All you Need Is Music: Songs I Recommend

Papi - Jennifer Lopez
The lyrics aren't very deep and don't make much sense, but it's the actual music I'm after. I sometimes think of videos in my head when listening to music, and this is one of the top candidates! The intro is suspenseful and could make for an adventurous video. I like to picture myself leaping up rock steps and twirling in the Botanical Gardens, for example - which, by the way, is my happy place. That's a bonus! My happiest memory associated with this song is the dance at the PSA - the Peel Summer Academy, the best summer camp of HISTORY - where I chose this song and danced like there was no tomorrow. It felt amazing.

There was a tomorrow, but there wasn't a next year of PSA. The song has a kind of significance for me now.

Part of Me - Katy Perry
This is a song that M and I listened to over and over during recesses we spent in the computer lab. It's passionate, as my harp teacher would say, and the first Katy Perry song I've ever intentionally listened to - well, knowing that it was Katy Perry.
In this song, Katy Perry sings, "This is the part of me that you will never, ever, ever take away from me. Throw your sticks and stones, throw your bombs and blows, but you're not going to break my soul." What part of her is she singing of? Her spirit, her inner power that stands up to those who hurt her? It's something to think about when you're feeling down: deep down, you're strong, and no one can hurt you if you don't let them.

22 - Taylor Swift
This song is very lively and catchy. To me, it sounds like T Swifty is singing about being carefree and a dreamer. It's nice to know that there are songs out there just about that: not necessarily about partying (no thanks. *coughcoughKeshacough*) but just about enjoying yourself with friends. In the music video, she and friends hug each other, laugh, lie down on one another at the beach and enjoy the pool. Swift sings about a night when you just let your worries blow away and Just. Smile.

P.S. Just so you know, I've been a Taylor Swift fan LONG before the Red album and the two songs that gained instant popularity: namely, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I Knew You Were Trouble.

I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift
I LOVE THIS SONG! I mean, it's felt even catchier to me since I learned to play it on my harp. It's on my "Favourites" playlist, which includes songs I love, like to dance to and/or love to sing to and this song makes all three of those lists. I like the way it's sang, and how T Swifty sings it with spirit - like this feeling that you're letting all your emotions just . . . sing themselves out of yourself.
Bonus: Catchy!

Man! I Feel Like A Woman - Shania Twain
Listening to this song makes me want to shout "YAHOO!" at the top of my lungs even though people would stare at me, and being in such a giddy mood that I would actually shout YAHOO like that would make me want to listen to this song. Do you know any songs like that? Sure, the lyrics - and title - are slightly out of whack (as in, kind of nuts!) but in a good way.

No inhibitions, make no conditions
Get a little out of line
I ain't gonna act politically correct
I only want to have a good time

The best thing about being a woman
Is the prerogative to have a little fun!

Voulez-Vous - ABBA
Again, a song I like to sing (as Jear-Bear very well knows). It kind of gives off excitement in the way it's sang and the lyrics - like "I have come back, and we both know the drill, but everything's up to you now." That's basically what the song is saying. I honestly don't know what the message underneath is - you know, reading between the lines and everything - but maybe it's about a conspiracy of secret agents?

People everywhere
A sense of expectation hanging in the air
Giving out a spark
Across the room your eyes are glowing in the dark
And here we go again, we know the start, we know the end,
Masters of the scene
We've done it all before and now we're back to get some more
You know what I mean . . .

Money For Nothing - Dire Straits
This brings a good message - that the music stars that make a living by singing or playing music onstage can sometimes have it a lot easier than the rest of us. I quote from Paul Sullivan, a very funny journalist that contributes to the Metro (yes, I read the newspaper.) - "People just can't get around that Justin Bieber makes millions hopping around on a stage while the rest of us have to work for a living. Like real artist (names an artist from Dire Straits) said, "That ain't working, that's the way you do it. Money for nothing . . ."
Now look at them yo-yo's, that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on your MTV
Now that ain't working, that's the way you do it!
Money for nothing and your chicks for free!
We've got to install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We've got to move these refrigirators
We've got to move these colour TV's . . .

All Pink Floyd Songs
Pink Floyd just makes such unique music - the sounds are so hard to replicate, which the Australian Pink Floyd has done a pretty good job of (they're a band that resurrected Pink Floyd music and play it for old fans and those of us that didn't live to see the original Pink Floyd, like me). Just . . . listen to it. It's amazing and very calming. Good for meditating.