High Enough

So, again I fall behind on my posts.  I apologize.  I'm been a bit frantic and off schedule with my upcoming move.  Hopefully, everything will settle soon -- and I sure hope I have decent internet service in the new place.  Anyway, I was driving this weekend and heard the song "High Enough" by Damn Yankees.  Excellent song, and I hadn't heard it in a long time.  So, I am glad it came on the radio.  When it first came out,  I thought they were singing "Can you take me higher...," but that is no surprise.  As you know, my hearing is not the best, and hey, sometimes it's just hard to tell what people are singing.  But, as I was listening this time, I was pretty sure it was "high enough" that they were singing.  Looked it up, and bingo!  Yes, that is what they are singing.  Unfortunately, it was released in 1990, so it isn't technically an '80s song, but that is alright.  Damn Yankees is made up of folks from Styx and Night Ranger--and Ted Nugent, so I think it's okay.

Meanwhile, I watched the video this evening, and I'm not sure I follow...  So, there is this couple, and they are on the run from the law (I think they robbed a bank or stole money somehow).  Toward the end of the video, there is this huge shoot-out with the cops and, well, Ted Nugent is out on the porch just rockin' out on his guitar solo while the bullets are flying.  Not quite sure I understood, but I guess it's kind of like that scene in "Titanic" where the string players are just playing along while the ship is sinking.  Actually, I think Ted is just playing as if to say "screw you" to the cops and the law.  Bullets cannot stop him!  I'm good with that.  Anyway, the woman is caught by the cops, goes to jail, and then you see her with a rosary and a priest.  Think he is reading her her last rights.   Come to find out at the very end, it's Ted Nugent again.  AHA!  Perfect!  He has another "ha!" kind of smirk, too.  I looked at the lyrics and history behind the song, and it's actually about a couple falling in love--and how it can be scary, and one person can scare the other away.  But, they ultimately come back to each other and can take each other high enough to fly them over yesterday.  Pretty cool.  I like it.  Good message, good harmony, awesome guitar solo, and just a good tune altogether.  Enjoy!

Detroit Rock City

It's getting pretty late in Becky's World, and tomorrow is Friday.  Thank goodness.  As tired as I am right now, I am excited for the weekend.  Last weekend I heard "Detroit Rock City," another Kiss classic, on the radio while I was driving.  Again, I cheat a bit here because the song was written in 1976, but that is alright.  I am sure this song was heard on classic rock stations in the 80s, and it is still getting airplay today.  I never actually heard the song until this year when I discovered the Kiss Symphony video.  I had very little idea of what Paul Stanley was singing (other than "get up...get down...") and then I discovered the sad inspiration behind the song.  Becky's World is pretty happy, so I will leave the research on this one (for those who don't already know) to my readers.

I really do think the performance with the Melbourne Symphony ads an exceptional punch and huge level of excitement to the song.  Well, that and the awesome pyrotechnics.  I couldn't help but notice that at 1:59 in the video, the brass section comes in to join the guitar melody.  Oh yeah, the brass can really kick some, uh, rear.  How cool is that?  I can only sit here and drool over that part, because even if the woodwinds had it, well you can't see or hear them in that part of the video.  That's okay.  Plenty of good music to go around for everyone.  I think I am getting addicted to this performance video.  I guess the song isn't really that sad if you think about it as a celebration of spirit and life.  Alright, it's sad, but this video is kickin', and the guitar solos cranking along give the tune unbelievable gusto and momentum.  Perfect to ring in the weekend.  Enjoy!

What About Love

So, Heart is one of my favorite groups from the '80s, and I absolutely love them.  I never get tired of their music, and all of their songs (from both the '70s and '80s) are terrific.  I heard "Barracuda" on the radio as I was driving home the other day -- definitely an excellent tune for driving through a twisty route through the mountains.  I looked at a couple of their songs that I hadn't heard in a while, including "What About Love."  This song is amazing, and I admit that Ann Wilson's vocals in the beginning were always so mesmerizing to me that I didn't listen to the rest.  I could remember the chorus pretty clearly, but I had to go back to read the full lyrics.  Beautiful, truly beautiful.  Pretty simple to understand.  Ann is singing to a man -- "the love I'm sending, ain't making it through to your heart."  Sounds like perhaps the man is preoccupied with work and forgetting about love.  I don't know how anyone could resist the touching lyrics of the song, which I imagine is one of the keys to it's popularity.  Well, that...and the video.  I hadn't seen it in ages, and I am not sure I understand it completely.  Definitely some kind of weird industrial underworld.  Guess it kind of goes along with the style of the day.  It has some very cool moments, like Nancy Wilson raising her guitar high above her head (kind of a "pray to the god of guitar" gesture -- very, very cool).  When she pops out of a mold after hot, molten liquid is poured in, that is pretty cool, too.  The video is fiery and intense, and I wonder what it would have been like in a different setting.  But, alas, it rocks....and so does Heart.  Hope you enjoy this wonderful power ballad.