If We Can Stay Here Long Enough...

Like Matt already mentioned, the primary goal of this blog is to still be writing it a few months from now. I used to be an avid writer-- mostly of my own life stories in everything from purple composition books to looseleaf sheets tied together with ribbons (yes, this happened). Bins under my bed filled with old notebooks and picture-stories from before I could write. That sort of thing.

Then college happened.

I decided to write on a blog, assuming it had to be easier to manage since I was always on my computer doing some article or thesis anyway-- and this is after I was adamant about never starting a blog because technology detracts from the beauty and privacy that is pen and paper. Obviously I was desperate. So, I started my personal blog, A More Likely Story. I had all these fantastic ideas I wanted to share with my feeble readership, but as one of the greatest minds of the century said, "Life happens when you're busy making other plans." Regular contributor to Big K Media became...hmm, 4-5 posts? And then I started a blog for my Literature & Pedagogy class that I enjoyed writing so much that I was determined to keep it going. Good one.

Thus here I am, trying to refine my writing skills and do something I'm passionate about but never seem to have nearly enough time for (add that to reading, playing guitar, painting, running...).

I don't want to niche us immediately as "that blog about music" but I got a mix CD for my birthday, and while the whole thing is pretty awesome, I've become slightly obsessed with one in particular: "Bloody Mary" by the Silver Sun Pickups.

Essentially, there's nothing for me to dislike about this song. I saw Silver Sun Pickups live a little over two years ago, and they were absolutely amazing. I always figured that Brian Aubert (the lead singer) used some sort of studio effect to make his voice sound the way it does-- he doesn't. Listening to them live is like listening to them through headphones, except you can see them dancing and twisting across the stage while they play. So that's reason one.

Second, the game "Bloody Mary" holds significance for me because of how frequently I played it as a child. I've always loved ghost stories, haunted houses, scary movies, Halloween. The idea of conjuring old Mary up from the depths of a mirror (freaky objects in and of themselves) was too delightfully scary not to take part in-- or force my sister and cousins to stand in a dark bathroom with me, all squeezing fingernails into one another's palms as we squeamishly chanted "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary..." and then flipped the lights on and ran out, only to do it again immediately.

Aubert's voice combines with the vocal talents of bassist Nikki Monninger to form this ethereal sound that loans itself perfectly to the quality of a song entitled "Bloody Mary," and the first time I heard it I couldn't help thinking of my childhood. Listening to it as much as I have in the past week brings out the lit geek in me and has me analyzing the lyrics, trying to determine the story behind it. Is he singing to a spouse who was abused as a child? Speaking to Bloody Mary? Is it sexual? Is he talking to his own image in the mirror? No idea.

That's the fun part about music-- there are always multiple ways to decipher lyrics and it ends up depending on how you're feeling at a particular time. Music speaks to everyone and has a way of comforting us when closer human contact falls short. It lets us know that at some point, someone knew how we were feeling enough to write a song about it-- and that meaning is subject to change daily.