Welcome - Week One

The purpose of this blog is to share music that members of the Quinnipiac University are listening to these days.  At this point in time, the list only reflects the two classes I am teaching this semester, an FYS-101 and a QU 301, plus contributions from invited members of the QU community. The latter group will grow as the blog continues through the semester.  Feel free to comment but no spam!

CRO - "Einmal un de Welt" - Chose this song because we briefly talked about German music. I think this one is really upbeat and fun. I don't understand it, but from what I know he's just talking about girls and money and traveling. Basically the same thing that American singers/rappers talk about. Languages may be different but it seems to me that wherever you go in the world, mainstream music culture is the same. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2pySXCmwpc
Haniya Ahmed (FYS)

John Prine - "Clay Pigeons" - I've been listening to Clay Pigeons sung and played by John Prine.  This is written by another fellow named Blaze.  I’m just curious what others think of this song/ballad, and if Theresa or may not be a greater or lesser appreciation dependent on age.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3zNl6NsOyY
Alden Mead (Faculty)

Billie Holiday - "Strange Fruit" - Thought I might share a song we’re singing in the spring concert of Another Octave – Connecticut Women’s Chorus.  The concert theme is “Heroes & Villains”; I’m sure you can guess which category this song falls under.  The song is “Strange Fruit,” an eerie song where the tempo and the way the words are sung are vital to the meaning in the song.  The Billie Holiday version is the version you should include in your blog; it’s probably the best known, although many singers have sung.  Be sure to post a version with the words…and be careful choosing because I found some errors, such as “popular trees” instead of “poplar trees”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mO92ll_q0k
Anne Harrigan (Faculty)

Imagine Dragons - "Radioactive" - This song has a mix of hard rock and a touch of heavy metal genres. It is slow beat with a chorus that repeats a few times. When I listen to the song it projects a heavy rhythmic beat, which is ideal for difficult cardio-vascular exercises like cycle, elliptical, treadmill, running stadium steps or bicycling. By increasing the resistance or slope of the machines used or the number of repetitions, the ‘heaviness’ of the song provides a beat that can help you work through the heaviness of the exercise when your legs, lungs and heart are challenged. The lyrics of the song (below) are not necessarily upbeat, it is the tune that is the take-away and very applicable to the toughest part of the particular cardio exercise at that moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktvTqknDobU
Joe Gaffney (Faculty)

Barry Phillips - "The World Turned Upside Down" - The music is colonial American. The album's title song is well known as a dance tune played by both colonial forces and the Regulars (particularly when they surrendered at Yorktown in 1781!)

I play the album when I read and write as I find it calming and contemplative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUcH0Of_sxs
Thomas Williams (faculty)

Panic! At The Disco - "Northern Downpour" - I chose this song because the lyrics may seem nonsensical at first, but have a deeper meaning when you think about them. I really appreciate the metaphors that they use since they're very descriptive, and I also like how many different meanings the song can have to different people, or even at different times in your life. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zouSojyIi94
Megan Winslow (QU class of 2020)

Led Zeppelin - "Immigrant Song" - It has powerful lyrics with Viking overtones (I love the Orkney Islands where most of the males have been identified as having “Viking” DNA).  I saw this performed in concert and it simply gave goosebumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OtzJtp-EM
Daniele Dugre- Martin (Learning Commons)

Green Day - "Poprocks and Coke" - The lyrics are terrific. At one point in my life, I was at a bad point. This song, and the lyrics of the song, were just what I needed at that time to help me deal with some of the things I was struggling with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxw2Iwu__IY
Chris Hakala (faculty)

"The Band's Visit" - Original Cast Recording - Katrina Lenk - "Omar Sharif" - I listen to a lot of music and it's hard to pick one track but I am quite enamored of the music from the Broadway play "The Band's Visit". Based on a 2007 Israeli movie, the play tells the following story:
"After a mix-up at the border, an Egyptian Police Band is sent to a remote village in the middle of the Israeli desert. With no bus until morning and no hotel in sight, these unlikely travelers are taken in by the locals. Under the spell of the desert sky, their lives become intertwined in the most unexpected ways." The music was composed by David Yazbek ("The Full Monty") and combines all sorts of influences.  I really enjoy the story (Israeli humor can be quite sarcastic and ironic) and the project plays to my idealistic belief that music can heal a fractured world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDgm61Jnc7g
RB Kamins (faculty)

That's all I have for this first edition - I'll update the blog, at least, twice a week. Hope you find new sounds!