Old
Kings of Leon - Taper Jean Girl off their 2004 album Aha Shake Heartbreak
You know that I could use somebodddeeeey. Everybody knows that line. But before Sex on Fire and Use Somebody made them a huge hit, Kings of Leon had already been making great music. I have not listened to their very first album, but Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times (album #'s 2 & 3) are both really well done the whole way through. Listen to the entirety of both of those albums and you will forget how much radio stations ruined "Use Somebody" by playing it so damn much. "Taper Jean Girl" is my favorite from Heartbreak. It gets me moving right from the start every time I hear it. I know my co-workers and all previous roommates I have had hate me for my constant foot and pen tapping, but it's not my fault. Blame the Kings of Leon.
New
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses - Direction of the Wind, off of his 2010 album Junky Star
Ryan Bingham made me convinced that I don't care as much about sports as I used to. Quick background; I pretty much had two things going on in my life when I was younger; sports and school. I still love sports, and I think that will be ingrained in me forever, but I've found a lot of other things that I enjoy, and I've found that there is not as much time for those things if you are constantly thinking about who's in first place. (The exception is Notre Dame football, which I will always make time for.)
So, I had my sights set on seeing Bingham at a small bar in Philly last October. For two or three months prior to the show I was excited that the show was coming up. My wife and I were planning on going. However, my wife is also a big Phillies fan (full disclosure; I've become one since moving here four years ago.) The Phillies made the NLCS, my in-laws got tickets to game 1 in Philadelphia, and it just so happened to be on the same night as the concert. In the past we've gone to a lot of games, and I always enjoy going. But on that night, all I really wanted to do was go to the concert. I went to the game and I had fun, but the Phillies play at least 162 games a year... and Ryan Bingham will only play at the North Star Bar once.
That made me realize that I've turned a corner. Sports isn't my favorite thing to do anymore. I still enjoy playing, but until the playoffs, other things are more important. So, in that very specific way, this song is appropriate to me since it's saying that there is a change in opinion, a change in thinking. I'm just not as into sports as I used to be. I've figured out there is a lot else out there that is interesting and develops you as a person, rather than just allowing you to remember that Mark McLemore was the Orioles' second basemen in 1993. Sports can teach you a lot about life, but you have to have the other parts of life in order to put those lessons to practice.
In "Direction of the Wind", Bingham's talking about how there has been a change in the way people think about social issues; race, class, civil rights. He thinks it's a change for the better and he's hoping that it catches on and continues in that direction. It's interesting to me to see the opinions of a young guy (Bingham is 29) from West Texas and how different they are from what you might have expected from that region in the past. I can think of a few other instances (Brad Paisley comes to mind), but there aren't too many country artists that really try to tackle tolerance and social equality in their music. His music sounds like old school country/americana, but his lyrics are clearly that of the younger generation.
By the way, this is a video of the song being performed at the concert that I missed.
That made me realize that I've turned a corner. Sports isn't my favorite thing to do anymore. I still enjoy playing, but until the playoffs, other things are more important. So, in that very specific way, this song is appropriate to me since it's saying that there is a change in opinion, a change in thinking. I'm just not as into sports as I used to be. I've figured out there is a lot else out there that is interesting and develops you as a person, rather than just allowing you to remember that Mark McLemore was the Orioles' second basemen in 1993. Sports can teach you a lot about life, but you have to have the other parts of life in order to put those lessons to practice.
In "Direction of the Wind", Bingham's talking about how there has been a change in the way people think about social issues; race, class, civil rights. He thinks it's a change for the better and he's hoping that it catches on and continues in that direction. It's interesting to me to see the opinions of a young guy (Bingham is 29) from West Texas and how different they are from what you might have expected from that region in the past. I can think of a few other instances (Brad Paisley comes to mind), but there aren't too many country artists that really try to tackle tolerance and social equality in their music. His music sounds like old school country/americana, but his lyrics are clearly that of the younger generation.
By the way, this is a video of the song being performed at the concert that I missed.
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