Stan Kenton Is the Magic

Have you ever been so awed by something so much, that you just kind of sit there with that stupid look on your face with your chin resting on your bellybutton and your eyes as big as donuts? Yeah, I think we've all been there. I've been awed by many things over my minuscule years, but I definitely wasn't as shocked until I heard this one.

Stan Kenton is the absolute sparkle to any piece of music, whether or not it was written by him.  As a child, he learned piano. During his time in high school, he developed fully as a musician and toured around with multiple bands. In 1941, Stan formed his own band. Of course, with his amazing sparkle,  Stan's band became one of the best-known ensembles in the 1940's. Just a little bit later, his magic had rubbed of on the ears of others and the ensemble's style and sound became known as "The Wall of Sound".

Stan had played piano is swing-dance bands directed by Vido Musso and Gus Arnheim. He was meant to be a natural band leader, and he was quite successful with it. His orchestra was named after his theme song, Artistry In Rhythm. Stan was a man of his own at that time, and he went against what was popular to pursue his own way. He called his style progressive jazz and experimented with great ways to play and represent that genre of music. 

Courtesy of AllMusic

At one point, Stan composed the classic Christmas carols, with a little bit of magic sprinkled in them. The Boston Brass played the pieces so amazingly it was hard not to smile afterward.  My absolute favorite is O Holy Night. The horns on this track play exceptionally well, and Stan's touch involve some pretty high notes. In fact, it was so good and his touch was so surprising that someone lost control of their car. (Ahem, Croce.)

In my jazz band, we're playing Artistry In Rhythm. I'm on lead, so I get to play the solo. It's quite exiting, actually. I get to play both at the beginning and end by myself in front of judgey people. However, most of the solo is pretty easy and all I need to do is keep track of time and pitch. 

You know what I hate? I really strongly dislike compliments. Compliments offer no benefits other than attention and what is you're right. I agree, it's absolutely horrible! Despite what most people want, I'd much rather have constructive criticism and improve rather than just knowing what I do right. Cause I never know what I do right. 

Because science also plays a major role in this thing called everyday life, there are logical explanations as to why women can't accept compliments. For most girls and women, it's a self esteem issue. When women can't accept compliments, either

A) She will become shy and look around, not responding too well. 

          She can't accept the compliment because she doesn't know if it's true and she wants 

          to seem modest, no matter how bad she is at it.

B) She will put the compliment down.

          She accepts the compliment, but doesn't believe it's true, because "a child could've 

          built the space rocket I just built."

C) She will immediately give the person a compliment back.

          She doesn't want the attention and thinks the other person feels sorry for her.

Did anybody notice anything? Where's the thank you? Does any women say thank you? No. Because we are just like that, and science can't explain it this time.

So when my teacher decides to yell at me for not accepting a compliment....  that is just wrong. He said I needed to learn to accept a compliment graciously and that "I appreciate the help from you guys and why thank you for the wonderful compliment." Maybe it also has to do with the fact that "good job" are possibly the two most harmful words in the English language.

Although, it turns out I can accept a compliment graciously. There is one thing that I can do right, and I know it. One spiff-tastic day I was called up for my solo, without even warming up on my instrument. Funny story, I played one of the highest notes any trombone player can play for the first note of my solo. Great tone quality and everything. After it ended, my teacher walked up and fist bumped me, which he rarely ever does. So I smiled and fist bumped him back, and I was completely content with it.

Little Big Band

Yes, Little Big Band is a small band. It also is a big band. Confused? If you don't know jazz, you might be.

Big band is a term for the type of band. A big band is a typical setup for a jazz ensemble. The "little" in Little Big Band is used as an adjective. We are little for we are are only high school students. Little we may be, but we make up for it with all-star quality. On a typical day, you might not see a big band just jamming around outside somewhere. This band, however, plays often. In the summer, we spend more time preforming than we do eating.

A big band setup consists of six saxophones, five trombones, and four trumpets. Added with the rhythm section of a drum set, bass, piano vibes,  guitar, and the occasional kongo. The point of the rhythm section is to, well, keep the rhythm. All of the instruments work together to create the swing, which are hits on beats 2 and 4.

To get into this band, you need to audition. Luckily, I did not go through the nerve-wracking,
gut-wrenching, mind-boggling chaos of playing by myself in front of other people who were assigned to judge me by everything I do wrong. Auditioning is good experience to have as a musician, but if they didn't want me in the band, without it I would be lacking the musical experience I need to audition for other opportunities. Besides, if you do get into a band that is audition-only, gloating rights forever.

Stylin', aren't they?

Courtesy of Green Light Booking

It's absolutely great to be in a band like this. In an environment where everyone takes music seriously, the musicians are able to thrive and grow with their talent as they're being pushed to the max with challenging charts. Plus, it's a great way to have fun when you know the ensemble is always performing at a top-notch level.

Also, the  contribution you're making to the ensemble makes it even more worth it! To know that the sound you make supports a band like this- wow! It's unfathomable to know all of the knowledge of music and the entire profession I could gain just from a band like this. I may sound stupid to you right now, but with all of the opportunities that have come so far from this band, my dreams might just come true.

Little Big Band was actually an opportunity within itself for me. I don't even know how I heard about it. One day, my mother and I were discussing extracurricular activities and she suggested a band, so I immediately told her about the Caleb Chapman Music Program. She told me to get more info, and that's exactly what I did.  I asked my friend Croce about the band, and he told me the ensemble wanted one more trombone.

Courtesy of Caleb Chapman Music (duh)

I knew, no matter what my parents said, that I was going to join that band. How often is it that you find something fits like a puzzle piece? I wanted a place, and they had one open, just for me. Driving an hour away to the SoundHouse every week after school has been completely worth it.

Plus, the band is going on a tour, which includes a nice little fourteen hour bus ride with other high school kids and a stop at DisneyLand. Yay! (I don't know I'm being sarcastic or not yet.)

The Almost-Best Moment Ever

Finding something that makes you an individual is a great thing. We all want to aspire to be the person we ourselves define as perfect. To me, that means music. I can see myself in a symphony and a few big bands in the future. I'm trying everything I can to get myself there; it's my dream. It takes dedication to be good at something, and a life to be great at it. Having to share my dream with my twin brother, however, absolutely sucks.

One day, my brother had to go to another town for a night. My father was taking him, so I figured I could go along instead of spending my Friday night alone in my bed with a bag of Cheetos to comfort my sad, introverted, and depressed feelings. We dropped my brother off at his destination (otherwise known as nerd-landia), and my dad asked if I wanted to go anywhere. Naturally, I asked to go to Summerhays (otherwise known as music-nerd-landia), and my dad drove me immediately there.

In my mind, I developed a plan. I needed new strings for my guitar, so I planned at looking at and buying a pack of those. However, I forgot about one measly detail. It was the semi-annual instrument sale! As soon as I walked in, they had a whole table filled with trombones. In case you didn't know, new instruments are about as shiny as looking into a pool of gold and metal spoons. I immediately went over and picked up one of my metal soul mates. Most of the horns were tenor with f attachments, and a few were bass. My dad was looking at model numbers while I was playing with the slides.

The manager came over and watched us. Pretty soon, he offered to let me play a few. I looked at my father with my big puppy eyes, and he gave the dude a nod. Mr. Manager picked up a few horns and carried them to a practice room. I played two horns, both Xenos. Xenos are the Ferraris of trombones, only because they cost about as much as a Ferrari or, you know, ten.

I contently played licks I memorized, a few from Mr. P.C. and Come Out Swingin'.  After a few minutes on each, my quality of play on the horns was definitely noticeable. The model I sounded best on was the Yamaha YSL 882OR with lacquer finish. The worst part, though, was the fact that we couldn't afford two new horns for my brother and I (Anyone have $3,329 to lend me?). When we decided which model was better, I got my strings and left.

My future soul mate courtesy of Amazon

The best thing ever to happen was when I was eating dinner with my family the night after. Since my brother was gone awing at geeky things at nerd-land-tacular and didn't know what happened, my father explained it to him. I was zoning out until I heard the words, "Emily first,". WHAATTT? OMIGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH Eh, my dad was only explaining to him that since we were needing two horns I would be the first to get a new one.

Sometimes, being an obsessive freak over something has its advantages.

Two Band Concerts and a Solo in a Jazz Band

You'll never guess what happened a few weeks ago. An exciting, amazing, nerve-wracking experience that happens about five times a year.

IT WAS CONCERT WEEK.

Now, let me explain to you what that means. Since I am in two school-related bands, it means two concerts. Not the typical one-performance-and-then-we're-done concert, but two concerts with multiple compositions per band. There was three bands performing at each concert, and I had to sit through two performances both nights. One concert was for classical music, and the other was for jazz.

First up, classical. We worked really hard to pull this concert off. Or at least I did. The Symphonic Band would be second on stage, after the junior high band. We played pieces called  Abracadabra,  Dance of the Trolls, and Earthdance. We did not play as well as the rehearsals went, which is typical because of nerves and people and things. The band really only played Earthdance four or five times in rehearsal which was weird because after the piece was played, the director mouthed the word "awesome" which means we apparently, to his point of view, played it sort of well.

A few nights after the concert, there was Pep Band. The Pep Band was the last of the season, but it was still a good one. We played along with the director's hand signals and had a great time. Our school played against another football team we hadn't beaten for a while. Of course, we still lost to them, horribly, but it was fun to be up in the stands with my friends again. We pretty much stuffed Swedish Fish in our mouths and played our horns at the same time for majority of the game, which was an absolute blast.

A small cluster of the best pep band in all of the land

The second concert was the jazz concert. It was on Wednesday, October 29th, and I'll probably never forget it. It wasn't because my band played a good song, nor was it my first concert with them, but half of it was because of something I didn't even have a choice in. Concerts are usually what I look forward to, as everyone else does because that means our hard work and swollen embouchures are finally going to pay off. However, I was absolutely dreading this concert about two weeks before I would be on the stage.

My last class is my jazz ensemble class. Since my bus doesn't leave for ten minutes after the bell, I usually lag behind after everyone a little everyday. I would put away the chairs and the music stands, and compliment people on their playing. After, I would take apart my trombone, thank the director, and attempt to squeeze my ginormous instrument out the door an onto the bus. Out of the blue, on one spiffy day, the instructor decided to approach me. 

"Hey, you're planning on soloing in the concert right?"
"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it."

"Do you want a solo?"

"Uhhh... well, I don't know if I would be a good play--"

"It doesn't matter anyways, you're gonna solo. I wasn't gonna give you a choice."*
*I do not remember exactly what he said, I just remember the part about not having a choice in the soloing

My face:

To a person like you, you may think that being forced to do a solo is a great thing. By being forced, it might mean I'm good at playing trombone in a sort-of-maybe-sounding-good way. Playing an improv solo is definitely not anywhere close to sort-of-maybe-sounding-good. During the solo, I will have to drag my butt out of my chair, drag it to the front of the stage, and play into a microphone. Doesn't sound too hard, right?

Except for the fact that it's an improv solo. For all of you that don't know what improv means, it basically means to make up on the spot without practice. Yeah, and I have to do that in front of people. All week I practiced scales, just so I could play in the right key while performing stuff that I don't even know how to write down on a staff. While in class, the solos I played went okay, but the on-stage rehearsal was just crud.

On stage, I screwed up all of my playing during rehearsal. We had a small audience, witch threw my nerves off quite a lot. I couldn't reach notes and I forgot all of the accidentals. Plus, when my solo came, I dragged my butt to the wrong microphone. Not only that, but when the vibes were supposed to play, they didn't. So what did I do? I stood there, waiting for a cue, like an idiot. My directer stopped the the music, pointed to the vibes, and cued us off again. After that, I awkwardly dragged my butt off of the stage.

Just letting you know, this is the stage I play in front of people on

Image courtesy of Cisco

Then the concert night finally came. I put my jazz black on and put my horn in the car. It was absolutely terrifying. The drive to the concert was only about fifteen minutes, but it seemed like four days. I walked into the band room, which I have no idea how because my knees were shaking so much. As usual, I put my instrument together and talked with my friends. When I was warming up, I worked on my improv. I played a small phrase that consisted of nervous thirty-second notes and a high register. When I stopped, none of my friends seemed to care. Devon on the other hand, was proud.

"Did you guys not just hear that? She just LAID IT DOWN!"

Being the shaky bag of flesh and bones that I am, I laughed and high-fived Devon. I continued warming up, until the instructor told us the stage set.

After minutes of waiting, I was eventually on stage. I sat down in my lead chair and waited for a downbeat from the director. He came out and talked to the audience a bit, which did not make my spider-infested torso feel any better. After just about a little bit of forever passed, he turned around, gave a downbeat, and left the stage. We, as in me, were playing the chart pretty okay with only a few mishaps here and there. Then the director entered the stage again to cue my solo. 

As mentally prepared as I was (I wasn't), I dragged my vibrating and jumpy spider body to the mic at the front of the stage. I played a small tune, which thankfully ended up in key. Then I did a small bow, which from the audience it looked like I broke my leg. As I was walking back to my chair, the director gave me a small clap and a "Good Job" that made my limp facial muscles smile. The band burned through the rest of the charts, and we got off the stage.

When we walked back to the room, my friends Ryan, Max, Molly, and Amber all congratulated me on my solo. I guess it's a good thing to do something that scares you every once in a while. It leaves you with the ability to do something greater than you ever though you could. 

Pep Band

...
...
...
... I have decided to tell you about something that goes on in my life.
... My irregular life as a musical geek.
... That I spend at Pep Band every few Friday nights.

Pep Band is something my school band does to help the cheerleaders cheer on the football team every time we have a home game. Usually, it consists of me getting together with my instrument section, buying absolute junk food, having a blast, then having a sugar hangover while cleaning the crud out of my horn the very next day.
   

Image courtesy of Park City High School

                 

1. fun |fən| noun

    Madly cramming Swedish Fish in your mouth while all of the other members of the section make       fun of the local high schools' football team

Hhmmmmmmmmmmm.........

Sounds like my Friday nights are better than yours.

One very special pep band was a night I will never forget. It was Homecoming, of course. Out of the four games we have had, that one is my outright favorite. To me, it was not just another game, but a night where it seemed as if everyone were floating on the clouds.

It all started on a Friday, which makes everything good automatically. After school, we had Marching Band practice (Marching Band IS A SPORT) to rehearse our part in our field performance. Unlike Pep Band, Marching Band is not required of band students, so only real band geeks were in Marching Band all summer. Out of the large assemblage of trombones the band program has, only seven were in Marching Band, consisting of me, my brother Nathan, Barski, Molly, Hunter, Jake, and Dominic. We all got really close over the summer, which made that night even better. After practice, the sweating cluster of instruments and players went into the instrument storage room to put horns away, although we all knew we'd be pulling them out again within three hours. 

Then after high-fives were given and the I-can't-wait-for-tonight's-performances were said, a group of us from Marching Band went to get food. I rode in Jake's car with Molly, Nathan, and Barski on the way to the restaurant. We had loads of fun, but mostly we made fun of the golden-oldies coming out of the car radio. Not only this, but because we were a car full of trombonists, we made jokes about the trumpets.

What is a gentleman?

Somebody who knows how to play the trumpet, but doesn't.

What do trumpet players use for birth control?

Their personalities. 

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get away from the trumpet players.

How many trumpets does it take to change a lightbulb?

None. They can't reach that high.

How do you know when a trumpeter takes their kids to the playground?

They don't know how to swing.

Stop it, you're killing me! Alright, I'll stop, but I'm no murderer.

We are all also fans of cheesy jokes. Not many of us like corny ones, though. Although these are jokes about trumpets, there is one exception. The band directer, Mr. Taylor, is a trumpet player. He is an exception because he plays trumpet very well, plus he understands a ton of things about music. And he knows how to swing.  

When we got to the restaurant, we pulled a ton of tables together for other band geeks who were going to join us. Then we got in line for food, which I was thankful for, because after running around on a football field depriving my muscles of oxygen, I was hungry. When we sat down, there was an awkward silence other than the growls of stomaches and the clacking of teeth. As we devoured our food, others filled in the table around us, talking about the latest news and such.

As we sat at that table, it was a great environment to be put into. It felt like we were a large family that had one thing in common that made us the geeks and nerds at school, but here we were all just great friends with a love of music. Brett, one of the two Drum Majors, was with us, sharing stories of his experiences with music. Brett is an amazing bass player who also happens to sing jazz. He is one of the two best jazz singers I know today, and he is good, really good at it. 

- A Dirty Story - 

Once upon a time, I was leaving the restaurant with Jake and Quinn. We were his car again, laughing and poking fun at everything. Quinn, riding shotgun, was telling a story about something, and I made a comment that might have ticked him off, I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic or not.

Quinn - "F**k you!"

Me - "Now or later?"

Jake - "You can move to the back seat with her, and I'll keep my eyes on the road."

Awkward.

When we pulled into the school, we were late for Pep Band. I ran into instrument storage, hastily put together my trombone, and changed into my red t-shirt. I was really excited and jumpy, despite the Coca-Cola I had the previous hour. I ran into the main band room and grabbed a spot at the end of my section. We went through the pieces we played during the game and grabbed our things to leave. 

This is where the fun starts. It was Homecoming and the stands had the biggest audience than any other game, which made the circumstances better to play under because we wanted to sound good. As usual, the game started off with the school song and the first play in the game.  Since I don't understand football too well, I mostly chatted with my friends. Every once in a while, the band would play a tune directed by either Mr. Taylor or one of the Drum Majors. If you haven't been to one before, football games are really loud. In order to know what song we play, we have hand signals for the songs, similar to what the refs have on the fields. I have no clue how the band remembers what to play, because we have over 25 different signals, like two fingers for Number Two and an invisible sandwich for Eat 'Em Up.

We pretty much played and talked for the first quarter, but second quarter on was the best part of the night. At the beginning of the second quarter, Marching Band was excused from the stands to go to the band room and get ready for our field performance. We had to change into our spiffy uniforms in a blink of an eye, which was not easy due to the fact that our uniforms have multiple layers and parts. The entire band has the same pair of shoes called Speedsters. Then the overalls, similar to slacks but more durable. On top goes the splendid red jacket with glitter, but that's not it. We have matching white gloves we have to slip under the sleeves of our jacket without wrinkling either of them. Almost last, comes the glitter-covered gauntlets that velcro over the sleeves of our jackets. The most amazing part is the hat. It is a tall cylindrical  red hat with a black shiny bill. It has a small stripe of glitter and white on it, with a white plume on top. Putting on the hat basically defines the essence of life for the entire time we have the honor of wearing them.

After magically putting the fabric onto our bodies, we went outside, made an arch, and played through the performance with piano dynamics. Then we waited for half-time, our hearts beating in time to the drum line in the stands. Soon enough it came, and we marched onto the field. Have you ever felt like your liver turned into a snake that was crawling around your other internal organs just trying to screw things up for its own enjoyment? Yeah, that was basically me. We waited for the entrance beat from the drum line on the sidelines, in separate lines for where we stand. 

As the beat came, we marched onto the field with as much pride as our shaking snake-infested bodies let us have. We turned around, and the entire crowd was watching, although only momentarily. We burned through the first song, I Can't Turn You Loose. As usual, I was gasping for air as my burning muscles threatened to drop me on the ground. Then the drum beats for Starships had started. We somehow pulled this song off without to much of a problem. We made our formations, Darth Vader and a starship, and we were onto the last note. We turned around, headed off the field, and practically floated back to the band room. The performance was over.
 

  Image thanks to the Park Record

We took off of our uniforms, and waited for others to change out. The heavy breathing, the fast pulses, it was perfect. Everyone congratulated the seniors; they wouldn't march with us again. We then walked back to the stands, and continued to play through the game happily.

Game over. everyone put their stuff away and waited in the band room. Mr. Taylor ended the night with a "Good job, band," and also told us how people could hear us from three miles away. They would call to tell him the band sounded great from that distance.

Yeah, my Friday night literally sounded better than yours. 

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin are two words that is in everyones' vocabulary. They have written the classics, changed their sound, and then written the classics again. Led Zeppelin has mastered the key to interesting music, while producing sounds of who they want to be as a band. Was it their catchy guitar riffs, Robert Plant's smooth and irresistible voice, or the idiosyncrasy of their name that caught everyone's attention? All in all, they are a great band, and they deserved the fame they have been rewarded with during their time of producing music.

 Image Courtesy of Dawn.com

Let's start with the basics.  The band formed together in 1968, consisting of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist John Jones, and the drummer John Bunham. Led Zeppelin got their name after changing it from The New Yardbirds, with the inspiration from Keith Moon. Keith Moon, the drummer for The Who, said that the band would go down like a "lead zeppelin". A zeppelin is a large airship, similar to a blimp. Before officially changing the name, the band agreed to misspell "lead" for "led" so people wouldn't get confused and think of it as "lead" as in "lead singer".

The group was a big, famous, definitive heavy metal band. In their early albums, their guitar-heavy songs were derived from a blues influence, making them stand out against other rock bands with no influence but the other modern bands of that decade. Led Zeppelin also had other influences, such as folk music. You may know them for their all-time-classic hit Stairway To Heaven, where their roots and originality showed through the entire eight minute piece. 

Jimmy Page composed most of the music for their songs, and Robert Plant supplied the lyrics. In their later years, John Jones and his keyboard were the center of the songs, as the band continued to experiment with more modern music and their sound.  Led Zeppelin will always be known for their intriguing music, especially while being one of the bands to make it in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They have had as much influence on music in the 70's as The Beatles did in the 60's, being the second-bestselling band in the United States behind the Fab Four.

Now that we have finished with the basics, we can get into the fun part. That one song. 

This song is called Over the Hills and Far Away by (you guessed it) Led Zeppelin. This song is a masterpiece in itself, featuring an acoustic guitar but using both acoustic and electric at the same time. The guitar seems to be heard everywhere today, but this song was written in 1973, making guitar how it is now. And of course, the irresistible Robert Plant sings about a lady who has the kind of love he needs. The entire song is filled with sparkling heavenly greatness, similar to what it's like to eat a caramel-fudge brownie fresh out of the oven with almonds and whipped cream. That is what listening to this one song is like. Heaven. But, the last thing, the chord at the end. That power chord. The only reason the song can be replayed is the chord. It makes you pay attention to the song, and think about what has just been played. Just think, the chord will be left in your head for at least five days, making you want to listen to this song again and again.

Fun Fact: The four symbols in the picture above represent one thing for each member of the band, first one for Jimmy Page, then John Jones, after that is John Bonham, and lastly Robert Plant's symbol.

Dark Side of Laughter

Obviously,  everyone today has heard of Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga. Years back everyone had listened to The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Today, not too many have heard of Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra, although other bands have stuck with us through the decades. For one, AC/DC has their album, Back In Black, and it made it back onto the list of Billboard Top 200 as of 2013, ranked at #73. Other bands like Van Halen and Journey, however, have not earned anything like that recently, but they have kept our attention for years after years. 

Among those bands is a band named Pink Floyd. They started producing music in 1965, and have continued to be well known group all the way up to today. They were, of course, one of the rebellious rock bands that parents of that decade would never let their children listen to. Today, the tides have turned, and some parents praise their kids for listening to the music they used to listen to without their parents knowing.  

Image courtesy of Amoeba Music

Based off of pop culture, and the t-shirts everyone wears, Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's 

most-known record. Assuming everyone knows Pink Floyd, this has probably been the record that is on every old rock fans' playlist. On the record, there are the hits Money, Us and Them, and Brain Damage. These songs are four of their most played songs at concerts and other gigs.

Although almost all of Pink Floyd's songs are good, there is something that is just a tad eerie and disturbing about them.

That would be the evil, ominous cackle hidden in a few songs. 

This "laugh", is not nice, it's terrifying, especially if you're listening when you're alone. The laughter in the background can be found in Not Now John, Money, Wish You Were Here, Brain Damage, and Welcome to the Machine.  A few of these songs are on the Wish You Were Here album, which revolves around Syd Barrett and his illnesses. 

In short, Syd had illnesses because of how chaotic his life was. He would always travel around,  get told what to do by his managers, and how to do it by the band. Eventually, he had used drugs, had preformed poorly in some concerts, and gotten himself removed from the band. However, Syd did write great songs as a member of the band. Most of the songs were written with odd lyrics, mostly compelling people with rumors that they were written insanity or suicide. Thus, resulting in the laughter.

The only thing really terrifying is what happens when listening to the songs with laughter. Songs like these have caused mental instability momentarily while the music is playing. During the songs, things have broken, caused by anger resulting from the music. Hockey sticks, wooden benches, pens and pencils, drumsticks, and bones have been broken, guaranteed.

One last thing. Yes, Welcome To The Machine is popular, but the music video has been played only at concerts.The entire video was hand drawn, filled with corpses and blood. Have you been brave enough to watch it? 

I Am the Confused

Assuming you know who The Beatles are, a lot of us love their music. But have you heard all of their songs? Songs like Here Comes The Sun, Hey Jude, Yesterday, and Let It Be have been heard by millions of people all over the world. The Beatles are the most bootlegged band, which means they have written and performed songs, but not all of them have been available and legally released. So, have you heard of In Spite of All the Danger, or One After 909? What about I am the Walrus?

This song was composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, made up of three different song ideas Lennon could not finish, also including a playground nursery rhyme.  Not too unbelievably, Lennon had been using LSD when he wrote the first two lines of the song.

Before you start to hate The Beatles because of this song, you should probably know why it was composed in the first place.

When Lennon was a student, he went to Quarry Bank High School, and one day he came across a letter from Quarry Bank. It was written by a student of the school, telling Lennon that an english teacher was making them analyze the lyrics to their songs in class. After reading the letter, he sent back a response to the student, and started composing his next song as misleading and inconsistent as he could.

When the band started to record the song, Lennon had made it clear that he wanted the song a certain way, especially because the recording had a horn section and a sixteen piece choir. He also wanted the song to be written and scored a specific way, so he sang most of the parts as a guide to the composer of the horn section. As the last part of the song, Lennon had added in a reading of King Lear that he had been fiddling with.

Image courtesy of Amazon

The song was a part of the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack that went to the movie of the same name. The movie is about magical things that happens from the cause of five magicians on a tour bus, played by The Beatles and their road manager.

The movie is pretty weird, just like I Am the Walrus. If you think this is freaky, have you heard Revolution 9 backwards?