New site....sorry.

So, I know it's been quick but the new page is at http://joeysmusiccorner.wordpress.com

Hope to see you all over there!

***Translation of Arabic sung in 'The Dryness & The Rain' by Mewithoutyou

So I went and googled the phrases in Arabic and there was a forum by some Arab-Americans where someone asked my exact question. Here's what he says it means. I'm not so naive as to believe that maybe one or so words might be finagled to be read another way. Even so, here ya go. In the liner notes it is written like this:
(Chorus) Isa ruhu-lah 'alaihis-salat was-salam
(Bridge) Nastagh-firuka ya Hakam. Ya Dhal-Jalali wal-Ikram. Isa ruhu-lah 'alaihis-salat was-salam. Ya Halim, ya Qahhar. Ya Muntaqim, ya Ghaffar! La Ilaha ilallahu, Allahu Akbar!

The Arabic line spoken throughout the song translates to:

(Chorus) Jesus Christ, peace, we pray, be upon you ("alayhi wasalaam" meaning “peace be upon him” a formality when speaking the name of Jesus. “salat” meaning a prayer). In the last paragraph, wherever there’s a capital O or The, it’s one of the names for God. There are 99 such names written in the Qur'an.

(Bridge) We ask for Your forgiveness, O Judge. O Lord of Majesty and Generosity. Jesus Christ, peace, we pray, be upon you. The Patient One, The All-Compelling Subduer, The Avenger, The Ever-Forgiving. There is nothing worthy of worship except God, God is the greatest!''

I think these are pretty beautiful words to express. Not to mention they sound pretty epic when sung in Arabic. This post was really to clear that question up if someone came across this song and needed to know what Mewithoutyou is saying.
Shalom.

--Flo Rida "Right Round" (Song)

This is the Billboard 100's #1 song as of today.

So, let's get the obvious out of the way. This song contains a sample--amply used--of Dead or Alive's hit, You Spin Me Round (Like A Record). Most everyone has heard that at some 80's party or somebody's wedding or whatever else, so it is pretty well known. Many might even say that that beat was pretty catchy and danceable. Well, in typical hip-hop fashion, the catchiness and the danceability has been amped up; sexuality has too indeed increased exponentially. The chorus goes as follows: "You spin my head right round, right round. When you go down, when you go down down." This is repeated once through. At first glance one would not be amiss to assume the double entendre is referring to oral sex. However, as Flo Rida's celebratory dance track continues, we come to find that it is actually more accurately about the strippers he is enamored with at the clubs he attends. The line that talks about 'when you go down down' is actually in reference to these ladies of the night slithering down the pole. I know bad visuals, but this song is chock full of verbal imagery, as well as the story of a "regular" twenty-something male in need of some fun and gratification. All of this is done in a rapid-fire delivery that may make much of this fly over the head of those who 'just like the beat.' As is customary of hip-hop today, there is much mention of carousing, popping of champagne bottles (or other bottles of the alcoholic persuasion), boasting of flashy rides, bling, and sexual prowess. I think the saddest, or funniest (whichever way you look at it) part about the song is how he seems to be happy about the financial hold this lifestyle of spending money on strippers has on him. He portrays himself as someone content and--God help us--lucky to be able to lavish his money on these girls who do not belong to him in a marital way and really are only interested in one or two things from the fellows who frequent: money and more money. So be careful listening to this, or better yet don't. This song is truly an ode--as it were--to going clubbing, but this is strip clubbing, not the regular kind. I also find it pretty hilarious that he is trying to compliment the women and make them feel special about their bodies and the way they can move them....all the while he and his boys are massively objectifying them. I guess it takes talent to simultaneously praise and defame a person and make it seem like its a good thing! For that, he is brilliant. One more interesting observation: as if he discovered a conscience, he appears near the end to be crying for help to quit the habit of overspending on these trysts, yet immediately shutting his conscience down with excuses or reasons why it isn't a big deal. Here's that lyric: "I'm spendin' my money, I'm out of control. Somebody help me, she's takin' my bank roll...But I'm king of the club, and I'm wearin' the crown."

So what if you're the king wearing the crown? You're going broke and pretty soon you'll be relegated to the seediest of seedy strip clubs! Or maybe participating in far worse, as the cycle of sin always goes. Why do it? Because it's cool, says Flo Rida. Well I don't think it's cool, because that is just one reason why men and women aren't in a place of sexual purity today, even in the church. This kind of celebration and advocation of objectifying women and pronouncing strip club hopping 'normal male behavior' only makes it harder for people to say "No it's not, it's not normal, or it shouldn't be." It might help if we stopped listening to people and things that feed us these false ideas and ideals, enticing us to adopt them into our lives. 

So, in closing, the song would get a high grade for great club beat, if that were all that mattered. However, it is not, so the grade is far far lower when the content and message are considered. It may not be one of the worst out there, having very little cursing whatsoever, but it is what is contrary to godliness. This popular song's message is one of living it up instead of living for Jesus; spending cash on strippers instead of giving to the poor; making the strippers feel good about what they can do instead of loving them for who God made them--women who need Jesus and His love, who are beautiful in purity; boasting in one's possessions and talents instead of in God's mercy, glory and power; and perpetuating as acceptable the sinful, lustful lifestyle instead of the sinless, holy and righteous-before-God lifestyle of praise. 

Sound like a harmless song?

A Few Details Ironed Out

I failed to mention this before, but from now on this will be the way this blog will go. When it is a song/album that is positive enough for me to recommend, then there will be a "++" before the title, if it is negative and should be approached with discretion, a "--".

Hopefully this will work out, but if not, I'll do a color coded system or something.

Peace.

++Mewithoutyou "Brother, Sister" (Album)

Passionate, raw, poetic, spiritual, earthy, challenging, engaging, unique, and introspective. These are some adjectives that come to mind when I ponder the scope and the creativity behind this band, particularly on this album.

For those that don't know about them, maybe a little background on the band might help. Mewithoutyou consists of two brothers, Aaron and Michael Weiss (on vocals and guitar), as well as three friends filling out on guitar, bass, and drums. The Weiss brothers grew up with a range of religious influences, considering that their mother was raised Episcopalian and father was raised Jewish, both converting to Sufism (a mystical division of Islam) either before or sometime after the boys were born. The Weiss brothers were thus raised in this atmosphere of mysticism surrounding those in Sufism. Sometime near the end of high school, after starting a band Aaron came to know Jesus as Savior, rather than a good Prophet (as his parents surely did); and out of this new faith births the biblical, spiritual lyrics and the incorporation of the faiths he has been surrounded with since childhood also bleeds into those themes present in the lyrics. One forefather of Christian faith that has quite obviously molded some of Aaron's views is St. Francis of Assisi (being Patron Saint of Animals, Environment, and Italy). In fact, the title of the album Brother, Sister is taken from Francis' song Canticle of the Sun. In it he clearly sees God in all of nature and the things He has made, seeing worship extending beyond our conventional ways of lifting hands and singing songs, but observing His nature and wonders expressed through the created things and giving Him glory for these things. And from these observations come praise to God for the sun and moon, for natural created things of earth, for life, and for death. 'Praise Him in all things' seems to be St. Francis' message. Some of us may not be used to such expressions of worship or faith, however we may be introduced to them if we choose to embark on the journey of Brother, Sister. Why say all this? Well it helps prepare you for the stream-of-consciousness, spoken-word, free verse style of lyrics composed by Aaron and the group. Much emphasis is placed on animals and life lived truthfully, expressing the hurts, doubts, failures as well as the joys, trust, and victories found in knowing Jesus. It helps to see Aaron as first a poet with a gift for expressive words rather than a vocalist, for at times his approach to singing/shouting/spoken word can turn some off who are used to very classically trained singers who never seem to crack in voice or stray from perfection. But this music is raw, the lyrics heartfelt, and so his delivery only strives to complement that by being expressive and authentic in his emotive way. Yet, no matter how I sugarcoat it, to some it will just sound like noise but to others they will hear what might be the most inventive Christian band around, and possibly, that ever has been. I guess I could share how I haven't really had much 'faith' in Christian music because it has continually let me down with horribly mediocre music and some cookie-cutter lyrics. This, in my opinion is neither; inventive shifts in musical melody, and poetic confessional and even abstract lyrics abound here with Mewithoutyou. So, go ahead listen to this album. Test it, study it. Dislike it if you so choose, or love it if you want (joining others and myself). Regardless of where you land, at least give it a spin. I leave you with an excerpt or two of songs:

"'I do not exist,' we faithfully insist, while watching sink the heavy ship of everything we knew.

If ever you come near I'll hold up high a mirror. Lord, I could never show you anything as beautiful as you"----Messes of Men

"A fish swims through the sea, while the sea is in a certain sense contained within the fish.

Ah, what am I to think? Of what the writing of a thousand lifetimes could not explain, if all the forest trees were pens and all the oceans ink?"----The Dryness & The Rain

Check out Mewithoutyou at www.mewithoutyou.com

First try at this blogging....

Hello young people, old people, people who are young who feel old, people who are older who still feel young; It will be my endeavor on this blog to try and discuss music. "No, really? I couldn't tell by your blog title," you say. Well, there is no need to be so snippy; allow me to elaborate. I plan to discuss music and its influence among us as people, highlighting certain songs, or certain bands, and most assuredly certain albums. More often than not I will be searching for that which is popular with young people, or in some cases I might tackle what is being heralded as  the 'best of what's out now,' even to the chagrin of many young people--shockingly it appears many don't like what mediaheads say is popular or 'hot'--so we all can know what your peers are listening to and what it is saying. I know, my head even hurts after reading what I just wrote. 

Oh, side note: I've absolutely never blogged or written much of anything on this blessed tool known as the Internet, so if I am wretched at it, please extend a bit of grace my way. I'm a newbie, and it will hopefully get more bearable over time. After all, this is really for you--Youth and Parents--to use to gauge what it is maybe you've let slip in undiscerned or thought was purely harmless. I'd say a main focus of this blog will be to show you that no music is without its residual effects...and many of  the so-called 'harmless' songs and groups, well let's just say that is not exactly true. On a more positive side I'll try to present bands, songs, and albums (spanning all genres) that I feel will be decent and in many cases, helpful spiritually. It will also be my duty--because of personal convictions--to present ones that have a more excellent degree of musicianship and writing. Christian music can be embarrassingly average or below average in grading, so I'll find ones that are above.

Whew! Are you still there? If you are, journey with me as we explore this thing that almost all humans love, can't live without, must-have as a soundtrack to this moving picture of life, this symphonious, orchestral, emotional, aural thing that we call music.