How? Why am I just discovering them? Their album has been out about a week over a year.
I’m completely in love!
Love their live performances, and I would looooove to see them in concert.
The band is amazing, and Brittany sings with her whole body and she’s pretty amazing to watch, as well as listen to!
The Shakes!
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Had to add some more:
Alabama Shakes: Hold On
(No, I don’t wanna wait!)
Alabama Shakes – Rise to the Sun
All I believe in is a dream
I haunt the Earth though I am fully seen
In all my years I’ve never felt more sure than now
Well, I got to get off this rock somehow
I feel so homesick
Where’s my home
Where I belong
Where I was born
I was told to go
Where the wind would blow
And it blows away – away
Well, my eyes are full of stars
But I just can’t reach ’em, oh, how high they are
I got to believe what I’m seeing , ooh maybe it could come true
But in a modern world that can be so hard to do
I don’t want a lifetime—
that’s too long
I don’t need a decade
for your love
But you’ve caught me at my peak
And this I’d like to keep
in mind
For as long as remembrance will allow
Push me to my Precipice
Help me to my Zenith
Bring me to my Crowning Moment
And Kiss my Feet
Make this one sticky memory last
The rest of my Glorious days
And please make it Good
Been on a bit of Kanye kick recently, forgot how much I love this song. Truth in these here lyrics (nice Etta James, “My Funny Valentine” sample too!):
“Why everything that’s supposed to bad make me feel so good?
Everything they told me not to is exactly what I would
Man, I tried to stop man, I tried the best I could
Stories and Poems were trying to destroy me during my block. I went mad. They became angry. Poems sent me this:
The Angry Poem
This poem is an angry poem
You don’t want to read this
This poem hates you
This poem will slit your throat—
if you fuck with it
Don’t insult this poem
This poem will punch your gut—
switch up your strut
This poem doesn’t play games
This poem is sick
A disease—
One that has no mercy:
Cancer
AIDS
Alzheimer’s
Loneliness
This poem will infect you,
It’s airborne
Tuberculosis at its height
You will not outlive this poem
This poem shoots to kill—
two in the heart and one in the head
It’s not asking why
not longing for your love
not second-guessing itself
This poem blames you,
your parents, lovers, neighbors, children—
everyone that has ever tried to destroy it
This poem will dismember them slowly
Shoot an arrow through one ear and out the other
Yank their tongues out with tongs,
Use an ice cream scoop to serve
A feast of their eyes
This poem will watch them bleed slowly
As you watch this poem
You can’t stop this poem
This poem is stronger than you
smarter than you
better than you
This poem is a murderer
Insane sociopath
This poem doesn’t care what you think
You can try to Talk to this poem
Reason with this poem
Love this poem
Rise above this poem
Burn this poem
Stone this poem
Stab it, shoot it, Abuse it,
Ban it, Neglect it,
Nail it to a Cross,
Hang it—
leave it for Dead.
But this poem was born to kill
And you—
were born to die
No more
I’m done
Baby it was fun
but I am gone
Goodbye
hope you crash
your car and Die
You and that girl
you Fucked, Maaaaan,
you’re shit out of luck
I hate your guts
live loooong
long After you die
in a stony pit of fire
where constant Pleasure turns to Pain
the women always Scream your name
and are forever Playing games
with all you
Lemons
Losers
Lames
hope you love the titillation
more than constant stimulation
the attention you receive
from every type you can conceive
and the feeling that it brings
to have the bitches of your dreams
My King
It’s been over a month since I’ve posted anything, and this was not at all my intention. I haven’t been too busy, so that’s not a valid excuse, I just kept putting off writing a post to the next day and the next day and the next day…until over a month had passed.
But in my defense, I have been finding it difficult to write lately. This one short story I’m working on just won’t come together on the page the way the scenes look in my head. Hate when that happens.
In the meantime, all I ask is that you “Staaaaaayyy With Me Baaaabyyyy!! Pleeeeassee Staaaaaayyy With Me Baaaabyyyy!!” ;)
Lorraine Ellison – Stay with Me
I discovered “Stay with Me” by Lorraine Ellison recently and I’ve been listening to it non-stop. It breaks my heart every time.
There are other versions by many different singers (The Walker Brothers, Bette Midler, Duffy, Ruby Turner, Sam Brown, Kiki Dee, Terry Reid, Karise Eden from The Voice: Australia, Mary J. Blige weaved a part of the song into her Grammy performance in 2007, Melissa Etheridge sang a live version for the iheartRadio Live Series…etc. I’m sure there’s plenty more versions out there), but for me, the original by Lorraine Ellison is the best!
And while the lyrics are nice, I’d bet it’s her arrangement and gut-wrenching performance that inspired the other singers to perform the song in the first place.
It’s powerful, as hearing/seeing/witnessing someone bear their soul usually is.
I’m not sure if begging for someone’s love or trying to convince them to stay is an indication of deep, all-consuming love or an unhealthy obsession (are they different?), but to witness it is beautiful.
True and honest raw emotion is always beautiful, especially when it’s pain.
People hold back their feelings so often that watching someone else go all-in on a lost bet makes them look like they’ve won the jackpot, even though they’re too damned hurt to celebrate.
So, readers, just in case you’ve questioned my love, I’m not too embarrassed to plead for yours.
If you loved me here once, how could I not beg you to stay?
I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award! Thank You Manu Kurup!
Had no idea what this meant, so I did a little research. The origins are a little sketchy, but I found that the award is dedicated to up and coming bloggers with less than either 200 or 3000 followers, and Liebster means “dearest” or “favorite.”
I appreciate all my readers, and I nominate all of the up and coming blogs I follow. I don’t mean to minimize the meaning of the award by not nominating a specific few, but anyone who has started a blog deserves this award for making WordPress a charmingly diverse site for all of us to enjoy. I’ve read and shared some great blog entries on this site, and I’m happy to be a part of the WordPress community.
If you let him walk all over you,
He Will
If you let him disrespect you,
He Will
If you want him to break your heart
Consider it Broken
Don’t ask why
If you revolve your life around his
He Will Let You
If you abandon your thoughts for his
He Will Let You
If you want him to complete you
Consider Yourself Deficient
Don’t ask why
If you trade in your family for his
He Will Embrace You
If you give up your dreams for his
He Will Embrace You
If you want to disappear
Consider Yourself Consumed
Don’t ask why
If he is all you need
He Will Never Let You Go
If you do not wish for more
He Will Never Let You Go
If you want to feel alone
You Are Deserted
Don’t ask why
If you praise him as a God
He Will Love You
If you worship at his feet
He Will Love You
“And like any artist with no art form, she became dangerous.” — Toni Morrison (@MsToniMorrison) #Truth
This is one of my favorite Toni Morrison quotes, found in Sula. Here is the entire passage it’s found in:
“In a way, her strangeness, her naivete, her craving for the other half of her equation was the consequence of an idle imagination. Had she paints, or clay or knew the discipline of the dance, or strings: had she anything to engage her tremendous curiosity and her gift for metaphor, she might have exchanged the restlessness and preoccupation with whim for an activity that provided her with all she yearned for. And like any artist with no art form, she became dangerous.”
As artists, (I believe we all are in some way, as we mold and shape our lives with every action that we take) we must eventually expel our energy somehow. If we don’t we will explode, and an explosion is always dangerous, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and something that is not born out of the nature of our peaceful and loving selves. Yet sometimes, we don’t explode, but continuously ooze negative energy, which, as we know, can be a slow poison that infects us and everyone around us.
We all yearn to be fulfilled, so we must find a way to express ourselves daily through creative expression, journaling, helping, loving, living, thinking happy thoughts, coloring, thanking, praying, giving, painting, writing, cooking, gardening, making music, making babies, teaching, or whatever it is that your particular self does, in order to prevent all of our stored energy from manifesting itself as destruction, mayhem, negativity, or pure evil. It’s worth a try.
So She Says... 