Well, it’s been a bit of a ride as I was writing yesterday. I’m amazed that I keep having to dip into the major label talent pool. I’m getting lots of people suggesting music for the blog, however a vast majority of it while very good isn’t on iTunes and leaves it to just Sunday’s. That’s an additional depressing fact. With such an easy route to get onto iTunes why is it that so few artists actually make that leap?!? Can anyone answer that question for me?
I happen to be a fan of today’s song. For a number of reasons. First, its one of those songs that travels a lot of ground musically. It also wasn’t something that I jumped into right away because of it. Ordinary is the type of song I had to listen to a few times until it grew on me in a few big way. Why did I get myself to listen over and over again? Because I loved the movie. I’m a big fan of Spider-Man, I can’t wait for the next installment. And because I dig the lyrics. In some strange way, I think I relate to them. As I’m sure a lot of people would do. No one likes to think they’re ordinary.
Peculiar is how I see myself. Offspring to artistic parents with a sibling that also designs and invents buildings, how can I be anything but odd to the world? I create too. That instantly puts me at a tangent to how most people relate to their surroundings. I love technology, yet feel happiest when I’m outdoors in nature. Crazy dichodomy. Not to forget that I’d feel right at home if I was suddenly a superhero that could scale walls, punch out the bad guys and shoot webs from my wrists. Not exactly a normal way to view your own life, right?
Other twists of insanity include going overboard with a Christmas CD project, turning down a major label interested in your talent, buying your own tour bus, jumping off the tops of mountains on skis, mountain biking at high speeds down narrow tracks. Get where I’m going with that? Good, cause I don’t.
Train to me is one of those hit or miss type bands. I don’t like everything they do, but when I do find a song by them that I like, I don’t just like it – I love it. This is probably my favorite Train song, hence the reason I chose it. They have at least 4 or 5 other songs that I have as well. Including some of the hits they’ve had. Interestingly I got into it with a booker for a venue in Phoenix once a couple of years ago. I had a lot of friends there looking to help me play some shows and help build an audience. But the guy was like, why should I book you when I’ve got a band like Train coming through and I can’t even fill my venue with them? Tough to argue with, but when you’ve got a team of people/friends willing to do the legwork it’s disappointing when you can’t pull a venue together.
Recently I was befriended on myspace by of all bands – Train. Normally I don’t accept friend requests from Myspace music accounts. It’s nothing personal, I just don’t want to be flooded with thousands of requests to come see someone play, when I’m doing the same thing. So it’s rare that I’ll add another band to my friends list. I look at it as a courtesy to them that I won’t be advertising my music to them. Fair right? In the case of Train I just thought it was too funny, that I’d get a request from them. Mostly because I’m sure it was someone at the label that was hired to sit in front of the computer working the myspace community to find Train fans and not one of the band members themselves.
Despite Train’s tie to a huge movie and their odd myspace request, I still believe you ought to buy this song. I do recommend checking out other songs/CD’s by them, but I can’t recommend it all. That’s just me. Find the songs they write that touch you, then buy ’em.
(** Disclaimer: Seeing as how Sony is behind this song, I’d like it known that if they come at me like the Green Goblin I’ll have to act like my Spider-Man fantasy and yank the audio with the speed of the spider sense. The text will remain to remind me that it’s not fun to be Ordinary. **)