Monday’s #MorningMusic Wrap-Up – September 14 – 20, 2015

September 14th

You should give me a chance
This can’t be the end
I’m still loving you

from “Still Loving You” by Scorpions

While I love Bon Jovi and their ballads, as well as many others out there, Still Loving You ranks as my number one metal ballad.  Klaus Meine’s got a great voice and he pours all his angst into his pleading vocals, professing his undying love.

The video is from the Acoustica performance in Portugal.  I enjoy the sound of this version, but it doesn’t have quite the same impact without the soaring vocals Klaus has in the original version.

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September 15th

We have a love that’s strong and true
It’s true in every way
I want to be with you
Each and every day

from “Happy” by Surface

Oh yeah! This was the jam back in the day.  Surface made quite a living on their love songs.

Watch “Happy” on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIC6MHLaZLs

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September 16th

Do you see what I see
A rainbow shining over us
In the middle of a hopeless storm

from “I’m Free” by Jon Secada

Jon Secada has a great voice and this is a great song.  Such a powerful message.  When things look bleak, look for the positives, the signs that things will get better.

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September 18th

Got fire in your veins, burning hot
but you don’t feel the pain
Your desire is insane, you can’t stop
until you do it again

from “Urgent” by Foreigner

Great energy in this song.  It conveys the need, the hunger, the…urgency.

Watch “Urgent” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FHnNIoNUZig

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Music Monday – Non-standard Scorpions

I very much like the Scorpions music.  They’ve been around for a long time and made some great music, with lots of driving bass, pounding drums, screeching guitars, and soaring vocals.  And while their mainstay has been the hard rockin’ sound, they’ve also played some quite lovely ballads and socially conscious lyrics.  The two songs on this Music Monday are departures from that sound, but still incredible.

Where the River Flows
(released 1996; peaked #97 Germany)

I still keep coming here
To that old river
To find my roots just where
The future lives forever

You find me, you find me
You find me by the river
You find me, you find me
You find me, you can find me

By the river
Where dreams will never die
And by the river
Under suburban skies

And by the river
Where dreams have never died
By the river
I look through children’s eyes

The hard rockers jamming on a folksy sounding tune.

Still Loving You
(released 2001 as part of the Acoustica live album – not as a single)

Try, baby, try to trust in my love again
I will be there, I will be there
Love, our love just shouldn’t be thrown away
I will be there, I will be there

If we’d go again, all the way from the start
I would try to change the things that killed our love
Your pride has built a wall, so strong that I can’t get through
Is there really no chance to start once again?

If we’d go again, all the way from the start
I would try to change the things that killed our love
Yes, I’ve hurt your pride, and I know what you’ve been through
You should give me a chance, this can’t be the end

I’m still loving you

This has always been my favorite song by the Scorpions and this version gives me chills.  Fantastic!

Music Monday – Getting Away

Coming back off vacation, also known as holiday in some places, this threesome of songs are about getting away.  So let’s get to it…

Get Away by Bobby Brown

(released 1993; peaked #14 US Hot 100, #3 US R&B, #3 US Dance)

I need a piece of mind, I’m stressed out today
It’s about that time to make that get away
Dealin’ with the people I deal with everyday
Got to find a place I can hide away

This is about as bad as it gets for a Bobby Brown song that got airplay, but at least it’s danceable.  There’s very little to the lyrics and the rap part is simply crap, but this album came out at that time when just about every song hitting the airwaves “had” to include a rap bit.  This is definitely dredging the bottom, but the spirit of the song certainly fit the mood of getting away for a vacation.

Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz

(released 1999; peaked #12 US Hot 100, #1 US Alternative, #1 US Hot Mainstream Rock, #1 UK Singles)

I’d fly above the trees
Over the seas in all degrees
To anywhere I please

Oh I want to get away
I want to fly away
Yeah yeah yeah

The 1999 Grammy winner for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, this song is big on sound and attitude, but short on lyrics.  It works in this case, as this song’s sound will pick you up and rock you away.

Holiday by Scorpions

(released 1979 on the album ‘Lovedrive‘)

Let me take you far away
You’d like a holiday
Let me take you far away
You’d like a holiday

Exchange the cold days for the sun
A good time and fun
Let me take you far away
You’d like a holiday

The German metal band, Scorpions, have been rocking crowds for generations with anthems like Rock you Like A Hurricane, Big City Lights, No One Like You, and power ballads like Still Loving You, Winds of Change, and the one featured here, Holiday.

Music Monday – Ridin’ the storm out

This week was going to be Halloween focused with some Alice Cooper feeding his Frankenstein and Monster Mashes and such, but with Sandy bearing down on the Atlantic coast, I’ve changed themes.

We’re talking about storms now…

The wind outside is frightening,
But it’s kinder than the lightning…

On the back side of Sandy now, we’re joining REO Speedwagon in “Ridin’ The Storm Out”.

We’ve got a low pressure system and a northeast breeze
We’ve got a falling barometer and rising seas
We’ve got the cumulonimbus and a possible gale
We’ve got a force nine blowing on the Beaufort scale

I know there are folks out there who actually got hurricane strength winds from Sandy, but as far as I can tell, we didn’t really get much more than the force nine Billy Joel mentioned in “Storm Front“, the title track off his album from 1989.

 

It’s early morning
The sun comes out
Last night was shaking
And pretty loud

And, of course, this Scorps classic had to be here.