Ooh That's My Jam!!

Paul Simon: "Father and Daughter"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em1vUQOj-k4

“Father and Daughter” by Paul Simon was written for the 2002 children’s film The Wild Thornberrys Movie. “Father and Daughter”, as the theme song for the movie, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. The song was used for the move soundtrack and was also released on his 2006 album Surprise and his 2007 ‘best-of’ album The Essential Paul Simon.
Paul Simon is an American singer-songwriter who is most famous for starting out as part of the duo Simon and Garfunkel. Throughout his career, Paul Simon has won thirteen Grammys and the Lifetime Achievement Award, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was named by Time to be one of the “100 People Who Shaped the World”, and selected to be the first recipient of the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Paul Simon is unique in his ability to incorporate many genres of music into his songs; beginning with an overall folk theme by Simon and Garfunkel, and then to reggae, blues, and rock and roll.
When my parents were dropping me off for the first time at boarding school, my dad gave me a cd that had “Father and Daughter” on it to listen to every time I missed him. I’ve always had an extraordinary relationship with my dad and he’s always taken on a more ‘friend’ role with me than that dominating parent. We’ve always been able to connect through our love of music, history, and Hagen Daz coffee ice cream. Boarding school made me grow up very fast and a pretty young age, but I still found comfort knowing that through this song, I could still connect to the strong and cherished relationship I had with my ‘daddy’. We were hundreds of miles apart, but he told me to pay close attention to the lyrics to remember: “As long as one and one is two, there could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you”. The mellow rhythm of the song reminded me of the simplicity of our relationship and that I don’t have to try too hard to maintain the unique bond I had with him.

The Who: “Baba O’Riley”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2KRpRMSu4g

Recorded at Olympic Studios in London, “Baba O’Riley” was released by The Who on their 1971 album entitle Who’s Next. Band member Pete Townshend wrote the song and Roger Daltrey sings lead vocals. The title of the song is a tribute to the bands two major philosophical and musical influences: Meher Babe was an Indian mystic and spiritual master and Terry Riley was an American composer. Rather than simply entitle the song “Teenage Wasteland”, a phrase repeated throughout the song, The Who found it to be more respectful to create an attribution of their idols.
As an English rock band in the 70s, The Who began experimenting with a fusion of their class hard rock as well as electric and power chords, as can be recognized in the infamous chorus of the song. The album Who’s Next went three times platinum and was declared one of the best albums of all time by VH1, Rolling Stone, and Time Magazine. “Baba O’Riley” itself is #340 on the Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.
After graduating from The Hill School, the sixth formers all road-tripped to grimy Ocean City, Maryland for Senior Week. Every night, the entire class would all come to one house and as the festivities began, Sam Lagor would blast “Baba O’Riley”. Everyone would gather around and shot the lyrics to our favorite part: “Let’s get together before we get much older. Teenage wasteland, it’s only teenage wasteland.” Not only was the week in itself a complete wasteland, but coming together for the last time reminded us to be young at heart while we still had the chance. We were all about to be separated by distance and colleges, so this was the perfect opportunity to experience our youth and foolishness for a grand finale. “Baba O’Riley” symbolized that this last week together was the time to make our final mistakes and spontaneously bad decisions before our adult lives began. Every time I hear the song now, I am reminded through the electronic chords and crashing chorus, that it is okay to be idiotic and stupid while I’m young because in the end, it’s only teenage wasteland.

Mika: “Happy Ending”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJeHk1gDT68

Released in 2007 by producer Greg Wells, “Happy Ending” is the first single release from British singer-songwriter Mika. After released on his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, Wells revitalized the song and later released it online. His version of “Happy Ending” is the most popular, as it peaked to #7 on the UK Singles Chart and become the fifth most added song on Australian radio. The strong vocals and flamboyant flare of the song helped Mika, formally known as Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr, reach international fame.
I dated Tom for three long years. He helped me grow up, he supported me and loved me, and he tore my guarded walls down. He was everything to me: my best friend, my first, my clichéd soul mate, my Tom. He made promises to me that I believed he would keep forever. He always found some silly way to stop me from crying when the distance got to me. But life’s a bitch and as every unrealistic and fantasy relationship goes, he cheated on me. Turns out, he had been dating another girl at the same time as me. To say it hurt like hell in places I never knew could actually generate pain, is an understatement. For days and days, I would put the cover over my head, plug in my earphones, and blast “Happy Ending” until my ears rand. Sometimes, I would scream out the lyrics between pathetic sobs. The song became my little escape, a sort of therapeutic defense mechanism. If I got upset during the day or woke up after seeing his face in my dream, I would put in my iPod and turn the volume up on the song until I couldn’t even hear myself think. I would put it on repeat and blast it in the shower where I cried until the scorching water turned my skin raw. “Happy Ending” would never let me know, it would never abandon me or cheat on me. I became obsessed with the song as it began to symbolize this concrete entity that I could always rely on. Even though I used the song to escape from my heartache, it allowed me to accept what he had done. I faced my pain through the connection I had with the lyrics: “This is the way you left me” and “Then lived the rest of our lives, but not together.” I dealt with what he had done to me and moved forward. Every time I miss Tom, I play “Happy Ending” to remind myself exactly what he had put me through. Miraculously, this song has the power to give me the strength to realize that Tom and I did love, but will never live our lives together again. And at the end of the day, I’m okay with that because I will always have “Happy Ending”.

Kenny Chesney: “Who You’d Be Today”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ne3cz9eUsQ

American country singer Kenny Chesney, released “Who You’d Be Today” as the first single from his 2005 album entitle The Road and the Radio. Entering as #26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs, the song quickly became one of his highest-debuting albums. After a few weeks, the song reached to #2. After releasing thirteen albums, eleven of which have been certified gold or platinum, with countless Number One’s, it is no surprise that Kenny Chesney has been recognized as a four consecutive Entertainer of the Year and one of the most popular touring acts in country music.
Avarie Hannah was my roommate at Hill all three years and we were sisters from day one. We connected through our love of Kenny Chesney, and “Who You’d Be Today” was always her favorite song to listen to. I thought maybe she just liked the smooth and pure vocals of Kenny Chesney, but I was to find out that the song meant a lot more to her than just a catchy tune. Avarie’s sister, Marielle, was brutally murdered a few months before we met and started our life together at Hill. Avarie waited until December of our first year together to tell me of story of Marielle and why “Who You’d Be Today” was so special. The song was played at her funeral and at least once a day for the next few months as a therapeutic way to move ahead to a hopeful future.
“It ain't fair you died too young
Like a story that had just begun
But death tore the pages all away
God knows how I miss you
All the hell that I've been through
Just knowing, no one could take your place
Sometimes I wonder, who you'd be today.”
As Avarie finished telling me about Marielle’s death, she said that she saw a lot of her sister in me and really felt that our relationship had grown to be that of a sisterhood. Although we would never be biologically related, Avarie and I became as close as true sisters can be through the special connection we had with “Who You’d Be Today”

Vince Gill: “Go Rest High on That Mountain”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szsH1R-9Di8

Vince Gill released “Go Rest High on That Mountain” as a single on his 1994 album When Love Finds You. As a country singer, Gill wrote the song as a eulogy following the death of the great Country music singer Keith Whitley in 1989. He was unable to finish writing the song until after the death of his older brother who died of a heart attack in 1993. With Ricky Skaggs and Patty Loveless singing backup vocals, the song was awarded the CMA’s Song of the Year in 1996 and Broadcast Music, Inc.’s Most-Performed Song award in 1997. Vince “Go Rest High on That Mountain” helped Gill win two Grammy’s for Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. Also, in 1995, the single reach #14 on the Country Singles chart. Throughout his career, Gill has been awarded 20 Grammy’s, more than any other country singer, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
My grandmother, Bebe, lived a very troubled and traumatic life. She suffered through an eating disorder, alcoholism, the death of her husband, as well as the death of her eldest daughter. Although one would assume that these hardships made were an increasingly strong and noble women, it actually did the exact opposite. Her last few years were spent in a devastating state of depression and although it was hard to see her pass, it was one of those situations where the outcome was just for the best. The lyrics of the song are representative of a situation similar to my grandmother’s: “I know your life on earth was troubled and only you could know the pain. You weren’t afraid to face the devil, you were no stronger to the rain.” Although my grandmother has long passed, this song helped strengthen the emotional connection I have with her because I know she is in a better place and watching over me high on that mountain.

Girl Talk: “Play Your Part (Part 1)”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JBAxkZun3s

Girl Talk composer Gregg Gillis released his fourth album Feed the Animals in 2008. Gillis created the unique album by synchronizing samples from other artists’ songs with some of his own instrumentalation. Girl Talk is rare in it’s policy of not charging for listeners to download the albums.
Play your Part (Part 1) was my senior year ANTHEM. I’m pretty sure my friends and I listened to it everyday. When we’d go over to friends’ houses on open weekends, it was a requirement to blast this Girl Talk song as soon as we got in the car. The seven of my closet friends and I each had our own part that we would belt out, each representing our personalities. My solo part was Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door”. It was our little inside joke and we busted it out everywhere we went. The mashups and variety of songs created by Girl Talk represented the diversity of my friends. I’m from the south, Natalie is from Seattle, Shay is from New Jersey, Taylor is from Maine, Brooke is from New York City, and Hana is from Massachusetts. We came from totally different backgrounds, but when Girl Talk was blasting, we were seven in one.

John Mayer: “Say”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PruXMrd7DtM&feature=PlayList&p=5290392CFA2A22A6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=99

Rob Reiner wrote John Mayer’s “Say” in 2007 for the movie The Bucket List. The song was his first commercial single that was not first released on one of his albums; however, it was added to the special edition re-release of his original 2006 album Continuum. “Say” reached as high as number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. John Mayer, known for his smooth voice and stellar guitar skills, has been awarded Best Male Pop Vocal Album and several Grammy’s.
In the spring of my senior year, I was having one of those just awful days: I had failed the first test of my high school career, shipped the wrong pages to the yearbook printing company, slept through my first two classes, forgotten to do my Spanish homework, and nicked 100 places while attempting to shave my legs in thirty seconds. I’m pretty sure I had cried six times by the time we all left for seated dinner. I sat at different tables then my best friend, Natalie, so I didn’t notice when she snuck out before me. Natalie and I had been best friends since the moment we met each other. We are very different, but at the same time we are practically the same person. We have the kind of friendship where we can know what the other is thinking without saying a word; she basically knew me better than I knew myself. I trekked back to my senior dorm, Rolfe, and when I sat down at my desk, I noticed a note card had been written on and left on my computer. Natalie had come to my room after supper and written lyrics to our favorite song “Say” on the note card: “Even if your hands are shaking, and your faith is broken, even as the eyes are closing, do it with a heart wide open.” It was simple, but it meant the world to me. I keep that card in my wallet and always have it near me. Through minimal effort, Natalie had turned my whole day around. The lyrics of “Say” and her sweet endeavor to cheer me up made me realize that although I was having a horrible day, it didn’t matter in the end as long as kept moving ahead and loving with my heart wide open.

Casting Crowns: “Somewhere in the Middle”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WN37XYqrmY

“Somewhere in the Middle” comes from the Casting Crowns’ 2007 album entitled The Altar and the Door. Soaring to popularity, the album debuted at number-two on the US Billboard 200 chart. As a Christian band with a soft rock style, Casting Crowns has spent weeks at the top of such charts as the Top Christian Albums and Hot Christian Songs.
The summer before my junior year, my parents made me go on our church’s mission trip to Oceana, West Virginia. I had never really figured out my religious standpoint by that time and was apprehensive towards going. But that August, it was off to West Virginia I went. I knew no one in the youth group, but became fast friends with Arrington Clarke. We both had doubts about our religion and had not yet made a firm connection with God. However, as soon as I met the lady whose house were would repair, my entire life changed. Coetta had absolutely nothing, yet she loved Jesus with absolutely everything. Sometimes she would go days without eating, but she still got down on her knees and prayed day after day. I admired her strength to trust in The Lord through her struggles and to never doubt that he would answer her prayers. Every night after working on our site, Reach Work Camps would gather in the cafeteria of the Oceana Elementary School for reflection. After singing and praying, the lights were turned out for slideshow of the day’s events. The first time I watched the slideshow as “Somewhere in the Middle” flowed through the speakers, I found God. I felt his presence and I felt the power he had over mankind. We had the ability to answer Coetta’s prayers and to give her a somewhat better life. It was an incredible experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. “Somewhere in the Middle” is one of my most defining songs because it helped me grow strong in my religion while answering an incredibly selfless woman’s prayers.