Pop Music

“Because I’m falling down, with people standing around. But before I hit the ground, is there time, could I find someone out there to help me?”

~ lovelyritatheseeker ~ Leave a comment

Happy Duran Duran Appreciation Day!! I’ve been in an emotional rut lately but my #1 darlings are always here to make me feel better. On this day last year, I highlighted my favorite songs of theirs that I felt were lesser-known by the (severely deprived) non-Duranie general public. This year, I want to share the songs that bring me comfort, that soothe me when the plane of life is having some turbulence.

But first…let’s appreciate their beauty for a moment, because this also comforts me:

duran duran minus andy

czech duran duran picture

my fave duran duran picture

laughing duran duran

At first, I was in love with Simon Le Bon (the singer, for you noobs out there):

live aid Simon Le Bon

But it didn’t take long for me to fall harder for the bassist, John Taylor:

John Taylor being beautiful in stripes

John Taylor

Love John Taylor's red hair

John Taylor...you know you're my favorite of my favorites.

And they’ve always been extra beautiful together:

John Taylor and Simon Le Bon being perfect

Duran Duran. Simon and John...love!!!

Okay…back to the music! Obviously that’s the most important thing.

In no particular order, here the Duran Duran songs that comfort me when I need it:

What Happens Tomorrow- when I was a teenager, it felt like the opening lyrics were meant for me; “child, don’t you worry. It’s enough you’re growing up in such a hurry. Brings you down, the news they sell ya, to put in your mind good old mandkind is a failure”.  Now, I cling on to “you’ve got to believe it’ll be alright in the end, you’ve got to believe it’ll be alright again”.

 

Come Undone- you can feel the 90’s seeping out of this one but I love it. But anyway…”now we’ll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside. Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry…who do you need? Who do you love? When you’ve come undone”. Also, there’s moment in this music video where John Taylor mouths the lyrics “hey child” and I always felt like he was speaking to me. Alas, I’ve been hopelessly in love with him since I was 13…it’s not my fault.

 

Box Full of Honey- this wasn’t a major single, just a track off of Red Carpet Massacre that I love. And this is more just light and pleasant rather than touching on troubles in life, so it comforts me in that way. It feels feathery in it’s acoustic tone. Also I just enjoy these lyrics: “what I thought a pretty tune, was howling at the moon, to keep me company this evening”.

 

Falling Down- also from Red Carpet Massacre but this was indeed released as a single. It even features Justin Timberlake! “Because I’m falling down, with people standing around. But before I hit the ground, is there time, could I find, someone to help me?” I relate too strongly to this right now. But anyway, it’s a gorgeous song.

 

Leave a Light On- from the album after Red Carpet Massacre, All You Need is Now. It’s just so mellow and relaxing. “I know, I swear, If you leave a light on for me, I’ll come back,”.

 

Lonely In Your Nightmare- we’re going way back here to their second album, my favorite, Rio. Not a massive hit (at least here in the US), but that entire album is perfection, so in my eyes it is. “Because you’re lonely in your nightmare let me in. Because there’s heat beneath your winter, let me in”

 

Ordinary World- I almost forgot one of their most beautiful songs! Back to the 90’s on this one. “No, I won’t cry for yesterday; there’s an ordinary world somehow I’ll have to find. And as I try to make my way through the ordinary world, I will learn to survive.”

 

Well there you have it, folks; those are my top 7 comforting Duran Duran songs (in no particular order). I would love to hear what your Duran Duran comfort songs are, please comment (this goes for everyone, from fellow hardcore Duranies to casual listeners)!

But wait…. because it’s Duran Duran Appreciation Day, I also have to share my all time favorite song of theirs in general as well (disclaimer: the band is not in the music video, it’s kinda devastating. But just close your eyes and listen!):

 

Again….HAPPY DURAN DURAN APPRECIATION DAY!!!

my actual fave of Duran Duran

“And you sway in the moon the way you did when you were younger…stay with the music, let it play a little longer. You don’t need anybody, all you need is now,”

~ lovelyritatheseeker ~ 1 Comment

It’s August 10th, which to me and all of the other Duranies out there means that it’s Duran Duran Appreciation Day!! Those babes have been my #1 favorite band ever since I was 12, which I just talked about recently; my love of them sprouted from realizing how much I loved everything from the 1980’s (minus the politics) and delved deep into an obsession with the decade. But my love for Duran Duran isn’t just for their classic, iconic 80’s albums; they have had so many fantastic albums since then.

Just because I know you’re curious, I’ll take you back to the day  I fell in love with them:

It was a summer day, and I was at my grandparents’ house while my aunt Adelaida and my uncle John taught me a little bit about the massive benefit concert that was Live Aid. On July 13th, 1985, literally every good musician you can think of (pretty much everyone I love that was alive at the time) was either at JFK Stadium or Wembley Stadium that day, performing to benefit the starving and suffering people of Ethiopia. It was organized by Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats, an Irish punk rocker who is one of my personal heroes. Anyway, back to my #1 darlings; my family had some of the concert recorded on VHS tapes and I believe my uncle John was trying to show me Robert Plant on there. Somewhere in the fast-forwarding process, Duran Duran was introduced, and I thought to myself “oh, they did Rio and Hungry like the Wolf, I bet they play those songs!”. They didn’t play those songs. They didn’t play anything I knew but I fell in love with every song they did play…not to mention, they were such handsome, beautiful men (minus Andy Taylor…gross). I was hooked. I asked for their greatest hits compilation CD that summer for my birthday, entitled simply “Greatest”, and my Duran Duran-loving aunt Adelaida bought it for me. I become further obsessed and bought a DVD set of the same name that had most of their music videos on there. It was the beginning of a beautiful obsession that will never end for me.

Please look at this picture of Simon Le Bon at Live Aid and swoon with me:

29 years ago today...Live Aid, July 13, 1985. It was when I first saw this performance that I truly fell in love with Duran Duran. (Yeah, I know, I didn't see this when it happened; I first saw it about 9 years ago.) Although John Taylor is my dreamboat now, it was initially this black-haired, red-jacket-wearing, dancing Simon Le Bon that helped bring me to one of my greatest and long-lasting obsessions.:

Naturally I was in love with Simon the most when I first got into the band, but soon enough I moved on and found John Taylor to be my favorite. I still love Simon, but my goodness, just look at this sexy bass player:

John Taylor:

Oh John Taylor...:

John Taylor...you know you're my favorite of my favorites.:

Love John Taylor's red hair:

John Taylor I loved you so much!!:

Also, they’re just hot together:

John Taylor and Simon Le Bon:

Simon and John:

John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor (no, none of the Taylors are related, so don’t embarrass me) are cute together as well:

John and Roger:

Roger Taylor and John Taylor...super cuties!!!:

But let’s not forget my adorable, make-up wearing little keyboardist, Nick Rhodes:

Duran Duran - Nick and John:

Okay, fine, here’s all of them together (including some with the guitarist, Andy Taylor, who I am bitter towards because he quit the band literally 2 days before I saw them in concert several years ago…and later he penned an autobiography and was all like “my guitar playing made the band”….yeah, okay.)

Duran Duran:

duran duran:

I've actually never seen this adorable photo:

The ever beautiful Duran Duran:

Duran Duran - I love John's shirt in this:

My number-one favorite band, Duran Duran!! Love this picture:

 

Okay, enough of their beauty for now…if you know their biggest hits, great. But, as a huge and adoring fan of this phenomenal band, I strongly encourage you to give some of their other stuff a chance.

Here are my top 5 songs you should know to truly appreciate Duran Duran on this wonderful Duran Duran Appreciation Day:

5. All You Need is Now, from the album titled the same. It’s from three albums ago, I believe.

4. The Man Who Stole a Leopard, also from All You Need is Now.

3. Ordinary World, from the Wedding album (which, like the White Album, is technically a self-titled album but is referred to as otherwise because of the cover). Come Undone is my other favorite from that album that you should check out as well.

2. Friends of Mine, from their self-titled debut album. Yes, finally taking it back; I had to show you that they were more just than an 80’s band first. But back to the 80’s. I’m so in love with this song. So strange and fun.

  1. The Chauffeur, from Rio. This is my all-time favorite Duran Duran song. Okay, first of all, I could have made an even longer lists of songs you need to know just by listing this entire album. Every song. Every song is fantastic and I love it so much. It’s my favorite album of theirs and definitely one of my top faves of all time. But don’t pay attention to the video; they’re not even in it. Just listen to this strange blend of sounds that gives me chills every time.

 

But Rio…seriously, it’s amazing. Also, when I was looking to buy my first car, I was with my parents walking around  a large auto mall when I saw a beautiful, tiny red car and thought it looked perfect, just what I needed. Then we got closer and I saw that it was called Rio…I knew then it was meant to be. Also, that happened two years just a few days before Duran Duran Appreciation Day, so clearly that sealed it.

Also, look at my main men just this past year with my favorite droids:

Perfection.

Duran Duran. Simon and John...love!!!:

Happy Duran Duran Appreciation Day!! I actually have today off so you know I’ll be enjoying their music videos and concerts I have on DVD all day long!! My favorite is Sing Blue Silver, which documents their tour from 1984 (I think?). It’s my favorite and probably one of my last finds at Tower Records…ah, Tower Records. It was the perfect music store. May it rock in peace.

 

 

“It doesn’t matter what they say, in the jealous games people play,”

~ lovelyritatheseeker ~ 1 Comment

I don’t think I’ve expressed it much, but I love the 1980’s. Being a child born of the 1990’s, I just missed that phenomenon, but I was still raised with the music and movies my family enjoyed in the 80’s, and then I discovered even more on my own when I started exploring this new obsession in middle school.  Most of my favorite movies at that point in my life had been from the 80’s, such as Return of the Jedi, Revenge of the Nerds, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, etc.; it only made sense that I would find even more to love. I was probably the only middle-school girl you would have known in the 2000’s that dressed up like Madonna circa 1984 for Halloween like 3 years in a row. Duran Duran captured my heart and haven’t given it back since. I also got every 80’s hits compilation CD I could find and even some DVD’s of the best music videos. Ah, the music videos. Just this past week was the 35th anniversary of when MTV aired. Do you know the first music video that was?! It was Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles. I have DVD’s of Duran Duran and Madonna’s music videos and I watched them all the time, as if I were taking myself back to MTV’s prime. It’s not really a new revelation, but it’s no longer a “music television” channel; it’s mostly the host to crappy “reality” shows and other non-music related things. (That being said, I love 16 & Pregnant, Teen Mom, Awkward, and Faking It). If you’re up at like 5am, you might be lucky to see a music video on there.

So let’s take a trip, shall we? Let’s go back to the summer of 1981. You turn your TV to MTV at some point in the afternoon and the Go Go’s are on! Our Lips are Sealed. Not only is this a fun little song about not caring about what people say about you when they’re being petty gossips, but the music video is whimsical. It’s partly just the girls performing on stage, while the other party is them driving around town and such, but there’s such whimsy in the simplicity. My favorite part is towards the end, when they’re just frolicking, dancing, and singing in a water fountain. I’ve always wanted to do that ever since seeing this video. I imagine it would be just as freeing and exhilarating as running in the pouring rain. I’ve only experienced that once, but it was so oddly lovely; it was a summer day and my friend and I were shopping and perusing around our town’s little festival, when all of a sudden it started pouring. It was before we were driving so we couldn’t just flee and escape the rain, and we had something to drop off to another dear friend of ours who worked at the dry cleaners’ downtown anyway. Normally I can’t step out into the rain without an umbrella or a thick hoodie because of my hair; it’s naturally wavy, but I straighten it all the time. It’s just how I feel like myself. But on this day, I didn’t have an umbrella or a hoodie, and I just kinda rolled with it. After letting go of that vain worry, I was able to run in the rain happily. I don’t know why, it just felt so nice and it was so fun. My friend lived close to the downtown area so we walked back to her house, soaked but loving it. This music video always reminds me of that day I happily ran in the rain with my best girlfriend:

“This is what it sounds like, when doves cry,”

~ lovelyritatheseeker ~ Leave a comment

The world has lost yet another majestic megastar this year…this time, we lost Prince at just 57 years old. I grew up knowing his hits and little else; my mom is a huge fan, but my dad is not…therefore, I hardly heard him. But I at least heard him enough to fall in love with “When Doves Cry”. He’s like this tornado of David Bowie, Michael Jackson, and Jimi Hendrix, yet he is truly one of a kind. I still haven’t heard anything regarding the cause of this untimely tragedy. Regardless, Prince will live forever in his music. Rest in Peace, Prince.

I’m just going to leave this epic rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps right here to honor this beautiful genius:

“I’m heading straight for the castle, they want to make me their Queen”

~ lovelyritatheseeker ~ Leave a comment

As you may have picked up by now, most of the music I listen to comes from the 1950’s to the 1990’s, with 2000’s and some more modern stuff mixed in there. Because I listen to mostly rock stations that play within my taste range, I seldom here new things. But when I randomly find new artists/songs, it is quite a joy. Especially my latest find: Halsey, and her debut album: Badlands.

Evidently this album came out back in September…alas, it is new to me! I discovered Halsey on Facebook because people had been sharing this YouTube video somebody made focusing on Harley Quinn and what we have seen of her so far in the trailers for the upcoming Suicide Squad. I don’t even know much about Harley Quinn but I’m excited for it; she looks pretty cool. This is the video that led me to Halsey:

 

I was instantly in love with this song and kept watching this video to hear it. I eventually typed in the lyrics on Google and found who was behind this enchanting song. I found the CD at work (I work at a largely known electronics store that luckily sells CD’s for my happiness. Okay, not solely for that, but whatever), bought it, had “Castle” on repeat but eventually I listened to the other songs on the album.

FullSizeRender (8)

I do love it, but none of the other songs hit me the way “Castle” does. It was definitely worth buying, though! It’s all a lovely collection of pop laced with an electric alternative vibe. Plus, she just has an amazing voice.

Recently she dedicated her song “Hold Me Down” to Kesha, who was recently denied permission to discontinue working for Sony with the man who raped and abused her. And that….that just makes me angry. I won’t say anything else about it, I’ll get too upset. And yes, I like Kesha; “Timber” in particular. But anyway, isn’t that cool and supportive of Halsey?! “It’s the devil that’s trying to hold me down,”. It’s definitely an anthem of strength.

“New Americana” and “Colors” are some of my favorites…I like more than a few lyrics in “Colors” in particular:

“You’re only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope; I hope you make it to the day you’re 28 years old.” I don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking she’s referencing the age of 27, the year many rock stars have died at. If so, I like it. It’s dark but potent.

“You were red and you liked me because I was blue
You touched me and suddenly I was a lilac sky
And you decided purple just wasn’t for you”

I like that set too, and she kinda speaks that one but it’s lovely.

Actually I can’t get forget my favorite “New Americana” lyrics: “what kind of bubblegum have you been blowing lately?”

It’s all good, honestly. She is awesome, and look at her hair:

IMG_3670

And this is her first album. It’s an extremely impressive debut, and I’m so happy my comic book loving friends passed that Harley Quinn video around. I also heard it just the other day in a TV trailer for the new Huntsman movie, but 1) they edit the song in a stupid way 2) I’m guessing that movie doesn’t even deserve to be associated with this song because the first one was just bland.

“I’m heading straight for the castle, they got the Kingdom locked up…and there’s an old man sitting on the floor there saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut.”

Also…figured that the lyrics for this song relate to my latest Star Wars art purchase, so check it out:

“I’m heading straight for the castle, they want to make me their Queen,”

IMG_3673

Queen Amidala!! I love it so much; this artist is amazing. I found her on Instagram and she just does beautiful stuff.

“If you want to break these walls down, you’re gonna get bruised”…okay, last lyric from “Castle”. I love it, it’s such an amazing song.