Friday, August 15, 2014

Top 20 Songs Aspies May Relate To

Being Asperger or anywhere else within the Autism spectrum often means feeling like an outsider or misunderstood, and maybe spending more energy and care than most in social interactions. However, it also means a certain kind of brilliance, clarity, focus and intensity. These are my top 20 songs Aspies, or anyone in the Autism spectrum, may relate to...


1. I Am a Rock - Simon & Garfunkel

A winter's day in a deep and dark December;
I am alone, gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I've built walls, a fortress deep and mighty,

That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I don't talk of love, but I've heard the words before;

It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock, I am an island.

I have my books and my poetry to protect me;

I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock, I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.




2. Let me Be - The Turtles

Please don't mistake me or try to make me
The shadow of anybody else
I ain't the him or her you think I am
I'm just trying hard to be myself
Oh, society's goal is to be part of the whole
That may sound good to you, not to me

Let me be, let me be to think like I want to

Let me be, let me be, that's all I ask of you
I am what I am and that's all I ever can be

Don't try to plan me or understand me

I can't stand to be understood
I could never give in to or ever live up to
Being like you think I should
I've got some inner need which I'm tryin' to heed
I can't take hand-me-down destiny

Don't try to change me or rearrange me

To satisfy the selfishness of you
I'm not a piece of clay to mold to your moves each day
And I'm not a pawn to be told how to move
I'm sorry I'm not the fool you thought would play by your rules
But to-each-his-own philosophy



3. Fucking Perfect - P!nk

Made a wrong turn once or twice
Dug my way out, blood and fire
Bad decisions, that's alright
Welcome to my silly life

Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood

Miss 'No way, it's all good'
It didn't slow me down.
Mistaken, always second guessing
Underestimated, look I'm still around

Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel

Like you're less than fucking perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you're fucking perfect to me

You're so mean when you talk about yourself. You were wrong.

Change the voices in your head
Make them like you instead.

So complicated, look how we all make it.

Filled with so much hatred such a tired game
It's enough, I've done all I could think of
Chased down all my demons 
I've seen you do the same




4. Welcome to my Life - Simple Plan

Do you ever feel like breaking down?
Do you ever feel out of place,
Like somehow you just don't belong
And no one understands you?
Do you ever wanna run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room
With the radio on turned up so loud
That no one hears you're screaming?

No, you don't know what it's like
When nothing feels all right
You don't know what it's like
To be like me

To be hurt, to feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one's there to save you
No, you don't know what it's like
Welcome to my life




5. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known. 
Don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone
I'm walking down the line that divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line of the edge and where I walk alone
Read between the lines, what's fucked up and everything's alright
Check my vital signs to know I'm still alive and I walk alone




6. Hey You - Pink Floyd

Hey you! Out there in the cold 
Getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me? 
Hey you! Standing in the aisles 
With itchy feet and fading smiles, can you feel me? 
Hey you! don't help them to bury the light 
Don't give in without a fight. 

Hey you! Out there on your own 

Sitting naked by the phone, would you touch me? 
Hey you! With your ear against the wall 
Waiting for someone to call out, would you touch me? 
Hey you! would you help me to carry the stone 
Open your heart, I'm coming home 

But it was only a fantasy 

The wall was too high as you can see 
No matter how he tried he could not break free 
And the worms ate into his brain. 

Hey you! Out there on the road 

Always doing what you're told, can you help me? 
Hey you! Out there beyond the wall 
Breaking bottles in the hall, can you help me? 
Hey you! Don't tell me there's no hope at all 
Together we stand, divided we fall.





7. Christmas - The Who

Did you ever see the faces of children
They get so excited.
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter sun's ignited.
They believe in dreams and all they mean
Including heavens generosity.
Peeping round the door to see what parcels are for free
In curiosity.

And Tommy doesn't know what day it is.

Doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is.
How can he be saved from the eternal grave?

Surrounded by his friends he sits so silently,

And unaware of everything.
Playing poxy pinball, 
Picks his nose and smiles and
Pokes his tongue at everything.
I believe in love
But how can men who've never seen light be enlightened.
Only if he's cured, will his spirits future level ever heighten.




8. Paranoid - Black Sabbath

Finished with my woman 
'Cause she couldn't help me with my mind
People think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time
All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify

Can you help me occupy my brain?


I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find

I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind

Make a joke and I will sigh 

And you will laugh and I will cry
Happiness I cannot feel 
And love to me is so unreal

And so as you hear these words telling you now of my state

Tell you to enjoy life I wish I could but it's too late



9. People are Strange - The Doors

People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone 
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted 
Streets are uneven when you're down  




10. Everybody's Talking - Harry Nilsson

Everybody's talking at me.
I don't hear a word they're saying,
Only the echoes of my mind.
People stopping staring,
I can't see their faces,
Only the shadows of their eyes.




11. No Rain - Blind Melon

And I don't understand why I sleep all day
And I start to complain that there's no rain
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake
And it rips my life away, but it's a great escape

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain

You don't like my point of view
You think I'm insane





12. Don't Let Me Get Me - P!nk

Everyday I fight a war against the mirror 
I can't take the person starin' back at me 
I'm a hazard to myself 

Don't let me get me, I'm my own worst enemy 

Its bad when you annoy yourself 
So irritating 
Don't wanna be my friend no more 
I wanna be somebody else 



13. 21 Guns - Green Day

When you're at the end of the road
And you lost all sense of control
And your thoughts have taken their toll
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul
Your faith walks on broken glass and the hangover doesn't pass
Nothing's ever built to last, you're in ruins




14. Behind Blue Eyes - Limp Bizkit

But my dreams they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance that's never free

No one knows what its like

To feel these feelings like i do, 
And I blame you!
No one bites back as hard on their anger
None of my pain and woe can show through

No one knows what its like

To be mistreated, to be defeated
Behind blue eyes
No one knows how to say
That they're sorry and don't worry
I'm not telling lies





15. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

There is no pain, you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain, you would not understand
This is not how I am
I have become comfortably numb




16. Somewhere I Belong - Linkin Park

I had nothing to say
And I get lost in the nothingness inside of me
(I was confused)
And I let it all out to find
That I’m not the only person with these things in mind
(Inside of me)
But all that they can see the words revealed
Is the only real thing that I’ve got left to feel
(Nothing to lose)
Just stuck, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own

Do you wanna be somebody else?
Are you sick of feeling so left out?
Are you desperate to find something more
Before your life is over?
Are you stuck inside a world you hate?
Are you sick of everyone around?
With their big fake smiles and stupid lies
While deep inside you're bleeding




17. Jeremy - Pearl Jam

Clearly I remember pickin' on the boy
Seemed a harmless little fuck
But we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth
And bit the recess lady's breast

How could I forget?
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurting dropped wide open
Just like the day, like the day I heard

Daddy didn't give affection
And the boy was something that mommy wouldn't wear
King Jeremy the wicked ruled his world
Jeremy spoke in class today...




18. December - Collective Soul

Why drink the water from my hand?
Contagious as you think I am
Just tilt my sun towards your domain.
Your cup runneth over again.




19. Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd

A flight of fancy on a windswept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction is holding me fast,
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted, 
Just an earth-bound misfit, I




20. Creep - Radiohead

I don't care if it hurts I want to have control
I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice when I'm not around
You're so fucking special - I wish I was special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo

What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here
















Sunday, August 10, 2014

Top 20 Violin / Fiddle Songs





Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a violin and a fiddle? It’s simple: No one cares if you spill beer on a fiddle. The term “fiddle” is used primarily in folk, country, rock and pop music, while the “violin” is spoken of in classical and orchestral use.

Fiddles, like violins, have four strings, but since many were home-made, they could come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Nowadays, the instruments are shaped the same. Fiddlers tend to prefer a flatter curve on the top of the bridge, but we’re talking in terms of millimeters here. The flatter bridge allows for faster string-crossings and easier chord playing. Classical violinists prefer a more rounded curve, to articulate each note. These are my Top 20 Violin / Fiddle songs... because if you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.

1. The Devil Went Down to Georgia - The Charlie Daniels Band

Well, I bet you didn't know it but the Devil's a fiddler player too, and if you care to take a dare, he'll make a bet with you: a fiddle of gold against your soul, 'cause he thinks he's better that you!




2. Molinos de Viento - Mago de Oz

One word: Mohammed!




3. The Fiddler on the Roof - Editus

Here in our little village, every one is like a fiddler on the roof: trying to scratch out a pleasant tune without breaking his neck... 





4. Storm - Vanessa Mae

Rock/Pop version of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons: Summer III. Presto.




5. La Danza del Fuego - Mago de Oz

El mejor día es en el que el alma tiene hambre y sed... no olvides lo aprendido, no dejes de comprender... rodeate de sabios y algo en ti se quedará...






6. Loreley - Blackmore's Night

Oh the stories we were told, quite a vision to behold... Mysteries of the seas in her eyes of gold... 




7. Standing Outside the Fire - Garth Brooks


Life is not tried, it is merely survived... if you're standing outside the fire...







8. Hold On - Kansas

Hold on, baby, hold on... 'cause its closer than you think and you're starting in the brink...







9. It's a Livin' Thing - Electric Light Orchestra

What a terrible thing to lose...






10. Dust in the Wind - Kansas

And all your money won't another minute buy...






11. Come on Eileen

You in that dress.. my thoughts I confess... verge on dirty...






12. The South's Gonna Do it Again - Charlie Daniels Band

You can be loud and proud...







13. Ancient Forest of Elves - Luca Turilli

Old lands and red dragons filled his open eyes... Kings, Queen and proud warriors in his magic dreams...






14. Azul - Tango India

Borracho estoy en tu nombre, para variar...




15. The Hurricane - Bob Dylan

Put him in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been the Champion of the World...






16. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

Ahhh the lonely people, where do they all come from?







17. Baba O'Riley - The Who

I do not need to fight to prove I am right; I do not need to be forgiven... A teenage wasteland!








18. Cotton Eye Joe - Rednex

He brought disaster wherever he went; the hearts of the girls was to Hell, broken, sent

 



19. Victory - Bond

Inspired by the Barber of Seville's opening, written by Puccini.







20. Cherry Bomb - John Cougar Mellencamp

That was when a sport was a sport... and groovin' was groovin'... and dancing meant everything...








One more for the road...

So, if you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band... That lead guitar is hot but not for a Louisiana man... so rosen up that both faded love and let's all dance...





Fiddle in the Band - Alabama