NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

YouTuber Todd in the Shadows makes a yearly list of what he deems as the worst songs of the year, and last year Justin Bieber bookended the list with "Lonely" at #10 and "Yummy" at #1. Todd's frank commentary on the 27-year-old singer seemed a bit mean to put in my blog, and I realized that there was a reason Todd is in the shadows. There are several reasons why I chose "Friends" as the song of the day. First, the Tyler Ward version was stuck in my head, and it wasn't until I watch Ward's video on YouTube that I realized that the song was a Bieber song. When I watched the Bieber music video, the snow in the video made me think that it made the song fit in on my December playlist. I realized that the Bieber version wasn't half bad. It was melodic and the electronic production was a kind of song I would listen to, although I'd still prefer the Tyler Ward cover (see below). LIKE I GOT ULTERIOR MOTIVES. Regardless of whether it's the T

Sleeping at Last is a band that almost made a song of the day two days ago for their cover of " Chasing Cars " until I made time to listen to the Snow Patrol version and their music, eventually settling on " You're All I Have."  Like Snow Patrol , Sleeping at Last came to fame, albeit not Snow Patrol-level of fame, from a well-placed appearance in Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy . The indie-rock band turned solo project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ryan O'Neal has had many songs included in the ABC drama and its spin-off, Private Practice . Their cover of   "Chasing Cars" was used to add a dramatic counterpoint in the series, as the audience had already heard the original in the Season 2 finale. O'Neal stays busy producing lots of music, composing albums based on larger concepts, such as the solar system, the Enneagram, emotions, land, oceans, and many other topics.  WAR IS OVER, IF YOU WANT IT. In the band's large scop

When I was reading about NEEDTOBREATHE last month, I couldn't help drawing parallels between another band with a raspy-voiced lead singer, Kings of Leon. Both bands have Southern, faith-based roots. Both frontmen were raised by pastors who were involved heavily in ministry. Like the Killers, the record label of both bands tried to break them in the UK before taking on the American charts. Both bands were composed of at least two family members. In Kings of Leon, the band is composed of three brothers and their cousin. For NEEDTOBREATHE, the band's line up originally consisted of brothers Bear and Bo and their friends. But before they could release their 2015 record, Rivers in the Wasteland, a sibling rivalry nearly ended the band. LIKE A BULL CHASING THE MATADOR. NEEDTOBREATHE's breakthrough hit "Brother" topped Billboard's Christian Songs and was the band's first entry on the Hot 100, peaking at #98. It also rose to #8 on Billboard's Rock/Alternativ

Formed in 1994 first as Shrug and then as Polarbear but finally changing their name to Snow Patrol  due to other bands by their former names, the Northern Irish band became very popular in the early '00s. Their first single " Run " was a hit in the UK. But in America, the band would become famous because of their song " Chasing Cars " when it was included in the season 2 finale of Grey's Anatomy . "Chasing Cars" is the song most people know by Snow Patrol, and most wouldn't be able to associate the name with their hit song. The band continues to produce music, most recently releasing 2018's Wildness .    TRAIN THIS CHAOS, TURN IT INTO LIGHT . If you've had time to get into Taylor's Version of Red , you may have noticed a feature by Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody . Once the Indie Rock band became recognized, the band members started working on pop music, and Lightbody writing for Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran . The Snow Patrol singe

I've written a bit this year about how I'm a Coldplay apologist. I believe that the London-based band is very good at what they do. Though so many artists accomplish their sound, both musically and lyrically, better, there's something uplifting about a new Coldplay album. Earlier this year, I talked about the band's first single from their ninth studio record,  Music of the Spheres, " Higher Power ." The album was released on October 15 this year, but after "Higher Power" the band released the promotional single, the 10:17 track "Coloratura," which was praised by critics for its composition and production, and the second radio single "My Universe" featuring the South Korean boy band, BTS. The song shot straight to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the second Coldplay single to top the Hot 100, the first being "Viva la Vida." I JUST WANT TO PUT YOU FIRST .  The reviews for Music of the Spheres  were quite low. M

"I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I. Don't want a lot for Christmas." *struggles to change the radio dial amid gridlocked holiday traffic* "There's just one thing I need" *hurry up with my damn latte! I think I'm going to die. Why the hell is Starbucks playing Christmas music mid-October?* "I don't care about the presents" *internal Elaine monologue 'I think I'm going to die in this department store. Ma'am, why must you spray the perfume so close to my face. I can't breath! What the earth begins to shake and we're stuck in here forever underneath mannequins and holiday shoppers and that damn Mariah Carey song stuck on repeat?'* "Underneath the Christmas tree" "No" *raising a strict finger to students who should be studying in the back* "Not before Thanksgiving." "I just want you for my own/ More than you could ever know." Every year Christmas music get earlier and earlier. "Make my dr

Lana Del Rey's magnum opus, Norman Fucking Rockwell! was released in September of 2018 and earned the singer-songwriters the acclaim she had been laying the foundation for since 2012's Born to Die.   A year after her lackluster album/collection of good songs Lust for Life, she released the first single from NFR, "The Mariner's Apartment Complex" and quickly followed it with another single, the 9:38 song "Venice Bitch." She began building hype for the record, a cohesive record using the Americana formula Del Rey uses best, a year before its release. The singer awkwardly promoted the album in October of 2018, 11 months before its release, at an Apple Keynote event. The singer wasn't allowed to say the name of the her upcoming album or its single, which she played censored, "Venice Bitch," as Jack Antonoff played the piano. YOU DON'T EVER HAVE TO GO FASTER THAN YOUR FASTEST PACE. I remember a coffee table book we had, a warn spiral-bound c