Whoever I was then, I can't ever be again

My favorite song by Taking Back Sunday is called Miami, which is on their most recent album, Louder Now.
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Taking-Back-Sunday/Miami.html

The lyrics to this song are actually less obscure than most of Taking Back Sunday's lyrics. And interesting tidbit about this song is that it is lead singer Adam Lazzara's favorite song off the Louder Now record and it is his least favorite place in the world. The song is written as one person talking to another, most likely their love interest. I think the song is the speaker apologizing for having done bad things in the past (in Miami). The person that the song is directed to had faith in the speaker and possibly wanted to marry him. The speaker is very scared of marriage and probably commitment. However, the speaker is saying that the person he was in Miami is completely different and he can never be that person again. The tone of the lyrics would lead me to believe that the speaker has deep regret about what he has done in the past.
The lyrics don't really apply to me personally, but I can see how people could relate to this song. Mostly everyone has regrets about the past and relationships. This song is my favortie really more because of the sound rather than the lyrics. It has a really good beat and genreally sounds awesome. I never really considered the lyrics and I do like that it is like a monologue that could take place in real life- someone apologizing for what they were like in the past. I'm sure it happens all the time. The lyrics don't really have a profound effect on me- I still like the song simply because it sounds good.
Actually my favorite lines from a Taking Back Sunday song are from the song You're So Last Summer. It goes: The truth/ Is you could slit my throat/ And with my one last gasping breath/ I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt. I just think that that is a really funny image- someone apologizing for bleeding while they die. It could be in a Tarantino movie or something.

Club Soda, Not Seals

So, this isn't exactly an assignment (although Taking Back Sunday helps the environment, which in turn helps animals...therefore this post is justified!), but an issue that is very important to me, and hopefully to you, too! Canadian seal clubbing is cruel beyond belief. I won't go into the gory details, all you need to know is that they are clubbing baby seals to death. Enough said. Sign the petition and spread the word that this is not ok!

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/p2sealhuntpetition
Note: there is a video you can watch if you go to this address, but it is very graphic (and heartbreaking).

Tell All Your Friends, Global Warming Sucks!

I heard about Taking Back Sunday two summers ago when their song MakeDamnSure was getting a lot of radio airplay on Q101 (the alternative rock station). I was instantly drawn to their sound; hard rock, but with a strong melody, incorporating both fast and slow parts into their music. Also, the lead singer, Adam Lazzara, has a nice voice and is certainly easy on the eyes. Hearing that song prompted me to buy their newest album, Louder Now, which I ended up loving. I later bought their other two albums, Tell All Your Friends, and Where You Want To Be, which I also love. Their lyrics are really interesting- they're kind of a jumble of obscure ideas with a repetitive chorus, and often a call-and-response type pattern between Lazzara, and the guitarist/back-up vocalist, Fred Mascherino. I can't really say if they lyrically represent the values of my generation because the lyrics are so complicated. Take for example their hit song MakeDamnSure, it begins: You've got this new head filled up with smoke/ I've got my veins all tangled close/ To the jukebox bars you frequent/ The safest place to hide. This lyric, like many of theirs, are hard to understand.
However, I do know what they stand for, and in that way they do represent the values of my generation. Talkin' 'bout my generation (I couldn't resist...), one of the most prevalent issues today is the environment and global warming crisis. Taking Back Sunday are huge advocates of spreading awareness about this issue. The first screen that appears when going to their website, http://takingbacksunday.com , is one which advertises their new DVD, and right under that is a banner and link to Stopglobalwarming.org. Taking Back Sunday even performed at the New York branch of Live Earth: Concerts For A Climate In Crisis this summer. This event was of course arranged by the king of global warming education himself, Al Gore. The band has been working hard to make their tours more green through such methods as providing recycling bins at shows and encouraging people to carpool. I definitely noticed recycling bins and other promotions for fighting global warming when I saw Taking Back Sunday play at the Projekt Revolution tour in September. Above is a video of the band performing MakeDamnSure at Live Earth and below is an interview with the band about Live Earth and how they help the environment.

With A Rebel Yell... or rather, Rebel Hip-Shake

It's hard to imagine Elvis as a rebel. After all, he's even older than my parents' generation, and they're OLD. However, he truly was rock n' roll's first bad boy. Back in the 50s, he got the country All Shook Up. Sure there were other bad boys at the time, Brando, and Dean, but unlike them, Elvis wasn't a Rebel Without A Cause. Elvis rebelled against suppressive values and traditions. He told woman Don't Think Twice, It's All Right to have sexual desires. Elvis also rebelled against racism, bridging the gap between black and white music, and telling whites, Don't Be Cruel. He had everything a bad boy needed, good looks, lots of hairgel, and an attitude to match. Although he never did the Jailhouse Rock, like so many bad boys today, That's All Right, Elvis was in a whole other league. Today people think growing up In The Ghetto selling drugs, or having a mohawk and ten tattoos makes them rebels. I'd like to tell them Return To Sender. What do they know? No one can compete with Elvis, just with a shake of the hips he got himself banned in several states, revolutionized the music industry, and changed the country- even the world! He really is the king, and no one will ever be able to take the crown from him.