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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2264475-Castles-Chessboard/month/2-1-2024
Rated: E · Book · Action/Adventure · #2264475
Random Writing, Blogs and Adventures
A mix of Random writing in an attempt to organize my thoughts, storyboard ideas and conserve portfolio space in the process.
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February 29, 2024 at 1:46am
February 29, 2024 at 1:46am
#1065210
Day 29 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Our final number of this challenge is...
December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!) by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons




I wanted to end on something epic so I went back and I added this to my play list. This is probably the song I have been listening to the most this year. Probably even toward the end of last year. You know... "Late December back in 23". *Wink*

The 4 Seasons are an iconic group and this is one of their most famous songs. To be fair they have a lot of them such as Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man. This one though is the one that sticks with me the most. The melody, the beat and some great vocal and lyrics. I love the balance how it alternates from lower to high. The best part of the song for me though is:

"I felt the rush like a rolling ball of thunder. Spinning my head around and taking my body under."

It has a shift in melody making it stand out from the rest of the song.

All that combined with harmony of a vocal quartet to create an amazing blend. It is awesome. Oh what a night indeed!

Well that brings a close to this challenge. If you guys enjoyed it let me know and maybe I'll post some more songs in the future.

Thank you for reading and listening.

-*ChessRookB*

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February 27, 2024 at 11:00pm
February 27, 2024 at 11:00pm
#1065049
Day 28 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Today's song is...
Baby Come Back by Player




I was recently reminded about this song from another WDC blog "Smile! (Groan?) You Know You Love These!. If you like these type of daily song related blog entries, that blog is a master of it plus it comes with daily jokes as well.

This is great Jazzy song with a catchy melody. It has a little bit of a trance beat to it. It is really nice. I heard this song several times before and can't remember where I heard it played originally though I remember the situation that made me look it up on youtube for the first time. The song was used as a one shot joke on the Simpsons. Homer accidentally left his baby daughter Maggie on the bus and wound up having to call the bus depot to retrieve her. Apparently their phone in service had incredibly specific scenarios as they had a touchtone situation if you lost your baby i.e. "If you have lost your baby press 5 now" ... The kicker though was that they played this particular song as their on hold music. I was rolling on the floor laughing when I heard it. *Laugh*

Ridiculous situations aside, I can see it being a really fun song to listen to while you wait.
-*ChessRookB*

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February 25, 2024 at 9:23am
February 25, 2024 at 9:23am
#1064847
Day 27 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Ok our next song up is...

Even The Nights Are Better by Air Supply




This is one of my favorites on my list. I am a big fan of 80s easy listening music and this is a sweet one. It is a heavily romantic piece. It is most light with softer music but has some great uses of crescendos in the chorus.

The two best segments of the song are the chorus and the riff at 2:43. 80's arrangements tend to make extremely good uses of refrain where you'll hear the same lines repeated several times in this case...

"Even the nights are better.
Now that we're here together
Even the nights are better
Since I found you
"


It will play a few times in the song especially towards the end where it will fade out to complete the song. It is a great trick as it makes the important part of the song memorable and easy to sing along with. *Smile*

The anime used in this song is Onegai Sensei aka Please Teacher. I haven't gotten a chance to watch this anime myself but the scenes chosen for the AMV match the romantic intensity of the song.

-*ChessRookB*

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February 25, 2024 at 12:52am
February 25, 2024 at 12:52am
#1064830
Day 26 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Ok our next song up is...

Never Let You Go by Third Eye Blind




Three great rock songs back to back. *Bigsmile* This has a smooth rhythmic beat to it that is very easy to listen to and the band makes beautiful use of an Electric Guitar. This song's strongest area though is the chorus. I love the "Turn around your back on each other if I did I'd break a promise to your mother" lines used. In a similar vein to another popular song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" the phrase turn around reflects looking away from the present. It is also the most melodic segment of the song.

There is a bit of a rap interlude in the middle of the song that I'm not particular crazy about however the jazzy melodic for the rest of the piece carries the song into my playlist worthy category and I love listening to it.

-*ChessRookB*

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February 24, 2024 at 11:46pm
February 24, 2024 at 11:46pm
#1064827
Day 25 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

We are in the last leg of this challenge 5 more songs to go. *Smile*

The next song up is
I'm Still Standing by Elton John




This is an amazing song. It is a great rock number. The drums really bring the song really sell this a nice percussive beat adding a little staccato to it. The piano part can't be overlooked as well. *Wink* Elton John has released a lot of good songs over his career but this is one of his best ones. It is catchy and easy to dance to and it has a really positive message. I connect with songs where singers keep going in the face of a struggle and this song epitomizes that. The chorus "I'm still standing better than I ever did, feeling like a true survivor" makes me feel stronger listening to it.

The version of the Song being used in the video I posted is from the movie "Sing" with Taran Egerton performing the vocals. If you've seen the movie, this song was used for a very dramatic moment where a son's singing manages to connect him with his estranged father. I would have embedded the movie scene here but wanted to post the song uninterrupted as there are moments when the characters in talk through the song. (Movie version can be found here for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETC85CgzTHM) Instead I used an amv (anime music video) for the embedded version . The anime used in this one is Fairy Tail which really fit in with the song as well. The video's maker did a great job of syncing the anime used to the song making it look like Fairy Tail's protagonist Natsu was lip syncing along to the lyrics of the song. I particularly love the part with Natsu singing along to the "Yeah Yeah Yeah" segment.

More songs still to come. *Smile*

-*ChessRookB*

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February 20, 2024 at 1:52am
February 20, 2024 at 1:52am
#1064488
Day 24 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Our next song up is...
Natural by Imagine Dragons




Imagine Dragons is one of my favorite modern bands. I could have very easily have filled up my playlist with several songs from them. Natural falls midway on my list for them but it is one of my more recent favorites I've added so it wound up getting its own entry. (The songs being used in this challenge are from my most recent playlist. For the most part, I'm going from newest addition to oldest)

Natural is a great rock mix with a punchy beat. There is a little bit of touch of jazz with the adding a nice bit of style to this song. The song feels like a look at nature seemingly acknowledging that it is a kill or be killed type of world. It a little bit of a harsh thought but there is the underlying idea of making ourself push through to the end which gives a more inspirational tone to it.

-*ChessRookB*

Note:

Just for the record...these are my favorite Imagine Dragons songs in order of preference.

1) Radioactive
2) Believer
3) Natural
4) Enemy
5) Thunder

Chances are you'll see some of these songs in future entry albeit not in this round of the challenge.


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February 19, 2024 at 3:43am
February 19, 2024 at 3:43am
#1064434
Day 23 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Ok next on my list is...
Mony Mony by Billy Idol




This is a great rock piece. You can feel how loud and energetic it is. This song has a hard beat that encourages its listener to rock along with shaking your head along with the music.



This is a popular song that I heard played from time to time but it got added to my playlist after I saw it played in the series "In the Dark". In one of the wildest exits in the series. One of the characters successfully steals millions of dollars from a drug lord then proceeds to celebrate shooting up an unhealthy amount of heroin, drinking several shots, turning on the jukebox and blasting this piece of music. He collapses as the song finishes smacking his head against the floor dead on the spot. It is unclear where the fall or the overdose killed him. It definitely an insane way to go but at least he went out to good music.

-*ChessRookB*

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February 19, 2024 at 3:23am
February 19, 2024 at 3:23am
#1064433
Day 22 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Ok next on my list is...
Together by Sia




I like this song a lot. It is cheerful and happy and it has a positive hopeful message... that working together, we would be able to go so much further. I feel like it is very inspirational to listen to. It also has a rapid uplifting beat that fills its listeners with energy. This song is all about love and joy.

It is hard to believe that this is from the same singer who sings the much darker toned "Chandelier". Between those two, Cheap Thrills and Unstoppable, Sia has quite the resume and range. *Smile* This song also references a lot of other popular songs and singers. I can't help smiling when the lyrics rhyme thunder with Stevie Wonder. *Bigsmile*

-*ChessRookB*

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February 17, 2024 at 3:48pm
February 17, 2024 at 3:48pm
#1064345
Day 21 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Today song is...
Love The Way You Lie by Skylar Grey




This song tilts more towards the emotional side. It's a very powerful piece of music. The singer analyzes her past and there a little bit of sadness as what starts as a bright like a bright future seems to turn into an abusive relationship. The serious themes aside the song has some really beautiful imagery such as angels and fire. It also has a very sweet haunting melody.

I first heard this song performed at a 5k I attended where my brother who was one of the runners. It was a charity event where runners completed the path Fire Fighters took when the World Trade Center Towers were destroyed on 9/11. It involved a grueling run through the Lincoln tunnel. This song was performed live at the event though I was not able to see the singer performing it. It made enough of an impression on me that I added it to my play list.

Sidenote: When I was relistening to this song preparing this entry. My mother heard me playing it and asked me ..."Are you listening to a Rihanna song?

My reaction: "That's a Rihanna song?"

A brief bit of googling later... Yes as it turns out... it is a Rihanna song and an Eminem song as well. The Singer performing it in the video (Skyler Grey) is the song writer.

-*ChessRookB*

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February 17, 2024 at 12:37pm
February 17, 2024 at 12:37pm
#1064338
Day 20 of "The Soundtrack of Your Life challenge. *Smile*

Today's post is a double feature...
Requiem For A Tower by Escala


and
Lacrimosa Dominae by Immediate Music




Both of these songs were added to my Playlist back to back. I found them when I was attempting to find out the song that was used for the Spider-man II trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s9Yln0YwCw (1:47 onward)
As it turned out the song used was "Lacrimosa Dominae" but it wasn't easy to find that out. I had tried using my Shazam app to determine it but it Shazam (at the time) was not able to pinpoint it. I had to search through google and ultimately was able to find it going through the comments of the trailer video on Youtube. Other people apparently were also trying to determine that information. Helpful commentors recommended both Requim for a Tower and Lacrimosa Dominae.

I wound up getting Lacrimosa Dominae confused with the simalarly named Lacrimosa. Lacrimosa composed by Mozart himself is a great musical piece in its own right but it wasn't what I was looking for. My next try from the comment recommendation was Requiem for a Tower which I really liked. Afterward I figured out my mistake and was able to add Lacrimosa Dominae to my list.

Both these pieces of music are Epic Orchestral arrangements that are really great to listen to and they both make use of crescendoing where the music goes from soft to loud to increase their intensity. Additionally Lacrimosa Dominae has beautiful operatic chorus included in it. As showcased in the Spider-man trailer, both these pieces work really as soundtracks as they seem to have the ability to make any activity more exciting when it is played. Picture doing your laundry with one of these songs playing in the background. *Smile* Now if you wanted to really get hypedpicture an action scene with this soundtrack playing! *Mindblown*


-*ChessRookB*

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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2264475-Castles-Chessboard/month/2-1-2024