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In honor of being snowed in today and to welcome in the holiday season, I have compiled a list of pre-Christmas songs that might be worth your while. These songs are not seasonal nor are they really perfect songs for the holiday season. I have compiled this list based on criteria of chilliness and funkiness. These are just cool songs that should warm you up for the cold weather and bright winter days. They just have a good vibe to them.

1. Eminence Front – The Who

Something about keyboards speaks to me of snow. This song has them, plus some lyrics that I don’t quite understand, but I think I get.

2. No Quarter – Led Zeppelin

More keyboards. This song actually speaks of snow, which helps its cause in this list. Plus, it’s just plain cool. Pun.

3. A Long Way From Home – The Kinks

Runny noses and piano: just screams winter. Plus, there’s kind of a Silver Bell’s quality to the vocals? Right?

4. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 3) – DJ Shadow

If you like to space out to plinky piano and tight drum beats while driving in the snow, this song is the song for you.

5. Creature Fear – Bon Iver  

Justin Vernon recorded this in a cabin, so that pretty much speaks volumes towards the aesthetic.

6. Oh, Me – Nirvana’s Version

Something about the arrangement and subtle acoustic guitar brings me chills, despite not understanding what the heck is being said.

7. In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins

Man, those drums get me every time! This song is timeless, but, for me, it has a very dark winter night feel.

8. Children of December – The Slip

December is in the title, so that sums it up. Also, the cool bass piles on the wintery butter.

9. Wordsworth’s Ridge – Sufjan Stevens

This song is classic early Sufjan and holds a style very similar to his Christmas albums, so it belongs on this list by default.

10. Bloody Well Right – Supertramp

Nothing wintery about this one except for the keyboards. I told you before, it’s the keyboards that bring a holiday quality to music. The keyboards.

All art has symbolism. All of life has symbolism, and therefore it should hold true that all art has symbolism. That’s the revelation that I had tonight. When walking through the different art eras in art history classes, we approached the subjects of Realism, Narrative, and Abstraction. Realism was supposed to hold almost no symbolism. It was a flash of reality. Think Lucian Freud. Narrative has been around since ever since and contains a myriad of symbolism. Stories are told, subjects are explored, all through symbols. Think Norman Rockwell (who I enjoy) or some of the tackier work of the 18th-19th centuries. Abstraction, although essentially the antithesis of realism, is similar to realism in that it generally holds no symbols, but instead plays around with form and intrinsic emotional values of color, shape, and line. Think Kandinsky or Mondrian.

I have found that symbolism is impossible to escape. It is ingrained within everything. A Lucian Freud portrait, seemingly devoid of anything but a naked human figure, is riddled with symbolism. The subject’s age is a symbol of time. The subject’s figure is a symbol of frailty or strength, depending. The subject’s gender symbolizes masculinity or femininity. The subject’s complexion symbolizes their easiness or difficulty of life. The mere fact that looks can be deceiving, should make the work of art into a symbol of our empathy towards the subject, as we look for ways to relate or learn.

Narrative is symbolic, obviously, and needs no more attention.

Abstract art at it’s least abstract should be quite obviously perceived as symbolic, as the abstractions are symbols of their real-life counterparts. But even at the most abstract, symbols arise. The blocks of Mondrian’s works act as symbols of depth in the details. We can learn how to observe and appreciate life when we grasp that symbolism. Post-modernism’s link to the relativity of modern art is defeated by the mere fact that although the viewer’s experience may be subjective, the fact of the viewer having an experience creates a truth that is not relative. The wave of experience that washes over the viewer is unique in every way, but it is not unique in that every other person in the room will also have an experience with that work, whether it be life-changing or ignorant. This is really the basic symbolism that I pull from abstract art. There is a depth to the shallowness and a shallowness to the depth.

I am essentially wrestling with the notion that symbolism in art is kitschy. Distastefully done, sure. With subtlety, I don’t think so. With obviousness, I don’t think so. Any critic that recommends art to be devoid of meaning has not seen or grasped art. Any critic that says that true art is without narrative may have a point, but better be careful. Life is full of narrative. Art is a magnified reflection of life. Here ends my ramble.

Christ gives himself to the soul, with all his excellencies, righteousness, preciousness, graces, and eminences, to be its Savior, head, and husband, forever to dwell with it in this holy relation. He looks upon the souls of his saints, likes them well, counts them fair and beautiful, because he has made them so.    - John Owen

I had a few very interesting discussions today, one where I was completely sober riding in a car with Craig and one where I was a bit tipsy talking to Kyle. Both involved priorities. I’m an old fart these days, attempting to put life into perspective continually. It gets tough at times, especially when considering options and various paths. There is an odd amalgamation of being content with whatever happens in life, be it bad or good, the result of poor decisions or good decisions, while also learning the lessons that the mistakes and victories are there to teach.

Take, for instance, college. For me it has been one long road. Seven years for a bachelor degree? I’m always reminded of TOMMY BOY when Richard says that people who go to college for that amount of time are called doctors. So at times, of course, I’m significantly downtrodden regarding my extended stay in schooling. I regret poor decisions about registration, attendance, and expenditures. But then I also think about all of the incredible people I would not have met had I finished on time. I think of the wonderful experiences that I have shared with these people. I am definitely of the opinion that God steers our steps, weaving together just the right amount of sadness and happiness, trials and victories, Coke and Sprites, to mold us into respectable individuals.

There’s also the area of women. In the past I was always most aware of the pretty girl with the heart of gold that was in the wrong crowd. Cursing, drinking, sexing, just an absolute lack of self-control, was usually the order of the day. Of course, I didn’t do these things, so nothing ever went anywhere there. So I made up my mind that I would pursue women of a fairly Godly character, or at least women who actually cared about themselves and about what God might think of them. So, it’s been much more fruitful. However, now I’m hit with more choices, such as deciding whether someone who is similar in interests is better for me or someone who is sure of themselves or someone who I gel very well with or someone who isn’t even worried about other people’s perceptions or whatever. So, it’s confusing. I’ve come to a point where I’m comfortable being single, pursuing my goals. There are lonely times and times where I question whether I’m doing the right thing, but I generally don’t sweat it. It’s been nice embracing my singleness.

I’m tired, so most of this probably doesn’t make too much sense. That’s kind of the point though, right? I don’t have the answers, I’m in the process of learning the nature of the problems. Hopefully things will get clearer for me in the coming years.

Itunes Statistics!

How many songs total: 3226

How many hours or days of music: 8 days, 11 hours, 41 minutes, and 36 seconds.

Sort by song title;

First song: “Abigail Silk” -Ugly Duckling.

Last song: “9-5ers Anthem” - Aesop Rock.

Sort by time;

Shortest song: “Burp” - Earthbound Soundtrack, 3 seconds.

Longest song: “The Cross of St. Andrew” - Five Iron Frenzy, 34 min 11 seconds.

Sort by album;

First album: A2G - Blackalicious

Last album: Young Hearts - Steve Miller Band

Top five most played songs:

1. “Old Man” - Neil Young

2. “Heart of Gold” - Neil Young

3. “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” - Pearl Jam

4. “Tangled Up in Blue” - Bob Dylan

5. “Brain Damage” - Pink Floyd.

First song that comes up on shuffle:

“Tea for One” - Led Zeppelin

Search the following & state how many songs come up: (This is including album and artist names)

Death - 9

Life - 73

Love - 74

Hate - 2

You - 265

Sex - 1, plus 2 “sextet” and 2 “sexy”