The group Cantus took myself on a journey one day when I heard their song Gravedigger. The parts flow so well together and the meaning behind the song is so dark and mysterious that it captivates you. I'm about of a new octet group at our school and when we first heard it, the song seemed a little weird and a little boring, but after listening to the words and actually hearing the different harmonies we all feel in love with it. The first song of our new group is about the death of the lives before us. Isn't that a little ironic?
Gravedigger was written by the lead singer of the a cappella group Cantus because of the loss of a loved one close to him and now shares his message and feelings with the rest of the world. The song starts off singing about a man named Cyrus Jones. He lived from 1810-1913 and made his grand-kids believe that 103 years was forever in the world of life. Later the song is sung about a woman named Muriel Stonewall and how she had to watch her kids be buried due to World War II. Finally a sings about little Mikey Carson who only lived for eight years. Now how do these people connect to each other? They all were about of this world and are now gone and no one knew of them. They are everyday people who lived everyday lives and each died at different points of their lives. So why was this song written I bet you are wondering? Well the purpose of this song is to explain that each live matters and even when death unleashes its vale that the impact of a person is still thought about. This song goes through three completely different stories and is able to convey the same message. The reason why I think this song has connected with me in an emotional way is because I don't feel that people appreciate how valuable life is until it's gone. The lyrics spoke to me in a way that most songs don't because of how dark they were, but they speak of an inevitable truth. All people will eventually pass and the road is different for everyone, but the impact each person leaves is immense.
I can't wait to perform this song with my octet and hopefully portray the message to people in a way that changes how they view music, and maybe even about their lives. "Grave digger, when you dig my grave, can you make it shallow so that I can feel the rain."
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Keep Breathing
"The storm is coming, but I don't mind...People are dying, I close my blinds...But all I can do is keep breathing."
These are the opening lyrics to the 2016 Happiness Inc. ballad. A little depressing don't you think? This person is obviously some sort of depressed and feels so lonely inside that the only thing she can focus on is breathing. What a sad life that would be if all you can do is think about not dying. That person isn't living their life, they are surviving it.
In a weird way however this song fits this group perfectly and I just figured out why. In a literal aspect this song can't relate at all because our group is not depressed and actually has nothing but fun, which is quite enjoyable. But in a figurative way this song, in one pair of glasses, can represent our group.
No doubt our group has had adversity this year. Whether it is our placing in competitions, the group chemistry, or outside complications. The one thing about when adversity strikes are that is shows what the group is really made of. Unfortunately our group hasn't bounced back with great effort. That's why we need to keep breathing. We have a month left of the season and our national competition creeping into our midst. Somehow we need to find a way to come together, become a team, and accomplish the ultimate goal that we want accomplished. It won't be easy, but if you as a reader have learned anything about my blog posts dating back to my football days, nothing in life is ever given to you easily.
As a group we decided to work on our amount of talking, as that got in the way of some of our success, and to really apply our full effort during practices. To many times this year we would show up, do the same routine, and leave. We wouldn't think anything of it. Now we have to buckle down and work. This is the biggest competition of our lives coming up and in order to be successful we need to keep our eyes on the prize and put our best valiant effort forward.
The idea of keep breathing is a connotation to our entire season. Our song is telling us to keep making strides forward and if we do our best success will happen. We may not win, we may not even make finals, but if we prepare to succeed the trip will be worth our time. All I can do is keep breathing...All we can do is keep breathing.
These are the opening lyrics to the 2016 Happiness Inc. ballad. A little depressing don't you think? This person is obviously some sort of depressed and feels so lonely inside that the only thing she can focus on is breathing. What a sad life that would be if all you can do is think about not dying. That person isn't living their life, they are surviving it.
In a weird way however this song fits this group perfectly and I just figured out why. In a literal aspect this song can't relate at all because our group is not depressed and actually has nothing but fun, which is quite enjoyable. But in a figurative way this song, in one pair of glasses, can represent our group.
No doubt our group has had adversity this year. Whether it is our placing in competitions, the group chemistry, or outside complications. The one thing about when adversity strikes are that is shows what the group is really made of. Unfortunately our group hasn't bounced back with great effort. That's why we need to keep breathing. We have a month left of the season and our national competition creeping into our midst. Somehow we need to find a way to come together, become a team, and accomplish the ultimate goal that we want accomplished. It won't be easy, but if you as a reader have learned anything about my blog posts dating back to my football days, nothing in life is ever given to you easily.
As a group we decided to work on our amount of talking, as that got in the way of some of our success, and to really apply our full effort during practices. To many times this year we would show up, do the same routine, and leave. We wouldn't think anything of it. Now we have to buckle down and work. This is the biggest competition of our lives coming up and in order to be successful we need to keep our eyes on the prize and put our best valiant effort forward.
The idea of keep breathing is a connotation to our entire season. Our song is telling us to keep making strides forward and if we do our best success will happen. We may not win, we may not even make finals, but if we prepare to succeed the trip will be worth our time. All I can do is keep breathing...All we can do is keep breathing.
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