02/16/12 by Mark | Blog | 2 Comments »
You could say there’s nothing fabricated about Adele…she’s the anti-pop star. We all love to cheer for her because she doesn’t look like pop stars are supposed to look, and her music isn’t pre-packaged or au courant. It really does seem to be a true underdog story—Great Talent wins out over the Big Label System. And she truly seems to be amazed at how people are responding.
The truth is, Adele is signed to a major label and none of us would know about her if she wasn’t. Still, there are plenty of artists signed to major labels that have never seen the light of day, or sold anywhere near the amount of records Adele has.
But that voice. People hear her sing, and then can’t help but tell others, “Have you hear of this girl, Adele? Her voice…” I know I have. She has a voice that can barely be restrained within the confines of a compact disc. I can only imagine that hearing her live would be astonishing.
People also resonate with her authenticity. The way she sings makes it easy to believe that she really means it. And in interviews, she is nothing short of charming and self-effacing. But even after hearing her huge smash, “Rolling in the Deep” dozens of times, I’m not sure what it means, beyond obvious heartbreak.
“We could’ve had it all, rolling in the deep.
You had my heart inside your hand, and you played it to the beat.”
Perhaps it’s a kind of Brit slang that would say, “Hey baby, you and me got it so good…we really are rolling in the deep.” I dunno. But it doesn’t matter—because people are feeling something. It’s hard not to feel something when you hear Adele, regardless of what she’s singing.
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01/12/12 by Mark | Blog | 3 Comments »
I love how the new year brings with it an automatic dose of optimism. The whole world breathes a collective sigh of relief that, “Yes, this year will be better than the last.” It’s a time of looking ahead, of making plans, and going after new dreams. It feels like hope.
But I’m curious what holds me back. Because even as I sit here at my desk, with piles of to-do lists filled with things I can be working on—all of which will be very beneficial to me—I find myself more often than not paralyzed. A writer’s block, of sorts. It’s a feeling that my phone must have right before it completely loses its charge. The gas tank is nearing E, and the sputtering is so deafening I think I’m gonna take a nap.
It all comes down to where I place my hope.
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01/10/12 by Mark | Blog | 3 Comments »
While driving down a super, busy street (Mack Hatcher here in Franklin), I passed a man who was out for his daily walk. But he wasn’t just walking.
When he got ready to leave the house this morning, he chose his favorite yellow ball cap, white cut-off sleeved t-shirt, and jogging shorts. He put on his headphones, attached not to an iPod, but a bulky CD player, and threw in his happy music. I knew it was happy music because he wasn’t just walking, this guy was dancing as he walked. He had arm gestures and everything. He twirled, gestured, back-stepped, and bounced, almost like he was two-steppin while moving forward. It was awesome. It was joyful. And it was uninhibited. I couldn’t take my eyes of the guy in my rear-view mirror as I passed him.
I want to be like the dancing guy. I want to put on my happy music and dance while I walk. But somewhere down the line, I learned that people laugh at people like that. People point fingers and stare at people like that. But, sadly, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a guy who looked happier and more confident than the dancing guy. And he made me smile. People who just walk or jog down the street don’t make me smile. But I smiled because I was proud that there is still someone left in this world that lives out of his heart, and isn’t controlled by fear of what people might think about him. Because that is truly how I want to live, regardless of how few examples I might have.
Dance even though no one hears the music in your heart.
You could say there’s nothing fabricated about Adele…she’s the anti-pop star. We all love to cheer for her because she doesn’t look like pop stars are supposed to look, and her music isn’t pre-packaged or au courant. It really does seem to be a true underdog story—Great Talent wins out over the Big Label System. And she truly seems to be amazed at how people are responding.
