Express Yourself

Note: I have duplicated this post on both John's World and John's Music World, as it relates not only to music, in this case Madonna's Express Yourself, but of my own personal view of the many protests that occurred yesterday.  After not paying any attention to politics for the last 8 years (I simply couldn't deal with all of the crap being said about Obama, as well as the unprecedented obstruction heaped upon him by Congress), I now find myself in the state of mind that I need to speak, and starting with this post, I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  

Madonna gave a live performance of this song yesterday, somewhere in D.C., where hundreds of thousands of people were practicing democracy and expressing themselves.  Though she's already been maligned for dropping a few f-bombs directed at our new President while speaking to the crowd, she was practicing the very fundamentals that Trump himself called for during his inauguration speech on Friday...

We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.

New York City

Madonna and those accompanying her in Washington were not the only ones practicing democracy yesterday.  In all, an estimated 4.6 million women and their allies demonstrated in approximately 670 cities not only here in the U.S., but across the globe (Reuters, politicususa).  People from all walks of life came out en force in places like Chicago (125K), Los Angeles (750K), New York (400K), Boston (250K), Denver (200K), Seattle, Austin, Atlanta, in cities across Asia, Europe, South America and Australia. The list goes on and on.  It was by far the largest protest of any kind in history.

Los Angeles 

Throughout the day the protests were pretty much ignored by Trump and his people.  It wasn't until this morning that he even mentioned it, of course on Twitter, and of course chiding one of his named groups of adversaries...celebrities:

Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly.

In his defense, though, Mr. Trump added a positive spin just a couple of hours later...

Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don't always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views.

Philadelphia

Now I could go on and on about how many of his supporters took to social media to express their dismay and oftentimes outrage over the protests, but that could take awhile.  All you have to do is look to see.  Just as the protesters did yesterday in expressing themselves, so too, do the maligners have the same right.  I just happen to disagree with their assertion that all of these millions of people are simply sore losers who are whining and pouting that they lost the election.  I like to think that I am one of them, even though I regrettably did not take part yesterday.

I accept, as do many of them have accepted, that Donald J. Trump is the President of the United States, and I want him to do well for all of our sakes, but we do have a right to be concerned.  With all that we have seen and heard, and no, not from the "evil" news media, but from the lips of Mr. Trump himself, time and time again, things do not look good.

Mr. Trump's own words have helped widen this divide that we've been slipping into for years now, and for him to stand there on Friday, in front of four former Presidents of both parties, to tell us that this country is full of "carnage" and needs to be fixed only the way he can fix it, to me took a lot of nerve.  His campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," implies that somehow we stopped being great.  I just don't believe that!  Just take a look at the following graphic:

10,183 replies13,712 retweets53,360 likes

Regardless of the source, these numbers represent truths.  I don't for the life of me see how they reflect an America that's not great.  Trump supporters like to say that now we're going to know how they felt for the last 8 years.  My question to them is, Do you have amnesia?  Look at the numbers from 2009, when President Obama first took office.  That was the culmination of a different 8 years, where two wars were fought, one under the pretext of the one of the biggest lies ever told, complete enrichment of the oligarchy (remember Halliburton?), and the worst economic times we've faced since the Great Depression.  It's funny that I never ever hear the name Bush come up in any conversation.  Make America Great Again?  Obama did that!

And now we have the promise of more division for at least the next four years as Trump and his largely unqualified collection of billionaires in his Cabinet will methodically dismantle all that Obama has done.  It has already begun with the push to repeal Obamacare.  Just like in the past, we believe that you voted against your own best interests and don't even know it.  That's what has been blatantly shocking about this whole thing. But that's just how we think and only time will tell. To all of you Trumpys out there, I sincerely hope I am wrong.  Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Trump will work to Keep America Great, but I, and the millions who marched yesterday, do have cause for concern.

Atlanta

Trump said on Friday that he was giving government back to the people.  Yesterday, the people spoke.  They used their voices like so many before them in the times of the Vietnam War and Civil Rights and they spoke.  Loudly.  If I could turn back time just one day, I would have been in New York City with my fellow concerned citizens.  I am proud of those who came out in solidarity and I am proud of them and this country, and for the next four years, we will be watching and expressing ourselves.

*Check out an impressive photo essay on the Women's Marches held throughout the world yesterday on NYTimes. 

A Special Song of the Day Post, with Commentary - Dear Mr. President - P!nk, with Indigo Girls

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me
Let's pretend, we're just two people and
You're not better than me
I'd like to ask you some questions if we could speak honestly

Well, after months and months we are finally here.  The day of reckoning!  This is undoubtedly one of the most momentous days in our 240 years of history, the world is watching, and the stakes couldn't be any higher.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray to at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

Today's song was written about another president who took office after another very contentious election season 16 years ago.  Back then, so many of us were angry.  We'd felt cheated and we feared for our future.  Unfortunately, those fears came to pass as 8 years of that poor choice brought us two wars, one plausibly acceptable, and the other completely unnecessary and based on lies.  Thousands of people lost their lives as those in the inner circles enriched themselves off of the misery of others. We tortured our enemies in questionable violation of international law.  Our economy was in shambles.  The housing market crashed.  Unemployment rates and the deficit soared as the stock market fell.  We all suffered...but we survived.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother hs no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me, in the eye, and tell me why?

It was 8 years ago now that we made history.  We'd finally said enough as a nation and brought the other party back into power.  A black man had been elected president.  Hope was at hand. Unfortunately, whatever popularity this new President brought to the office was despised by many, either because he was a black man or simply from the 'other side.'

His integrity was questioned and every attempt he made at progress was met with unprecedented obstruction, which remains to this very day as the Supreme Court's power has been unconstitutionally and unprecentendtedly checked by the branch of government still controlled by the former president's party. The supposed outrage that's been spun over the past 8 years truly boggles my mind, as the previous 8 years of absolute misery seem to be an aberration to those on the other side.  Perhaps there is a case of mass amnesia.

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
How can you say, 
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
As you pave the road to hell  

So now we have this...an anti-establishment billionaire vowing to "Make America Great Again." Does anyone out there really believe that we are no longer a great country?  Please look me in the eye, and tell me why.

Of course, our choice is minimal.  One out of two, well in reality four, people.  But that in itself is a problem we must overcome.  Yes, the establishment is crooked all over.  Both sides of the aisle work first towards their own personal gain before helping us, the little people.  It's been that way for a long, long time.  The United States of America has become the United Corporations of America, where special interests gain favor to our detriment.  Yes, we need an anti-establishment president.  This isn't the one, though.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father mght hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way, from whiskey and cocaine

The climate of our politics has been dividing us for too many years now.  Politicians tell outrageous lies simply for their own gain.  And we believe them, yet our lives never seem to change that much for the better, no matter what they say.  Right?

Today we all have a huge choice to make.  For seemingly all of us, the choice is clear.  Unfortunately, that choice isn't the same.  While I see it as the choice between a seasoned, yet admittedly flawed candidate and a misogynistic, inexperienced and impulsive bully, others actually believe that the bully would do us better.  Well in my eyes, that bully has cheated our country of thousands and thousands of dollars in taxes, gone bankrupt on quite a few occasions, and looks to divide us rather than unite us.  He doesn't deserve to be president.

Let me tell you about hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you about hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you about hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you about hard work, hard work, hard work
You don't know nothing about hard work

Yeah, those 8 years were terrible!  But they seem like nothing now compared to what could happen in the next 8.  It truly makes me sad...and a little scared, too.  Why do we spend so much time hating and being sheep rather than keeping informed, loving one another and really making the world and our country a better place?  We should all be on the same side.

I only hope that today we get it right and we make it better.  Maybe someday in the future we will find a true anti-establishment hero willing to lead us all into a brighter future.  Until then, we need to make the right choice, or the next time could be even worse.

Back to School Song of the Day - Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined

I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

This song has become somewhat of a tradition for me on the first day of school.  It's one of my favorite tunes for a lot of reasons, the best of which is that it is a call for a fresh start, one in which you live your life with arms wide open, feel the rain on your skin and release your inhibitions.  it's a great theme for a new school year, or just about any other time in one's life when they would like to begin anew and live a life full of hope, love and possibility.  

That picture above is from a few years back, after a teacher conference day in which our superintendent asked teachers to recognize some of their colleagues for their hard work and dedication to their profession.  Out of three teachers who received the honor, I was the only one of whom  not one, but three fellow teachers were inspired to nominate.  It was one of the proudest moments of my teaching career and one which I must keep in mind as I move on into this one, potentially one of the most difficult of school years for me, personally.

New York State has changed the laws concerning the education of English Language Learners in a big way, and though everyone is being affected by it, the consequences for me have turned out to be very difficult.  The law was at first applauded by ESL teachers everywhere, as our kids are finally getting some attention that has been badly missing for years and years.  However, I am sure I am not the only one who will begin to suffer for it as my workload has increased greatly, forcing me to squeeze even more out of my school day and on into my, um, free time.

Until this year I have always looked forward to the first day of school.  I get to see my kids again, craziness and all.  But for the very first time in my now 13-year teaching career, I am also dreading it. I am actually cross-posting this one on both John's Music World and John's World as this one's as much of a memoir as it is a Song of the Day.  

As goes with my life, I look for inspiration in music to get me through the tough times, and today's song will be very meaningful for me in getting through the day and the year.  For right now, I am going to let the sun illuminate the words that I cannot find and begin my book not with despair, but with hope.  Fingers crossed!

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines

We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you

Open up the dirty window

Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance

So close you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

No one else, no one else

Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live your life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten

Song of the Day - New Year's Day - U2

All is quiet, on New Year's Day

Yes!  

At the moment, it is the calm that comes after the storm has passed that has settled on my home. After having a house full of people for what turned out to be a really nice party last night, all are gone, and all is quiet.  Now comes the time to clean up, but I plan on taking my time doing so and taking it a little easy.  As with every New Year's Day, it is time to reflect back and look forward, all at the same time, and so I'll be spending a lot of time doing that today.  So in the meantime, I wish a Happy New Year to all!  Enjoy!

Song of the Day - Happy - Pharrell Williams

Just yesterday days ago I posted my choices for the Top Twenty Pop Songs of 2014, and this one landed at #10 (Katy Perry's Dark Horse was my fave!).  For today, though, I thought I'd post Billboard Magazine's pick for the best song of the year and this was it (Katy was #2!).  So celebrate this last day of 2014 by getting Happy...

John's World's Top 20 Pop Songs of 2014

At the end of each year, I like to look back at the music that's rocked my world throughout...and maybe some of these have rocked yours too.  Up until last year, I'd done this sort of post for Yahoo Voices, but since that's gone I'll just have to do it here, lol.  I'm going to preface this post by stating, as if you already didn't know, that my type of music is almost always dancey stuff.  On occasion I find things of other genres that I like, but it's rare.  So if you're looking for any type of rock or alternative stuff in my list of the best in pop for 2014, then you've come to the wrong place.

So herein take a look at John's World's Top 20 Pop Songs of 2014...

#20 - Rude - Magic!

Why you gotta be so rude?
Don't you know I'm human too?
Why you gotta be so rude?
I'm gonna marry her anyway

Okay, I know I already said not to expect anything alternative on this list, and here I go with the very first tune an alternative song.  What can I say?  Throughout the latter part of spring and into summer, the oh so catchy chorus of this one seemed to play out over and over in everyone's heads, including mine.  I posted it on June 11th and you can check it out here.



#19 - Timber - Pitbull and Ke$ha

One of the better collaborations of Pitbull's career features dance singer/songwriter Ke$ha.  This one's got an awesome hook and the track is lighthearted and fun.  Check out a recent Song of the Day post featuring Timber.

#18 - Jealous - Nick Jonas

Anyone who's been following this blog knows that I love Nick Jonas.  The man has come out in a big way this year (and I don't mean closets!), and all the while embracing his fans of the gay persuasion. This, so far, is the biggest hit of his newest eponymous album, and, um,, yeah!  Check out Jealous.



#17 - I - Kendrick Lamar

OMG, I absolutely LOVE this brand new one from R&B singer/rapper Kendrick Lamar.  I discovered it on Spotify only recently, and posted it as Song of the Day just a week and a half ago, and it's good enough to be one of the bestest songs of the year.  Smooth groove, smooth vocals...great vibe!  Check it out...



#16 - Riptide - Vance Joy

Another Spotify-discovered song that I absolutely LOVE!  It's by a relatively obscure Aussie singer Vance Joy and the words just make you want to sing along.  Check out this Song of the Day feature from October here.

#15 - Am I Wrong - Nico and Vinz

I just posted the other day that the feature for this Song of the Day back in July garnered the highest number of page views for the year 2014 under that tag. Check out the infectiously island-infused Am I Wrong.


directlyrics

#14 - Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars

I said it back on December 9th that this one was going to be a smash, and from what I'm seeing and hearing, it already is.  This high energy, Minneapolis-inspired funk is nothing but down home fun! Don't believe me just watch...



#13 - All of Me - John Legend

I admit that it took me a long time to get this one.  It is a ballad, after all...but there was one day at Cherry Grove over the summer when it came on and nearly everyone in the bar was singing along to every word and I didn't know it.  Well I know it now and I love it, especially the dance version! Check out the beautiful All of Me.

#12 - Rather Be - Clean Bandit, featuring Jess Glynne

Here's one my personal favorite tunes of 2014.  This one is so beautiful, so sweet, and so melodic that I just can't not listen all the way through whenever it's played.  If you don't know it, then you'd better check it out...



#11 - Fancy - Iggy Azalea, with Charli XCX

First things first, I'm the realist...

What a big year 2014 was for the Aussie rapstress (who's been taking a lot of b.s. from that other Azealia) Iggy Azalea, who first gained notoriety on Ariana Grande's smash Problem and then whipped it up on this funky, bassy jam.

#10 - Happy - Pharrell Williams

This oh so 'happy' tune finally brought some very well-deserved attention to a longstanding multi-talented artist Pharrell Williams.  This one is of a new breed of genre that's brought back some old feel good funk and was definitely a precursor to Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk.  Check out the Happy Song of the Day Post from February.



#9 - Royals - Lorde

Though this masterpiece from young New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde was released in 2013, it still got lots of airplay in 2014.  The Grammy winning Royals is one of those songs that comes along only once in a blue moon and is very deserving of a spot on the top ten tunes of 2014.

#8 - Talk Dirty - Jason DeRulo

Ooh, this was a fun one.  A little...no, a lot...on the explicit side, but it's got that R&B smooth swagger that's so fun to jam to.  Check out Talk Dirty.


#7 - Waves - Mr. Probz

My face above the water
My feet can't touch the ground
I can see the sands on the horizon
Every time, you are not around
And I'm slowly drifting...

The year 2014 saw a resurgence of chill/lounge music, and this one lead the way, growing in popularity throughout the year.  The Robin Schulz (who I've really come to love) remix is the one that you all know and it goes a lil something like this...



#6 - Problem - Ariana Grande, with Iggy Azalea

Now a year I ago, many of us never even heard of Ariana Grande, but after this one with the oh so appropriate in-your-face lyrics and the infectious dance track, she's become a huge part of the current pop music landscape.  Check out the Problem Song of the Day Post from May.

#5 - Take Me to Church - Hozier

Here's another song I only recently discovered from Irish indie singer Hozier.  The Grammy-nominated song is simply powerful and the video is equally so.  Check out this Song of the Day post of Take Me to Church.

#4 - All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor

One of the most iconic and popular songs of the year comes from newcomer Meghan Trainor and she had us all thinking about bass and treble in a whole new way.  Check out All About That Bass.

#3 - Sing - Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran was one of the most successful artists of the year 2014, and this is the one that was his springboard to success.  With the help of producer Rick Rubin, Sheeran recorded his second studio album, X, a compilation of twelve stellar tunes.  The album has earned the singer many accolades, nominations and fans, including me, and though I love the entire set, this one featuring Pharrell Williams has to be my favorite!




forbes

#2 - Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

This one is so irresistable it's got to be one of the catchiest and funnest songs of all time!  Check it out...

And the players gonna play play play play play 
And the haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate...



#1 - Dark Horse - Katy Perry, featuring Juicy J

All the while I was thinking about this post, I was sure that I was going to name Swift's tune the #1 Song of the Year, and then I remembered this one.  Katy Perry's Dark Horse came out in late 2013 and its title is very appropriate.  It wasn't originally aimed to be a single, but its perfect blend of thumpy beats, Juicy J's raps and mystical feel simply induced all who heard it to listen and listen and listen.  Oh, what a great song!  Take another listen...


So there you have it, my Top 20 Pop Songs for 2014.  I hope you've enjoyed reading and reliving some of the year's best music and please let me know down in the comments some of the songs that rocked your world in 2014.  Stay tuned for my annual countdown of the year's 30 best dance/club tunes coming soon!

Song of the Day - Never Been In Love - Cobra Starship with Icona Pop

Now here's a nice, happy pop tune brought to you by two acts that do nice happy pop tunes.  Yes, You Make Me Feel's Cobra Starship got together with I Love It's Icona Pop to make this little ditty that breeds familiarity via Fatboy Slim's Praise You.  The tune is so nice it makes me wonder how it never became a big hit.  Check it out and decide for yourself...

John's World Top Ten Song of the Day Posts for 2014

Well it's time to begin the countdown to the end of 2014 and it's time to start reflecting on the year that was.  As usual I've been reading a lot of top ten lists in music for the year in preparation for my own lists of the best in pop and dance music...

partyrebel

For the first time ever, I thought I'd try something new.  I'm always spending time looking at the stats of this blog and though the page views could be better, they're not too shabby.  Of course, one of the most popular types of posts I put on John's World are my Songs of the Day.  I've been faithfully posting daily songs for almost four full years now without missing too many days.  I know if you're reading this, then you've definitely checked some of them out along the way.

I thought it'd be fun to see which songs got the most page views this year.  I'm always a little surprised at which of my posts garner the greatest hits, and researching for this list confirmed my confusion.  Take a look below at the top ten Songs of the Day on John's World for 2014.  They're a mixture of new songs, Flashback Fridays, and others, and I have no idea how or why some of them made it...

#10 - All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor - 86 page views


audioaddictmag

One of the biggest new artists of the year was Meghan Trainor, who is still hot with her hip retro style mixed together with some very adult and very catchy lyrics.  This is the one that started it all, and so it's no surprise that this one landed within the top ten Songs of the Day.  Check out All About That Bass.

#9 - Mercy - Duffy - 88 page views

Back in February, I posted Duffy's Mercy as a Flashback Friday Song of the Day and for whatever reason, people clicked.


#7-8 (tie) L8 Cmmr - Lily Allen / By Your Side - Sade 90 page views

These two are very different from one another in terms of old and new, yet they both got exactly 90 page views this year.  The Sade post was made on June 4th, and it included some sappy sentimentality because that would have been Joe's and my 27th anniversary.  Perhaps my inner circle made some clicks for that reason.  As for Lily Allen, well this was a big year for her.  Early on in  , the year, she surprised a lot of people with a new album, Sheezus, and she got a lot of attention from me with plenty of posts.  L8 Cmmr is one of the funnest tunes on Sheezus and I'm not surprised this one worked. (A second posting of the song garnered another 23 hits, so perhaps this one could've been a little higher.)

#6 -  Hard Out Here - Lily Allen - 93 page views

The one that started it all this year for Lily earned a respectable number of hits here.  Love this one!


#5 - Stir It Up - Bob Marley- 98 page views

Bob Marley's classic reggae jam was posted as a Flashback Friday Song of the Day back in February.




#4 - Bucket List - Nelly Furtado - 99 page views

I posted this one back in October, not long after school had started. I used the idea from the song (and the movie) for a writing exercise with my students and I had it in my head that whole week.  Check it out right here.


#3 - Tell It to My Heart - Taylor Dayne - 103 page views

The second highest hit making Flashback Friday post of the year came from a Friday back in May.  Taylor Dayne's very first single, Tell It to My Heart, was indeed and awesome, and very dancey tune, and I'm not surprised at all by this one.


allaboutmadonna

#2 - Don't Tell Me - Madonna 123 page views

Madonna is probably the most talked about musical artist on this blog (along with P!nk!), and this countryish tuneoff her 2000 album, Music, got plenty of attention as a Flashback in January.


#1 - Am I Wrong - Nico & Vinz 263 page views

By far the most viewed Song of the Day post comes from Norwegian duo Nico  & Vinz with their tune infectiously smooth Am I Wrong.  Even though the song was a #1 hit here in the States, I was a bit surprised that this one did as well as it did.  Check it out...




So there you have it, the top ten Song of the Day posts o John's World for the year 2014.  And just in case you were wondering, here are some other tunes that just bubbled under the surface:

Never Gonna Leave Me - Sia - (78)

I Wanna Dance with Somebody - Whitney Houston (77)

Problem - Ariana Grande (76)

Just Girly Things - Dawin (66)

Holiday - Madonna (65)

Stay tuned for more as I wrap up the year 2014 with my top ten posts, top ten pop songs and albums of the year, and of course my top thirty dance/club tunes of the year...