Goodbye 2009 ; Time For Change

Motley Crue is an American hard-rock band. They were part of the late 80s surge of long-haired metal bands emerging, belting out songs telling of wild nights out, teen anger, drugs with one or two slow ballads tucked inside every album which were usually gems. It was in 1989, with every penny saved from my pocket money, i was able to purchase cassette tapes on my own, starting with this music genre. Since then, i am very much a metal head. I remembered this album fondly as it was one of the first albums i had bought, containing the head-banging fast adrenaline title track 'Dr Feelgood' which is actually a reference for drugs, 'Without You' a forlorn song about falling in love.

'Time For Change' is the last song on this album and it is the reason for my writing this last blog post to end the year and also this decade. It was not a single but the moment i heard this intimate song as a 12-year old then, the lyrics and tune just spoke volumes to me. This song has accompanied me right to my adulthood, and listening to it each time still gives me the chills and highs. It is just such a powerful track to me about facing changes in life and that 'nothing stays the same'.

Time For Change

I Heard Some Kids Telling Me
How They've Lost All The Faith In The Way
They've Been Talking World Peace
And The Wars In The Streets

The Lines On Their Faces So Deep
A Revolution, Or Reach Out
And Touch The Day
We're Overdue Child

Change
Now It's Time For Change
Nothing Stays The Same
Now It's Time For Change

I Feel The Future In The Hands
Of Our Youth Will Be Safe
No More Lies
Old, Tired Fools Tell Our Future
With Tarot Cards, And Lie Of Crime

The Lines On Their Faces So Deep
A Revolution, Or Reach Out
And Touch The Day
We're Overdue Child

Change
Now It's Time For Change
Nothing Stays The Same
Now It's Time For Change

I'll Change
I'll Change
Not Tomorrow But Today

Change
Now It's Time For Change
Nothing Stays The Same
Now It's Time For Change

For all the good and bad, laughter and tears, heartbreaks and happiness, baggages and regrets for the past year and the years gone by, it is time to throw them out the window and tear down the walls, as the dawn of a new decade beckons.

Welcome 2010

Do They Know It's Christmas?

'Do They Know It's Christmas?" was a Christmas hit single which peaked at #1 in the UK charts in 1984. It was recorded by Band Aid, which made up of UK musicians and groups such as Duran Duran, Bananarama, Paul Young, Boy George and featuring Phil Collins on drums. They came together to produce this record with proceeds which went on to benefit the people suffering from famine in Ethiopia, Africa. Not a christmas goes by without me listening to this song at this time of the year.

Wishing all my readers a Merry X'mas.

'It's christmas time
There's no need to be afraid
At christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade'

- Do They Know It's Christmas

Before I Forget

Slipknot is an American metal rock band or known as 'nu-metal', a term coined for 'new metal' actually. i have heard of them some years ago but it was not until in early 2008 when i actually took notice of them when i heard their single 'Before I Forget'. A fast-paced song with brutal crunching guitars, i remembered listening and head-banging to this song many times and mimicking the excellent double-pedal drumming by their drummer Joey Jordison. I still do when i revisit the song from time to time.

Slipknot is made up of 9 members, with each wearing a distinct mask which they don it everywhere they go and on and off stage, thus maintaining a mysterious sense of obscurity but which gave this band such a unique identity.

The MTV of 'Before I Forget' is one of the best i have seen in modern music videos. Excellently shot with the members off their masks but with the cameras shooting them such that their full faces are never shown throughout, thus keeping true to the band's running theme of anonymity. This video won them a Grammy award in 2007 for 'Best Metal Performance'

I am a world before
I am a man
I was a creature before
I could stand
I will remember
before I forget
Before I Forget.

- Before I Forget

Tears In Heaven

I was compiling a CD of 'classic rock' MP3 songs for listening during my car drive. This gentle ballad 'Tears In Heaven' by Eric Clapton was in my list and i was just playing it on repeat mode over and over again, enjoying it. I heard of the story behind the song before -

"Tears in Heaven" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton about the pain Clapton felt following the death of his four-year-old son, Conor, who fell from a window of the 53rd-floor New York apartment of his mother's friend, on March 20, 1991. Clapton, who arrived at the apartment shortly after the accident, was visibly distraught for months afterwards.

This ballad written about and for his son by Clapton went on to be one of his most successful hit single which he went on to perform it on his famous 'unplugged' concerts. I am not a big fan of his music but i really admire his strength and solitude in writing such a powerful tune and performing it to millions on stage. That such tragedy could evoke such strong emotions which gave birth to a song that touches almost everyone who hears it.

Would you know my name
if I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
if I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
'Cause I know I don't belong here in heaven...

Would you hold my hand
if I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand
if I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way through night and day
'Cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven...

Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees
Time can break your heart, have you begging please...begging please

Beyond the door there's peace I'm sure
And I know there'll be no more tears in heaven...

Would you know my name
if I saw you in heaven?
Would you be the same
if I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
'Cause I know I don't belong here in heaven...

Christine; Behind The Wheel

I am catching up on my reading again now that i have much time on my hands. When i gotten my car in October, my mind instinctively turned to one novel i had in mind and one that i have not read yet - Christine - by Stephen King. Reason was simple, i just got a car and what not better than to read a horror story about a car, and the end result was a most satisfying and thought-provoking read.

Christine revolves around the story of a few teenagers, most notably the story's protagonist Arnie Cunningham who chanced upon a run-down and unused old car, named Christine whom he loved at first sight and bought it from it's previous owner, unknowing of its horrifying history in which the owner's daughter choked on food in the car and which his bereaved wife later commited suicide inside it as well. Throughout all these, he had loved the car deeply, close to an obsession before he sold it to Arnie. It seems this obsession took over Arnie. Friends, enemies and his own family and his girlfriend soon learned what it was like to cross Christine as Arnie somewhat demeanor character got possessed by the cursed car. The story was suspenseful and finally descends into horror as people around Arnie soon experienced.

There is a strong moral behind the story of how the things people love can reach to the point of obsession and in some sense 'possess' its owner to become oblivious and in some cases, violent to his surroundings and people around him. This is something Stephen King is so good at as he brings out all facets of human behaviours and their fears in his writing.

It was a nice but eerie feeling that i experienced when i finished reading the novel. There were uncanny parallels between what i read and what i am experiencing now. Christine was red and so is Abbey my car. i am experiencing what Arnie went through - the unerring love for the car - as i have been spending much time tending and washing my car. I got flustered and angry when i noticed little blemishes on the car and i recently flew into a rage at someone who crossed onto Abbey my car.

There are a lot of songs written about cars. There are just too many but i have picked one here which i have driven along to these days. 'Behind The Wheel' was a hit single by Depeche Mode in 1987. The pounding 'engine' beats and simplistic but mysterious lyrics makes for a good listen while driving.

In my own diseased imagination, i wished Abbey can do what Christine does in the story - to heal itself from any knocks, dents, dings to herself and to do back any harm to anyone or anything that crosses her. But Abbey has been a nice quiet girl so far and i am enjoying every moment with her.

Just do not cross her in anyway, and her owner as well...


'Sweet Little Girl
I prefer you Behind The Wheel
And me the passenger
Drive
I'm yours to keep
Do what you want
I'm going cheap
Tonight'

- Behind The Wheel