Don't judge this post by its title; that's the first thing I'll say before jumping into this topic. Something that's strange to me, is the lack of songs that are written about addiction. I realize that yes, there are a good handful, but I'm going to break down into specifics. I think it's odd that there's so few songs about addiction affecting families through the parents... particularly since "Seventy six million Americans, about 43% of the U.S. adult population, have been exposed to alcoholism in the family. Almost one in five adult Americans (18%) lived with an alcoholic while growing up". What I've noticed in music is that if addiction is covered; it's almost always directed onto the fathers. It's odd to me that even addiction has gender roles and it disgusts me in a way because I actually know more people who have mothers with addiction problems than fathers. That's besides the point though; everyone's experience is different and I just say that about the music industry's personification of addiction. I'd never discredit anyone of their experience with addiction... then again; I'd never wish it upon anyone to experience addiction within their family. It's a horrible thing and it's terrifying. In any case, for any new readers to this blog... my mom was an alcoholic who suffered from addictive personality disorder and multiple eating disorders. She passed away 3 years ago; a result of her poor life decisions and mental illness but most prominently because of her addiction. Prior to that, her addiction split apart my family and I stood witness to everything she did for my entire life; beginning to understand things at 7. This post is semi-inspired by my dad's post from yesterday. He's written numerous posts about my mom, and I have too- I'm sure of you scroll back enough (or go through the carefully organized categories he's put together) you can piece together my life's story. Due to the gender roles that have been slapped onto addiction in pop culture; I've always found it hard finding music that deals with mothers with addictions. However, recently I've been listening to an artist named NF (I believe I've mentioned a few of his songs in previous posts) and I've found 2 of his songs that actually do cover a very similar situation to mine, Upon doing some research; I discovered that the 2 songs I had found were inspired by his own experience as he had lost his mother to an accidental drug overdose. While my mom (thankfully) was never hooked on any hard drugs; the alcohol was bad enough. I honestly do consider alcohol to be a drug, at the end of the day. In any case, I greatly appreciate the two songs because I find them to be quite relatable, even though the lyrics are pretty heavy. If you aren't into rap, at least read the lyrics. I'll leave a link to the songs below. - maddie Miss You - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtRy75dqzGc How Could You Leave Us - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9tqvCYlZSQ
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Last night Maddie and I went to Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts to see the Return of The Dreads tour featuring Korn, Rob Zombie and In This Moment. This was a great show and I'm glad we went. The picture above shows lighters and phones ablaze for Rob Zombie as the crowd cheered for an encore. We had good seats for the show, and all three bands rocked hard and loud. In This MomentIn This Moment opened the show and did a much better job than they did the last time we saw them. In fact, I jokingly told Maddie "here comes the buzz kill" as the band was just starting to take the stage. I did not say that because of how the band plays their songs... In This Moment is an edgy heavy metal act that rocks hard. The problem is that the lead singer likes to change her outfits between every song. The last time we saw them, they were the second of four bands. From Ashes To New had really gotten the crowd going as the opening act, and In This Moment came out and really killed the momentum by having stops between their songs that sometimes lasted up to three minutes! There was no filler to keep the crowd interested, and the crowd got quiet and sat down. At the end of From Ashes To New's set everyone had been up and out of their seats. Last night, the band did a better job, though. The lull between songs was taken up by taped portions by the band that set the stage for the beginning of the next song. Costume changes were also done quicker so that the stoppages were not as noticeable. Altogether, the band did a better job this time around, although I must admit they remained my least favorite of the three. They were my least favorite out of four bands last time! Rob ZombieI gotta admit I went into the show with high expectations for Rob Zombie. His music is very heavy metal and it usually has bizarre subject matter. His videos are also a bit out there. Well, I must say that he lived up to my expectations! Not only was his show high energy, but he really had a knack for getting the crowd involved with the show! At one point, he walked out into the crowd and made it out to the middle mezzanine area. I think he would have walked out to the grass seats if he could have found his way through. The whole time he was walking around, the lead guitarist, John 5, was doing an awesome solo that ended with him doing a rendition of Jimi Hendrix' rendition of the Star Spangled Banner! John 5 has been lead guitarist for Rob Zombie for more than 10 years. Prior to that he had been lead guitarist for Marilyn Manson and for David Lee Roth. Man, was I impressed with his playing! Maddie had a video of him playing the star spangled banner, but it unfortunately got erased by Snapchat! Thanks a hell of a lot, Snapchat! I would have loved to put that piece up on the blog! One of the highlights of the entire show for me was when the band did their rendition of "We're An American Band" as their first encore song. It's an old Grand Funk Railroad tune, and these guys really rocked it! All said, I went into the show thinking that Korn was going to be my favorite act for the evening, but to be honest, I think Rob Zombie and his band clearly stole the show. Great job guys, I am definitely looking forward to seeing you guys again! KornI want to make it clear here that although I think that Rob Zombie and his band had the best set, in my opinion, Korn still really rocked the house! I have been listening to these guys for years. In fact, I remember Korn was a mainstay at the beach house where Sharon and I first started dating. I went into the show figuring Korn was going to be a shoo-in for my favorite set, and while they did not disappoint, I still can't get John 5's guitar solo out of my head, or We're An American Band. Thus, Korn takes a back seat here. Even so, I recognized a lot of the band's older stuff, and had a great time! Freak On A Leash and Narcissistic Cannibal were both well received by the crowd, while my personal favorites were Falling Away From Me, Twisted Transistor and Shoots And Ladders. Out of the three, Shoots And Ladders was the best! Oh, and Y'All Want A Single also was great. In fact, that song had the whole pavilion singing "Fuck that!" in unison. That was rather unique I must say!
All said, it was a great show and I highly recommend both Rob Zombie and Korn to any true metal heads out there... or anyone who really likes rocking shows! And finally, just looking at some of the freaks in the stands was well worth the price of admission! Literally people were walking around with zombie makeup. And some of the hair colors that we saw would make a rainbow blush. Good times! Earlier in the week, my dad gave me an interesting idea- so this will be my follow-up for it. His idea was as follows- reflect on your life and on the music that has influenced it. What songs play in the back of your life? And since I've really nothing better to talk about and 3 posts to write today- here is my attempt at designing my life's soundtrack. I doubt it'll be much, since I listen to music daily and have only been alive for 14 years... but I'll try my best.
The Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin This is the first song in my soundtrack of life. Sounds weird, right? Well, allow me to give you a little backstory. Ever since I was born, I've been raised on rock n' roll music. One of my dad's favorite bands is Led Zeppelin, and thus it often played. I loved the opening of the Immigrant Song, and so my dad would often put it on at night on the big stereo in our living room and he and I would dance to it. The memories of this are among some of my earliest and my happiest. Reflection - Mulan Not ALL songs that played were rock, however. I recall having an album of songs from Disney movies when I was little, and I remember playing 'Reflection' from Mulan incessantly because I loved the lyrics and knew them all by heart. Who am I kidding- I knew all the lyrics from that CD by heart. That song just happened to be my favorite. Drift Away - Dobie Gray In all honesty, I'm not sure if the version of this song that I recall was by Dobie or not. It may have been a cover, but oh well. The original is certainly the best. This song seems to be always in the background- it's not always on the radio, but I never forget it and on the rare occurrence that I do hear it on the radio, I love it. In particular, I remember hearing it on a long car trip to NJ from NH twice in one day and really being happy about it. There Was A Little Mouse Honestly, I don't know whether to count this as a nursery rhyme or a song. The only reason this song is appearing in the middle of my soundtrack is because it holds more meaning to me now that my sister exists. My dad always used to sing it to me when I was small, and when my sister was born, the song (and tradition of singing it in the car) was reborn. It holds good memories for me, both in my own childhood and my sister's. I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack This song holds a special meaning to me, because it's a song I strongly remember my mom enjoying (and relating to me). I don't know how exactly I know this, but I do. She mentioned it a lot and I remember her playing it a lot for me. Embarrassingly enough, it's one of the only songs I will cry to to this day. Wow, this list is harder than I thought it would be. Who knew it was so hard to remember songs that have played in your life? The Trooper - Iron Maiden Hoedown - Emerson, Lake and Palmer Both songs mentioned above played a significant part in my life for a bit, as they were competition songs. The Trooper was my go-to song for nunchucks for a long time, and Hoedown was the song my dad and I once did synchronized weapons to. You don't often find people who can synchronize nunchucks and make it look good, so I cherish that memory. As for now? I think that's where my soundtrack has left off. As I've gotten older, my soundtrack has blurred out into my music preferences, and I no longer truly hold songs close to me. I relate too much to lyrics to the point that honestly, my soundtrack would become long and the meaning the songs have to me would fade. So for now, this is my life's soundtrack... and this is how it will remain until I find a song with meaning, true meaning, to me once again. - Maddie |
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