Becoming Legendary

Everyone knows them. Those bands that are legendary. Their members, household names. Their music, anthems of a generation. Who are the legends? Unarguably, The Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, The Who.

Even today decades later, you'll be hard-up trying to find a person who can't sing a single Beatles song. Between Lennon and McCartney they wrote the greatest, most recognized yet diverse library of music in history. Because of the sheer volume and variety of music there are few people who cannot be touched by the music of the Beatles. From McCartney's "Yesterday" to "I Am the Walrus" the Beatles have something for everyone. They lead a revolution among musicians, where they may have lacked in musical complexity or deep lyrical meaning they raised the bar for performance, style and innovation.

As for Queen, they're songs "We Will Rock You" "We Are The Champions" and "Another One Bites The Dust" have become anthems that have transcended generations. Like the Beatles, Queen and especially Freddie Mercury raised the bar for stage performance. The Cult of Personality surrounding Freddie Mercury with his eccentric style and his eventual struggle for life has certainly been a deciding factor in Queen's legendary status. The lasting impact the late Freddie Mercury and his band have had on music is staggering; they really meant what they were saying in "The Show Must Go On."

The Rolling Stones have had a similar effect as the former two. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with their life-long dedication to deviancy (with songs questionably named "Brown Sugar") are synonymous with fame, excess and fortune in the world. The only thing that could have boosted their legendary status is if Keith Richards had died of a drug overdose 20 years ago. Then again its their (partially) intact band that has probably kept them in the spotlight over the years, where some bands peter out because of petty squabbles, deaths and break-ups the Rolling Stones have maintained a good relationship and a steady flow of fame.

Finally The Who, is definitely a legendary band. Enjoying worldwide fame The Who got us rocking with catchy, goofy songs like "Pinball Wizard" and they defined a generation in their song "My Generation." I think another good measure of their legendary status is tonight's Super Sunday (Don't wanna get sued, d:) Half-time Show in which they played their iconic songs "Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." With CSI being an avid advertiser of The Who in modern day America, they remain a household name, enjoying the status of legendary.

While there are more that could fit into the description of Legendary, and possibly even better. These are four examples of legendary bands. Using these bands as a model, with their accessibility, innovation, style, stage presence and personality, can we predict the legendary bands of the future? What bands that we listen to today, will be become immortal? A few bands are on their way.

U2 has a familiar sound, a unique personality and Bono is a household name. There are few people who don't own or know and enjoy U2's music. Though, there are some who would wager that U2 has reached its peak in fame, having been formed in the 70s, and that it's music is not accessible enough to the masses. They could go the Queen route, having less accessible music but a cult of personality surrounding the lead and a habit of extravagant stage performances. With continued success and nurturing of Bono's reputation U2 could become the next in a line of truly legendary bands.

Another band to keep your eye on is Muse. Straight out of Britain and relatively new, Muse is gaining popularity in the United States and the world with play-time in the Twilight movie. Its semi-unfortunate that their State-side fame comes from this source but it could have its ups. With young women who watched Twilight getting into Muse, they could enjoy some of the same fortune that lead the Beatles to legendary status, the sex appeal and the faint female fans. Muse is by far the most atypical candidate though. They are a truly innovative band and the have a complex but accessible sound. If Muse were to gain legendary status, it would be a glorious day in the Renaissance of Rock.

This is all I have the energy to write today, so I'll beg the question... What bands do you think will gain legendary status in the future, and what bands do you think already have?

Emmanuel Jal: Warchild

Its that time again. My [tentative] finale MMoM post. Well technically I've never done this before, as the last M stands for month, and I've just begun doing monthly musicians, so really its the first time. BUT NEVERMIND THAT! This is the [possible] finale, so we'll go back to the beginning. I started with his most recent single "We Fall" a shining example of his newer work. Then you heard his earliest single "Gua" a raw beat with heavy African influence. You also heard his little-known song "50 Cent" which is another shiny example of his new work. Finally, you'll hear one of his earlier break-out singles "Warchild." This song is less hip hop and more spoken word poetry. The words are chilling, the beat chaotic. The effect is obviously light years short of the transient (non-existent) peace and happiness experienced by a Sudanese child soldier, but Emmanuel Jal effectively disturbs and concerns listeners with this song."I believe I’ve survived for a reason … to tell my story to touch lives."

Emmanuel Jal- Warchild.


Aha, I'm kinda feeling this might not be the finale... I might squeeze another in tomorrow. There's so much I realized I've missed!

Off-topic Monday!

Today's blog is about... cats. They only like you for your warmth! Its true, for all their "affection" and "kindness" they only stick around if you're warm and cuddly like a teddy bear in the campfire. Did you ever hear about that psychic cat that lived in an old-folks home? Yeah, it apparently always sat on the beds of patients that were about to kick the bucket. What no one realized is that these people either had an extremely high fever or they were under a heat-blanket because they were wasting away. So the cat naturally gravitated towards the warmest possible place which happened to be the beds of folks looking towards greener pastures. Nothing Satanic or Demonic, just cold, calculating instinct and self-preservation. My cat sits on me, when I'm warm, but he'll lie on the rough metal heat duct over me any day of the week if the furnace is burning. Don't get me wrong, I love cats like I like painfully forced metaphors. But the reason is, I have great respect for their independence. They don't need love they just need a nice sun-beam, some litter, some nasty food and the occasional cracknip. Dogs have loyalty, but who cares, cats are the ultimate in self-serving survivers!

PS started the tentative final edition of my three blogs, the Deserted Diviner on which I posted a nice review about the movie "The Road." Readers will love how I completely missed the major points of the movie and took it at face value.

MMoM [24.01.10] + Let it be noted

That at this moment in time, I do not care about anything worldly or political. I'm too tired. My brain is shutting down. All I think of, if anything is frivolity. I feel like... 50 cent. Like I could glorify the ghetto. That is if I'd ever even been in the ghetto, much less experienced the gangster life. Anyway, this is my excuse to play this song by Emmanuel Jal. Its a shout out to 50 cent and like-minded rappers to change their ways. Its a condemnation of the modern hip hop scene and all that corporate stuff. Not that I care, as I said before. Really, its just a mildly catchy song, with no important meaning especially to me.

"50 Cent" Emmanuel Jal.

Girls Don't Like Space.

Its true. Girls don't like space. And I'm not talking emotional space, ones personal bubble. I'm talking outer space. The final frontier. Take a poll of all the women you know, chances are if they are under 30, 99% don't have any interest in space whatsoever. Female: space is boring, empty and space travel a pointless and unexciting endeavor. Now that's not to say that all men and boys love space, but the number of boys who grow up idolizing astronauts is markedly higher than the number of girls. What is it about the male psyche that draws them to outer space? A cold, inhospitable, desolate void where nothing can logically survive without mechanical life support (even this point is argued against by Star Trek. See, space whales). What is the appeal? Is it the science, or is it the adventure? Or some combination thereof? In the 1500s did the boys all rave about the New World, adventures and untold riches while the girls scoffed at them and played hopscotch? Who's to know? Of course, there are female astronauts, female space enthusiasts, it just seems they are quite rare, especially in this time of space stagnation. And truly my interest in space was only sparked after going to the Kennedy Space Center and seeing the Shuttle launch in the third grade. Somewhere along the way I forgot my dream of being an astronaut though. I could have been on my way to the moon or Mars, isolated from the bulk of humanity for years at a time. So yeah, there are some downs, but I can't see how you can't recognize the excitement of the adventure. The prospect of doing something completely new and untried. Of breaking the limits of human exploration and forging new and exciting goals. In the end, this post has nothing to do with gender, just a growing disinterest in space exploration in today's world. My friend wrote it much better; it sounds much less sexist than my own. Here it is: Classic Renaissance: The Space Age (Warning: May contain painfully forced metaphors and pedantic douchebaggery.)

Haiti: The Song

So, now that I'm doing Movement Musician of the Month I'll be doing little features on other non-MMoM artists, in between, because a month is a long time to wait if I find a cool song. So here's the first little mini-feature; "Haiti". This is a song by a Canadian Band called the Arcade Fire. This song was written by one of their vocalists, Régine Chassagne, as a tribute to her home-country Haiti. The song is upbeat, while Régines voice is haunting and beautiful in French. She sings about the regime of Duvalier who was responsible for the deaths of many in her home country and speaks of her lost relatives. Throughout the song little shreds of hope are offered, specifically when she sings about rebirth. But enough of my feeble interpretation, enjoy it for yourself, take your own meaning from it.


I feel like its worth it to post the lyrics hear.

Haïti, mon pays,
wounded mother I'll never see.
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.

Mes cousins jamais nés
hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n'arrete nos esprits.
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.

In the forest we lie hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.

Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.

Haïti, never free,
n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm

Power and Peace.

The hit single "Gua" by Emmanuel Jal, is a song that expresses his people's will be be independent, at peace and happy in their land. The word "gua" means peace in his native Nuer and power in Arabic. This song is not your average hip hop tune. It has strong African and tribal roots like much of his music. In this song, Emmanuel Jal speaks out for the freedom of his people, "my people will plant seed in the land."

Emmanuel Jal's song "Gua" has parallels to Haiti's situation. Haiti is an economically depressed nation much like Sudan. The people of both Sudan and Haiti suffer homelessness, poverty, and violence. They are forced out of work, unable to farm their land and displaced from their homes in times of disaster. The thing that is truly profound about the situation in Haiti is that when we open our eyes we realize how close we are to abject poverty, that the conditions that make Africa so impoverished exist on our own backstep. It seems the government blinds us to Haiti. Why? Because what would happen if we realized the extent of the poverty in Haiti, and did something about it? Would we then we would have the moral obligation to do something about the poverty in Africa as well?

With no further adieu, Gua.