Random Music Video Ideas

Recently I've been coming up with random ideas while listening to music - about how I would present the song in music video format. Here's a spattering of ideas I had for a few randomly selected songs.

Katy Perry - One of the Boys
The video would be a classic teenage girl falling for the popular boy music video...except the girl would be played by a dude and the popular boy she's into, is actually Katy Perry dressed as a boy with a very bad fake moustache. Preferably have other male musicians that she's close to / worked with (FOB, Gym Class Heroes) to play other girls in school. The video would be mostly a daydream of the tomboy about how she (played by a he) is a tomboy, treated like a sister, but wants to be treated like a girly-girl.

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
I would make this actually a realistic depiction of what's going on in the song. The song would open with a girl sitting at home watching TV in her living room. It then shifts over to a window being forced open, then comes the intruder into the apartment. A friend of hers is on his way to visit when all this is going on - so, it goes back and forth between him looking at the apartment from the outside, to her struggle / attack from the intruder. He then realizes as he's trying to call her from outside that something isn't right and gets in the apartment just as the intruder is jumping out the window. This could be a very scary video with realistic depiction of Annie getting struck by the intruder and her friend trying to save her, but coming just that much too late. It ends with the friend comforting Annie as the police arrive.

My Chemical Romance - Cancer
Video would begin with the intro tune playing very quietly and see a younger, but obviously sick lead singer of the band lying in a hospital bed asleep. Two people are standing next to him, one holding his hand and the other rubbing the one person's shoulder and just looking at him. One says to the other, "I don't know if he'll make it." That's when the lyrics begin with the person slightly waking up and singing. When he gets to the line "favorite colors" it goes to him in his gown watching the events happening and singing, with the version of him in bed just laying there and the family members crying. The next verse will go back and forth between the ghostly lead singer singing the song in the hospital to the family members wearing all black in mourning, and in the funeral procession. The video would end with the ghostly version of him walking over and pulling a plug out from the wall, with the version of him in bed dying. The music stops and the machine's flatline. You see the family members begin to cry and a happy ghostly version of the lead singer walk off into a bright light.

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Begins by showing a speech by John Edwards on a television screen, then back off to show someone dressed as John Edwards walking past a television store. He's lip syncing the song. As the video progresses, it goes back and forth between flashbacks and John Edwards walking sadly down this road. The flashbacks include meeting Rielle Hunter, telling his wife about the affair, and watching his Presidential hopes crashing and burning through a flurry of news coverage. This video would almost serve as a chronicle of the fall of John Edwards from the good graces of the mainstream / liberal media and his continued denial to be the father of Rielle Hunter's baby.

Playlist of the Moment

I decided to randomly post the current "On-The-Go" playlist from my iPod that I'm currently listening to on my rides into / from work -

Drake - The Calm
Drake - Fear
Fuel - Hemorrhage
Fuel - Shimmer
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
Gym Class Heroes - New Friend Request
Gym Class Heroes - The Queen and I
Hard-Fi - Cash Machine
Insane Clown Posse - Juggalo Homies
Insane Clown Posse - Under The Moon
Insane Clown Posse - How Many Times?
Jack's Mannequin - The Mixed Tape
Jack's Mannequin - Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)
Kid Rock - Wasting Time
Lemon Demon - The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
mc chris - The Tussin
My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
My Chemical Romance - Cancer
Mötley Crüe - If I Die Tomorrow
Moxy Fruvous - King of Spain
Moxy Fruvous - Big Fish
MC Lars - iGeneration
Darius Rucker - Drinkin' and Dialin'
Tenacious D - Tribute
Tenacious D - Wonderboy
Carly Smithson - The Show Must Go On (Queen cover)
Jay-Z featuring Eminem - Renegade
Brad Paisley - Online
Darius Rucker - All I Want
Katy Perry - Hot N Cold
We Are The Fallen - Bury Me Alive
Coheed and Cambria - The Suffering
Coheed and Cambria - Wake Up
Backstreet Boys - Incomplete

Measured Out with Coffee Spoons

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Crash Test Dummies...well, just the album God Shuffled His Feet, and I've got to say...it's great.

The music is very well composed and no one sings quite like Brad Roberts. The songs are interesting and altogether creative. I find myself thinking about the oddities of the music as I sing along. If you, like me, remember the album from the early nineties and like many, only remember Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm...pick the album up again and give it another listen. From Afternoons and Coffee Spoons to the thought provoking The Psychic to the sexual confusion of Swimming in You Ocean. Try it out the album again, it's worth another listen...

Katy Perry's Ridiculous

Katy Perry doesn't want to be one of the boys, despite her current album title. The album I was able to pick up for $3.20. People will say a lot of things about this album. They will call it ridiculous, they will call it modestly homophobic, they will call it crazy pop. They will be right...ish.

The entire album feels like a crude satire on modern teen culture, making fun of slang, attitudes, actions, partying, etc. The songs range from the pop sensation "I Kissed a Girl" to the reflective "One of the Boys," which almost serves as a tomboy anthem. The album hits all aspects of pop music with Perry writing or co-writing every single song. It's one part Alanis Morissette, one part Avril Lavigne, one part Britney Spears (pre-"Britney's Back, Bitch"), three parts extreme satire.

Many of the songs can be taken as offensive, but I'm of the mindset that the album is satirizing all that's wrong with this next generation of teenagers. Perhaps Katy Perry isn't as clever as I give her and her production staff credit for. Perhaps she's just a little crude and just as bad as all those fools who use "Gay" to mean stupid/lame instead of it's true definition...happy or homosexual. If you want to enjoy some great pop music, check out some of the less than well known songs on the album like "Hot N Cold" or "Fingerprints." Will she ever get a second album? Who knows, but I do know that this album is fun...if not amazing. If Kelly Clarkson went ridiculous in her lyrics on My December, I could imagine it fitting in alongside this album...

Darius Rucker Does Country?

Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker had tried to go solo before...as an R&B artist, which flopped. Well, apparently he's trying again...this time with country music. The verdict? Listen for yourself on his MySpace page. I heard the song on country radio and said to my wife, "Have you heard this before, it's pretty good. I wonder who sings it." Then came the credits...Darius Rucker.

I can't wait to hear what else comes from this guy.

Music I'm Looking For

If you decide you want to pick me up a CD or two for my birthday at the end of June...here's a few that I'm looking to find --

• The Avalances -- Since I Left You
• Jim Steinman -- Bad for Good
• Deltron 3030 -- Deltron 3030
• Beck -- One Foot in the Grave
• Crush 40 -- Crush 40
• Nick Lachey -- What's Left of Me

I'm sure there aren't that many looking for this information...really, it's mostly so I have a public record of the music I'm looking for to make sure I'm actually able to find it. But, here it is nonetheless.

Kelly Clarkson and the Pope MP3

HT to poster Helen who pointed me to NixMix...which has a downloadable mp3 of my American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, singing Ave Maria to the Pope. Thank you and enjoy.

If an official version comes along...I am so getting it.

Kelly Clarkson and the Pope

The woman who still is my American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, sang an awesome combination of the Olde English and Latin versions of Ave Maria for The Pope during his visit to the US. Here's the video -- the sound quality of the video is very weak and if you a) know one that's better or b) know if Clarkson plans to record this tell me immediately.

The Common Thread

What’s the common thread amongst these three songs – Meat Loaf’s "I'd Do Anything for Love (but I Won't Do That)," Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and Celine Dion’s “It's All Coming Back to Me Now?”

Jim Steinman. The prolific writer/producer wrote and produced each one of these tracks, specifically tailored for the artists. Steinman is the creative mind behind the first two Bat out of Hell albums (he wrote half the songs on Bat out of Hell III…but had nothing to do with putting that album together) and produced/wrote a great deal of Bonnie Tyler’s vast career. His music is that larger than life, almost Operatic style of rock that is both moving and outlandish at the same time.

Riddle me This

Why is "Because I Got High" a stoner anthem? If you listen to the lyrics, it feels as though it's an anti-stoner song. The man goes from having a family...to being a paraplegic living on the streets because he got high. I never understood that.

Maybe I don't get it because I'm not high, because I'm not high, because I'm not hiiiiiiiigh.

Dr. Horrible

What do you get when you mix music, Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, and Nathan Fillion? Give up? I did too. Apparently you get Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. It hasn't started yet, but purportedly it's going to be a three part musical. Each part will be about 10 minutes long.

I think I'm ridiculously excited.

American Idol Covers

I haven't watched a full season of American Idol since season 1 and my true American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, won. I watched one episode of this season and I must say...the non-native Americans in the competition are great. In addition, there were some amazing covers this past week -- including Carly Smithson's cover of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and David Cook's cover of "Billie Jean," the Chris Cornell version.

If you use iTunes...use it now to spend the $1.98 and get these two tracks. Now.

Matchbox 20 Concert

Went to the Matchbox 20 concert in Albany today and the big thing I have to say...the first opening act, Mutemath, was awesome. Worth checking out...now.

Three Wooden Crosses

By Randy Travis...

A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher,
Riding on a midnight bus bound for Mexico.
One's headed for vacation, one for higher education,
And two of them were searching for lost souls.
That driver never ever saw the stop sign.
An' eighteen wheelers can't stop on a dime.

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.

That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres,
The faith and love for growing things in his young son's heart.
An' that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children:
Did her best to give 'em all a better start.
And that preacher whispered: "Can't you see the Promised Land?"
As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker's hand.

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.

That's the story that our preacher told last Sunday.
As he held that blood-stained bible up,
For all of us to see.
He said: "Bless the farmer, and the teacher, and the preacher;
"Who gave this Bible to my mamma,
"Who read it to me."

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, now I guess we know.
It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.

Thoughts on Being Vain

I just realized something about the song "You're So Vain." Considering that the singer directly states to the listener that they are so vain...wouldn't that imply that the song really is about them? Perhaps they're not that vain after all...

A Modern Hymn Post

I began thinking about the early Methodists and their attempts to use music to help convert people to Christianity. It was a smart maneuver, especially considering they used tunes people already knew and added a Christian message into the lyrics so others could sing along. It produced some amazing results, not the least of which is my favorite Christmas hymn, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, which I spoke about at length last year. The second verse really sums up the entire Christian spirit in its lyrics and makes me proud to be one.

I got to thinking, this morning, what if modern Christians did something akin to this. What if they took modern tunes and changed the lyrics to have Christian overtones. So, to ruin everyone's favorite tunes...I started doing that. Here are some examples --
To the tune of "Baby One More Time..."

Oh I must confess
That my sinfulness
Is killing me now
But you know I will believe
That with my Lord here
He gave us His life
To take away all of man's strife

My Jesus Christ is saving me
His sacrifice has set us free
Through Him salvation is guaranteed
He gave us His life
To take away all of man's strife

To the tune of "Girlfriend"

Hey, hey, you, you
I really like your Savior
Yea man, I feel
That I need to convert
Hey, hey, you, you
I want to be a Christian

I can't pretend
Because I know
Salvation is precious
And yeah
He's the ever loving Prince of Peace
I can tell you He loves us
Again and again
(And again, and again)

Old gods, cast them whereever
Through Christ I can do much better
I need His everlasting love
And that is what I'm praying for

I know, they're ridiculous -- but maybe that's the thing. Our music stylings have changed so much that much of our popular modern music is not quite as timeless as it was in the past. Much of it sounds dated and won't transcend into the next few decades very well. Yet, when I hear Hark! The Herald Angels Sing every Christmas, I am still moved and still love the music. I wonder if that will happen some hundred years from now -- where our music is still loved and cherished. If not, we need to begin truly working on more timelessness in our tunes because without that bit of timelessness, our music will disappear and that incredibly important piece of us will just slip away...

Talking About the iGeneration

A while back, iTunes ran this promotion where they gave away free songs when you joined their facebook group. It was great, and it was the only reason I joined. During one of the packages of free songs, I got a track entitled "iGeneration" by MC Lars. Check out the lyrics, specifically the second verse --

The iGeneration new organization meant optimization and unification,
When imagination gave participation in creation of culture a manifestation.
The Berlin Wall fell and out we came, the post-Cold War kids laid claim to AIM.
LOL, OMG, yo, BRB. Space, colon, dash, closed parenthesis.
We sat at our laptops and typed away, and found that we each had something to say.
Web-logged our fears, our hopes and dreams. Individuated by digital means.
Fiber optic lenses, DVD, Coca Cola, Disney and Mickey D's.
Flat mass culture, the norm that took hold; I hope I die before it gets old.

It may seem like a bunch of buzz words about the internet and modern mass media, but think about it for a moment and you'll realize that MC Lars, with is expression and his lyrics has put the nail on the head. He has found a new way to define Generation Y, and frankly I think they should be defined that way. We are the iGeneration.

The internet is such a defining factor in this entire generation, from MySpace to Facebook to Web logs of our lives, our hopes, our ideas. We use the internet as our means of uncovering the news far more than we use classic media. We post personal thoughts and sometimes information, yet no one seems to blink an eye. We don't care about privacy issues as much, so long as we continue to have a choice as to how much of our privacy we wish to give up. We are much more liberal on social issues partially because we see them, we see people and we feel their plight through the mass media and through their own personal release of emotions through the internet. We appear more passive in our attempts to protest and raise up against, but in reality we do so en masse to each other through the incredible power of the internet. We've found a way to protest and get our message across to one another across the globe in such a way that has never existed before. We find video games to be as true of a media as film, television, and literature. We also take our freedoms and liberties for granted far more than we should. We have a faith that's personal and many explore different religions and home brewed versions of traditional faiths. We are ready to take over already as Generation X stands by with a bit of rugged ingenuity and the iGeneration rises into political offices already. We are unified through this information superhighway and we like it that way. We are the iGeneration and I think I'm happy to be a part of it.

Something to Sing About

In the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More with Feeling," has some wonderful music that I've talked about at least once before here. One song that I didn't pay as much attention to at first was "Something to Sing About," which discusses Buffy's emotions about coming back from the dead. The profound aspect begins with the first verse and I think it can apply to...well, many people --

Life's a show
And we all play our parts
And when the music starts
We open up our hearts

It's all right
If some things come out wrong
We'll sing a happy song
And you can sing along

Where's there's life
There's hope, everyday's a gift
Wishes can come true
Whistle while you work
So hard all day
To be like other girls
To fit in in this glittering world

Don't give me songs
Don't give me songs
Give me something to sing about
I need something to sing about...

It's profound in many ways. The emotions evoked by these lyrics is amazing and what it means both in and out of context is great. Think about the desire to fit in, the desire to be understood by everyone around you, you want to be accepted by those who care. It's an interesting song and Sarah Michelle Gellar pulls it off far better than Jewel would have (as Whedon initially had intended, according to Wikipedia).

Everyone feels like they need something to sing about from time to time. They need something to make them more fulfilled in life -- something may seem missing. This whole introduction sets that stage. Joss Whedon has a way with words, so it's not surprising that he's able to come up with such clever and meaningful lyrics. Read them through and think about them.

Blue Door

My brother is in this band called Blue Door. If you like to rock, then check them out on MySpace. Do it, they're great and you can download each of their tracks to listen to at your own pace -- or on your iPod/MP3 player...

Top 10 Favorite Songs of All Time

As I did with my favorite albums of all time, I'm going to have to go in no particular order. I honestly can not decide which one is better or worse, but I can narrow it down to 10 individual songs that I truly love.

Dexy's Midnight Runner – “Come On Eileen” – This is perhaps one of the campiest little ditties of all time. It's silly and I love every second of it. It's hard not to crack a smile when you hear this song, it just can get an entire room to just immediately start singing along as if out of nowhere – it's almost become a universal happy song for generation upon generation. It's great and there's really not much else to say about that.

Jerome Pradon – “Heaven on Their Minds” – The first number from a musical, written for Jesus Christ Superstar by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Pradon's version was for the revival production of JCS by Gale Edwards beginning in 1997 and filmed for television in 2001. The music is wonderful and Pradon's voice is amazing. The reason for its inclusion in this top 10 is not merely the great music and great singing voice – but the passion inherent in the song itself – and in the vocalist. You almost can feel the true strife of the apostle Judas as he realizes that he's afraid of what could happen to his good friend, Jesus, if He continues down this religious path as opposed to the save the poor path he initially viewed His teachings as. It's the incredibly impassioned tale of a man who is worried about the health and life of his good friend – a friend who happens to be the Messiah of the Christian people. The emotion this can evoke in me is amazing and frankly, deserves a spot on the top 10.

Chris Cornell featuring Eleven – “Ave Maria” – This is the type of risks which I really want more artists to take. This is a traditional Christian hymn which has been sung in Latin for centuries. Cornell took that hymn, developed more modern music with the band Eleven, and used an Old English version of the lyrics making it both poetic and more accessible to the average listener to Cornell's work. His voice has such a range and power that you don't hear in most of Cornell's work, both solo and with Soundgarden or Audioslave. It really makes me want to hear him produce an entire solo album of hymns or power ballads – just those because, frankly, it would sound amazing.

Coheed and Cambria – “Wake Up (Acoustic)” – A strange addition to the mix here is the song “Wake Up.” Originally found on the unnecessarily long titled Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Mad, this version was found on the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack. It doesn't steer too far from the original in tune, but in raw emotion evoked by the lyrics it surpasses the original by leaps and bounds. It's a sad song of love expressing how everything that the narrator was, was for this one person and yet, here he am, leaving and there's nothing that can be done because she's just letting him go.

Johnny Cash – “Hurt” – You know, there are a great many amazing Johnny Cash songs out there and yet, I always come back to this haunting cover of the Nine Inch Nails song of the same name. As Trent Renzor said when he heard this version, “This is the way this song was intended to sound.” The hurt in Cash's life from the loss of his wife is heard in every single note of this song. There's such passion in the old man's voice that comes out as he gets out each and every line that has the power to bring tears to a man's eye. It's an amazing track that shows that Johnny Cash never lost any of his talent as he aged, it merely matured and aged with him.

Jay-Z – “Lucifer”– The first hip-hop track on this list. This track is a collaboration between Jay-Z and Kanye West, which shows in the masterfully put together beats that are simultaneously catchy and timeless. The song begins with Jay-Z asking the Lord to forgive him, who's the him? His friend Bob Law, it appears. The entire song discusses the terrible situation that his friend has been in and ends as it begins, asking the Lord to forgive his friend who appears to have recently passed. He says that it was Lucifer, the Morningstar, who truly was the cause of the bulk of this sin that his friend and even he had committed. This song has powerful lyrics that you don't expect from such a source.

The Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – “Walk Through the Fire” – Go ahead, laugh and laugh and laugh at the Buffy fan for adding this song to the list. Done laughing at me? Okay, now listen to the song and then decide whether or not you can laugh anymore. Inside the episode, this one song proves to me that Joss Whedon knows how to write music, whether he can admit it to himself or not. This song evokes so much emotion in the scene that can all be heard in the voices of the cast. It's a beautiful collaborative piece that really helps build the climax of the episode, revealing the feelings of each one of the characters through a power ballad. It's great fun and great music all at once – I can listen to this one track over and over and over again and never get sick of it.

Beck – “We Live Again” – I rarely have a clue what Beck is talking about in...well any of his songs. The entire Mutations album is no different – except for the sole fact that it's a beautiful compilation of off-beat music ranging from the huge harpsichord tune listed here to other, folksy songs. As a review from Allmusic.com described this album, “...his best songs are simultaneously timeless and modern.” This track is the perfect example of that.

Traditional – “Battle Hymn of the Republic” – I'm going to be honest, this is one of the first hymns I need to place on here and that I have no idea who I'd post as the artist whom I'd like to hear this from. Perhaps Chris Cornell, in a similar fashion to Ave Maria, who knows. This is just one of those hymns that make me proud to be a Christian and an American simultaneously. It's a wonderful marching tune that puts a smile on my face every time I hear it, either as “John Brown's Body” or as the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” either way I'm happy to hear it.

Coheed and Cambria – “The Suffering” – Another track originally from Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Mad, I find myself surprised that I'm placing this track on here as well. Yet, every time I hear this song I find another layer of it which I fall in love with; be it the amazing progressive chords to the masterful verses which span the genres of progressive rock, emo, and alternative rock. This multi-faceted song may very well be one of the best songs of all time, making me more and more excited to hear new music from Coheed and Cambria. Early music from the band was fun and all, but listening to their second and now third album, you can hear the band's music mature beautifully with this track and “Wake Up” being the culmination of their wonderful new sound that is both larger than life and down to earth at the same time.