click the [x] in the upper right corner of the advertisement in the video to close it and move it out of the way.

Lyrics. Below are the lyrics to the song Some People Change by Montgomery Gentry.

His old man was a rebel yeller:
Bad boy to the bone.
He’d say: “Can’t trust that other fella,”
He’d judge ‘em by the tone of their skin.
He was raised to think like his Dad:
Narrow mind full of hate.
On the road to no-where fast,
Till the Grace of God got in the way.
Then he saw the Light an’ hit his knees an’ cried an’ said a prayer:
Rose up a brand new man; left the old one right there.

Here’s to the strong; thanks to the brave.
Don’t give up hope: some people change.
Against all odds, against the grain,
Love finds a way: some people change.

She was born with her mother’s habit:
You could say: “It’s in her blood.”
She hates that she’s gotta have it:
As she fills her glass up.
An she’d love to kill that bottle,
But all she can think about,
Is a, a better life, a second chance,
An’ everyone she’s letting down.
She throws that bottle down.

Here’s to the strong; thanks to the brave.
Don’t give up hope: some people change.
Against all odds, against the grain,
Love finds a way: some people change.

Thank God for those who make it:
Let them be the Light.

(Let them be the light)
(Some people change.)
Here’s to the strong; thanks to the brave.
Don’t give up hope: some people change.
Against all odds, against the grain,
Love finds a way: some people change.
Some people change.

(Some people change)

Tagged with: lifeways

Jun 21

Kesha (Ke$ha) Highly Acclaimed Musician Takes Pop Music to New Level With New Album Animal

Activism, music No Comments »

Activism | Effective Living > Music

Summary. Pop female vocalist, Kesha (Ke$ha), has released her new album, Animal, which has been well received, as evidenced by her millions of viewers and fans on YouTube and Facebook.

Animal Review. The airy and angelic vocals of the the title song Animal sound similar to the vocals and instrumental track from the album Cry for the Desert (iTunes) by Twila Paris. The song begins with instrumentals similar to music from Coldplay. The segments of power vocals during the song are similar to Avril Lavigne, Aly & AJ, Kelly Clarkson, and Hillary Duff. The percussive drum rhythms at 41 seconds into the song are very similar to the drums at 1 minute into the song Dreams by the Cranberries. Despite all these similarities to other musicians and songs, Kesha’s alchemistic music fusion takes on a new form. The similarities are likely noticeable since she shares similar talents as these other popular, talented, and successful musicians.

Animal Welfare. Pop female vocalist, Kesha (Ke$ha), has joined with numerous other musicians and celebrities to speak out about animal welfare. While Kesha’s persona is intentionally a fusion of fun and wildness, it’s clear from a broader examination of her music and videos that she is deep, and her producers are exceptional.

Charity. PETA has reported about Kesha because of her stand against wearing animal fur, and also because of a large donation of food to an animal shelter in her home town, Nashville, Tennessee after severe flooding caused significant damage to the city.

“Nashville helped shape me as an artist and as a person and my love for this city is beyond words. I will continue to do anything I can to help rebuild this city and support the families and animals who have been affected by this tragedy.” ~ Kesha

Amazing Music. Kesha’s latest album, Animal (iTunes), has been largely successful, with songs like Tik Tok (iTunes) and Your Love is My Drug (iTunes). In the title song, Animal (iTunes), Kesha’s impressive vocal fluidity and range come through. Her music is fun, upbeat, and inspiring.

“I’m really impressed with Kesha’s latest album, Animal. The title song, Animal, is poetically transcendent and her vocal performance is impressive. Some of the other songs like Your Love is My Drug and Tik Tok are clever and catchy. This kind of musical diversity is only found in more talented musicians working with exceptional production companies.” ~ Gregory Johnson

Highly Popular. As of June 2010, Kesha’s Facebook Page has almost one million fans. Kesha’s YouTube channel has about 10 million views and her video uploads have over 120 million views.

Excellence in Video Production. The music video of Tik Tok (below) has about 20 million views. It is produced with attention to detail and vibrant colors of painted textured stucco reminiscent of Do the Right Thing by Spike Lee. Her choice of vehicle (a bicycle) in the beginning of this music video seems to be a product placement or endorsement for bicycles as a cool way for people to get around (something other celebrities are doing). The video begins with waking up in a bathtub amidst brief flashbacks to a previous night of partying, and it ends with falling asleep in another bathtub – presumably to start the cycle all over again the next day.

Eclectic Eccentricity. Her music video for Your Love is My Drug (below) has had almost 10 million views and features some uniquely eccentric elements and some exotic animals. For a short segment of the video, animation is combined with real-life video, and progressively the animation predominates. This is a technique similar to what has been used by Sarah Silverman and also the movie Waking Life. The music video becomes entirely animated for a short time in the middle of the music video, with an animation style that looks like the introductory video to Monty Python’s Flying Circus or The Beatles Yellow Submarine. (YouTube: Music Video | Movie Clips) The animation sequence leads into a segment where Kesha is lit up while dancing in the dark with her body painted using backlight paint or something even more luminescent. Toward the end of the backlight dancing she is holding a sizable snake that looks like like a boa constrictor. The backlight segment morphs into moving kaleidoscope patterns. The video ends with Kesha riding an elephant in the desert with her portrait appearing like a vintage photo of a woman in the circus riding an elephant.

Ignorant Critics. A video titled Sing Talk was released by CollegeHumor as a parody of the song Tik Tok. The parody suggests that Kesha can’t sing, so instead she talks through her songs. The creators of the video seem to be ignoring songs like Animal in which Kesha sounds better than Enya. The parody video also seems to overlook the fact that the song Tik Tok was done as a pop and quasi rap song. Rap music requires a difficult fusion of talking and singing where subtleties of intonations are used. Those who have actually heard Kesha’s music will recognize the exceptional talent behind it. Kesha’s popularity is a testimony to the fact that she is doing something right. Most of Kesha’s critics are likely trying to leech some of her popularity and visibility by criticizing her.

Tagged with: Activism • animal welfare

Jun 20

Pepsi Inspirational Music Video One Tribe Featuring Will.i.am

Activism, Good News, Video, advertising, music No Comments »

Activism > Advertising | Effective Living > Music

Summary. In 2010, Pepsi launched the Pepsi Refresh Project and their Refresh Everything campaign using an inspirational music video featuring the song One Tribe by Will.i.am.

The Refresh Everything campaign was established to offer grants to small charities that might not otherwise receive funding.

This is an example of how an advertising campaign can be merged with philanthropy.

Advertisements that are uplifting are more likely to get promoted at the grass roots level by friends telling friends through social networks.

Video. The video of the advertisement is below.

Tagged with: Activism • advertising • inspiration • inspirational

Jun 19

JVC HA-S150-BX Flats Headphones – Product Review

Technology, music No Comments »

Technology > Resources

Summary. Sometimes the least expensive item in a product category can be the best one available. Such is the case with the JVC Flats Headphones model HA-S150-BX.

Cost. These headphones are typically $15 to $20 depending on where you get them.

Purchase. If you’re unable to find these locally, we have them available in our Amazon store.

Features. These JVC Flats headphones offer many benefits.

low profile design and swivel-flat ear pieces make these easy to pack and less likely to be crushed in baggage
light weight
wide frequency response needs less volume to produce the full spectrum of audio
low cost
adjustable to fit most people
long cord
works with iPod, iPhone, iPad, and technology requiring a small plug diameter such as the original iPhone

Specifications. Below are the specifications for the JVC Flats headphones.

Frequency Response: 12 Hz – 23,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 105dB / 1mW
Nominal Impedance: 32 ohms
Cord Length: 1.2m (3.93 ft)
Mass: 68 g (2.40 oz) not including cord weight

Limitations. Below are some limitations of these headphones.

headphone plug is a straight plug rather than a right angle plug making it more likely to get bent or damaged
earphones are not independent over-the-ear design, so they won’t easily fit in a pocket and can’t be easily worn with a bicycle helmet or hat
spring of headband is relatively strong, so the pressure of the earphones on the ears may produce some discomfort

Testimonial. Below is a testimonial from technology consultant Gregory Johnson.

“In almost 40 years of listening to music and audio, I’ve not found a better combination of quality and value in a pair of headphones other than some over-the-ear designed headphones with similar features at about the same price. I’ve had $300 headphones before, and I’ve learned that regardless of their durability, headphones can eventually break or wear out. So, keeping the initial cost down without compromising quality is important. Because these headphones offer a full spectrum of audio reproduction, it’s not necessary to turn of the volume to hear all of the subtleties of your favorite music. This means these headphones are better for your ears. Most headphones are generically rated as 20-20,000 Hz frequency response. What such ratings fail to mention is the level of volume at those frequencies. With these JVC headphones, it seems like there is a fairly equal and accurate distortion free presentation of low through high frequency sounds. The rating of 12 Hz to 23,000 Hz seems accurate. For anyone looking to buy headphones, I’d recommend these or a pair with similar specifications.” – Gregory Johnson

Tagged with: audio • music

May 21

71-year-old Harmonica Player Spends Money on Activism Instead of Prescription Medicine

Activism, Good News, Video, music No Comments »

Activism

Summary. Andy Mackie is a 71-year-old Scottish-born retired horse trainer and musician. After his ninth heart surgery, his doctors had him on 15 medications with side-effects that made his life miserable.

From Medications to Music. One day he decided to stop taking the medications and instead use the money to give away musical instruments and lessons to children.

In his first month he purchased and gave away 300 harmonicas with lessons.

When he didn’t die the next month, he bought a few hundred more.

Eleven years, and 16,000 harmonicas later, Andy is still going. Below is a video about his story.

Tagged with: Activism

Dec 11

Free Music Resources

Effective Living, music No Comments »

This page has moved.

Click here to visit the new location.

Nov 12

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam Music Song If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out featured on T-Mobile Commercial Listen Now Lyrics

Activism, music No Comments »

Effective Living > Music

Summary. Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) became popular in the United States for his music focusing on transcendence and peace. The song by Cat Stevens featured on a recent T-Mobile commercial (below) is If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out. The lyrics for this song are provided further down on this page. More lyrics to Cat Stevens songs can be found on the songs page of his website.

Listen Now. Use the player here to listen to the song If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out. If you like it, we encourage you to purchase it on iTunes.

Cat Stevens Playlist. Below is a player with selected music by Cat Stevens.

T-Mobile My Touch 3G Commercial. Below is the T-Mobile My Touch 3G commercial that features the Cat Stevens song If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out.

Lyrics. Below are the Lyrics to the Cat Stevens song If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out. [source]

If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
‘Cause there’s a million things to be
You know that there are

And if you want to live high, live high
And if you want to live low, live low
‘Cause there’s a million ways to go
You know that there are

You can do what you want
The opportunity’s on
And if you can find a new way
You can do it today
You can make it all true
And you can make it un-do
You see? Ah, ah, ah
It’s easy, ah, ah, ah
You only need to know

Well if you want to say yes, say yes
And if you want to say no, say no
‘Cause there’s a million ways to go
You know that there are
And if you want to be me, be me
And if you want to be you, be you
‘Cause there’s a million things to do
You know that there are

You can do what you want
The opportunity’s on
And if you can find a new way
You can do it today
You can make it all true
And you can make it un-do
You see? Ah, ah, ah
It’s easy, ah, ah, ah
You only need to know

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
‘Cause there’s a million things to be
You know that there are
You know that there are
You know that there are
You know that there are
You know that there are

Tagged with: cat stevens • music

Oct 09