Somewhere Down the Road

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, but life sometimes gets in the way of things and then before ya know it it's almost June.

Lately I've been listening to "Somewhere Down the Road" a lot and I mean A LOT. All those months ago when I first heard this song, I never connected to it. Even though I knew it was not necessarily about a romantic relationship falling apart and two people moving on from that relationship, I just had no reason to connect with that song. But certain songs I believe lay dormant in the back of one's mind and when one may need it, it's there to listen to. And that's what happened to me.

The first time I ever took this song seriously was back in August when I saw Barry perform it live. Though at the time I may have been more in shock when Barry grabbed a stool and put it right in front of me but I digress. Since he performed it with very little instrumentals and at one point, acapella, it gave the song a new emotional meaning as more is sometimes exposed when a song is stripped down. A person is more vulnerable in silence or a quieter setting because more people are listening, the same goes for a performer and their music. I don't know if any of this makes sense because it's so difficult to put into words, but that song spoke volumes to me, even months later in February. It still does.

As I rode the bus coming home from school it came up in my Barry shuffle on my iPod and I knew I had to listen to it, especially after today. There's a reason why I connect to this song so deeply now and like people, music comes into our lives at certain times--it's never a coincidence. Even though the reason is for me to know, I will say this--no matter what life ever throws your way, music will always save the day. :)

Greek Theatre

So yesterday I got the highly anticipated Greek Theatre DVD and 1978 tour program in the mail. It could not have come at a better time. Life can sometimes get rough and just something as simple as getting a Barry package can brighten up the day--well my day anyway. :) I was not expecting the package to come so soon, so when I opened the mailbox and saw it in there, I jumped and screamed and quickly ran into the house to open it up. Once I ripped the envelope open, I went through the program and was like a kid in a candy store looking at all the pictures. While I may not have been alive during the 70s to remember all of this when it actually happened, I do have memories of my own concerning 70s Barry in general and specifically the Greek Theatre show. Like when I borrowed a Barry tape from my local library one time and was dumbfounded when I saw the Copa performance from the Greek. (Ya know when he does that very close dance with Reparata.) Or how I was obsessed with the opening song "Here We Go Again" for a good 3 weeks. They may be similar memories fans have from the first time they saw it--the only difference is I made mine 30 years later.

I reserved my Friday night for Barry (I usually do anyway as I'm so glad the week is over) to watch the DVD and to just have some quality Barry time. As the concert appeared on my TV screen I remembered to put on my vintage '78 Tour Barry shirt to get the "full experience." So I put it on and sat back down on my bed and just watched with awe. I laughed when he talked about the people being up in the trees, smiled when he would turn around and have this certain look on his face, I had tears rolling down my face when he sang "All the Time," and reminisced about how many times I had done this before, but how the feelings have always remained constant. It is truly amazing. :)

A Musical Send off

A few days ago I attended a memorial service for the man who was basically responsible for sending me to Australia almost 2 years ago. It was a religious service so I was not that into it for personal reasons, but there was one part of the service that really struck me and made me think. During a eulogy given by his son, his son spoke of how his father had passed away listening to his favorite opera music. He had put the iPod headphones in his father's ears and his father peacefully drifted away to wherever you go once you pass away. I thought to myself
"How perfect is that?" Even though you are dying and you will no longer be biologically a part of this Earth, listening to the music you love--to me there is no better way to move on. It just goes to show how greatly music impacts human nature, even till the very end. Just a thought for today. :)

:)

I must say how truly proud I am of Barry and how honored I am to be able to call myself a fan of his work and an admirer of the man he is. Every time I see another article or picture having to do with the Manilow Music Project or another charitable event involving him, I am just overcome with joy. So many people today, well people my age, idolize the wrong people. Whether it's models who don't eat, celebrities who set a poor example, or an athlete using steroids. Barry though is an example of a normal guy with a high profile job who just wants to make a difference in the world because he feels he needs to. And it comes from the heart and never for the applause. I just wanted to say how proud I was of him. My family and friends won't be hearing the end of it this week...I tend to brag about how great he is. hehe. :)

Never Gonna Give You Up

Sitting in gym class today I looked at the people around me laughing, smiling, gossiping, and doing whatever else entails when the word "teenager" is used to describe a person's place in life. I felt more out of place than I had ever felt. A culmination of things may have caused me to feel this way, but me letting go of who I really was, was no doubt the catalyst for my emotions. This past weekend I began hanging out with a few people I have been friendly with for a while, but have never really hung out with. It felt wonderful to have friends, but driving in the car with them blasting R&B and hip hop "music" and acting like idiotic individuals made me feel fake and went against everything I believe in. I felt as though I was cheating myself and I did not like it. Most of all, I was made to feel ashamed for loving Barry and I believed it. Of course, I do not believe it nor will I ever, but in that moment I did. I had succumbed to life's expectations and I saw how even when we think we have it all figured out, we sometimes do not. I also do not want to give off the connotation that I stopped loving Barry because I did not, I just felt shame.

Later that night, I had a dream, more like a nightmare, one that was the wake up call I needed. The wake up call that said "What the hell are you doing? Don't you dare change." I had a dream Barry died. I do not know what exactly it all meant, but somehow I think it symbolized who I was because Barry is a very special part of my life. And that a part of me was going to symbolically die if I pretended my goofy, weird, Barry-loving self did not exist. So even though I did go out later that night with my friends, I spent the day running around outside listening to Barry, selling things of mine at my garage sale to save up for Barry, and telling people with a little smile when they asked if my copy of Sweet Life was for sell--"I would never give up Barry."

What I'm trying to say is, stay true to yourself--it's much more fun that way. :)

Photo courtesy of Teresa Qunta

Just A Thought

Have you ever stopped and just taken a break from the craziness life creates at times? It is sometimes difficult to relax and take in the passing clouds and distant planes as you lay on the mushy ground. But when you do--it is pure perfection.

Since I am off from school this week due to Spring Break, I have spent the last three days listening to my huge stack of Barry records. I have said this before, but listening to an LP gives me a different feeling than a CD can. LPs have this pure, untouched sound to them which impacts me in a way current technology at times can not. I admit, it has been a couple of months since I have sat down and really absorbed myself in each note and lyric of hidden gems like "Sandra" or "If I Should Love Again." It is not that I haven't listened to him because I do every single day, but the times where I sit down and just get lost in the music are sometimes few and far between as school and teenage expectations get in the way. So I decided that this week I would take the time to do what I love most--relish the part of me I love.

Listening to these albums has been a very emotional experience. Each song brings back a memory regardless of whether the memory has a situation connected to it or I just remember the first time I heard that particular song and it touched me the way it still does today. Like when I listened to "One Voice, "I had chills running up and down my spine at the sound of Barry's multiple voices blended together creating a vocal orchestra. So many flashbacks race through my mind just at the mention of that one song and that's only one song. There are so many others and so many memories. Ever since I came to love Barry, I have always been amazed at how he enables a listener to have memories and personal feelings connected to a song. I know this is one of his intentions and wishes, but at times this phenomena goes unnoticed since the craziness of life does not allow you to emerse yourself in the music. A song at times serves as background music like in a movie and life is the thickening plot.

Due to the all these memories and emotions exposing themselves once again it has created a sense of longing to see him again. I have always found it weird how I can miss a man I do not even know. I have to come to realize it is the way I feel when seeing him I miss and just seeing him actually in front of me that I would obviously miss. It may sound silly that I miss him like I do, but I can't help it. I have my non-Barry life which is normal and important to have but he is such a vital part of my life right now that I think it is a normal human reaction to miss a person who has such an impact on you.

Newspaper Article

About a week and a half ago, my school paper published an article of mine. It was not the first to be published nor will it be the last, but it will always be the one I am most proud of because it came from my heart. I was not frightened in the slightest way to show my whole school the obvious love I held for Barry. I have learned to embrace who I am and Barry is a part of me so I would not be truthful to myself or anybody else, if I did not claim him as my inspiration for my article. I hope you enjoy it. :)

NOTE: This is copyright of RPHS Eagle's Eye and Rebekah Cleary

Skimming through various radio stations, there is a garbled sound of infectious beats, hollow lyrics, and most of all, a lack of emotion.
During the past decade, the quality of music has slowly decreased due to the invasion of boy bands such as the Jonas Brothers, and the offensive lyrics of artists such as Lil Wayne. Musicians from three or four decades ago are not even recognizable to the youth of today because the constant change in music makes songs from even five months ago outdated.
Over the past several years, music has slowly become a personal anecdote, coinciding what is being written in the tabloids. Music is an artistic expression, which loses its meaning when the drama surrounding the music overshadows the actual melodic purpose. The recent Chris Brown and Rihanna scandal is a prime example of how personal events influence the opinion people have of an artist's music. Certain radio stations around the country have boycotted Brown's music in regards to his personal life rather than for musical purposes. Even though this will harm his reputation as an artist, it is not understandable how this affects the music.
If time were to rewind thirty years, the soft, calming sound of Barry Manilow singing, "I made it through the rain, I kept my world protected..." would be the message embedded in the heads of millions. The morale of this song is something every person can relate to at some point in their life. It is about redefining life and mustering up the courage to take a chance in what is considered right. Lyrics such as these may pick somebody up on a day that seems to never end, but does "...shawty wanna thug..." from Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" really mean anything? Does it give the listener the initiative to make a change in life? The lyrics are not even comprehensible to a person who follows the grammatical laws of English.
A musician's purpose is to make the listener feel something, whether positive or negative. Today's music radiates laziness and lack of depth, ruining what musicians for decades have tried so hard to achieve.
Nothing can compare with a power ballad as the music delves into a crescendo and the emotion mixes with passion, creating a song that sucks the life out of the listener after the song ends. An example would be Manilow's "Weekend in New England" that is arranged to increase in intensity as the song progresses by the addition of different instruments. After listening to a ballad by the Jonas Brothers or Beyonce, it just does not have the same effect. The message does not stay with me and it is easy to forget the song after ten minutes because it did not have a memorable moment. This is due to the fact that the quality of songwriting has decreased.
It is easy to get away with a meaningless lyric if the music flows beautifully and tells a story within the different arrangement of instruments. On the other hand, when the music suffers the same fate, the song becomes an instant disaster. Creating hypnotic beats takes no effort at all, which is the desired method of songwriting today. Musical greats such as Manilow and Elton John worked endlessly to find their place in the music industry and spent hours at the piano creating music that would affect the world. Today a a portion of singers assign producers such as Timbaland or Ne-Yo to create their voice and opinion. When a musician does not choose their own voice, the connection to the song is lost.
Music is a dying art in several aspects. Aged musicians can serve as an example to the new breed of singers and musicians to save music's purpose which is to inspire.