Viva La Vida
Lately, my fourteen year old son has been asking me to listen to his favorite tunes. Often I am in the middle of something else when I hear him call from the computer.
"Mom, check out this song!"
Sometimes I am treated to the whole tune, sometimes to just a 30-second clip. Occasionally, he lip-syncs the entire thing, word for word, complete with facial expressions and the bonus dance move. At other moments, we just enjoy the music together, listening.
Enjoy. I really, really do. Almost every single song that he has asked to download or wanted to share with me, I have liked. And even if I don't think I'm going to like it at first, the darn song grows on me.
The other day, his English teacher assigned an interesting project which required him to choose lyrics from a song that he could identify with. Identify. That's big for an eighth grader, who seems to be all about identifying right now. Not to mention, there are a lot of songs from which to choose. He asked for help, and together, we poured over lyrics and tunes, and from his choices, and his reasons why (and why not) I was given an unexpected glimpse into an unexpected part of his heart.
Yes, he likes Linkin Park, but wouldn't pick any of their songs because they were a little "heavy." He likes Journey and almost chose "Don't Stop Believing" (some songs are timeless!) but Fleetwood Mac was a big NO THANK YOU! His first choice was "Heart of a Champion," by Nelly, but since it had a swear word in it, he was not allowed to use it for a school project. Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" was also in the running, but in the end, he picked "Crazy," by Gnarls Barkley. Crazy. With words like, "I remember when I lost my mind,"and "Who do you think you are? Even your emotions had an echo," I was thrown back into junior high myself for a moment. I understood why he chose the song, and I loved reading the words with him. He told me why he liked the verses, the music, the artists. So now, when I am cooking dinner or watching TV and I hear him call, "Mom, check out this song," I go. I check it out. The song, and my son.
Today, when I was in the car, my XM radio was tuned to "Top 20 on 20." (Obviously, the kids had been with me last, since it was not tuned to Fox News anymore!) Suddenly, a very beautiful violin began playing, quite loudly, an introduction to a song. I knew the song. I had heard it before. At first, I couldn't place it. I couldn't identify. But suddenly, it came to me—it was a Jono song. "Viva La Vida," I thought to myself. Coldplay. The darn thing stuck with me. And I drove around in the rain just so I could hear the whole thing.
"Mom, check out this song!"
Sometimes I am treated to the whole tune, sometimes to just a 30-second clip. Occasionally, he lip-syncs the entire thing, word for word, complete with facial expressions and the bonus dance move. At other moments, we just enjoy the music together, listening.
Enjoy. I really, really do. Almost every single song that he has asked to download or wanted to share with me, I have liked. And even if I don't think I'm going to like it at first, the darn song grows on me.
The other day, his English teacher assigned an interesting project which required him to choose lyrics from a song that he could identify with. Identify. That's big for an eighth grader, who seems to be all about identifying right now. Not to mention, there are a lot of songs from which to choose. He asked for help, and together, we poured over lyrics and tunes, and from his choices, and his reasons why (and why not) I was given an unexpected glimpse into an unexpected part of his heart.
Yes, he likes Linkin Park, but wouldn't pick any of their songs because they were a little "heavy." He likes Journey and almost chose "Don't Stop Believing" (some songs are timeless!) but Fleetwood Mac was a big NO THANK YOU! His first choice was "Heart of a Champion," by Nelly, but since it had a swear word in it, he was not allowed to use it for a school project. Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" was also in the running, but in the end, he picked "Crazy," by Gnarls Barkley. Crazy. With words like, "I remember when I lost my mind,"and "Who do you think you are? Even your emotions had an echo," I was thrown back into junior high myself for a moment. I understood why he chose the song, and I loved reading the words with him. He told me why he liked the verses, the music, the artists. So now, when I am cooking dinner or watching TV and I hear him call, "Mom, check out this song," I go. I check it out. The song, and my son.
Today, when I was in the car, my XM radio was tuned to "Top 20 on 20." (Obviously, the kids had been with me last, since it was not tuned to Fox News anymore!) Suddenly, a very beautiful violin began playing, quite loudly, an introduction to a song. I knew the song. I had heard it before. At first, I couldn't place it. I couldn't identify. But suddenly, it came to me—it was a Jono song. "Viva La Vida," I thought to myself. Coldplay. The darn thing stuck with me. And I drove around in the rain just so I could hear the whole thing.
I can totally see how he might have almost picked "Don't Stop Believing" as a song he identifies with. For one, he's a city boy - born and raised in South Detroit. Also, I know he likes to take midnight trains to pretty much anywhere...!
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i know. it was totally right on. i was like, that is SO YOU.
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I've been spending time today looking up blogs about music, and in my search for Coldplay I came across this entry of yours. I read through it all, although it was not about Coldplay. I think it's great that you helped your kid with such a cool project, and it's great that you got introduced to "Viva La Vida." If you haven't taken the time yet to listen to the whole album (of the same title, Viva La Vida) you REALLY should! It is one of my favorite albums, ever. ...and I think it's Coldplay's best album, by far. I particularly like the songs "Strawberry Swing" "42" and "Death and All His Friends." The lyrics to the last song I mentioned ("Death...") are really powerful...spiritual.
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