Soundtrack to My Life

This music video is for the song "Fell In Love With a Girl" by the duet rock band The White Stripes. In this rather creative video, the band is portrayed through a series of well-positioned legos, resembling the band. I can only imagine how much time and effort was devoted to the creation of this video. Watching this music video reminds me of my youth, playing with these architectural toys. I would make millions upon millions of buildings/spaceships with my immense collection of legos. I would finger through every little piece among my myriad of multi-colored legos, trying to discover the perfect piece to assemble my building/machine. I would typicaly make spaceships which looked like a mix between the Millenium Falcon and a Volkswagon Bus, but sometimes I'd make flying robots. My multi-colored creation never resembled what I'd anticipated ( I refused to follow directions), but I was always pleased, and all of my creations met their demise when I'd carelessly send them on a kamikaze mission into the wall. It was a quite satisfying experience, I must admit. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Jack White was a big fan of legos when he was a tot. He devoted the theme of this music video to legos, and a creative mind (which Jack White possesses) would be more fully honed by constructing (and "deconstructing) legos as a young child.

This video is by the British rock band Muse, featuring the song entitled "Plug In Baby". In this video, the triplet is rocking out in a well furnished apartment, featuring many works of painted art. This apartment seems to express an almost futuristic aesthetic, like one you might find from an episode of the Jetson's. The work of art hanging from the walls is what initially catches the attention of the viewer (not to mention the female whose image is being distorted by a hair dryer). The work of art hanging from the walls reminds me of my aunt Sal's old apartment, in Ames, Iowa. Her old apartment almost perfectly resembled the setting of this video: very well kept, with many works of art hanging from the walls. She moved out when I was ten years young, but I remember dreading the idea of going over there with my family for a visit. I wasn't allowed to touch anything whatsoever, and I would usually sit on a couch and read a book. Watching my every step cautiously, I would try my hardest to keep a low profile until our trip was concluded. My aunt is a very nice lady, I will say that, she was just extremely touching about her "priceless" art (and for good reason, now that I am older I fully understand why she didn't want me touching it and observing it). The band Muse's lead singer, Matthew Bellamy, doesn't seem like he would own a house with a lot of art. I'm not saying he isn't distinguished, I'm saying he is a rock star, and everyone knows rock stars enjoy breaking things more than they enjoy playing music.

This infamous video is entitled "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by the greatest grunge band ever, the trio Nirvana. In this video, it shows the band playing their most famous tune to a bunch of apathetic teens sitting in a school gym. As the song progresses, the teenagers begin to jump around and go absolutely crazy for the band, as the school authoritarians try unsuccessfully to quell the developing riot. The setting for this video, as I stated earlier, is a school gym, much like the gym of my grade school, North American Martyrs. This was the gym that I'd learned how to play basketball in for the first time, and was also the gym which I first played my bass guitar in front of an audience. My bass, which is a sub-sterling musicman, was my pride and joy, and I played it everyday after school. I finally decided I would strut my stuff in front of my fellow peers for the school talent show, in my eighth and final year at this middle school. I was undeniably frightened, and was quivering as I made my way up on stage. I played the song "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as my good friend Lucas played the rhythm part on his guitar. About halfway through the song (which was playing on a CD player in the background) we lost our timing, and the song totally flopped. Nevertheless, the crowd went wild, even though we completely bombed. We wound up losing to a group of seventh-graders who reenacted a song by N'Sync, but we were proud even though we lost. I'm sure Kurt Cobain would still be proud of our achievement, or lack thereof.

This is the music video for the song "Your Touch" by the duet post-blues rock band The Black Keys. In this video, a magic egg can be seen be passed around by a young boy to complete strangers. As the youngster makes his way around town, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of the Black Keys can be seen hangin out in a diner. They are, of course, dead. This magic egg being passed around reminds me of Easter morning when I was little. I would wake up, with excitement gleaming in my eyes, and run upstairs to see what the Easter bunny may have left for me. He always left me some candy: typically marshmallow Peeps, some chocolate, and if I was lucky maybe an Easter-themed coloring book. I'd "inadvertantly" wake up my parents, and we'd go to Easter mass, which I despised with a passion. When we'd come back from mass, we would be greeted with my dad's entire side of the family, who'd traveled to our house to celebrate Easter. There was ofcourse, an Easter egg hunt, which I always dominated. I had a sixth sense of detecting plastic hollowed out eggs filled with candy. It was almost as though I had some kind of radar built into my cerebellum, which allowed me to find the most well-hidden egg. Our family's Easter celebrations would end with me being sick from eating all of the candy, and my cousins hating me for finding all of the eggs, before they had the slightest idea of what was going on.

This music video is for the song "Milk Lizard" by the quintet progressive-screamo band The Dillinger Escape Plan. In this video, a bar stool can be seen soaring throughout the city, after a barroom fight breaks out. This barstool almost exactly resembles a stool that played a very memorable experience in my high school years. My friends and I were at a party, and some of my friends (not I, of course) had become relatively innebriated over the wee hours of the night. As the night progressed, they only grew ever more intoxicated, and when my friends get drunk, they get rowdy. My friend Jack, a much bigger fellow, thought it would be a great idea if someone smashed a weathered bar stool (which we'd found in the closet in the basement of this house party) over his back. Now, my friend Jack looks a lot like the professional wrestler Goldberg (in his prime, of course), except not as muscular, and certainly not as intelligent. I tried my hardest to say something and talk some sense into him, but I restrained myself, knowing full well that it would be pretty sweet to see such happenings. My friend Eric (also quite innebriated) took the stool and threw it at Jack's back. The stool did not break, and Jack was in an immense amount of pain. He didn't want to go to the hospital, but we did take our leave from the party. Jack learned not to drink too much Jack Daniels and get too rowdy, and we learned not to bring Jack to anymore social gatherings. I rest assured that every member of the band The Dillinger Escape Plan have used their backs to break stools. Seriously, just looking at them, you can tell they can get pretty crazy.

This music video is for the song "Santeria" by the now disbanded punk-reggae band Sublime. In this video, we observe former lead singer Bradley Nowell's dalmatian Lou Dog reminiscing of his former master/best friend. Bradley Nowell overdosed on heroin just as the band was making their bones in the mainstream music scene. Seeing Lou Dog reminds me of my former neighbor's pet dalmatian, Gizmo. Gizmo was not a very nice canine, at least not to me. He lived with my neighbor while I was in kindergarten, and he would always bark at me whenever I walked by with my sister on our way to school. The first time we went to our neighbors barbeque Gizmo bit my finger when I tried to pet his back. He scared me, and most likely scarred me for life, as now I do not view dalmatians in the same way. I hated the movie 101 Dalmatians, simply on the basis of Gizmo. I would watch that movie and I would secretly believe that these dogs weren't as nice and kind as they initially came off. Lou Dog is the only exception to my prejudice against dalmatians; Lou Dog seems like quite the cool pup, and I refuse to believe that Lou Dog would bite me if I tried to pet him.

Above is the music video for the song "Scar Tissue" by the well-known rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This song appears on their album Californication. In this video, we see the band driving through the desert, tattered and torn, and desperatley seeking civilization. They are driving in a maroon convertible with the top down, feeling the breeze against their weathered faces. This particular vehicle reminds me of the first time I went to the high school prom. My friend and I were initially going to shell out a large amount of money for a limousine, but then we remembered that we were completely lacking in the funds to support such an effort to impress our dates. So I had my buddy talk to his uncle Greg, who happened to have a 1972 Mustang Convertible. Uncle Greg told us that if we washed it and returned in with a full tank of gas we could borrow it for the night. We felt like kings, and we thought we looked pretty slick rolling up in front of my dates house, where the pictures were being taken. Our dates were less than impressed, and in retrospect the 1972 Mustang conertible isn't the coolest car model, but we still felt like studs. It would've been impossible for us to appear half as cool as the Red Hot Chili Peppers do in their vehicle, but we sure tried.

This final music video is by the band Fastball. It features the beautifully composed and executed song "Out of My Head". I've always had a soft spot for this song. In the music video, it shows the band performing on stage, while flashing back to old home movies of the band members when they were children. One clips stands out particularly in this video: the clip when the little boy blows out the candles on his birthday cake. The furthest birthday I can remember in my life is my eighth birthday. I had three of my best friends at the time stay the night, and my parents baked me a triumphant chocolate cake. My buddies and I took turns playing Megaman on my Nintendo Entertainment System, and we were allowed to stay up 'til nine o'clock, which was a full hour later than our bed times. We were ecstatic! It was easily the best birthday I've ever had, and fortunately my mom filmed them singing me happy birthday. It will forever live on in my memories, and if I become famous like the band Fastball someday, I will seriously consider incorporating the clip of my eighth birthday party, if my band makes a reminiscing song.