Vocalizing Jammed Music #21

Song #21 – Song For Ten by Murray Gold (3:29)

Another song from Doctor Who. This time from the 2005 Christmas Special. It is, again, very upbeat, very triumphant. This was written for the 2005 Doctor Who Christmas special to introduce David Tennant as the 10th Doctor. Hence, Song For Ten. One of the lines quotes Christopher Eccleston’s last episode:

“So have a good life
Do it for me
Make me so proud
Like you want me to be”

And also foreshadows the finale where [SPOILER], at the same spot but [SPOILER], and how the Doctor called out to Rose in her dreams to make a final (albeit interrupted) goodbye:

“Well I woke up today and you’re on the other side
Our time will never come again
But if you can still dream
Close your eyes it will seem
That you can see me now and then”

I love this song, the music itself is so happy but the lyrics are incredibly sad, especially when you remember what happened in the show. Without the context of the show, I like to think of this song as being about acceptance- he’s realized he’ll never see his love again, but he’s also realized that just because they will never meet again doesn’t mean they will not stop loving each other. The singer has reached acceptance, the final stage of grief, and is free to finally love without pain- hence making it “the best day”.

Next Song: May 1 8:00pm

Vocalizing Jammed Music #20

Song #20 – The Stowaway by Murray Gold (performed by Yamit Mamo) (3:36)

This song is from the Doctor Who Christmas 2007 Special, The Voyage of the Damned. The song was influenced by Irish folk music, and contrasts the upbeat “under deck” feeling with melancholy lyrics about unrequited love. This gives it a very triumphant feeling, as if you just won at something (sorta sounds a bit like the Superman tune, now that I think about it). And, even though the singers love is unrequited, she vows that

“Beg, borrow or steal
I’ll find a way
To be with my lover next Christmas Day
And I’ll run and I’ll roam
I’ll cover the ground
Next Christmas I’ll see you
I’ll be around.”

I love this song. It’s encouraging, it’s up beat, and it’s a little Celtic-y.

-justin mitra
Next Song: April 30 8:00pm

Vocalizing Jammed Music #19

Song #19 – Birdhouse In Your Soul by They Might Be Giants (Pushing Daisies Cover) (3:13)

This song is a cover done by the show Pushing Daisies of an original song by They Might Be Giants. Since it’s by TMBG, this is a very confusing song. From what I can gather, it is being sung by a nightlight shaped like a blue canary. It is very up beat (especially this cover of it), and the unusual grammatical liberties taken are very reminiscent of ones childhood speech patterns. I chose the Cover over the Original because I think it sounds better.

Compare: Original with Pushing Daisies Cover

-justin mitra
Next Song: April 29 8:00pm

Viewing Jumpy Mapping

So, lately I’ve been looking at my little line graph of readers. What I do is, I usually try and trace back the cause of the spikes which I get every now and then.
First blog post, nothin’. New post. Ok, small spike. Oh, story posted, slightly larger spike. That time Megan directed her mass of followers onto my page saw an increase of 1600% (to 16 people). After that I seemed to average a couple each day. Internet nomads stumbling through internet like ships passing in the night.

Then, yesterday, 23 hits. Why?

Don’t get me wrong, my Hits and Comments are my bread and butter. And I’m definitely not implying that I think I’m any sort of internet celebrity, thinking that 23 is an astronomically high number. But, really. I don’t get it. Did posting up a video (albeit funny and not made by me) really cause a 400 – 1000% jump? Someone once said, you can average about one or maybe two higher by yourself. Anything higher than that… then there must be some external factor. He was talking about dating at the time, but the point still stands.

Not that I’m complaining or anything…

-justin mitra

Vocalizing Jammed Music #18

Song #18 – Another Believer by Rufus Wainwright (4:39)

This song is one of the songs from the movie Meet the Robinsons. It starts off very calmly and takes off shortly after. I would have gone with Little Wonders, however I already had a song or two similar to it and opted for this instead.This guy also sang a pretty nice cover of Hallelujah. He’s no John Cale, but it’s also nice.

-justin mitra
Next Song: April 28 8:00pm

Vocalizing Jammed Music #17

Song #17 – Killer Queen by Queen (3:01)

I’m not exactly sure what this song is about, but it has a nice beat. Sorta’… vaudevillian, but also a little… synth-y. I’m making up all sorts of words here…

-justin mitra
Next Song: April 27 8:00pm

A Vernacularly Jumbled Motivational

Every once in a while, everyone needs to hear a good inspirational speech. However, with the hectic live most people live these days, not all of them can find the time.

So… I found this.

Vocalizing Jammed Music #16

Song #16 – Yakko’s World brought to you by Yakko Warner (from The Animaniacs) (1:47) (YouTube)

If you ever wondered what the best educational song is, this is it. Sung by the eldest Warner brother of the show Animaniacs, it lists several nations of the world to the tune of what I believe is The Mexican Hat Dance. The first time I heard this song was when I was about 7. I have this Animaniacs sing along video, with several songs. This was one of them. I remember spending countless… well, I wouldn’t say hours… countless sessions? Yeah, countless sessions of trying to transcribe the list of countries by watching and rewinding the tape. This was before the advent of iPods, Wikipedia, and most of the internet of course, so it was no small task. Also, about a year or two ago, I spent literally an entire night listening to the song on repeat in an attempt to memorize the lyrics. 300 ought iterations later, I managed to do it.
However, I have since forgotten almost all of it. Oh well.

-justin mitra
Next Song: April 26 8:00pm

Vocalizing Jammed Music #15

Song #15 – Dentist! from the Little Shop of Horrors (2:26)

Next Song: April 25 8:00pm

Vocalizing Jammed Music #14

Song #14 – If Everyone Cared by Nickelback (3:38)

DATA MISSING

Next Song: April 24 8:00pm