Wow, it’s been a while since i’ve been here, but the animation is almost done, so i figured, what the hell.

I don’t know how many of you know this or not, but I, when I was a kid, wanted to BE Cyndi Lauper. I’m not entirely sure why, cause she’s kinda scary looking, now that I look back at it… but… I wanted to be her. I would dress up in all of my dad’s clothes and I would say “look at me, i’m cyndi lauper!”…

Recently I discovered that you can download her videos on itunes. I bought Time After Time and I can’t stop watching it. As a kid I never really followed the story of the video or listened to the lyrics that I was singing, but … the video is the saddest thing ever.

Basically it’s about a girl who falls in love with this really great guy, and they’re totally in love, but she wants more. She wants to run away and become some sort of great singer or something. The video opens with her lying next to the boy she loves, and he’s fast asleep, and she just thinks about whether she should leave and try to make something more out of her life. … Oh, man, it’s just so sad though. She leaves while he’s still sleeping and he runs after her and says that he’ll go with her. They get to the train station and he says “I can’t go” while shaking his head. She turns and gets on the train and a tear falls down her cheek. I just never realized how powerful a video can be.

Maybe I’m just weird, who knows. Anywho, here’s a screen cap from the video. It’s kinda a weird one, but I thought it was sorta funny and set it as my wallpaper. I want to know where she got that giant glass dog.

Oh, and also, Cyndi Lauper has the same birthday as me! June 22nd! That is oddly enough also super present day! Rock on!

Music is probably one of the most important things in my life. I can pretty much think of a song for every occasion. If I’m driving to some sort of fair or carnival in the fall, I’m probably listening to “It’s a Shame About Ray” by the Lemonheads. If it’s the spring, I’m blasting “It’s It” by the Sugarcubes. If it’s late fall, “If I had a Gun” by the Dead Milkmen is playing, and if it’s the winter, you’ll be certain to find me endulging in Guided By Voices’ “Jellyfish Reflector” …

Those of you who know me may or may not know my favorite band or my favorite song, but that’s what this post is about. Back in 9th grade, I saw a song on MTV called “Somebody to Shove” by a band called Soul Asylum. This song changed my life. On a whim, I went out and purchased a few albums by this band, the second of which being “Made To Be Broken”. If you listen to one album in your entire life, make it this one. I don’t even know how to explain what this album did to me. Each song on the album rips through me and makes me happy to be alive. That’s the only way I can describe it. Some songs just do that to me.

After I bought that album, I couldn’t stop. It became like an obsession. I went out and got everything I could by that band. And that is where the story of Crashing Down begins.

I was on a French Club trip for high school. It was 9th Grade. We stopped at some silly mall…. I think it was the Rockaway mall, and they had a Sam Goody. I picked up an album called “While You Were Out” by Soul Asylum. I couldn’t wait to listen to it. It was the followup to Made To Be Broken. I was pretty sure that it couldn’t possibly be as good as Made To Be Broken, but still…

I got onto the bus and pulled out my gigantic disc man (this was the early 90’s and diskmen were still huge and really bulky). I put the album in. Track 1 went by… it was all right. Track 2, yeah, it’s okay…. track 3… hm… maybe I should turn this off… Track 4…. ….. …. ….

I don’t know how to describe this song. I don’t really know what to say. All I know is that when I heard this song… i decided right then and there that this song was the best song that ever existed and that it would be my favorite song no matter what. It was called Crashing Down. I don’t know what exactly makes it so fantastic, but I think it’s a combination of the melodic guitar and the fact that the band members are singing together through the whole song and it sounds really good (although it makes the words a little hard to decipher at times)

I sat back, closed my eyes and put the song on repeat. This was MY song.

It was then that I began to listen to the lyrics. (I’m going to type them now, but be warned, I really don’t have a clue what he’s saying in the second verse. If anyone can help me out, i’d really appreciate it) Anyway, here we go:

Crashing Down - Soul Asylum

Dyin’ on a bed of roses in the middle of the night
Woke up in a cold dark basement, lookin’ to the candle light
Up all night, still he can’t come Crashing Down
With the ghost of 1000 miles crawlin’ over me

Here’s to fallin’ off the world’s dark side
Driftin’ in alone with the morning sky
Ridin’ on an all night train through the Crystal Cave
Where the moonlight shines prepare for a brighter day

Where the bar rooms are all barren and evening is so still
Can you see it in your heart to let me in?

Did they hand you the reigns only knowing you’d lose
They lull you to sleep, tell you not to confuse
When the leaves on the trees come Crashing Down (don’t time pass slowly)
Seasons don’t change when you’re spinning around

Here’s to fallin’ off the world’s dark side
Driftin’ in alone with the morning sky
Ridin’ on an all night train through the Crystal Cave
Where the moonlight shines prepare for a brighter day

Where the bar rooms are all barren and evening is so still
Can you see it in your heart to let me in?

LET ME IN!

It was not only my song. It was my song of hope.
I wanted to go to this crystal cave. When I was sad, I would picture myself riding on one of those little mine cart things through this cave of beautiful crystals..

I just did a search for lyrics for this song, and on most of the Soul Asylum lyrics pages they have every song but this one. Why does a song that touched my life so much get so little love!?

I want to spread this song. To the people who read this, go out and find this song. Listen to it, and let me know what you think of it. I want to share it with everyone because it is SUCH a good song.

Wow, this entry was serious. I promise I’ll redeem myself next time!