Its a long way to coupleary

I know, it's supposed to be Tipperary, but this is about Valentines Day. In honor of single guys everywhere, I have declared the first 16 or 17 days of February to be called Coupleary and give permission for them to be ignored. No more guilt trips.

Singleness does have its upside. Every year I save an average of $300 (just like I saved around $20K on a car last year by not buying one). Now I noticed the other day that Ash Wednesday is on February 13th. I'd like to see some poor sap try to use that for why he didn't get roses. "We're giving that up for lent." You know it's a tough call when it causes the Pope to say Take this job and shove it.

As a music blogger, I find a lot in lyrics, and while I would love to be like Rel Paul and say:

Girl you got me thinking, God must really love me
to give me someone like you, you, to really love me
hey hey hey, Oh, I'm like hey hey hey

And If I was really romantic, I'd go for Disciple's Kevin Young

So baby let's go dancing across the sky tonight
cause no mountain could keep me from your arms tonight
of all the things in my life, that I could rewrite,
I wouldn't trade a moment with you

Despite all the awww. There are plenty of things I'd trade. He's got his girl. While I'm a happy guy, when I get down around this time of year I sometimes agree with Cloud 2 Ground.

It's gonna be the last time I listen to my heart
cause it lied, and you lied
and I'm tired that I wont cry, I wont cry
look what you've done
I was crazy for you, so crazy for you.

And despite the years, I will agree with Skillet that

The older I get, will I get over it
it's been way to long for the times we missed
I can't believe it still hurts like this but I think
the older I get maybe I'll get over it
it's been way to long for the times we missed
I can't believe it still hurts like this.

While there is a certain someone I think about as I play woulda coulda shoulda, there are two others who could fit as well. My first crush was a girl in my church by the name of Tina Cavaleri. I was 13, I think she was 15 or 16. You know what that means. She didn't know I was alive. One time when our church got in a hugging mode I gave her a hug during service. Let's just say I now know what it's like to hug a dead fish.

At around the same time, there was another girl, Lori Ann Pierce, one of the Pastor's daughters. She was a cute petite blonde of around 12 or 13 and had a crush on me. Between the fact that I go for brunettes, and Tina was one, and she was somewhat younger, I didn't know she was alive. It was a double edged sword anyway.

• If things go well: You are in. With the Church and Heaven. You may be a favorite son in law and even make Pastor someday.
• If they don't: You can't even imagine the level of hell you'll be assigned to.

Lori's the only girl I could blackmail by saying that "She fell asleep on my lap." In reality she lay her head on my lap and fell to sleep while the youth group was returning from a trip to see a musical. I believe it was "The Missionary of Oz". It was in the pre -seat belt law era. Oh well. Woulda coulda shoulda.

February the 15th is almost here. That's when the Candy goes half-price.

From Cloud 2 Ground Drop Shiny Toy Guns

It's fun rediscovering old friends. Now sometimes things don't come out exactly as expected, but it still, it's never nice to lose touch with someone completely. And even when things don't come out as expected, things may work out in time.

Not to get too introspective here, but this does have a musical application. Back at the turn of the century there were two guys who put out some awesome electronic music, mostly of the trance variety. Their names were Chad Petree and Jeremy Dawson, and together they were known as Cloud 2 Ground. They came out with two albums E-majn (1997) and The gate (2000). They showed up at Soulfest in 2000 to support the latter, and put on a late night trance party that was pure heaven. Then, as far as I knew, they disappeared.

Thing is they didn't disappear. Worse than that, in the ever changing world of electronica, they reinvented themselves. When all you need is a pair of synthesizers, or maybe only one, it's extremely easy to assume a new identity. The witness protection plan wishes it were this easy.

Well difficult isn't impossible, and I finally tracked down Cloud 2 Ground. No, this isn't a Flashback Friday post, though it could be. No, since 2003 Cloud 2 Ground has been in the mainstream as Shiny Toy Guns. Dawson and Petree are the core, and the ever present lead female vocals are handled, not by Tracy Truels, but Carah Faye Charnow, who is more than up to the task. Their first two albums were We Are Pilots (2006) and Season of Poison (2008).

Now, four years later, Shiny Toy Guns come out with, the understated III (2012). Not an unexpected move in the Techno/Dance Arena. Family Force Five's III and III.V come to mind right off.

Things get off to a high energy start with Somewhere to hide, but the big single is Waiting Alone, which is about domestic abuse and abandonment. Watch the official video for the song below. Wait for the big dramatic twist at the end.

The third song, Carrie, is one of my favorites, it being a homage (IMHO) to Painted Orange's Amanda, recorded in 1991. Another two of my favorites are Mercy and Wait 4 Me, which hearken back to the C2G days. Then there is one song made for no other point than to get you to "Shake Your Groove Thang". And for Dance, is there any better reason for a song. That song is Speaking Japanese.

Dawson and Petree set the bar for this year's PVA dance entries. I am going to give III a top notch score of 5 Emeralds. It is the entrant to beat, barring another entry from Lights or another top dance band. The album doesn't come out until the 22nd, so order from Amazon at the link and help support The Night Beat at the same time. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

In Praise of the Megasong

Nobody writes long songs anymore, at least not from my experience. Oh sure, there are pockets out there, but it usually is just the Modern Worship or Gospel Genres. At least they write songs that clock in over 5 minutes. That doesn't have to be the case. Since I go to churches that are big on the Modern Worship/Hillsong style, I have found it amazing that Churches have not capitalized on their ability to distort the time-space continuum. Seriously, how is it possible that you can take a four line chorus and make it last for a half hour while at the same time making it seem like twelve hours. It's the sanctified version of the song that does not end. (The sanctified Song That Does Not End would have to be Psalm 119. At 176 Verses long, a comfortable paced read takes approximately 30 minutes. Singing it as intended, even with modern music, probably longer.

That's not the type of song I'm talking about. The songs I'm talking about are over six minutes long, some are twice that, but the experience is such that you would think it's only two or three minutes in length. The six minute bar is intentional, for it surpasses the 5:55 run time of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Of course, nothing against Queen, but I prefer my Bohemian Rhapsody to come from high class sources. Bohemian Rhapsody is the bar. My first list of songs not only exceed that bar, they smash it. In reverse order of length.

• #10 - Sudden Death, Servant, World of Sand, 1981 (8:18) - Doing a top ten list, this one winds up the shortest. It stands as a megasong on its own, though it is also part of a two song "rock opera"
• #9 - Trilogy, Iona, Iona, 1991 (8:34) - This is where it all begins. This Progressive Rock/Celtic band from the UK almost can't make a song under 5 minutes. This is from their eponymous debut, though not their longest or best.
• #8 - Songs of Ascent Pt. 2, Iona, Open Sky, 2000 (9:06)
• #7 - Bird of Heaven, Iona, Beyond These Shores, 1993 (9:09)
• #6 - Castlerigg, Iona, Open Sky, 2000 (9:25)
• #5 - Woven Cord, Iona, Open Sky, 2000 (9:28)
• #4 - Boomerang feat Tracy Truells, Cloud 2 Ground, The Gate, 2000 (11:18) - Wow, a song not by Iona made the list. This Trance/Techno band by Chad Petree and Jeremy Dawson is great.
• #3 - Encircling, Iona, Journey Into the Morn, 1995 (11:38)

• #2 - Matthew-The Man, Iona, The Book of Kells, 1992 (11:54)
• #1 - Sodom, Jerusalem, Warrior, 1981 (12:33)

I have praised Sodom many many times before, so I wont say anything this time. If you take away the Iona songs, not only is the list only three songs long, but two of the songs are written in 1981. See what I mean, nobody does it anymore.

I'm going to do a cheat here. In the era of mp3 files, there are certain songs that would be megasongs if they were not split into two. The songs may have been intentionally recorded as two songs, but they either, because of theme or the fact that they have barely a millisecond of space between them. Here are three two part megasongs.

• #3 - Destroy/Savior, Worth Dying For, Love Riot (6:31)
• #2 - Tourniquet/Imaginary, Evanescence, Fallen (8:55)
• #1 - Sudden Death/Come Jesus Come, Servant, World of Sand (11:55) Sudden Death and its companion song Come Jesus Come were billed as a two song "rock opera". It was written in honor of a death by auto accident of members of the Servant Community.

This has been a special edition of Flashback Friday. If you know of a mega song that you love, please share it with me by commenting. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.