- "Even if your hands are shaking, and your faith is broken, even as the eyes are closing, do it with a heart wide open (a wide heart), say what you need to say." You might think I have a lot to say about this song. You'd be wrong. You might think I'm crazy. That's a whole 'nother story. "Say" was released as a single in late 2007. It was written for the film "The Bucket List". I haven't seen the film but I understand the song plays such a critical role in the movie that it is used over the end credits (and at no other time in the film). I do like "Say" but it doesn't do a whole lot for me. I suppose the song lacks the emotional depth it strives so much to achieve. Musically I do enjoy the 1:05 mark when the band kicks in and the song gets a little more punch. In 2009 "Say" won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal performance over Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" which in terms of chart longevity proved to be the biggest pop song of all time. Mayer has won The Best Male Pop Vocal Grammy 4 out of the last 8 years and was nominated one other time so it's almost his category. In 2008 John Mayer re-released the Continuum with "Say" appended as the final song.
2. Till There Was You- The Beatles
- "And there was music, and wonderful roses, they tell me, in sweet fragrant meadows of dawn and dew, there was love all around, but I never heard it singing, no I never heard it at all, till there was you." What a sweet song. The Beatles were known to cover rock n roll songs early in their career. Songs like "Roll Over Beethoven", "Twist and Shout" and "Rock and Roll Music" to name just a few. They also dipped into Broadway show tunes with their cover of "Till There Was You", a song written in 1957 by Meredith Wilson (a dude) for the musical "The Music Man". I'm not big into musicals (discount the fact that I recently saw a production of "Oklahoma") but "The Music Man" does have a bunch of great tunes. "Seventy Six Trombones" and "Gary, Indiana" are classics. Fans of the cartoon series "Family Guy" are inadvertently familiar with the musical thanks to their rendition of "Shipoopi", which believe it or not does not alter the lyrics. Getting back to the fab four... The Beatles performed "Till There Was You" regularly-it was one of the songs they played on their 1st appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, an appearance which proved to be a defining moment in pop culture history.
- "Ring the alarm, and not a sound is dying, woah, aye. So take heed to this lesson I bring or the lesson I brought, which was taught to one another, all slack MC's better ring the alarm, in other words run for cover." My first introduction to Fu-Schnickens was hearing "Ring The Alarm" on the radio (I've been a true fu-schnick ever since). It was most likely on Philadelphia's "Power 99", which at the time (1991) relegated hip hop to the late evenings and weekends. The normal broadcasting hours were saved for the "quiet storm" R&B nonsense the average hip hop fan looked at with disgust. "Ring The Alarm" provides quite an introduction to the Fu-Schnicken style of speed rapping and occasional backwards lyrics. I didn't discover the origins of this tune until a number of years ago. "Ring The Alarm" is based on a mid 1980's reggae song of the same name by Tenor Saw. It's one of those songs where you don't need to be a fan of the reggae genre to appreciate what's going on. The Fu-Schnickens speed up the Tenor Saw sample and bust rhymes that will make your head spin.
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