i don't do drugs, i am drugs

10/10 don't recommend cocaine

"people don't run out of dreams, they just run out of time." -glenn frey

as most people with basic knowledge of life (or went to college) know..drugs fuck your life up; but few people know this fact quite as well as the eagles.  living in the prime of drugs, glenn frey, don henley, joe walsh, and timothy schmit definitely used their surrounding resources to their advantage and thus produced some of the trippiest lyrics of the 70s.  

formed in 1971 in the city of angels, the eagles amassed a grandeur of accolades including five number-one singles, six grammys, five american music awards, and six number-albums, finally topping off their success, at the turn of the century, two of their albums were ranked in the top 20 best-selling albums in the united states.  their success, however, was also sponsored by their incredible addiction to drugs.  this all culminated into a brilliantly produced album summing up their addiction and the problems that ensued called hotel california right before their fifteen year hiatus.  of course, this is their most popular album and easily most well known for the key titled song.    

the cover art for the album was a picture of the beverly hills hotel.  according to don henley, the picture was intended to depict the atmosphere of “faded glory, loss of innocence and decadence.”  beverly hills hotel was notorious for its celebrity guests and also the amount of coke snorted off of their counters and flipped mirrors.  the hotel, usually shrouded in living fantasies and fame, was turned into a sinister and edgy place in order to display the real hotel california.  

culturally, this album was received well and actually came at a perfect time.  1976 was around the turning point to the gradual decline of hard drugs due to people realizing how fucking crazy they are.  of course, drugs were never fully eradicated from pop/rock culture, but the eagles tweaked out personal experiences with it shown in the album was half the battle to the decline.  their main focal point of the album is the self-indulgent nature of america.  the rolling stones said the lyrics “present a convincing and unflattering portrait of the milieu itself....[the vocals] represent the weary disgust of a victim of the region’s luxurious excess.”  the majority of the issues covered were about the negative and, frankly, scary reality of drugs rather than the hyped up culture that was currently surrounding them; this was the sad bitch slap in the face fans of the band and life received in the late 70s.  the new and unconventional american dream was crushed under the weight of the west’s and, in particular, southern california’s dilemma through “los angeles country rock” as told by billboard.  while many people create a different interpretation for each song on the album, the overall track-by-track analysis revolves around the different dilemmas involved with intense drug abuse.  

1. hotel california

glenn frey is the mastermind behind the lyrics to the most popular song the band had ever produced.  while the hotel seems like a dream from the outside, it shows his dark and lonely struggle from the inside.  of course, with anything associated in something like drugs, many critics look to different reasons for the song including the other underlying message to the song: the deficit of california in the 60s and 70s.  california used to be known as the home of the city of dreams and people flocked to it in order to fulfill their goals and start a new, however, it turned into a place of shattered dreams and addiction.  the scary part and total turning point of the song is the macabre truth that the aspiring artists eventually face- the hell-trap that drugs leave you in.  “you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” is the climax of the song that  highlights the hold that drugs have on someone forever, whether it’s a life long addiction or an eventual shortened life, as glenn frey saw this past year.

the most interesting part about the song, however, is that the meaning of the song that i just gave is total bullshit. or at least it could be…frey has said multiple times that there is no actual meaning to the song and that it reflects a personal dilemma. as henley puts it, ”it’s a fine line between the american dream and the american nightmare.”

in the musical aspect of the song, it has a country-like aspect with the simple, and melancholy acoustic guitar that takes the forefront of the song.  it is a slow and very eerie sounding tune that has the perfect amount of beat that makes it equally trippy and beautiful.  there is a black and white marker with stoner rock that i’ve mentioned before regarding pink floyd that straddles the line of trippy and existential crisis, in every scenario, this song is the only one in existence that i think takes the cake in both of those categories  

2.  new kid in town

this album goes through the crushed american dream that was condensed in california through drugs and heartbreak- this is the heartbreak side.  not a romantical heartbreak but one of realization that the eagles were a rising sensation in los angeles and soon another one would take their place (which of course never actually happened but you get the point).  “...emerged from out whole fascination with gunfire as an analogy.  the point was at some point some kid would come riding into town that was so much faster than you and he’d say so, and then he’d prove it.  that’s the story of life.  that’s the story of aging, especially coming out of your teenage and young man years and as you approach 30, you begin to see that things don’t stay the same forever and that there’s a lot of other guys like you and gals like you that want the same thing that are coming up, and they want their moment, too, and they’re going to get it. and it’s fine.  it’s as it should be.” is a quote eagles collaborator j.d. souther said about the song.

the song itself honestly screams “james taylor” due to its chill and laidback guitar and the lack of strong dynamics other than a slight increase in volume and added harmony mid song.  

3.  life in the fast lane

other than hotel california, this might be the eagles most popular song.  this goes back to the album’s theme of drugs and the negative impact they have on people as well as the intense surplus in anything anyone could get their hands on.  the story is of a couple that had everything but lost it all due to their poor lifestyle of “live fast, die young”- well it happened, except instead of losing their lives, they lost everything they lived for. the jet-set and competitive life style of the 70s had taken over everyone’s mind and, of course, it all eventually caught up to them- the same theme discussed in hotel california.

this song is a well needed change of pace from the previously slow moving pieces.  while the last two were more of a sit-in-a-dark-room-and-roll type of song, this one is getting high and literally speeding through nowhere letting the wind whip.  joe walsh’s accidentally catchy riff in the beginning is the only real melody you hear the entire song and, honestly, it works.

4. wasted time

this is one of the only songs on the album that honestly has no meaning (or maybe that is meaning?).  this was don henley and glenn frey stepping out of the box and going “what the hell- let’s make a soul torch tune.”  this song was testing the waters of henley’s singing abilities and attempting to stretch the board all the way across the country, as frey describes, “he [henley] could sing the phonebook it didn’t matter.”

this song, for little/no meaning, actually has an incredibly catchy tune- almost like a single person slow dance.  with that being said, the catchy tune lasts about ⅔ of the song until the whole single-person-slow-dance part really kicks in and you realize the melody hasn’t changed and the lyrics make you want to cry.

5. wasted time (reprise)

for a song that had no fucking meaning they really did amp it up didn’t they?  no lyrics mixed with violins and a solid beat makes a beautiful arrangement for a james bond sex scene*.

6. victim of love

this song has two wicked cool back stories to it.  the first one goes to the romantical heartbreak involved with fame in the 70s.  it is simply a “fuck you, i don’t need you” song post-don felder romance problems.  with that being said, here comes the second wicked cool backstory: he was going to sing it.  the only thing is that it took the band about 1 ½ takes for them to realize that felder can’t sing.  after a sneaky send off of felder, henley took the vocals back over.

7. pretty maids all in a row

this is a damn new sound for the eagles. piano and synthesizer make their first appearance on the album and they run together in a waltzy style song.  this is like a graduation song- reflective and meaningful.  it looks back on the observations each band member experienced together and that they hope to stay together in the future given all they have been through as a band.

8. try and love again

this song is a turn on the female heartbreak song and makes it in the male's perspective.  after a breakup, usually the woman is the one that is shown with all the emotions in it and tries to start over, but the eagles turned it into the male breakup song and the experience they had in lifting each other up through them and getting back out in the dating world.

the music itself is actually uplifting, definitely the most positive song on the album due to its higher notes and entrance of an electric guitar and faster beats

9.  the last resort

while the rest of the album is a mix of problems currently in the west, this song focuses on the shitty past the west actually holds.  it is said that drugs and the new, fucked up american dream wasn’t actually the first hard time the west held but it was originally screwed over by the original american dream a long time ago: taking over the west itself from native americans.  the main premise of the song is how the more west the dream goes the more selfish it becomes. henley says this song describes how “...we [america] have mortgaged our future for gain and greed.”

this is a perfect example of a classic rock ballad.  the sweet balance between rock aspects including complicated guitar and the forefront of drums and then soft lyrics create an ideal ending for this album as it brings it all the way back to the depressing and melancholy past of the west.

on the lighter side of things, smoke a joint and toke out to, specifically, to life in the fast lane, wasted time (reprise), pretty maids all in a row, and, of course, hotel california.

life in the fast lane is an obvious choice as, unless you got the first hit, it’s gonna take a few hits for your head to start rolling thus giving the perfect musical backdrop to picking things up.  no matter what the background meaning of the song is, the riff and and catchy beats allow a great start to a stoner sesh.

while it might be surprising, the reprise for wasted time i think is super rad for the buildup for a great high (hence my sex scene reference *insert wink*).  it starts slow and gradually adds more instruments and intensity as the song goes- same as if you’re laying on the floor feeling the high well up inside.

pretty maids all in a row is just trippy, honestly.  this is perfect for a climactic high where you don’t want to think about an existential crisis or even lyrics in general- the music’s grandeur enough to get you through the shit.

and of course, finally, hotel california.  this should only be appropriate when you want to have that existential crisis (what kind of lavender diesel shit you on).  the comedown is shit and makes you want to fall asleep and this song will make you never wanna smoke again.

needless to say, hotel california as an album is musical genius that has been revered for almost 40 years.  it has a deeper and much darker meaning than could originally be intended and is perfect for figuring out the decline of the american dream or just simply smoking some dank.

in the wise words of don henley:

“when we were all on the run, we were all using cocaine...cocaine in the mornings and cocaine in the afternoons.”

* like pierce brosnan jb sex scenes

star wars ain't original u tried***

DAVID BOWIE IS THE FUCKING SHIT

there aren’t many people in the world that can hold a legacy as well as david bowie can and is currently doing- even a year after his death.  he isn’t just considered one of the greats: he is the great.  the shit, the big kahuna, and rock god all easily are titles that can be placed before his name or his pseudonym of ziggy stardust. his music began in a time where it was starting to become a little more open to who you are (except if you were black or gay because america); because of this he was able to fully divulge himself into a new identity and open up about his life through his music.  as previously mentioned, it was difficult in the 60s and 70s to be openly gay or have any part in the lgbtq community, david bowie confronted that problem full force and turned the music industry into an outlet not only for suffering lgbtq people, but for anyone having difficulty breaking out of their shell.  

society in the 1970’s was a weird thing.  born just after the peak of hippie culture, people were still going mad over wars, nuclear weapons, and equal rights (again, except if you were gay or black because america).  everyone’s senses were heightened to the point where political, economical, and social advocacy were the main focal point of any rally or even daily conversation.  well, to no one’s surprise, pop culture and the media eventually figured that out.  artists, producers, and musicians started to hop on the hippie bandwagon and sooner rather than later, everyone was jumping through new ideas, technological advances, and the belief that because you live in america you can do whatever you want...fuck yeah.  the 70s gave way to, in my opinion, some of the best films and music produced pre-turn of the century. the variety of media outlets was phenomenal where timeless movies such as rocky, star wars, the godfather, and monty python emerged and allowed that generation to laugh, cry, and believe they could do whatever they wanted.

music arose artists such as fleetwood mac, pink floyd, led zeppelin and other greats which could easily be considered the voice of the 70s.  all in all, it was a time where people began to break out of their shell, do what they pleased, and fight for their rights.

david bowie was right in the midst of this new found field of pop culture, and while he obviously left his mark on the world in a grand way, he didn’t do it the same way other greats (as mentioned above) did it.  he could be considered one of the greatest movers and shakers of social liberty for generations to come.  bowie was always for the underdogs and his music showed it.  as a musician of the late 20th century, he was easily one of the greatest cultural influences of our time in many different ways. he took a cultural problem of the time and turned it into a pop cultural phenomenon.

1. the rise of sexuality

obviously david bowie came into a generation who seemed they could take on the social task of gender roles and such.  what with movies like rocky horror picture show being hits it’s obvious it wasn’t so much a crime anymore to be openly in the lgbtq community. however, it still wasn’t normal. It was still a tad disturbing for some people to see bowie openly talking about his homosexuality later in his career after a separation with his wife, flirting with his guitarist, and obviously going by pseudonym, ziggy stardust, as seemingly a transvestite.  bowie not only paved the way for equality and causing a raging gender bender but also showing the world how you can create music as an outing for any internal ragers the world was having.

2. genre bender
does anyone actually know what genre this man was put in?  i don’t and i dont think anyone could find a suitable place to fit him in either.  he was hard rock (“rebel, rebel”, “suffragette city”), soulful (“young americans”), funky (“fame”), and whatever category you can put “space oddity” into. he started as more of an acoustic artist (i would actually compare him to the likes of phil collins and james taylor) and then slowly moved into a pop and rock field; this semi-dramatic change allowed him to appeal to a larger audience with his dynamic music sound.

3. remember the sabbath day and keep it holy
one of the most iconic things bowie ever did was take a siesta in berlin in 1976. he described his choice of berlin as a place where no one cared about some american rock artist as they were still struggling with the divide of their city by the berlin wall. he found solace in his anonymity and was able to collaborate with other famous artist, iggy pop, and bust out what was known as the "berlin trilogy." low and heroes came out in 1977 while lodger debuted in 1979. this onset of albums came through his detox from cocaine addiction and the stress that 1970s los angeles was placing on him. this paved a new path in the pop culture world that not only was taking a break a good thing, but also started the realization that drugs might not be the best thing for you (especially cocaine which was insanely popular in the 70s, especially in los angeles).

4. the rise of music videos

even though mtv first unleashed its mighty claws with “video killed the radio star” let's be honest, the buggles didn’t pave the music video chain- it was bowie.  his 1969 “space oddity” video was one of the most iconic videos of the time and turned the world and pop culture into a frenzy for music videos.  

5. fashion icon

in my interview last week, one of my questions was "what was the first thing that comes to mind with david bowie?" and my interviewee, mclovin (i still can't stop laughing), immediately said his sense of fashion and how he pioneered the way for the likes of people like lady gaga and katy perry.  fashion was definitely at the forefront of bowie’s cultural boom and gave him definition that left many other artists attempting to create their own signature look as well.  

6. also, HE LITERALLY ANNOUNCED HIS OWN DEATH

not two weeks before bowie tragically passed, he released an album “blackstar” on his 69th birthday.  the first song, “lazarus”, on the album has a music video that shows bowie in a hospital with bandages and buttons for eyes.  if that isn’t eerie enough, the main words of the song are “look up here, im in heaven.”

i hope you liked my cute little list of how david bowie is fucking awesome and culturally paved the way for society in freedom of ideas, fashion, genre, and sexuality and also crushed gender norms under his mighty pink boot.  however, bowie also tops another list...and that is one of the best artists to get high too.  lucky enough, we are now in the 70s, and as you know already...the 70s is for the weeds (and cocaine but 10/10 don't recommend cocaine just ask glenn frey).

i’m just going to start with the most basic song you can listen to while high (and actually might be a toker’s staple): “space oddity.”  one of his most famous songs who no one actually knows why he wrote it is literally perfect for smoking.  just put it on repeat, kinda freaky and honestly might be a stoner's nightmare but who cares it's trippy.

another one that would be good is “moonage daydream” (don’t ask about the space theme just remember star wars came out at this time too and roll with it).  this one is just honestly a good song but it’s the smooth guitars that will keep you rolling.  bowie knew what he was doing with this one and honestly i think he was on something while writing it too so there ya go.

the final song that I think is perfect for smoking too is “life on mars” (again, don’t question the space thing).  it is the perfect mix of tweaky and scary as post- space race left the country shattered over whether or not life on other planets exist.  this will leave the listener raveled in the reality that both options of whether or not there is life on other planets exist are equally terrifying...happy listening.

***i really also love star wars more than life so like keep doing you with your stardust thing cause i totally saw rogue one in theaters like 12 times so just go with it***

sounds like a drug honestly

Abraxas- Santana

“we stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion.  we questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: we called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it abraxas.”**

“hey, how is it going?” might be the most famous lyric 70’s rock band, santana, has ever produced.  of course, it wasn’t exactly as “normal-spongebob” as “hey, how is it going?” it was actually just “oye como va” which is so much smoother and sexier than the previously stated phrase.  this was santana’s legacy: the sexiest sounding rock band of the 70’s.  

while santana was jamming with bongo drums and the start of synthesizers in the hippy age, the birth of what is now known as classic rock and heavy metal was only just beginning.  it was a strange time where everyone was running around trying to figure out what the hell the genres actually were as so many bands were recording so many different sounds and pieces but they all had something in common.  rock music grew out of the oldies kind of rhythm and blues that was popular just before and it was subsequently turned into a rampant on war and drugs which was also the forefront of the world at the time. the late 1950’s into the 1960’s were incredibly focused on making the world a more peaceful place again and hippies ran amok.  the grateful dead, fleetwood mac, the eagles, and santana were the leaders in this movement regarding music.  in the last post i talked about how black sabbath changed the way rock viewed the world from the awesomeness of “flower power” into the realistic side of drugs and war- a dark and macabre scene that few would want to involve themselves in.  they gave way to a new statement of rock that could be dubbed as the start of heavy metal.  this of course just continued to break away in the 80’s into bands like guns n roses, metallica, van halen, etc. classic rock has a very obscure ending to it.  some people consider that this kind of music continues into the 90’s with grunge bands like nirvana while others like to cut the genre and classic rock stations off when boy bands started to rise at the end of the 80’s.

santana was lucky enough to be in the gap of rock where other cultures and music were welcomed in the rock and music scene.  rock was the forefront of music in the time of santana’s reign and, while they weren’t the only racially diverse group or artist in the genre, they were one of the few that did have their songs in another language or a varying tone of music. carlos santana (a mexican-american guitarist) formed the band in 1966 originally as a blues band.  that all changed when they performed at woodstock in 1969. they turned from a blues band into a trippy rock band- to match their fans and the surrounding society of the time. this allowed their music to become incredibly popular due to their hippy vibe.  it also helped that their style of music was popular not only in the US but mexico as well.  this really got the hippies rolling as to them it promoted peace among nations.

santana’s music could easily be as famous as it is due to the trippy vibes and crazy repertoire of instruments used.  they combine classic latin music with oldies american blues and then with the traditional 70s smoothness of music to create a sound that could be their own genre if they really wanted it.  much like other bands at the time (e.g. pink floyd), santana, combined multiple instruments that, honestly, probably shouldn’t sound good together but hell they make it work and santana made it work incredibly well.  

their best album that showcases this mess of music is their 1970 album “abraxas.”  the title, abraxas, came from a line in hermann hesse’s book, demian, which is quoted at the top.  the album cover, however, is actually a painting by mati klarwein in 1961 titled annunciation. the word abraxas is a gnostic word showcasing magic and wonder in the world revolving around the seven classic planets.  while the album might be named after classics,  this album alone holds two of the band’s most classic songs.  “oye como va” and “black magic woman” gave the band their reputation and their set sound that would make them famous.  “black magic woman” was a cover of a previous fleetwood mac song, however, topped the charts at number four on the billboard hot 100 and then as number one on the billboard top 200. in “black magic woman” they mix together a saxophone with a guitar and other synthesizers that would sound crazy in any other sense but their mix in of salsa made the music have a merengue dance vibe clash with stoner rock and thus produced this wonderful chart-topper.  “black magic woman” and “oye como va” aren’t the only two songs that have a strong sense of culture in them, “el nicoya” is a song that is full drums and light singing that can be easily pictured as being played on the side of the road in their home country of mexico.  “incident at neshabur” is another interesting song on this album and also has strong hispanic roots, however, they really amp up the mixture of instruments and sounds as it goes from something you’d hear at a fancy restaurant playing on the piano to a crazy bridge that shoves the melodies of all the other songs on the album together.   

if  you couldn’t tell already by the fact that Santana played at Woodstock, they had a huge following of the stoner crowd behind them.  as mentioned, their combinations of instruments and salsa vibes create a great dancing sound that would make your head roll. santana was essentially hailed as some of the leaders of the hippy movement because of their music being so easily paired with toking out.  this type of music may not have lasted with other bands that got their footing in this age due to the rise of hard rock and metal, but santana continued producing the same style of music through each album and continues to do so today.  their music speaks to people in such a way that keeps today’s generation still clinging to their album abraxas whenever emotions run high or they just simply are high. In the words of carlos santana “the most valuable possession you can own is an open heart, the most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”

**if that ain’t some hippy shit I don’t know what is

who tf names a song rat salad

Paranoid-Black Sabbath

ozzy osbourne is a strange motherfucker.**

however, i'm blessed by his druggie antics because if he, geezer butler, tony lommi, and bill ward weren't bat shit crazy then the world wouldn't have this gem of an album; i mean, it is useful for literally any life situation. need to vent? listen to "war pigs." need to cry? listen to "rat salad." need to kill a bitch? "iron man" has your back. there is nothing this album can't accomplish.

regarding this album accomplishing things, this was black sabbath's make or break album. their first one was relatively successful and allowed them to go on tour for a good bit, but their families still did not trust that they were going to do well in music- and frankly, neither did their fans.  they wrote this eight-track album in an impressive six weeks while on tour and the majority of the songs were written in a bathroom while they were on some serious drugs...this is consequently obvious in those songs.  Ironically, the three most impressive and notable songs on the album were an afterthought in the writing process. “war pigs”, “iron man”, and “paranoid” were written in about twenty-five minutes each only because they didn’t think they had enough songs on the album.  each of these tracks later became the band’s most famous pieces and even topped the UK charts at some point.

the late-60s, early 70s music was a new wave of rock and the gradual beginnings of heavy metal.  black sabbath was competing with bands like aerosmith, led zepplin, acdc, queen, etc., so in order for the band to do well in this time they needed to create their own unique sound.  black sabbath did just that and more, later being dubbed as the inventors of heavy metal.  their angsty tone, freaky lyrics, stringed together guitars, interesting backstory, and a drum that was forefront of the music turned the world from the who and sir paul’s “original metal piece”- “helter skelter”- into a surge of ozzy osbourne screaming at us about drugs, war, and satan.  

another way this album really defined the heavy metal scene was the way they graced us with it’s presence.  while, yes, the music is obviously metal af, the band intentionally included a wave of blues, jazz, and classical music.  while one might not be able to initially hear it when listening to the songs, if you pay attention to the way the music combines together, it is smooth and articulate to a point where if there weren’t weird lyrics and an electric guitar this could easily be a bluesy-rock album.  this flows into how the music at the time was mostly about love.  the early 60’s was all about “flower power” and making the day full of sunshine- again this also has to do with the background of war and drugs.  but black sabbath put a brand new twist on war and drugs by making the lyrics dark and showing what could be considered the true side of those two infamous things.  

the album’s title track “paranoid” was the biggest filler on the album, yet is their only song to make the UK top 10.  “paranoid” sets the stage for the entire album as it focuses on the difference between the paranoia one gets when they are doing drugs then followed by the depression it causes afterwards.  the rest of the album follows this lead by taking different situations and hallucinations one can see when they are on drugs and mixing them with a trip out, happy piece, and then the depression that follows-and that the band was facing. Some of the “scenarios” caused by drugs include war- “war pigs”, “hand of doom”, and “jack the stripper.” a crazy man killing everyone thinking he’s a superhero- “iron man.”, satan taking over one’s mind- “planet caravan” and “electric funeral.”  then finally a surplus of craziness with a tweak- out instrumental piece accompanying the, previously mentioned, paranoia and depression caused by drugs- “rat salad” and “paranoid”.

these songs being so deep and crazy in their meaning is what makes them a phenomenal song to toke out too.  while my last album, meddle, by pink floyd was classically trippy in the way the instruments and synthesizers laced together, paranoid, is trippy in the facet of it’s lyrics.  as previously mentioned, these songs describe the crazy shit you see when you’re high as a kite, thus it makes it an interesting piece to smoke to. actually listening to it-lyrics and all- on a normal day is freaky enough as it is but when you’re stoned af, it might just cause the largest existential crisis and-duly named-paranoia-case you’ll ever have.

**look at the damn title


i don't want to think about jack stripping

meddling mofos

meddle- pink floyd

**that's some serious artwork

as previously mentioned, one of the most classically known artists to get high to is pink floyd.  at first, i was going to review their album The Wall...until i learned the back story of it and realized that it is one of their few albums with a pretty intense history (it was also 43 songs and no one wants to sit through that).  after some research, deep soul searching, and long walks to listen to each album, i found that the album, Meddle, released in 1971 is a solid beginner album for the rookie toker.

initially listening to this album, i was pleasantly surprised by how short it was, that all came to a halt when i found out how long half of the songs are- the length of the six-song album was the same as an average thirteen song album.  that shocker was then surpassed because of how fundamentally wicked all of these songs are.  i had never heard of any of them but one- "San Tropez" - so to hear all of them together and then back to back was phenomenal. there is a deep af meaning to this album and it's so subjectively awesome that i listened to it six times in one day.

the first song on the album, "One of These Days", is an almost six-minute slur of craziness.  the intense wind in the beginning of the song will tweak out even a sane mind,  but when it switches into the catchy, foot-tapping bass line things really start to pick up.  the guitarist kicks into an almost led-zeppliny rift for a few minutes until the classic, trippy pink floyd style kicks in.  a creepy discord in all instruments present surrounded by what sounds like jabba-the-hutt talking in murmers takes over the middle of the song until full-fledged guitar and a classic rock vibe encompasses the rest of the piece.  this solely instrumental song is not only trippy but extremely enjoyable no matter what your current state of mind is.

the second song of the album is "A Pillow of Winds."  pink floyd continuously straddles the line between having audiences falling asleep and having a severe existential crisis. this song really dances along that line and personally pushes my mental capacity.  the ethereally-smooth vocals hold in front of simple instrumentation. this combination initially seems to have no connection, but they somehow make it beautiful with a hint of "i need to rethink my life."

the third song on the album is "Fearless."  while the previous song minimally defined itself as the "existential crisis" part of pink floyd's known noise, this one takes on the other side of that line and makes me fall asleep. other than the soccer-like chanting at the end of the song, this one can be put in the category of "tweaked out ballad"- the music itself is ethereal and subtly tranquil, but i didn't see the point of it on this album.

the fourth song on the album is "San Tropez."  if you're going to get periodically high to a song on this album- this is it. it's one of the shortest songs, but it has a catchy enough beginning to keep you flowing and swaying your body. the ethereal and twilight-zoney synthesizer will have a toker rolling to this shit.  the only thing i don't understand about this song is the piano. i don't know what compelled them to put it in there, but...i guess it works cause the song is bonkers.

the fifth song is "Seamus."  if there is a song to come down from your high on, it's this one.  psychedelic enough to maybe keep you in your high long enough to finish the next grueling song but creepy enough- cue dog barking?- to maybe knock you right out of it.  as usual, there is a strong bass line and background lyrics that are practically incoherent, but this one really stands out with how soft they made those qualities,  which is what makes this song strangely beautiful. 

the final, and longest song on the album is "Echoes."  this almost twenty-five minute song is easily a culmination of every song on their album (and arguably, every song on all of their albums).  this song passes the line of creepy and dives directly into psychedelically freaky. however, i still listened to it five times last night.  it is trippy as it is scary and that is what makes it absolutely the best stoner tune on this album.  it will last for the better half of your high, and the real-life lyrics can keep you going into your come-down. the song is well-balanced with the guitarists, strong bass line (as usual), synthesizers, good lyrics, and whatever creepy triangle-sounding noise is playing in the background. the pick-up towards the end of the song is my favorite part because, for once, the instruments aren't in discord and actually play with respect to each other.  this is when you hear just how good of a band pink floyd is- they just choose to appear the opposite.  but, of course, that shit continuously works for them.


ya meddling kids

Songs to Listen to When You're Stoned AF

well hello.  my name is katherine and i have no idea what i want to do with my life.  i am a failed mechanical engineering student, then economics (but then realized i really hate calculus), then political science (then realized i missed the tech world), so now i am back in the school of engineering with computer information systems and a minor in business management.  with that being said i am a people person.  people are cool and i like figuring them out psychologically and socially.  one of the best ways to get inside of a person's head and really figure out what they are like is through music. what a person listens to is a gateway to their brain and how they think or even what they do in their daily lives.  for instance, ignorant rap could be for someone that wants to not think deeply when they listen to music and instead listen to a guy screaming about how he can't keep his dick in his pants, alternatively, alternative music could be for someone that, while they enjoy the mix between pop and rock music of the new generation, they enjoy looking deeper into the way a song is made and what the artists intentions for it are.  the main genre of music i will be focusing on, though, is classic rock.  of course classic rock rubs well with people who were either raised in that generation or people who appreciate what the generation held (in my opinion it held the promise of a new technological era).  i am going to flip those, however, and portray some known classic rock artists into artists to get high too. as previously mentioned, i enjoy getting into people's heads- lets see how you can handle tripping out to these rock gods.

just to test the waters