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Mon, Jun 16, 2025

8:11pm EDT

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Music Notes

by Amethyst Angel 💐

Rated: 13+ · Book · Music · #2313403

A blog about music from my unique perspective (also a spot for some poetry I’ve written)

A blog, generally about music, usually for projects hosted by Jeff

. I may also write about the 48-Hour Media Prompt Challenge if I don't feel like writing a story or poem inspired by the given song. Other bits of poetry or different topics of discussion might end up here as well.

This is the poem which earned my blog its green ribbon, courtesy Brian K Compton

"Renewal"

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Cubby

Jun 14, 2025 at 10:07am
In response to "Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 5"

I love this! And I love the selfie with Eeyore! I hope you leave it there.

My granddaughter also likes Squishmallows. And I love donkeys and so does she. And Eeyore is just a hoot, lol.

What a great read. I enjoyed this very much.

Thank you for sharing another awesome piece of yourself.

1 Like

Sum1

Jun 12, 2025 at 5:49pm
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 3"

As I get used to looking at other's blogs, I'm often amused at some of their thoughts. For this entry, part of what you wrote was, One thing I need to keep working on is patience, both here and in real life. I have the disruptive tendency to panic at the beginning of the month, spinning my wheels knocking as many things off my to-do list as quickly as possible, because I'm afraid something terrible will happen and I won't have a chance to do anything anymore.

I look at that in an entirely different way. Doing all that early on is front loading your schedule. What I mean is, getting things done early on so you can relax, or maybe concentrate on what may require more time, more resources. It can also be thought of as being pro-active, not reactive. Both of those are things I try to do on a day-by-day basis.

1 Like

Ẃeβ࿚Ẃỉtcĥ

Jun 12, 2025 at 2:54pm
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 3"

That's what Wikipedia says. It's not always dead on accurate either.

1 Like

Amethyst Angel 💐

Jun 12, 2025 at 2:14pm
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 3"

Ẃeβ࿚Ẃỉtcĥ

1993

That’s what comes of using Shazam for metadata. I’ve noticed they don’t always get the year of release correct. Thanks!

1 Like

Ẃeβ࿚Ẃỉtcĥ

Jun 12, 2025 at 1:07pm
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 3"

You are a very dedicated, super busy person! Good for you keeping up with all those writing contests. I'm just trying to keep up with daily things needing to be done right now. I guess "BARD'S-WITCH Bingo!"

And keeping up with "The Bard's Hall Contest"

blog entries , not to mention crediting "The WDC Angel Army"

is keeping me busy enough so far.

Yes, the songs have a similar voice. Here's what I found:

"Runaway Train" was released in 1993, not 2004, according to Wikipedia. The song "Runaway Trains" by Tom Petty, which is often confused with Soul Asylum's song, is actually an older song.

1 Like

StephBee

Jun 9, 2025 at 5:44pm
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 2"

Thanks for sharing so much about how music has made an impression on your life. I think music speaks to our souls on the same vibrational levels our souls are, so certain music appeals to us, if that makes sense.

For me, I'm a big 80's fan. 80's music and the beats resonate with me. Duran Duran the big one from the 80's. I've enjoyed Stevie Nicks songs, mainly from the 70's and 80's. I really liked Dreams.

I believe musicians should be compensated for the work they produce. My husband has the family on an Itunes account which is great because we can listen to what we want and I think it's a fair price. My favorite is listening to live music - I think that's what really made my trips to Catalina Island for the 4th of July so special, is that USC marching band would open the golf cart parade. When I was stationed in Germany I saw several acts live including Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Guns and Roses and Queenriche. Live music just stirs the soul. When I'm in the car, I like listening to JackFM out here in So Cal.

Back in the late 80's early 90's when I was stationed in Germany it was my mission to build the ultimate stereo set so I'd go to different stores (AAFEES) around the country buying pieces here and there I have a set of Pioneer speakers and Bose speakers that would great and they're over 30-35 years old. I've got a pre-amp, power amp all hooked up to apple device, but I've got a vinyl player, a CD player, and an old cassette player. When I play music through my amps and speakers like that, it still sounds good.

Smiles
Steph

1 Like

Ẃeβ࿚Ẃỉtcĥ

Jun 8, 2025 at 9:20pm
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 2"

Music has always played a big part in my life. My mother's side of the family were very musical--played instruments, my mother even played the bass.

In the younger days, I loved going to see my favorites on stage with my friends in Boston. Some pretty memorable times indeed. I got to meet some... got guitar picks and even a drum stick.

Souvenirs of days gone by. Now my hearing is fading on me from all the speakers' amps roaring in my ears.

Cool video!

Thanks for this view of a big part of your world.

Sumojo

Jun 7, 2025 at 2:54am
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 1"

Kåre เลียม Enga

Hi Kare, i can’t help but feel concerned when WdC members have cause to be anxious. I can understand it to a degree and do my utmost not to feel obliged/forced/ compelled to enter everything which is offered. WdC can be addictive and we need to understand that. It’s quite refreshing when one decides to have a month off— that is of course not including the Contest Challenge— after all I’ve been doing it for years!

1 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Jun 6, 2025 at 10:00pm
In response to "The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 1"

I feel overwhelmed by contests this month so I'll have to be more careful of deadlines.

1 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Jun 6, 2025 at 9:45pm
In response to "Rude (synopsis inspired by song)"

I'd never heard of the song. Very catchy. Video well done. Simple lyrics; simple song.

I seldom do these challenges because 1. I don't hear about them in time or 2. They don't force me to write and I need to be inspired if there's a deadline. And lastly, 3. I write so much regardless.

June 16, 2025 at 8:39am

#1091600

The Bard's Hall, June 2025, Entry 6

Ẃeβ࿚Ẃỉtcĥ

StephBee

"The Bard's Hall Contest"

Wanna know how I became an Imagine Dragons fan? No? Well, I'll tell you anyway

I've already mentioned how I was unfamiliar with everything but the sounds of music, growing up. My musical coming of age started in 2015 (the year ID released sophomore album Smoke + Mirrors) and exploded in 2017. (The year they released their third album, Evolve.) Songs I'd been aware of for years finally took on a name and a face, so to speak.

The first song I was ever aware of from Imagine Dragons was Demons, released 2012. I knew the sound of it because we used to shop frequently at a store called Burke's Outlet, where they subscribed to SiriusXM satellite radio. Every store in the chain, in those days, had their radio set to SiriusXM The Blend, featuring a rolling playlist of perhaps fifty to a hundred current pop songs which got annoying really fast. Between 2012 and 2017, every time we walked into a Burke's Outlet, I'd be likely to hear Demons.

I never understood the lyrics, except for the words “this is my kingdom come.” That phrase alone was enough to cause suspicion, from a Christian point of view, and the song's vibe generally unnerved me, because I knew it wasn't your typical love song but I didn't know why.

At some point I googled “this is my kingdom come lyrics,” saw the names “Imagine Dragons” and “Demons” for the first time ever, and immediately assumed they were Gothic… code word in my naive mind for satanic. It's difficult and somewhat embarrassing to explain how culturally sheltered and deeply religious my upbringing was, to lead me to that conclusion. I didn't know people refer to their mental issues as demons. I thought it was a man admitting he's possessed. Combine that with the old urban legends of rock stars selling their souls to the devil for fame and fortune, and… yeah. Not good

After that, every time I heard Demons, I'd get a surprisingly strong physiological reaction of unease and dismay. This early promotional image from the Dragons, which was on their Wikipedia page for years, didn't help:

“Sulky” was the word that came to mind to describe Dan, second from right. I did not hold a high opinion of four pallid, sour-faced guys in black jackets leaning against a brick wall

The change in my perspective came with Believer, which took over the airwaves in 2017, mostly unnoticed by me at first. It wasn't until one day in August, in the mountains of Weaverville, North Carolina, I happened to have Believer blasted into my head at Walmart and picked it up on Google Sound Search.

Being always curious, I went over the lyrics, and the first thing that popped out at me was the lines “I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea.” This is a dead ringer for the lines in William Earnest Henley's poem Invictus: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Which is ironic, because I've always found Invictus to be disturbing. People assume it's a rah-rah declaration of strength in pain; I saw through it as a declaration of unbridled spiritual rebellion in the face of hellfire.

In my quest to find out more about the song, the group, and why the singer tapped into Invictus, I gradually started to appreciate Imagine Dragons for what they are: decent, catchy and thought-provoking. I learned about lead singer Dan Reynolds and the autoimmune diseases he struggles with, and began to understand his mindset. In my journal, I wrote that Believer “grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go” until I decided to enjoy it and find my meaning in it.

After a few weeks, I was gobbling up whatever Imagine Dragons music I could find, same as OneRepublic. Possibly my most precious moment was watching the Dragons performing Thunder acoustic at the 2017 Tyler Robinson Foundation annual Gala. It was the first time I'd laid eyes on Dan Reynolds speaking and singing, and it was an enormous relief to see how normal, sweet and funny a human being he actually was. Not sulky, not possessed. Just… loveable, in a goofy, boyish way.

From then on, I had nothing to worry about and a lot to learn

Circling back to Demons, it was still a while before I could bring myself to listen to that song, unless it was live at the yearly TRF Gala, which I always made a point of watching. Oddly enough, precisely at the time when Believer was blowing up the charts, SiriusXM The Blend cut Demons out of their playlist. One of the last times they played it, I was struck by the fact that the very next song after it was Broken Road, by Rascal Flatts. Together, they told a deeper story, one I could understand. Eventually, I related Demons to the story of Beauty and the Beast, creating several art pieces combining the two.

Believe it or not, I never heard Radioactive when it exploded and made ID famous in 2012. I was familiar with Demons, vaguely familiar with It's Time—I thought it sounded rather like Bon Jovi—and conflated I Bet My Life with the Mumford and Sons song I Will Wait, but Radioactive… crickets.

It's the kind of song that if I had heard it, I would never have forgotten it. Like, “OMG, he's talking about the apocalypse! Is this the Illuminati warning us the end is near?” Seriously, my mom liked watching conspiracy theory documentaries back then, as well as channels where people would read occult messages into TV commercials and other cultural stuff. Radioactive was exactly the sort of thing I would have been deeply alarmed by, in my limited understanding of pop culture. I guess I never heard it because it was considered rock rather than pop, therefore didn't appear on the “eighties, nineties and today” stations I was usually exposed to.

So… yeah. I became an Imagine Dragons “believer” ultimately because I happened to be in the right place at the right time. Trust me, this is the abbreviated story

My journals from those days fill hundreds of virtual pages, all about music, the people who made it, the stories behind it, and what it taught me and inspired in me.

Here's the 2017 TRF Gala performance; Thunder begins at approximately 33 minutes in. I love the “secret message” that comes clear at the end: “never give up on your dreams!”

Words: 1,100.

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