Music Review; Brad Paisley - Part II

   The second part of this music-reviewing project, on Brad Paisley's second CD, "Part II", which was released by Arista Nashville in 2001 on May 29.

Track One - Two Feet Of Topsoil - At first glance, a typical breakup song...but then you start to notice the landslide of adjectives used in these sentences...and by then you're smiling in sympathy and nodding, with tears possibly escaping from laughing so hard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9R7Zs-odjU

Track Two - I'm Gonna Miss Her - His first huge hit, George Strait, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks all wanted to do this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9R7Zs-odjU (Video is okay.)

Track Three - Part Two - This has one of the most famous backstories in country music. In college, before he moved to Nahsville, Paisley was dating this girl he knew back in West Virginia, they went to see "Father of the Bride" on his mom's birthday. Well, people convinced him his path lay in Tennessee, so he moved down there, and this girl immediately started dating his best friend back home. That led to them breaking up, and he had an impossible time getting over her. His two songwriting pals got sick of hearing his wistful complaints, and when the sequel came out, they convinced him to go see it, on the very same day, at the very same time, in the very same theater, where he and that girl had watched the first one. They figured if she was as torn up about it as Brad was, she'd have the same idea and they'd be reunited. If not, well, he would finally be able to put it behind him and move on. He went, felt like an idiot, and came back to Tennessee complaining, and the three of them got to talking, and it led to this song. Also, he did see the girl who would become his wife...who just happened to be the main actress in the movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVQY3yJ5z5Y

Track Four - Wrapped Around - Not much of a story here, just that a guy has finally decided to ask his girl to marry him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbe9mCVYL54 (Concert video.)

Track Five - Two People Fell in Love - A great look at how the ordinary leads to the extraordinary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNU3k_poj_Q (Great video.)

Track Six - Come On Over Tonight - A guy who swore he'd stay away from relationships finds himself in one, and his humorous explanation of the fact. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIvJUcCyP7k

Track Seven - You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive - A dark, depressing lament of life in a coal-mining community. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1BGyegjiT8

Track Eight - I Wish You'd Stay - An incredibly sad story that you almost cry at while listening. But it's a good one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV-kzLZs650 (The video adds so many more layers to this song...it's great.)

Track Nine - All You Really Need Is Love - Wonderful. He can take a cliche like the title, and then flip it upside down and inside out into a hilarious ode to "Well, yeah, that's true, but..." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhxPIrPpc20 (This video is homemade, but they captured it perfectly.)

Track Ten - Munster Rag - Instrumental, again, this is crazy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcxLQ9fRxKc

Track Eleven - You Have That Effect On Me - Sort of a continuation of "Wrapped Around", but a little different view. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHqAq-RmrFU

Track Twelve - Too Country - This is a song featuring a bunch of old guys, and it's a little boring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZIxonh56jI

Track Thirteen - The Old Rugged Cross - A live recording of this song he did when inducted into the Grand Old Opry, and it's great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emTMoLaRGy8

   There's some clunkers on this album for sure, but on the other hand, there's some gems, too.

 My Rankings:
13 - Too Country
12 - You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive
11 - You Have That Effect On Me
10 - Munster Rag
9 - I'm Gonna Miss Her
8 - Wrapped Around
7 - Come On Over Tonight
6 - Two Feet Of Topsoil
5 - All You Really Need Is Love
4 - The Old Rugged Cross
3 - Part Two
2 - Two People Fell In Love
1 - I Wish You'd Stay.

Music Review; Brad Paisley - Who Needs Pictures

    I need projects to do, things to report on. Since AI isn't on right now, I'm not even sure I'll watch when it is, and I don't have a TV, shows are out. Movies...eh, that wouldn't be any good, either. I'd go too in-depth dissecting and analyzing the story and characters, and either bore my audience to tears, or tell them everything there is in the movie, and thus there wouldn't be any point in watching it. Books? Oh, no....see above comment on movies, only seven times more so. Restaurants? Way too expensive, and I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one, anyway. Sports? I know those the best, but it's a little depressing just to give recaps on here, and there isn't much shelf life. So I guess I'll give reviews of CDs, since I already have a few, and I'd be listening to them anyway. I guess I'll start with Brad Paisley's first album, "Who Needs Pictures", released by Arista Nashville in 1999.

Track One - Long Sermon - This guy is a genius songwriter. An etremely common everyday experience, but who would actually write a song about it? The basic story of it is the narrator is bored listening to a sermon that's dry as dust on a beautiful summer Sunday after a week of nothing but rain(Bleah!) and he wants to be out on the lake with his wife or girlfriend on her brother's boat. This link isn't that great vocal quality, just found it on YouTube, but nobody sounds good at concerts. Besides, it also shows off what a fantastic guitarist he is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCpg5z48MG0

Track Two - Me Neither - A guy untalented at flirting is getting rejected by a lady...and then by another one....and again....and yet again....hysterical. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbeaLb4KvEE (Not much a fan of concert-footage videos, if anyone's wondering.)

Track Three - Who Needs Pictures - Coming across an old Kodak camera brings back a flood of memories from a relationship that he thought he'd put in his past...it happens often. Why is it those random phrases or objects bring back such memories, good and bad? And then why won't they go away like we wish they would, why must we wrestle with things again? (Interesting psychologic rabbit trail opens up here...part of why I love country music. It's life - The good, the awful, the smart and the dumb, the feelings, the actions, the history. And for all those reasons, it's the genre of stories. And a well-made story should make you think.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbeaLb4KvEE (Great video.)

Track Four - Don't Breathe - A guy is trying to figure out what to do next after a breakup, having some trouble doing that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCLVvhyTqRU

Track Five - He Didn't Have To Be - In a hospital while his wife is in labor, a husband thinks back over how the man who raised him accomplished that, and resolves to be as good a father to his children as his dad was to him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjO1F6oCab8 (Terrific video.)

Track Six- It Never Woulda Worked Out Anyway - A jealous guy invents outlandish tales to keep other guys away from the woman he loves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjO1F6oCab8

Track Seven - Holdin' On To You - Sometimes you just can't let go, have trouble moving on. Captures that heartbreaking sentiment well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yH9tKQh0ro

Track Eight - I've Been Better - "Dear, I've gotten that job that I was chasing, making a ton of money, have an incredible amount of prestige, everyone's saying I'm at the top of the world...but you were right, I was going after that too hard, and my life really is as empty as you said it would be. You probably will never read this, but I just wanted to say....that you were right, and I was wrong. And now I'm kicking myself for my stupidity." That's a paraphrased version of this song, which is actually written as a letter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3qU1nke8_w

Track Nine - We Danced - One of the two greatest love story songs, start to finish, ever writen, and in my top ten of favorite country songs of all time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6lTU_bhISI

Track Ten - Sleepin' On The Foldout - Switching gears back to reality, this song accurately pictures us guys' ability to do stupid things and stick our feet in our mouths. Funny, because it's easy to relate to.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2jGMgCBvFc

Track Eleven - Cloud Of Dust - "Life's hard. I'm tryin' as best I can to get through it, but it kinda looks hopeless right now." This is a pathetic tale similar to Jason Aldean's "Amarillo Sky", which came out later, but more emotional and gripping. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MGanRgGNJY

Track Twelve - The Nervous Breakdown - An instrumental, it blows your mind to listen to, and even more so to watch, much less comprehend how to actually play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y-Ipi1dnng

Track Thirteen - In The Garden - The old semi-known hymn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM_nEZbIISc

   My criteria for a good story, whether book, TV show, photograph, magazine article, movie, song, or whatever; was summed up by a talking cucumber, and echoed by a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer. Larry said after watching Dave and the Giant Pickle: "Oh my, what a show! I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob."
   A while after I (sort of, you never completely) moved on from VeggieTales I found this quote by Ansel Adams: "If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it makes you think; that's a good picture."
   This CD does that.

My rankings of the songs on this album:
13 - I've Been Better
12 - In the Garden
11 - It Never Woulda Worked Out Anyway
10 - Holdin' On to You
9 - Don't Breathe
8 - Cloud of Dust
7 - The Nervous Breakdown
6 - He Didn't Have to Be
5 - Sleepin' on the Foldout
4 - Me Neither
3 - Who Needs Pictures
2 - Long Sermon
1 - We Danced.

CAMP: Part VI, Lessons Learned

Part Five - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-v-2012.html

Part Four - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-iv-2011.html

Part Three - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-iii-2010.html

Part Two - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-ii-2009.html

Part One - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/07/camp-part-i-2008.html

   I have learned so much from going for a week each summer to Missouri, about God, about me, about others. When I went for the first time, I learned so much, mostly in the way of odd facts, but that led into meeting other people who would become friends that I learned with and from later on. I actually made up a list of things that were new a few months afterward; listing items like "How to play cabbage ball and Ultimate Frisbee, how to throw a Frisbee, that I'm awful at volleyball and ping pong, that even counselors don't always listen to each other, how to (not)  shoot a bow, lightbulb-shattering techniques, and how to make new friends in a short time".
   Also, there was the importance of following directions, and being able to function when out on my own, without my family around for backup. That mandolins are nice-sounding instruments, could that have been part of the reason that I got one a few years later? That if the right motives are there, how wonderful performing can be. New songs like "In Christ Alone", "Prince of Peace", "Isaiah 43", "Hear the Call of the Kingdom", "Give Praise To God", "Conquering Now and Still to Conquer", and "I Will Not Walk Away From You", just to name a few over the years. What worship can be, and if this is a shadow of things to come, how many unfathomable times greater will heaven be?

   The power of the Holy Spirit to convict us of our wayward lives, and to pull us closer to the One who saved us. What a godly life looks like, and instructions on how to live that way. Appreciating the gifts of others, whether that be on the volleyball court or behind the keyboard, how to serve with a proper attitude of thanks to show others the glory of God.
 
   Lesser things like how to play softball or volleyball, how to ask girls to dances(I've never really figured that one out yet...), how to square dance, that all those can be really enjoyable. To work on things as a team whenever possible, that it isn't possible to do everything on your own, sometimes you have to either be quiet and let someone else have their way, or try to compromise or something. How to follow, I guess.

   Another thing I learned there is that I have a horrible sense of direction, haha. That story actually was included in the book of camp legends, which means it'll get passed down over and over...if I'm ever a counselor, that'll be kind of fun to tell about.

   That second year, it was such a haven, a weeklong stay at a safe harbor before re-entering the chaotic storm of stress that was going on with rebuilding the house and everything. "My Presence will be with you, and I will give you rest", the Lord told Moses in Exodus 33:14, and he did for me, too. Deeper relationships grew and new ones started to form, it was restful and enjoyable.

   The friends I've made, it was awesome. There's some great people scattered around the country, and it always kind of amazed me how they could all converge into one space for fellowship and learning. I've observed how to encourage others in their faith,  how to rejoice with others, how to weep with them, too. How to pray, how to care about others, to share joys and struggles.
   So many crazy insane moments of laughter over the years, the dark times, too. It's really good to be able to pray for others when they're having tough times, and know that they'll do the same for you when you need it. Very encouraging.

   That the Lord shows us where we're veering off, and that we need to change, and then that he helps us to do that. When our focus is in the wrong place, he'll take the whole camera away if he has to, in order for us to see the right picture again.

   I've met a lot of people that I consider family, even. It sounds weird to say, but if you ever could see what I'm talking about, it would make sense.

   Learned how to play ping pong. And not just to play it, but how to play it well, and treat it as an art form.
   It's so...it's a great game. A wonderful workout,  and it provides a ton of laughter and great memories. And besides all that, it can be a tool for understanding complicated subjects, or to help guide someone when they need a little help. The general store where you can catch up on the latest news, share your opinions, and get the useful things you need. And it provides such an incredible amount of competetion!!! The tie that binds lives together.

   I found out how to lead my fourth year, how to guide others towards a goal, of winning ballgames and otherwise trying to live the way God has told us to, modeling what that looks like. I know there's people I can count on when I need help with some things, and they'll ask for my advice or help occasionally, too.

   My last year, it wasn't for me. I wasn't for sure why I even went, other than the fact that I had to continue the tradition set before me by the guys I looked up to, that of setting the example for the younger kids. As far as the sports and stuff, it was a very cooperative experience, decisions-made-by-team type of thing. And I couldn't ask for better friends to work with.
   Duty was one of the main topics last summer, and change. Nothing ever stays the same, and that's the way life is supposed to work. One of those things is shifting priorities, different jobs God gives us to accomplish. For one of our camp family, that meant staying home to care for her dying dad. For others, it meant working or taking summer college courses. For others, it was teaching a music class, stepping away from the spotlight, or working on a super-important project with a quick deadline. One of the most important things I took from this year, I think, was to let go of what I knew and give those things to God, instead. There's a quote from C.S. Lewis' book "Prince Caspian", it's amazing.
     "Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."
     "That is because you are older, little one," answered he.
     "Not because you are?"
     "I am not. But every year you grow, you will find Me bigger."
   We saw and felt the Lord move that week, it was unbelievable. His majesty and overruling power, His protection, His strength, and His love.

   So, the question, "Who am I?", I don't know the full answer yet, I probably never will completely. But whatever stab I might make at trying to answer would be impossible without bringing up the Sovereign Grace Youth Camp and what it's done for me, meant to me. I was a self-centered, shy, immature awkward boy when I came, and when I left for the last time, I'm a man; still finding his way along this new journey, unsure most of the time what I'll face next, but knowing that the quest I'm taking is a worthy one, and trying to fight my way through the many dangers and toils and snares, helping others when I can.
   I'm in the opening paragraphs of a new chapter in my life, one that I'm not really enjoying all that well just yet. But I can take the lessons and things I've learned with me as I figure out this life; and God will give me the tools and helpers I need at their appointed time, if I keep Him in view and press on towards the goal.
   Are there some things I wish I could change, wonder what might have been? Sometimes. I imagine that happens to everyone from time to time. Another quote from the same book, from a little later on in the same scene:
     "You mean," said Lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out all right - somehow? But how? Please, Aslan! Am I not to know?"
     "To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."
     "Oh dear," said Lucy.
     "But anyone can find out what will happen," said Aslan. "If you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them that you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me - what will happen? There is only one way of finding out."

Homecoming

   It started like a lot of things do, with a war.

   No, I'm not talking about the United States, or the end of the world, or the end of a friendship or a relationship. This story begins with slavery, in the mid 1840s. The state of Missouri allowed it; the state of Kansas didn't. Fierce battling over this and other issues raged throughout the border in the years to come, and eventually cooled down enough to just become a bitter rivalry and loathing for those in the opposite state. About thirty years after the Civil War ended, the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri picked up a tamer, though more deadly, version of combat to prolong the Border Wars: ...the battleground? What would be called later "the gridiron", in the new game of "foot ball".
   For various reasons, it was played at a neutral site, in Kansas City most years, in St. Joseph, MO once. Due to some obscure conference ruling by someone, the games had to be shifted to the campus football fields in there somewhere. The two teams had played eighteen times, the Jayhawks had a 12-3-5 lead in the series.  
   "Something wasn't right here..." thought a guy named Chester L. Brewer. He was the Missouri athletic director(amazing that they had those way back then), and he pictured some more excitement was necessary, to maybe give the Tigers a little extra spark whenever they went up against the hated Jayhawks. So he worked on this idea and that, until he hit on one that seemed like it might work well: to invite Mizzou alumni to "come home" for the day or weekend to attend the football game, and if you're trying to get a lot of people to be in one place at the same time, what better way is there to do that than by having a parade? And then, once you have the crowd gathered, it'd be easy enough, most likely, to get them to listen to whatever it is you wanted to say by corralling them into a gathering with speeches and such. Call that a "spirit rally", say, and then those can lead into the actual contest...

   This "Homecoming" celebration, began on campus in the town of Columbia in 1911, was well received, as 10,000 gathered for the parade, bonfire and football game(It was another tie, 3-3), and quickly became an annual fixture. It became so well-known and proved so popular, other colleges copied the idea, and high schools joined in, too. And now, a hundred years later, nearly everywhere has them. There's crazy theme days, the royalty to select, some kind of gathering....lot of visitors in town honk their horns and get drunk and keep the police busy and people up all night...oh, and the home team always loses(okay, this last part isn't exactly proven, but from many years' experience following sports, it nearly always happens).

   Well, this was Homecoming week at Northeastern State, the theme was "Oh, the Places You'll Go(from here)", basically Dr. Seuss. So, the campus became filled with colorful signposts, peppermint-striped trees, random rainbow-hued flowers grew overnight, and the fountain turned green. A Comp I classmate(and cheerleader) described the scene this way; "Our campus is slowly turning into a cartoon! I love it!"
   I didn't really understand it, to be honest. Course, Dr. Seuss is kinda hard to understand sometimes. And I've never been that great at leaping into themed celebrations or anything. And I've never understood the concept of Homecoming, either. Sure, I knew that that was when the alumni were invited back and got together and talk about old memories, but why would they do that? What was necessary about the pageantry of the queen and the candidates and all, why did the candidates need their picture in the paper? ("Because they just need to, people expect it" isn't a very satisfactory answer, but they were taken anyways, and then briefly mentioned in the game recap.)
   And it involves school pride, right? Thought so...but, what's that, and why do people have it? These are the things I've always wondered as I stand on the sidelines, observing the culture of small town life. Maybe it's because I've moved a lot, or maybe because I was homeschooled, I don't know, but that seems like a totally foreign concept, a loyalty to a place, a school, to belong as a part of something's history like that.

   I didn't really go to any of the activities this week, didn't know about most of them. Was busy trying to study or stay warm, try not to get sick and keep my grades up. One thing I noticed about campus elections, though; campaign posters are a lot simpler, and you get free snacks and candy from candidates trying to get your vote. Real politics could take a cue from the students, then more folks might care, or even enjoy them. I voted for homecoming people, and I helped spray-paint the CCF float, but that's all.
   I'm just...not that kind of person, not that outgoing. Yeah, I like being around people, but not if they try too hard to be friendly and everything...I don't know. It's either that or dead silence...supposedly there's supposed to be this median level found somewhere, I haven't found it yet.

   The high school here in town had their Homecoming last night, and were clobbered 56-0, my grandpa was complaining about it on the way to Wal-Mart. Of course, they've had a horrible football team for the last twenty years, but still...kinda proves my point.
   The college parade was this morning, but with the temperature in the low forties and sleet coming down, I ran for the hideyhole of my dorm after getting a free donut in the bookstore(kind of sad when Ross is the warmest building on campus...). It was good to see all the older people smiling and talking to each other in the student union, that's a necessary part of life that doesn't exist here in this campus bubble. Everyone is about your own age, it's kinda depressing.
   The weather cleared up enough to venture out into the world by afternoon, it had settled into being merely a very cold day from the oncoming ice storm it wanted to become in the morning. I walked to the football field, trekked up to my usual place on the highest bleacher(it's warmest up there, plus you have the best view of the field, and are close to the press box), and stayed for less than one quarter. The 'Hawks were getting murdered again, and it was too cold to be sitting there if you didn't have to. Missouri Western was leading 21-3, they won 45-31, keeping NSU winless on the year.
 
   Got a little bit of studying done, but I don't think quite enough needed. Tried to connect the rented laptop I'm getting to use for school to the Internet, couldn't figure that out. Played my guitar for a bit til my fingers froze, and wandered around the deserted campus. Had dinner at Chick-Fil-A, fourth time I've eaten there this week, called my family, talked to them for over an hour and a half. Talked to my friend Mark Twain, he was telling me some stories about a boy named Tom. (Amazing conversationalist, I highly recommend spending some time with him. He usually hangs around libraries and bookstores.) That was nice, good well-written books brighten life.

   Hope the alumni enjoyed their time here, got caught up on memories and how friends are doing, and are glad they came. But for me...well, not only is it the weird apathy for holidays, but why would anyone want to come back here if they could escape?
   Not "Homecoming", more like "Homestaying", or "Homeleaving". Yeah, this is home base for a while...but it isn't home. Almost nowhere feels really like home, actually, because I grew up so many places, sort of like Tolkien's Rangers, always going from place to place.  An oven mitt in my aunt's kitchen sums it up pretty well: "Home is where your mom is." This is where I'm placed for now, and I'm surviving, with the grace of God. Having a hard time with the "thriving" part, though. Lot of lyrics seem to fit well, in particular those from Building 429's "Where I Belong"(the chorus) and Carrie Underwood's "Temporary Home"(the whole thing) and "Don't Forget To Remember Me"(part of the second verse). I'm just so...weary most of the time, cold, tired, stressed and lonely, trying to hang on to the belief that I can get through this, wondering what God's trying to teach me. Thankful for hymns I've memorized and can dwell on.
   Trying to serve God as best I know how, daily reminded that this world isn't really my home, either. Nope.  Not til heaven, I won't be there yet. Until then...I'm trying to remember that "What I feel is tellin' me I'm goin' crazy/But what is real says God's still on His throne/What I need is to remember one thing/That the Lord of the gentle breeze is Lord of the rough and tumble/And he is the King of the Jungle". (King of the Jungle, Steven Curtis Chapman)
   And, I've gotten through half a semester of college, that's a good thing. Still sort of living on a prayer.