Southern Gospel is a genre of music on its own and it is totally different form of music. Southern Gospel ranges from the Bluegrass sound of the Dixie Melody Boys to a more contemporary sound of Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. My favorite Southern Gospel group is Brian Free and Assurance. I met Brian Free at a concert in May. Here is my evidence:
He was the sweetest man ever and his love for the Lord showed. He is a great singer as well and his group has an acapella CD which is totally amazing. Moving on, my favorite song of his is “Remind Me of the Cross.” I first heard this song when I was going through a depressing time in my life. The bass singer Jeremy Lyle sings it so expressively that it just spoke to me. The chorus goes “Remind me of the thorns You wore as a crown, the stripes that You bore, and the blood flowing down; the nails and the weight of my sin. Should a day ever come that I forget what real love cost? Remind me of the Cross.” As soon as I heard that last part, I broke down into tears. This is a normally a good thing but you see I was driving at that time; thankfully, I didn’t have an accident.
My other favorite Southern Gospel song is “The Potter Knows the Clay." The song brings me back to my college days when my life was a mess and God was bringing me through some trials to bring me back to Him. The last verse is the one that really speaks to me. When she sings “O, Lord isn’t it about time?” That was me and those were the exact words I would say at night when I talked to the Lord. I would tell Him “Lord, I’m done, I learned my lesson. Isn’t it time for the blessings?” Those were some close moments with the Lord and though I would not want to go through that period of my life again I still cherish those moments.
Look for part three soon!!! For now, I leave you with a quote from Fanny Crosby "If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind...for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour."
Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Straight No Chaser, Josh Groban, Michael Buble….these are just some of the artists that I have in my collection. I also have a collection of great Southern Gospel groups: Brian Free and Assurance (my favorite), GoldCity, the Perry’s, Legacy Five, the Kingsmen, and the Kingdom Heirs. So if any of you want some music just ask! Music is something I could talk about all the time. It’s my love, my passion, and eventually I hope it will be my work. Right now, I’m in the middle stage where I’m not quite good enough to go out on my own but not bad enough to be horrible. Now some of you may contest this but just know that you are wrong (I’m kidding!!). Anyways, there is one thing I know that I know-I know what music I like and what music I don’t like. I don’t like rap, heavy metal, rock and roll, or anything that would be classified in that genre. Why? Frank Sinatra says it better that I can, “Rock and Roll: The most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear.” As a cowboy in a western would say: Them’s fightin’ words (Make sure you add the Southern accent). Also, just think, in that day and age Rock ‘n Roll was Elvis Presley and the Beatles. What would he think of Rock ‘n Roll today?
To move on to better things, the subject of this post is my favorite song. Well, to tell you the truth, I really don’t have an all-time favorite song. If I did, it would change in the next 3 seconds. I guess I have a fear of commitment. However, I do have favorite songs by artists so I guess that will have to do. I have always been a big fan of big band music. This comes from the time I was a little girl and watched old movies with my Babchi (Polish for Grandma) and I saw men and women like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly dancing to music provided by big bands such as the Tommy Dorsey or Glen Miller band. It was so romantic! This was how I first found out about Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dean Martin. So from that love of big band music, I became a fan of Michael Buble. I was introduced to Michael Buble by some roommates in college. I think the first song I heard was Home. I love that song but I think Blake Shelton sings it better; however, you can be the judge and watch this clip to decide:
My favorite song that Michael Buble sings is Haven’t Met You Yet. The lyrics say “I might have to wait, I’ll never give up. I guess it’s half timing, the other half luck. Wherever you are, whenever its right, you’ll come out of nowhere and into my life.” It’s my favorite because I am still waiting for Prince Charming to come carry me away on his white horse. Then we could live happily ever after. (Big sigh) How Romantic!
Another favorite genre of mine is acapella music. Good acapella music is very hard to come by. Why? It’s so hard to do. You don’t have any instruments to fall back on or to keep you in the right key. It’s all up to you. No pressure, right? So, when I heard this next group I nearly fainted because they were good and not only good, they were very good. They are called Straight No Chaser. Almost everyone I have introduced them to has told what an astonishing group this is. I even have convinced 6 additional people to come with me to their concert in November. I should get a commission or something. For all of you haters out there (you know who you are), they have very good Christmas music. My favorite song by them is Fix You. It was originally sung by ColdPlay; however, they sing it much better. There is just something about hearing the pure voice and the closeness of the harmonies they bring. Here is a clip of them singing it:
Awesome isn’t it? See I told you!
Well there you have it; these are just some of my favorite songs. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and it opens your mind to other groups that are out there. Be sure to check for Part 2 to be posted soon!! And now for the quote of the blog…today, I leave you with a quote from my favorite composer, Ludwig Van Beethoven: “Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.”
P.S. I have been told that I need a goal for this blog. I don’t have a goal exactly for this blog but I have a theme besides enjoying the simple things in life. I would like to showcase a movie, author, actor, musician, dancer, etc. from the olden days 1940s-1960s to help broaden horizons. It would be like a spotlight. Let me know what you think!!!
For me, one of the simple things in life is to watch an old movie. To curl up on the sofa with a cup of hot cocoa or a bowl of soup and watch the old chick flicks is an awesome way to spend a rainy day. The story is the same-Guy meets girl, guy falls in love with girl, girl doesn’t like guy and avoids him, guy wins girl with music and dancing, they get married, and then they live happily ever after-sometimes the roles are reversed and sometimes there isn’t any singing or dancing (what a shame!). For instance, His Girl Friday is my favorite Cary Grant movie. The quips by Cary and his lady co-star are very funny and I find myself cheering (inside of course) for Cary to win his lady’s heart back. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out. Another one of my favorites is Cover Girl starring Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth. Gene falls in love with Rita but breaks up with her so she can go work on Broadway to fulfill her dream. You’ll also have to watch this one to find out what happens.
What is it that draws me to the old chick flicks? Maybe it’s the story of “true” love which relates to the hope that I will be in love someday. To have a guy win a girl’s heart by singing and dancing is a fantasy/dream as some people say. I know it will never happen but there’s always an exception to the rule, right? Maybe it’s the music, after all music is my passion. I love the simple songs that relate to me and my life. For instance, Brigadoon with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. Cyd sings a song called Waitin’ For My Dearie. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZ8CdRU9E&feature=player_embedded. The song is about her waiting for her true love and quite honestly explains she is not going to fall in love with any Tom, Dick, or Harry. I can definitely relate to that. I want to save myself for the right man-God’s man for me. Another song I love is from Du Barry was a Lady starring Lucille Ball, a very young Gene Kelly (anyone noticing a theme here?), and Red Skeleton. Gene sings a song to Lucille called Do I Love You, Do I? One line says, “Do I love you, do I? Does one and one make two?” This song doesn't relate to me right now, but I hope it will soon. Nevertheless, it’s a good song and you can find it on YouTube if you want to hear the whole thing. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvJC14UpGpc. Then maybe it’s just because they are old movies from the 1940’s to 1950’s. Lately, I have had a healthy fascination with everything in that decade. I’m working on getting my hair styled that way and I am also working on my vintage hat collection.
So what is it that draws me to old chick flicks? Is it the simple story of “true” love? Is it the simplicity of the music? Is it the fascination with the decade? I’m not sure but whatever it is I’m addicted and it doesn’t look like that addiction will be broken any time soon. Maybe I need an intervention.
To end this fascinating blog, I leave you with a quote about fame from one of my favorite chick flicks-Singing in the Rain:
Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor):“The price of fame. You’ve got the glory, You gotta take the little heartaches that go with it. Now look at me: I’ve got no fame, I’ve got no glory, I’ve got no big mansions, I’ve got no money! But I’ve got……what have I got?”
Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly): “I don’t know what have you got?”
So let's try this again, I have always wanted to keep a blog and have had some failed attempts so here we go again. I've named this blog Singing in the Rain because I am HUGE Gene Kelly fan. I love his movies, music, and love that he had for dancing. His love for dancing and music shows in every movie. He had joy in what his passion was.
I also named the blog this because one of the simple things in life is singing in the rain. No one has to pay for it to rain or pay to sing. This is what i call one of the simple things and it's something I enjoyed once in my life. I hope to do it again sometime.
So what is the blog all about? For me, it's all about trying to relax and not stress over the unimportant things but to take time and enjoy the coffee as they say. So this time I'm committed! Talk to you all soon.
