Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Time is Running Out - Muse
I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
The Way We Get By - Spoon
It’s official! Your girl is in university! Ryerson University, to be exact.
I haven’t had as much time to work on the blog lately because I’ve been so busy going to classes and working on my assignments, like a good student. But, I have been going to gigs every weekend, and let me tell you, it is everything I ever wished it would be!
Though I would be remiss not to mention how difficult being an adult actually is. Even with a student loan, because I don’t have any family support, I’m mostly just scraping by. We eat a lot of spaghetti these days…
Thankfully (for me, anyway), Lucy is my roommate! I won’t go into the whole story, because it’s sort of horrifying, but she decided to stick it to the man and go to university in Toronto with me. It’s a relief having someone I love by my side as we try out this adulthood thing together. Not to mention having help on the rent. The apartment is a tin can, but it still costs an arm and a leg.
I haven’t told many people this, but the night I saw Jim & Jules downtown, I was given a business card by a man who claimed to be a talent agent, and he told me I should model. I haven’t been exactly sure what to do with it, because I’ve never seen myself as a model, really. The goal has always been to be a music journalist, but the bills aren’t exactly being paid right now, and Lucy thinks I should give it a try. The thing is, I’m so nervous. What if people don’t like me? What if they laugh in my face?
I’m trying so hard to just stick through it and finish the plan of going to school and getting a job, but sometimes I worry about what’s going to happen to me if I don’t make it. I don’t have anywhere to fall back. I don’t have parents. I don’t have family, really, so whatever happens in the life ahead of me, that’s kind of it.
If I don’t get a job right out of university, I don’t really know what I’ll do to survive. I’d love to not have to keep eating mustard sandwiches for lunch because I can’t afford anything else. I’d love to be able to afford a Frappucino every once in a while.
Anyway, enough about me, let’s get on to the music (they screamed as they pulled out the hook!).
Of course, I’m gonna start out with Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I honestly think this might be the song of the year for me, maybe even the song of my youth! (I’m calling it now). That drum beat combined with Karen O’s longing tone as she sings about boyfriend Angus Andrew (of Australian group Liars)...
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you
I read on a message board that someone thought the title MAPS actually stands for My Angus Please Stay, which breaks my heart a little. It’s technically a love song, but isn’t it sad? I kind of feel that emotion in my gut, like the way I love is so much harder than the way other people love, and the way they love me just isn’t the same. Karen O, you’ve done it again. If you haven’t seen the music video, you should.
Back to the Brits, we’ve got Time is Running Out by Muse. Ugh, how I love this band, and this song. Muse is theatrical and almost classical in their compositions, and I’m always surprised by how deep their songs feel musically. This track isn’t out in North America, yet, but it’s burning up the UK charts, which you know I monitor religiously. This song’s gonna be big over here, too, I can feel it.
Lucy and I can’t afford cable yet, but we’ve been watching this new show called The O.C. at a school watch party, and we’re a little bit obsessed. It’s a moody series about a poor kid from Chino, California in a rich person’s Newport Beach, which reminds me a bit of how I spent my summer. The music so far is top-notch, and I’ve been jotting down nearly every song they feature. The opening credits track is California by Phantom Planet, and it’s perfect.
This brings me to The Way We Get By by Spoon, which is so minimal but so catchy. If you haven’t added this one to your playlists yet, you’re going to want to. I can see it being featured in commercials.
Okay, I’ve got time for one more song before I have to get back to my homework for class tomorrow. This one’s a little more mainstream than usual, but I am just loving Brit-pop band The Darkness’s hit I Believe in a Thing Called Love. The vibe is almost seventies in feel, which is a cool sound to mix in this pop-punk era. Lead singer Justin Hawkins carries those long locks reminiscent of hair bands, and his range is ridiculous.
I caught this film the other day called Lost in Translation by Sophia Coppola. I loved her debut, The Virgin Suicides, and this was another great movie, in my opinion. She really knows how to capture the unique heartache that is being a woman.
I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started this blog. Thanks so much to each of you for staying with me and telling me all about your favourite music. I hope to have brought you some joy in these darker days as winter descends, and I have a feeling the music is only going to get better.
Happy Halloween!
P.S. Want to read them all? Sign Up to the mailing list and get a PDF of XOXO Chuck!
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