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"Born in the U.S.A"- Bruce Springsteen

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  "Born in the U.S.A."-Bruce Springsteen      The song I decided on for this blog is "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen. I have listened to this song before, but when Professor Bradshaw mentioned that it had a "hidden" or "double" meaning, I was intrigued. After listening to it a few times, I believe I understand what the song is actually about. The song starts out with a man growing up in "small-town U.S.A." and talking about how he would get into trouble. The song then goes on about how he ends up joining the Vietnam War and fights for his country. After the war, he comes back home, tries to settle down, and looks for a job. He is unsuccessful at finding a job and goes to talk to his V.A. officer about finding a job, but gets rejected due to the economic crisis in America at the time after the Vietnam War. The song then goes on about how his brother, or close friend was killed in the war, but had fallen in love with a woman in ano

"Lady" written by Lionel Richie & performed by Kenny Rogers

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  "Lady" written by Lionel Richie, performed by Kenny Rogers   The song I chose for this blog was "Lady" written by Lionel Richie and performed by Kenny Rogers. I have always loved listening to this song when it comes on the radio. I think it is such a beautiful and well-written song. To me, this song is about finally finding your true love and wanting to spend the rest of your life with them. I believe that Kenny Rogers did a really fantastic job singing this song and Lionel Richie also did a great job in writing this song. It does not surprise me that Lionel Richie composed this song as he is also a wonderful artist and his lyrics go well with the melody. While I was researching this song, I read that Kenny Rogers had wanted Lionel Richie to write him a song for an album. While they were talking, Kenny Rogers was telling Lionel Richie about his wife, Marianne whom he had just married, and was saying how she was such a "lady". That was the idea behind the

I Shot the Sheriff- Week 9 Blog Post

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  "I Shot the Sheriff"-cover by Eric Clapton       For this blog post, I decided to listen to "I Shot the Sheriff" which is a cover by Eric Clapton of an original tune by Bob Marley. Both versions are good, but I prefer Eric Clapton's version better. I have always loved listening to this song; I think that Eric Clapton is a fantastic artist. This song has a reggae tune to it much like the original version. I do like listening to reggae quite often because most of the songs have more of a soothing feel to the music, but the lyrics are usually very catchy. The beat of this song goes well with Eric Clapton's guitar playing. The song is pretty controversial in itself; it has lyrics that say things like shooting a sheriff and how "his reflexes got the better of him" after he shot him. The emotions of this song seem somewhat depressing, but also seem mysterious as to what is going to happen to the person who shot the sheriff. This song has both a riff an

8th Blog Post: "Thank God I'm A Country Boy"- John Denver

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  "Thank God I'm A Country Boy"-John Denver  The song I chose today was "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" by John Denver. I have always loved listening to this song ever since I first heard it.  I was excited when we got to listen to it during class.   John Denver has been one of my favorite artists for quite a while; I love his voice and a lot of his songs. To me, this song is about living a simple, easy-going life on the farm or out in the country. This song has a happy and upbeat tempo; you can tell by the fiddle playing and John Denver shouting in the song towards the end.  The lyrics and the music go well together because the fiddle has a fast, upbeat country tune while John Denver sings about the good ole' country life.  Towards the end of the song, the fiddle breaks away from its role and the musician who plays the fiddle plays a solo. The target audience is the working-class citizens, especially those who work out on the farm or work in rural areas.

7th Blog Post: "Summertime"

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  "Summertime"-Janis Joplin The song I chose this week was Summertime by Janis Joplin. Even though the original artist was Billie Holiday, Janis did a great job covering the song and even put her own twist to it.  Both versions of this song have a blues feel to them.  Janis has such a unique voice that whenever you hear her singing, you immediately know that it is her. This style of music is one of my favorites because it came out during the 60s which is when a lot of great artists and music were popular. About halfway through the song, the guitar breaks away from its traditional role and the guitarist does a guitar solo. The guitarist also did a great job matching the sound of the guitar with Janis's voice. This song has a riff (repeated melodic idea), hook (a musical phrase that is particularly catchy or memorable), and groove (a pattern that channels particular rhythms).  It is a shame that Janis Joplin passed away when she was so young, I believe she would have had ev

6th Listening Blog Post

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  "Mystery Train"- Elvis Presley     For this blog post, I decided to listen to "Mystery Train" by Elvis Presley. After listening to this song, I realized that this song is about a woman who boarded a train and left her significant other and he is waiting for her to come back again. When she comes back, he will make sure that she will never leave his side again. I have always been a huge fan of Elvis and have loved listening to each and every one of his songs. The target audience is somebody who had their heart broken by a significant other (a woman; according to this song) and wishing that they would have never let them go. This song has a "hook", which is a musical phrase that is particularly catchy or memorable. In my opinion, the beat of the song sounds like a trains' locomotive noise as it is moving. Overall, I think that this song has a great beat and I love hearing the sound of the guitar playing. Something that I thought was very interesting wa

Listening Blog Post #5

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  HANK WILLIAMS- " HEY GOOD LOOKIN' ''   For this listening blog post, I decided on " Hey Good Lookin' " by Hank Williams. I have heard this song numerous times before and have always loved listening to it. It is such an upbeat song and I enjoy listening to the lyrics. It is also a perfect song to listen to on Valentine's Day! I think this song is about a man who wants to "go steady" with a woman that he fancies and wants to spend all of his time with her. This song has both a riff, a repeated melodic idea, and a hook, a musical phrase that is particularly catchy or memorable. The audience that he targets are young couples who are in love, particularly younger couples or couples that just have just started dating each other. My favorite part is the catchy chorus and the guitar playing. I do not have a least favorite part of the song because overall, it is a very happy and uplifting song. This song is a romantic song and this is achieved musi