Sleep

This will be my second post about Eric Whitacre and I think he deserves 20 more. Recently in choir we have been sing one of his songs called Sleep. This is a very beautiful piece that almost didn't get to exist and still doesn't exist in its true form.



This is the version of the song right now. The lyrics were written by a great poet who has written other songs for Eric Whitacre.It is beautiful and had I not heard someone tell me this story about the song I never would have known that it wasn't originally written that way.




This is the original song. Whitacre used Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods but there was a big problem. he never got the permission to use it. His case was end by saying that this version can never exist until 2037. So he had another poet write the same word stress and syllables into a new poem so that he could still use his music before that point. So this fits perfectly with my music sampling idea. I think that he should be able to use a classic dead poets works because they should be in the public domain but appearently not everyone agrees. What do you think?

Traditional or Modern?

I have been thinking about how we did this year as a show choir and how we did the year before. This year we were twenty third in the nation and the year before we were eighteenth. Even though that isn't so different, we only won one competition this year and they won two last year and got second at all the other ones. When you look at the shows you can notice that the show from last year was more modern and the show from this year was more traditional. this caused me to think.

We are going through a change in the shows show choirs do. they are mixed between the groups being more modern and those still sticking with what has worked in the past. But who is better? It appears that as the songs become more modern, the judges have started to like them more because they are different. Now, groups in CA who have the ability to use better production, are making sets that are new and inspiring and they are being rewarded for it. Just comparing the closers of the shows, you can see Please Don't Stop the Music would kill Shine like the Sun.

So why doesn't everyone do shows that are newfangled? Because it is difficult to pull off a song where the dance has to be modern and less standard show choir like. you have to act differently, dance in less structured methods, and sing with a different tone and style. Plus, old show choir sets are reliable. They don't always win but they aren't hard to figure out and they are very structured.

As we move forward in time, I could see people switching to more difficult, modern set lists that will, in turn, raise the standards for all show choirs. Sometimes we have to give into progress to realize what it can do for us.





And here for the fun of it is someone stuck on tradition

Varsity for Choir?

In the past week we did our auditions for both choir and show choir. They were much less stressful for me than usual because I was already in the top show choir last year but there were many surprises in this year's cycle. The director at our school has decided not to do things the same as usual. The regular choir is going to be mu ch different. in the past, you were required to be in concert choir if you were in the top show choir. now you don't have to and might not get to because he is changing the number of people in the choirs. There were 160 people auditioning for concert choir and only half of them will make it. that is a huge difference from what it use to be where everyone got in if they were good enough or had time to do it. He is also cutting the Chamber choir, which is the group above concert choir, in half as well. this means it will be closer to the size of our 12 person jazz group. This is causing trouble, though, because the people auditioning are doing two things: they are getting better and there are more of them. that is where my question comes in. For the first time, we my actually have a varsity choir.

We have always had the varsity show choir, Happiness inc., at my school and that is because we always have tons of people audition for the 48 spots in the group. This year was actually worse than before. there were even large amounts of freshman that could have beaten some of the sophomores and juniors. It means that we will have a great pool of kids to choose from but sadly we will have to leave some out of groups even if they are good enough to be in them.

That has never happened in choir however. until this year. we have always had a big enough choir that it didn't matter if we had a lot of people audition. But now we have reduced the number of people in the groups, added a varsity letter to earn, and there were more people than ever who auditioned. So, here we are at a crossroad. This will surely help both concert choir and the lower choir where the rest of the people who don't make it will be placed but it won't make people happy. People who are great and have been in some of these groups already will be removed because the competition is so tough.

So I will compare it to this. People who try their best will not make groups they are deserving of. So their effort doesn't even matter

Who's Line is it Anyway?

Alright, so I was flipping through channels one night and I stumbled upon a show that I had only seen a few other times. When I finished watching it, I realized why I had only seen it a few times as a young kid. It was a pretty dirty and adult show but it was very funny and impressive. It is called Who's Line is it Anyway? It starred three very talented actors: Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, and Colin Mochrie and one more comedian with them. The show is an improve comedy performance. That means that none of the show is scripted and nothing they do is planned. They do lots of different games on the show and they all have their strong points but I think my favorite game is Greatest hits. In the game, Colin, the bald one, and Ryan, the tall one, are tv sales people trying to sell a CD to the viewers with strange songs on it about a topic. Then, when they say a style and a title for the song, Wayne, the black one, and the guest artist perform the song. This is possibly my favorite because this takes talent as a singer and an improve artist.

WARNING: THESE VIDEOS AREN'T CLEAN AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR SEXUAL JOKES YOU SHOULD NOT WATCH THESE!





this is another game called Irish Drinking Song. They have to sing a song one line at a time. This is very impressive as well all though not as much for the great singing but for the funny jokes.

WARNING: THESE SONGS ARE WORSE THAN THE FIRST SET AND MORE CAUTION SHOULD BE TAKEN!







And here is another thing they do. On the show, they sometimes have special guests. Usually they are women because the show normally stars men. But there are cases when they just want to be funny and bring on someone different, like Richard Simmons.

WARNING: THIS IS VERY VERY DIRTY. YOU SHOULD NOT WATCH THIS IF YOU WOULD BE OFFENDED AND DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU ARE. I WARNED YOU.

But Where is the Audience?

I am, as most of you know, writing this blog for my language arts class. The point that we originally said was that we were writing to an audience but is that really the case? I have tried to put questions into my blog posts so that I could see if people were reading my blog but so far I have never had any of those questions answered. So I have concluded that I am merely writing this blog for no reason except for the grade and my teacher. If I am wrong, please respond to this post with some answer. I don't care what you say, just that you comment somewhere on this post or another one. I want to know that I actually have viewers so that I can fell like there is a point in trying to write well and not just putting random words on a page. This video is of a crazy old and funny show that I recently rediscovered called Who's Line is it Anyway? It is on weekdays from 11:00pm to 12:00am. If you haven't seen it I suggest you do. I am attempting to put up a funny post to try and get more follwers and people who will write comments, so tell your friends to look if you like it.

The work of a Prodigy

This song is my dream song to play in an orchestra some day. I loved the movie and the music from it. This song is basically the culmination of all the sounds in the whole movie. I wish that I could be as talented as the Character August Rush was.

What American Pie Means

I have recently become obsessed with this song and I I have been thinking about what it means. I don't like to sing songs and not know what I mean or what was meant by the lyrics. In this case the song isn't dirty or bad but I had very little idea of what this song meant. The song is American Pie by Don McLean.



I looked on the Internet to find a brief idea of what to look at. Here's what About.com said. The song was written in the 1970's which was a confusing time for the world. He mentions Lenin and Marx, the leader of the USSR and the founder of communism respectively. Communists were the USA's enemy at the time since it was during the Cold war when this song was written. It also discussed fallout shelters which would have been important since the Cold war was a race for nuclear arms between the USA and the USSR and there was always the chance that one side could start to use there weapons and we would need a place to be safe.

You can't use dates and events for everything. some of the things were do to the mood of the world and music. It is sometimes mentioned that it was a song for three singers who died in a 1950s plane crash. It is clear that he had other reasons for writing such a song. It has strange lyrics and references that are disputed but have never really had confirmed meanings. So we just have to wonder and let the song mean what we think it does.

This is from a time when there were always hidden meanings to songs or at least there was emotion behind the lyrics. Because there is no concrete meaning for this song, it can mean whatever the person listening to it needs it to mean for them. This is the miricle of this song. It is the longest song ever to be number one on the Billboard 100 songs at 8:32!

Here are the lyrics so you can find a meaning for yourself:

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn't take one more step.

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin� whiskey and rye
Singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock 'n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin' in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin',
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone,
But that's not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin� whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil's only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan's spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn't play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "this'll be the day that I die.
"this'll be the day that I die."

They were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin� whiskey and rye
Singin', "this'll be the day that I die."