More Than You'll Ever Know

I started writing this on Wednesday because I didn’t want to leave anything important out of this musical post.
If there is any music you really need from me, then contact me so I can email it to you.
Right now, I am listening to my Paramore songs, most notably “Misery Business,” “Crushcrushcrush,” and “Hallelujah.” Paramore came at time I needed something kind of more directed for girls, and more hardcore than Avril Lavigne, whose later songs I general like. In reference to Lacey’s post, after listening to “Misery Business” 157 times, I’m pretty sure it’s about the guy cheating, if cheating at all, on his ex-girlfriend. The main girl has “gotten” the guy after waiting for eight months. So, it is actually a pretty happy song, in a slightly harsh way. But, if my boyfriend were to cheat on me, then Paramore would be a very good choice.
I also agree with Brianna and Lacey that “You and Me” by Lifehouse is a nice song.
My first exposure to music was Sir Elton John. Living in England and owning a small, old TV, he was one of those people absolutely everyone seemed to have heard about. He played “Candle in the Wind” at Princess Diana’s funeral. It was a special version that he would only perform that one time.
Meanwhile, I had begun my piano studies. At the age of four and a half, I spent anywhere from two to three hours on the first floor, where the landowner had a shiny, black upright piano. I began with some Alfred books, and sped through them.
Soon, we had to move to Wisconsin. I got my own piano with which to eventually get intense. My favorite is probably Chopin’s “Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23,” and my favorite concerto is Rachmaninoff’s “Concerto No. 2,” but I also enjoy Tchaikovsky’s “Concerto No. 1.”
At some point in eighth grade, I would listen to classical music. Then, the laptop my father bought (that we still use) went on sale at Dell.com, so he received a coupon. He used this to buy an mp3 player. I remember one afternoon using our extremely old walkman to listen to the radio. I really liked “Pieces of Me” by Ashlee Simpson. Eventually, he stopped using the mp3 player, so I began to build my own music library. I took off some of the Elton John and Celine Dion songs.
Japanese music is so prominent in various Anime series. From the beginning, my favorite was “Fushigi Yuugi,” and a song I adored was “Perfect World” by Sakamoto Chika.
Without the common illegal downloading, my library was pretty small.
Right before I moved down here, I spent some of my time listening to Green Day. My favorite were “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Holiday.”
One day in freshman year, Clara handed me a memory stick with over a hundred songs. This included Ben Folds, The Hush Sound, Straylight Run, Metric, OK Go, Shiny Toy Guns, Ozma, and I might be forgetting something important. I loved listening to The Hush Sound because the girl’s voice was so pretty, and the melodies were quite happy. Ben Folds was great, with his great piano skills. OK Go was cool, and seemed like something that most people might enjoy. Shiny Toy Guns was totally out there, and I remember hearing it being blasted in the middle of the night at Relay for Life, especially “Le Disko.” I like some of the lyrics from “Wake Up,” by Ozma. Wake up and love me, baby.
I like The Academy Is…. I think their band name is cool, even though they would be The Academy if they didn’t have copyright infringement issues. I think “Everything We Had” is different from their other songs, since it’s not so much Alternative Rock as a sad song. I like it very much.
I listen to The Bravery’s “Believe” and “An Honest Mistake.”
“Welcome Home” by Coheed & Cambria is well-known for those of you who play Rock Band. At first, I heard it somewhere on the internet when I was searching for new music. In fact, it took a few tries until I could place my liking on the song. “No World for Tomorrow” is slightly similar to the style of “Welcome Home.” “The Suffering” and “A Favor House Atlantic” are also good.
One of my most played songs is “Yellow,” by Coldplay. As soon as Brianna posted it on her blog, I downloaded it and listened to it on repeat. It’s so sweet and a little sappy, but I still haven’t gotten tired of it.
I don’t like Death Cab for Cutie. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten into Alternative Rock so much that my mind doesn’t match up with it. I do have 12 songs by them, though.
Elton John, how could I forget? The piano from “Bennie and the Jets” is interesting. I also like “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Your Song,” and “Daniel” is alright, but a little gay. But hey, it’s Elton John, and I have respected him for about eleven years.
One day, Jerrod sent me “In Memoriam” by Everybody Else. You probably haven’t heard of this artist, or this song (unless you read my personal blog). It was a marvelous day. It’s about remembering all these days in the past, and how much fun they had, so I guess it’s a bit sad because everything was in the past, but it’s so innocent and a great “remember me” sort of song.
“Dani California” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers kind of fit when we were going to California for MAO Nats.
Relient K is likable.
I listened to “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles for a short period of time. Maybe I have heard enough it now.
“Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi seems encouraging to some extent- to really go out and life your life.
“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer is so dreamy, though I suppose the guys don’t really enjoy it much.
Jack’s Mannequin is amazing, and possibly my second favorite. “Holiday,” “Mixed Tape,” “MFEO,” and “Miss Delaney” are some of the best from Everything in Transit. But with no doubt, “Dark Blue” truly stands out for me.
Before Andy McMahon began Jack’s Mannequin, he was in Something Corporate. The style isn’t exactly the same, and in my opinion not as likable as Jack’s Mannequin, but “Straw Dog” and “Konstantine” are not bad.
Sometimes, Clara’s Natty-poo puts up the chorus of “Heart” by Stars. It is a very sweet song. Every now and then, I sing along to it.
Alright, I can say what you want me to,
Alright, I can do all the things you do,
Alright, I'll make it all up for you,
I'm still in love with you,
I'm still in love with you.
I’ve listened to “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World a bunch.
If I didn’t hear about Elton John as a little girl, then people would mention The Spice Girls. I can’t imagine stepping into the late 90s in the UK and not listening to any of their songs. They are amazing.
At MAO Nats, they played some really good songs at the three awards ceremony. One of these was “Island” by The Starting Line. I love the lyrics, the chorus, and listening to this song so often.
You may be surprised, by I like two of Taylor Swift’s songs. “Teardrops on My Guitar” is the sort of song I’m very glad I didn’t have a while ago. Ann, Sarah’s sister, was playing “Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) one day while taking me home from school. It is my favorite country music song, even though I don’t actually like country music.
I guess I should tell you about my favorite love song. Well, it is “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol. One night, I felt more awful than I had ever felt. I listened to this song over, and over, and over… crying my heart out like a girl. I even listened to it the next morning (but didn’t tell anyone). The emotion that I can attach to this song is so profound that it seems as if I placed much of it into a box, and gathered it together like a big, fluffy towel. The box would be this song.
“Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy is beautiful.
Modest Mouse gets me almost hyped up about living, with “Dashboard” and especially the beginning of “Float On.”
I like “How to Save a Life” and “Over My Head (Cable Car)” by The Fray.
“Here In Your Arms” by Hellogoodbye was another one of those songs I put on infinite loop for a while.
The Strokes are unforgettable for me. I really like their style, particularly in “You Only Live Once, “Someday,” and “Reptilia.”
After researching Grammy Award Winners for best rock song on Wikipedia, I downloaded “Drops of Jupiter (Don’t Tell Me)” by Train, which I really like because the singer sounds so caring and like one of those great guys who truly wants to know the answers to what he is asking. Also, “Vertigo” and “The City of Blinding Lights” by U2 are not only good, but also I think How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is such a great album title.
The evening before Homecoming, Erica and I were invited to Lacey’s house. As soon as we entered her room, I noticed that she was playing some pretty good music that I had never heard. Lacey said it was “Mr. Brightside.” Whatever that was. She made us stop talking about ten minutes later so we could listen to a song that she excitedly informed us was “This River Is Wild.” Lacey loved The Killers. I couldn’t forget that.
I went home and looked them up, downloading every song by them that I could find. Later, she burned me their three CDs (I think I lost Hot Fuss, though), and even more recently, I downloaded their two Christmas songs. The Killers are truly profound. I love all of their songs, but I guess there are a couple that I do not seem to listen to as much. Imagine the excitement for Lacey when they put “Romeo and Juliet” on Sawdust. It was like one of those crazy dreams that you have, but it came true. I think I’m going to listen to The Killers for the rest of my life. They mean so much to me, if I didn’t have them, then my music selection would be bereft of greatness.
One day, I quickly punched in all the play counts from all my Killers songs. They added up to over a thousand.
“When You Were Young” is distinctly my most-played song. I wanted to move the music in my iTunes, so the play counts had to be reset. But yeah, this is probably my favorite of all time. There are so many good songs out there, but for some reason, this one sticks out a bit more than the others.
However, telling you about all these songs and artists isn’t the same thing as you listening to them, and getting to know them for yourself. You don’t need to listen to any of them, actually, but I wish you luck in finding even more good music- whatever you want to hear!
www.skreemr.com is pretty baller, if I do say so myself. ;)

I feel pretty lucky to get to post on Friday. It is another special day: at 8:08pm, on today, 08/08/08, the Beijing Summer Olympics begin! So, I hope you don’t mind if I post this at that time, but it shall be 8:08am for us because of the time difference.

Sorry for forgetting to tag my posts...

-Kejing