Oh, Whitney. Where to start? I still can’t even process this.
I cannot tell you how sad I am about Whitney Houston’s death. This is a woman whose voice I’ve worshipped all my life. I’ve idolized her since I was three. I remember joining a singing contest in school when I was in elementary just so I could sing I Wanna Dance With Somebody, not even because I wanted to win. Whenever someone would question her vocal prowess, I would always protest so heavily because to me, there was no one better among her and her contemporaries. She was always the best to me.
When I would watch her sing when she was obviously high or drunk, it amazed me how she could still pull it off and sing better than sober people trying their darnest. It was just pure talent. But then she eventually lost the beauty of her voice to drugs. It broke my heart. I watched her perform a song from her last album on the American Idol stage, a show I don’t even watch, and when I didn’t hear her treasure of a voice come out, it made me so sad that I didn’t even finish watching the performance. Drugs. Damn.
It’s so sad, the things that led to her death. She will now be another reminder of how dangerous substance abuse is and another immense talent lost to drugs. She was so blessed and I just wish she saw that, enough of that, at least, just so she would have found it in herself to stop. Maybe then we would’ve heard even just a little more of that amazing voice that no one, no one in the industry can match. Now or ever.
Rest in peace, queen Whitney. You were loved and will be greatly missed.
Thank you for the music.
*****
I’ll end this post with one of Whitney’s best, because this is how she should be remembered.
Such a beautiful voice. Oh, my heart.
“To me, music and love are the same things, really.” -Whitney Houston
I promise this has nothing to do with the fact that it’s from The Hunger Games soundtrack. (Although that doesn’t hurt either)
There’s just something so beautifully haunting about The Civil Wars when they do songs like this. Granted, I am a new fan, but I have obsessively listened to Barton Hollow over the past few days so I could probably make a respectably informed assessment of my own. Their harmony is so perfect, I got chills the first time I got to really hear it for what it is. My newfound love for them shall be for another blog post though.
On to the song. Taylor Swift’s presence kinda threw me off for a bit but I gave the song a chance. Upon hearing the song, I have to admit that she sounds nice enough in this. Maybe folk is the way for her to go, and not the country pop crap she’s currently making.
The melody of this song is such a homerun. I really think the melody itself may just be what safe and sound actually sounds like when you feel like you’re held up in a corner. It’s something you’d wanna listen to when you need to feel that way. Another thing I love about this song is that it’s not over-produced. It’s beautiful in its simplicity. A guitar, a healthy sprinkling of percussion, and then some, are all this song needed to make it work since the harmonies are in itself already giving the ears so much.
The real merit of the song though, is in its words. If Taylor Swift had a hand in writing this, which I’m positive she does, then I have no idea why she’s wasting her talent and her time writing like she was a painfully naive twelve year old who has no idea what really happened in the story of Romeo and Juliet. This is the kind of music she should’ve been writing all along. As for The Civil Wars… I can only sigh at their utter musical flawlessness.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 37 trips to carry that many people.
This year was eventful, to say the least. It was my last year in college, in the org that I so loved, and in the comfort of my insane UP campus. This year was a year of love lost, then found. It was a year of discovering things about myself, most of which surprised me. This was a year of promises broken, and new ones made. Mostly, it was a roller coaster of emotions – sky high, then to the lowest of lows.
It was a good year overall, though. The good times more than made up for all the bad, thanks to the people that I love. I’ve realized that I’ve been blessed with wonderful friends, the kind who don’t forget about your friendship even if you don’t see each other as much as you’d like. I have friends who know how to have a good time but also know how to deal with me when I’m sad or angry or just being difficult, and I’m more than happy to be able to do the same for them. I realized too, that I’d rather have a few very close friends than a lot of so-called friends around me. Also, as much as I value building relationships with a lot of people, I figured I also need to take some time to strengthen those that I already have because I find that I already have such wonderful people around me and all I really need to do is call.
This was also a year that I was able to appreciate more how lovely my family is. I love my family and I think they’re all wonderful, but sometimes, familiarity gets the better of us and we forget to take a step back to just look at how beautiful everything around us is, especially those that we’re so used to having around us all the time. I’m grateful I got to do that this year and remind myself how extremely blessed I am to have this family by my side.
Love was lost this year but love was also found. Heartbreak coincided with my thesis and it was just the perfect recipe for a train wreck but I held my head above water thanks to the people around me. I dated around for a while after that and I had fun. However, along the way, I found something that I wasn’t expecting to find so soon. I’m not one to dangle my life (especially my love life) in front of everybody so I will just say this: I’m very happy. It’s not everyday that you find someone who’s a wonderful friend, thinks the world of you, and makes you feel like smiling all the way to bed everyday. Most people dream of this at night and I actually get to have it. Granted, its not perfect, but nothing ever is. I’m still waiting to see how and where it goes since it hasn’t been here for long but I’m praying hard and crossing my fingers for this one.
This was also a year of good music. I’ve found a lot of good music and have found a lot of things to inspire me to write music. I’ve been going to more live gigs as I promised myself last year and I’ve had a lot of time to write. Most of it is still blah but I think I’ll get back that spark soon, I just have to work on it. Still looking for people to collaborate with but I think that will come. Patience, Grace.
A lot of changes happened this year, too. As I said in a previous blog post, I’ve moved from Mandaluyong to Laguna and with that comes a lot of changes and new responsibilities. This has taught me, and is still teaching me a lot. We’ll see how I do very soon.
I’m glad to say that I went back to being more spontaneous this year. The hesitation that came along with my decisions that I’ve built up in the past year slowly went away again. I find that I’m happier when I get to have those moments where I can just do something crazy or fun or random, just because. It makes me feel like I’m really living. So glad I got to have that back.
Overall this year was lovely. The low points taught me things and the high points made me appreciate what I have. So thank you, 2011.
Bring on the funk, 2012! I’m ready for you.
*****
Current song in my head: After An Afternoon (Jason Mraz)
My awesome parents got me and my siblings the best gift ever this Christmas. Meet the new member of our family, and the new love of my life, baby Charlie Brown.
We got him last Thursday. He’s the most adorable little toy poodle and he’s been such a good boy, too.
That’s how he first slept in his bed, hiding under the cushion. Heehee.
He gave us a big health scare yesterday but he’s better now. Still a little sick and weak, but he’s getting better.
So here’s to hoping my baby gets better, and soon, so I can give him some more lovin.
Thanks, mom and dad! You guys are the best ever!
*****
Current song in my head: Man of the Hour (Norah Jones)
