I Just Need The Rain To Remind Me

If this song doesn't help heal a heart, I don't know what song will. 16 days until I see Sara Bareilles live, hopefully she plays Let The Rain. Lyrical gold and incredible vocal delivery make for a song that you can put on repeat for hours and hours without getting sick of it. I mean, how could anyone wanting a fresh start get sick of Sara's captivating voice belting out a song about just that?

I encourage everyone to at least give her album, Kaleidoscope Heart, a listen. There are songs for every type of mood. So in love with your boyfriend/girlfriend that you could just look into their eyes and feel like everything will be alright? Then "The Light" is your song. How about a good fuck you song? Listen to "King of Anything". Trying to get over someone? "Gonna Get Over You", Say You're Sorry", and "Machine Gun" are for you. Devastating ballads, "Hold My Heart" and "Breathe Again", are for those who feel like they can't be loved. And "Uncharted" is just, well, awesome (especially with the album's opener, "Kaleidoscope Heart" serving as a PERFECT introduction to the song). It's an amazing album, one of my favorites for sure.

Lastly, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse the other night. At least 5 people are dead and 40 are injured so far when basically the entire stage fell on top of the crowd during a severe thunderstorm that hit the area right after Sara Bareilles finished her set. It's truly a horrifying accident and I'm sure Sara and Sugerland (the headlining act that night) will continue to handle the situation with grace as they already have displayed. Again, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

Anyway, it's pouring outside. I just want to let the rain come down, to make a brand new ground. Here's "Let The Rain" by Sara Bareilles. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fidGJImko7s&feature=related

I wish I were pretty
I wish I were brave
If I owned this city
Then I'd make it behave

And if I were fearless
Then I'd speak my truth
And the world would hear this
That's what I wish I'd do, yeah

If my hands could hold them you'd see
I'd take all these secrets in me
And I'd move and mold them to be
Something I'd set free

I want to darken in the skies
Open the floodgates up
I want to change my mind
I want to be enough
I want the water in my eyes
I want to cry until the end of time

I want to let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down
Let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down tonight

I hold on to worry so tight
It's safe in here right next to my heart
Who now shouts at the top of her voice
Let me go, let me out, this is not my choice

And I always felt it before
That the world was filled with much more
Than the drowning soul I've learned to be
I just need the rain to remind me

I want to darken in the skies
Open the floodgates up
I want to change my mind
I want to be enough
I want the water in my eyes
I want to cry until the end of time

I want to let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down
Let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down

I want to let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down
Let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down

I want to let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down
Let the rain come down
Make a brand new ground
Let the rain come down tonight

I'm Coming Home

"I’m coming home
I’m coming home
Tell the World I’m coming home
Let the rain, wash away, all the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits, and they’ve forgiven my mistakes
I’m coming home, I’m coming home
Tell the World that I’m coming..."

As the merciless calender finally jettisoned the fireworks laden July page and the thumbtack now sticking through the top of the August page, the time is almost upon us. It's almost time to say goodbye to our families, pack up all of our things for the second time in four months, to buy textbooks, to reunite with friends, to set that alarm clock for 7:30am again, and to trudge to class while wishing we were still sleeping (or wishing we were actually awake for that matter). While I literally can't wait for all these things, what I'm looking forward to the most is not found in that list. What I'm looking forward to the most is something quite simple. It's returning to New York City.

The City of Blinding Lights. The most magical, overwhelming, beautiful place imaginable. More awe inspiring than any sprawling meadow in the Great Plains. More wondrous than any peak in the Rocky Mountain range. More powerful than the viewing the Atlantic Ocean alone from a moonlight Florida beach. They say standing at the foot of the sea makes you feel small, but I believe standing at the foot of the Empire State Building or in the footprint of the former World Trade Center is what can make really someone feel small. Not just in terms of physical size, but in terms of something that isn't quite quantifiable. It's hard to comprehend the enormity of what happened at Ground Zero even when you're standing in it's shadow. The same with the incredible feat of construction and American ingenuity that occurred with the building of the Empire State Building. In just twenty days from now, I'll be able to experience these things again. This is a love letter to you, New York. A letter I'll be able to hand deliver to you, because I'm coming...

...Home

"In the stillness of the evening. When the sun has had its day. I heard your voice a-whispering. Come away child, to New York. New York"



Credits to:
I'm Coming Home-Diddy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ImCpNqbJw

City of Blinding Lights-U2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed3QQeRVG9M&feature=player_embedded

New York-U2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYFxIkvpwIw

(more to come in the following days, I promise)