The Useless Critic 2.0

I doubt most people will truly ever know the songs, if any, we associate with them.

Not really sure what this song is about. If there's a point at all? At first I thought it was simply just an expression of missing someone who is far away and be willing to take a "big jet plane" to see them...but after intently listening to the lyrics, I feel like it could be something else. Nevertheless, that's what it means to me. It's also good to listen to before travelling by air.

This song is a bit of a departure for me. The reason I chose it? Because of the history I have wrapped up with it! Growing up, when this song hit the scene, my best friend and I began our own mini-obsession with Cher. Why? We were a ten year old girl and boy in the late 90s. UM, BECAUSE WE FOUND IT HILARIOUS? I DON'T NEED YOU ANYMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooo I DON'T NEED YOU anymoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I even successfully convinced people she was my religion of choice for a while.

I have met a few people in my life that meet these qualifications. sincerely grateful for all of them. sorry I've been slacking. allergies have been kicking my ass, ever since I came back.

It was surprising that Lykke managed to pull together such a beautiful song for such a crap film. So tell me when you hear my heart stop,  You’re the only who knows  Tell me when you hear my silence There’s a possibility  I wouldn’t know  I just saw Breaking Dawn , which is why I chose this song. And also it's simply one of my favorites by her, because it's very heartfelt, very bleak and very honest. Anyway though, can I tell you how SURPRISINGLY DECENT that film is? like ohmygod IT TAKES THAT SERIES FOREVER to get anywhere but they finally got somewhere! also I didn't see Eclipse , is that wrong? whatever I stopped following Harry Potter ages ago too.  the last Twilight film I saw was New Moon , which this song was showcased in it. And if I remember correctly, there's this great scene where Kristin Stewart has a major breakdown to this song. which is kind of where I am right now, so it speaks to me. she just sits in front of a window, sobs, listens t...

This is by far my favorite Flo song for the record. It crept up on me and swept me away, so gigantic and epic and over-the-top. It's hard for me to still hear it and not be a little blown away!  And in the dark,  I can hear your heartbeat, I try to find the sound,  But then it stopped,  And I was in the darkness,  So darkness I became. Let's GET IN A TIME MACHINE NOW. And let's step back to a few years ago, when this album came out, when I was falling in love with it/Flo/legs/redheads and falling in love really in general. This song defined that for me, that brief and a little joyous stitch of time. In a way, it was totally innocent. Almost the last of that kind of innocence for me....while I don't claim to be some impure Mae West-esque whore smoking on the side of the road, my mind and heart became clouded in later years. "Cosmic Love" was right at the brink of where this transformation took place. I remember sitting in poetry class and having this s...

Yes it's back! Lately things have been so traumatic that I just haven't had the energy nor guidance to do this. Those days, though, have come to a needed end. This song has lost the charming novelty since I first heard it. A bouncy, happy tune about the euphoria of really being in love. Really  being in love. And because you are that in love, being with the object of your affection is just as good as having a real, physical home. Having a home is an absolute necessity. Trust me, after a week of finding myself on the metaphorical skids, ugh. It's not something I'd really wish upon my worst enemy (James Franco). Moats & boats & waterfalls, alley ways & pay phone calls I’ve been everywhere with you That’s true We laugh until we think we’ll die, barefoot on a summer night Nothin’ new is sweeter than with you And in the sticks we’re running free like it’s only you and me Geez, you’re something to see. Another reason this song will always stick out to...

Because of it being Sunday, I decided to pick this song, which is about a crisis of faith most people with any spiritual direction end up having. I don't think of it as a very religious song; rather I just think of it as a philosophical question, materialized by the figure of "Jesus." You believe what you want and so will I; I have no patience for the people that push their viewpoints on anyone in any sort of fashion, be it from diets to technology to books to read.  So get down to it, I do believe in a higher power of an abstract form. I wouldn't call myself religious as I would spiritual. I try to attend this church run by monks I found once a week and there I sort of just meditate. A lot has happened this past year and I find some degree of solace there.  and all night long i sat with you in a darkened hospital room and nurses checked in by the hour I was made aware of a higher power and how this fragile life we live is not ours to keep but ours to give what ...

Do you remember all the city lights on the water? You saw me start to believe for the first time When I returned from Sweden, I stayed with my sister a few days. I don't know why this is a vivid memory; there's no real reason for it to be. Perhaps it was some strange cultural adjustment? Nevertheless, I remember chilling in her comfortable family room when my most brilliant friend, Wenli, sent me this new song to enjoy. I was a relatively new Taylor Swift fan then. THEN. then this happened: I was hooked. I just remember, lying on my stomach in my sister's living room, listening to this song on repeat. And I was so bummed about leaving Sweden, but this quainty, almost Springsteen or Bon Jovi take on MAKIN' IT (almost, I stress almost, although I love TayTay) etched a joyful hole in my heart. like- things won't be SO bad.  the whole song paints this picture of some very foolhardy young couple falling in love and moving along quickly together. but it's sweet- ...

In a matter of time, it would slip from my mind. Time heals most wounds. MOST. Some we still carry for quite a long time. I think all of us have ample evidence to that claim. I mean, up until this year, I was so haunted by the past that I'd have daily flare-ups of brutal anxiety over things from years ago! But now everything is happening so fast I have no time for that and my anxiety is waitlisted for the present. OH, IF ONLY YOU KNEW, READER.  then there's the disintegration of other things. "you want moooooooore..." she sort of moans. we can only be so much to people and sometimes we are certainly not what they want us to be, what role we need to fulfill, etc. but you can't bend who you are to please people, because you won't survive. believe me, I know.  hence, this song, which I'm half-tempted to have a weird Harold and Maude -esque picnic to someday. question:  Does time heal all wounds or do we just forget about them and block it out?

Today required a lot of thought. I finally came to a decision, though, falling back on the song I've had stuck in my head for the past... month. And with good reason, as you should PLEASE listen, the French do it all better: I honestly feel this is one of the most beautiful love songs of the past 15 years. It's just very genuine and heartfelt, which are qualities I feel can be lost in most love songs anymore, under some gloss of fake sentiment. I mean- isn't that what love should be, laying your head down? I met Keren Ann last summer. I think she may have been high but either/or it was one apathetic transaction!  It seems like every story told about us isn't meant to be You fly on wings of gold all the way back home to me But what I'm thinking of just this time Why don't you lay your head down in my arms, in my arms Lay your head down in my arms, in my arms You know my love this is no dream of mine But the way you ride those waves makes me want to ...

I've decided to spend the rest of November making 30 posts about songs that mean a lot to me or have a special place in my heart. this is partially in response to a writing challenge directed to me by my frans Ryan and Jeffrey. I could do poetry, but no. Poetry takes too much from me now. Sometimes I do it, but like recreational drugs, it's something I tip my toes in selectively. And prose! WELL THAT'S GOT A WHOLE LOT GOING ON THERE, SON.  So let me start with "England" by the National, which has become the anthem to 2011 in my head.   When I first heard this song, I wasn't such a fan. I don't recall why. I guess I just wrote it off as "boring." But then it kept coming up again and again and AGAIN. And again! I think I really started listening to this song once I got to New York, although it's arguable I heard it before then and nodded and said something to myself like "oh, that's pretty."  It's not just prett...