Rock Reading Tuesdays

Welcome back to Rock Reading Tuesdays,

This week I have a special surprise, I have two different songs you guys can check out. Next week we will cover a manhwa and appreciate the mixing of art and storytelling.

The first song that we are going to talk about is I Prevail’s pop punk cover of Blank Space by Taylor Swift. This song is everything I could have ever wanted in a rock song, with its head thrashing guitar riffs and screamo accents. I usually do not enjoy these types of remixes because at least to my ears it sounds forced, its blatantly obvious that the band did not write the song and they are preforming a cover. Usually when bands do pop punk covers, they in my opinion lose their personal sound and sound like something you would perform for a high school talent show. But I Prevail put their heart and soul in this cover, I am amazed by the differences between the two. I can tell they spent time analyzing the song because it is well put together. They owned this song whole heartedly the drummer, the guitarist, both singers everything about it shows us the listener their true artistry as musicians. It does not sound forced, the transition from a pop hit to a hard rock remix cover was seamless. I fully believe if you had never heard of Blank Space you would believe I Prevail wrote this song. The lead singer manages to capture the playful and meaningful tones of Taylor Swift while still sounding like himself. If you are interested in some head thrashing heart rate pumping check this song out, or any of their other songs as well I will provide a link in the bottom of this blog.

Our next song is an upbeat mix of vintage arcade music and game sound effects with rock, Game Over by Falling in Reverse. Fair warning this song contains Explicit language (they use swear words). This song like an ode to growing up as the odd one out and aims to remind us how life is like a game. You have objectives to meet and surpass if you do not like something as the song says “Life is for keeping score and forever more, Stop complaining and start changing it” it is your score board you can change it. There will be people who will try to interrupt your journey and become boss levels in their own right. The lyrics are just one of many reasons why I decided to share this song with you. The other reason why I am sharing this song with you is its because of how this song adds vintage video game sounds and references within the music. Like how within the song, it states the famous Konami cheat code that many early gamers used in a variety of games. Or how the techno game music fades into crazy drum beats and bass guitar. Please give this song a listen you will not be disappointed with your listening experience.

Blank Space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czb_CZfWko8

Game Over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2CwDE7SLZo

Thomas Benke: Looking Around In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott, in the Chapter “Looking Around,” says this: Now, if you ask me, what’s going on is that we’re all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another. Otherwise we’d all just be barking away like Pekingese: “Ah! Stuck in the shit! And it’s your fault, you did this …” Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding some meaning therein. But you can’t do that if you’re not respectful. If you look at people and just see sloppy clothes or rich clothes, you’re going to get them wrong. She goes on to speak about empathy for other people and also, as an extension empathy for yourself. So, in a sense as you try to write believable, relatable characters, you will come to forgive people their trespasses—because no one believes they are the villain of their story, so you have to write “bad,” or “evil” characters from a point of view where they rationalize what they are doing in such a way that it is the right or only way they see is possible. By extrapolation, then, if you begin to forgive and withhold judgment from your less-than-desirable, or annoying characters, perhaps you can extend the same courtesy to yourself and forgive your own trespasses and sins. This, for me, starts to enter the realm of “writing as therapy,” and though I am a firm believer in that—I practice it to this very day—I think I would caution anyone who thinks that simply writing through things is going to lead you to a place of light and love. I am not saying it can’t by any means. What I am saying is I have wrote through my thoughts and my problems and my desperation and depression for decades and I still had enough baggage on my shoulders to supply an army platoon with rations for a year. In any case, when thinking about craft, it is very important to step into the shoes of all of your characters, especially those characters that you see as antagonists and villians. I believe there are very few universal maxims in writing but one thing is virtually certain: every character you write is your version of that human being. Confucius said “everywhere I go, there I am,” and that is never more true than when you are writing. So if you are writing a character that is distasteful to you, it might be effective for you to ask yourself why that is the case. I wrote a blog for Obscura last semester titled, “The Puppy Had It Coming.” The gist of the article was to pose a puzzle to writers. How can you write a scene where an adult human kicks a puppy across the room and the reader at least understands why. I am not saying there is any way to justify the action or for the readers to be on the human’s side unless they are sociopaths. I am saying you need let the reader know how dark the place is in the character’s mind that he is capable of doing that.

Rock Reading Tuesdays

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