10 songs that no longer apply to life as we know it, Covid-19 edition

I recently made a list of songs that totally relate to this crazy life we’re all now living, check it out here: 15 “Stay at Home” Songs, Covid-19 Edition…

But on the flip side of that, here’s a list of songs that no longer apply to life as we know it. Thanks to radio host Michael DelGiorno for the idea for this one!

Loverboy “Workin’ for the Weekend”
Lyrics: Everybody’s working for the weekend…
[nope, wrong! Everybody’s unemployed *ahem* furloughed]

The Beatles “Come Together” 
Lyrics: Come together right now…
[metaphorically, yes… physically, don’t you dare!]

Kool and the Gang “Celebration” 
Lyrics: It’s time to come together / It’s up to you, what’s your pleasure
[again, let’s not and say we did, mmmmk]

Beastie Boys “Fight for your Right” 
Lyrics: You wake up late for school, man you don’t want to go / You ask you mom, please? but she still says, no!
[remember when everyone laughed at the idea of homeschooling?]

Flo Rida “My House” 
Lyrics: Hear a knock on the door and the night begins / ‘Cause we done this before so you come on in…
[stay home, woman, he isn’t worth spreading the virus!]

Rihanna “Umbrella”
Lyrics: You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh
[this is clearly against all social distancing recommendations]

Jack Norworth “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
Lyrics: Take me out to the ball game / Take me out with the crowd.
[remember sports?]

Brooks & Dunn “Hard Workin’ Man”
Lyrics: Come Monday morning I’m the first to arrive / I ain’t nothin’ but business from nine till five…
[sure, the first to arrive in your living room with a laptop]

Willy Nelson “I’ve Loved You All Over the World” 
Lyrics: I’ll always follow my heart / Wherever it takes me…
[actually, no you won’t. Ain’t nobody goin nowhere]

Band of Merrymakers “Gather Round”
Lyrics: So come join the crowd / Gather round, gather round
[if you want to get people killed, then sure, gather round! Hug! High five!]

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

How I pick what to write about each day

Every now and then I’ll get asked a question that I sometimes have trouble answering. It’s actually funny to me because I’ve seen a trend in my life that goes right along with the subject matter in Out of the Wilderness…. and it’s this:

Everything.

Now, you might be asking yourself, “How is ‘everything’ a trend in his life?” Well, to be totally honest I haven’t thought through the details of this post so just hang on and we’ll get it to make sense together mmmmmk? (hopefully)

woman illustrating albert einstein formula
Photo by JESHOOTS.com on Pexels.com

Take the work I do for a living. I was once employed in a more traditional workplace where my hours were set for me and each day I had to fill out a timecard. Nothing wrong with that at all! But at this point in my life I’ve discovered having a variety of work fits better. I edit videos. I dog sit. I drive for Amazon and a few other delivery services. I check black boxes in crashed vehicles.

I say all that to now say this… my blog is about whatever is going on in my life at the time. If not that, it’s random thoughts crossing my mind on any given day. Or it’s about music. I love music. In fact, check out this post when you have a second…

Interesting facts about a few of your favorite music videos

This is the point where I admit there are a few things I don’t write about. I love sharing personal things with you but there’s a line I don’t cross often. Dating, for instance. I’ll write about it but in those cases, it’s typically about a past relationship, or at the very least disguised as a metaphor. I’m not good at metaphors so most likely, any woman I write about is safely in the rearview mirror. I’d love to divulge more personal, current notions and even some of my fears and successes when it comes to dating, but I believe most of that is private when it’s still happening. I hope that makes sense.

So to answer the original question… “What do you write about?” I guess my answer would be…

Yes.

-Out of the Wilderness

15 “Stay at Home” Songs, COVID-19 Edition

All over the United States people are being asked to stay at home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Folks are working from home, hanging out with family, or just taking stay-cations to slow the spread of the sickness. What’s kind of crazy is how many songs have addressed this idea long before sheltering in place was an order from state and federal officials. Check out the list below and if you have time, listen to these songs and comment below if you have any to add! Thanks for stopping by!

Flo Rida “My House”
Lyrics: Sometimes you gotta stay in

R.E.M. “Stand” 
Lyrics: So, stand in the place where you live…

Bruce Springsteen “Dancing in the Dark” 
Lyrics: Radio’s on and I’m movin’ ’round my place / I check my look in the mirror / Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face / Man, I ain’t gettin’ nowhere

MC Hammer “U Can’t Touch This” 
Lyrics: Yeah that’s how we’re livin’ and you know u can’t touch this / Look in my eyes man u can’t touch this

Ariana Grande “NASA”
Lyrics: I’d rather be alone tonight / You can say “I love you” through the phone tonight…
…Baby, you know time apart is beneficial / It’s like I’m the universe and you’ll be N-A-S-A / Give you the whole world, I’ma need space / I’ma need space

The BoDeans “Closer to Free”
Lyrics: Everybody one, everybody two, everybody free / Everybody needs to touch, you know, now and then

The Tony Rich Project “Nobody Knows”
Lyrics: But these four walls close in more every day / And I’m dying inside and nobody knows it but me

Semisonic “Closing Time” 
Lyrics: Closing time / Time for you to go back to the places you will be from.

Boyz II Men “I’ll Make Love to You”
Lyrics: Girl relax, let’s go slow / I ain’t got nowhere to go

Peggy Lee “Fever”
Lyrics: You give me fever when you kiss me / Fever when you hold me tight / Fever in the mornin’ / Fever all through the night

The Carpenters “Solitaire”
Lyrics: And solitaire’s the only game in town

Madness “Our House”
Lyrics: Our house, it has a crowd / There’s always something happening / And it’s usually quite loud

Robotaki “Together We’re Screwed”
Lyrics: Together we’re screwed, I’m looking at you

David Zowie “House Every Weekend” 
Lyrics: But staying in the house every weekend, I just can’t take it / I work hard and if I don’t let myself go / I just might explode

Hamilton cast “It’s Quiet Uptown”
Lyrics: I spend hours in the garden / I walk alone to the store / And it’s quiet uptown

You’ve reached the end of this list! I’ve put together another list of songs that address the issue of so many people losing work because of businesses closing. Here are 17 songs about being fired or laid off. Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

Rap Music vs. Country Music, polar opposites

I’ve believed the following statement for more than a decade, but for some reason, I don’t think I’ve ever written about it. I’ll preface the idea with these two truths:

  1. I love music, all kinds.
  2. This is neither a slam for rap or country music, just an observation.

OK, are you ready? Well first, if you have time, and let’s face it, we ALL have time #coronavirus …check out a brand new rap video that’s already nearing a million views, followed by a country music video with over 1.5 million views…


So after watching these music videos, do you agree or disagree with this thought:

Country music is about who we (the listeners) are, from artists that would like us to believe they’re just like us.

Rap music is about who they (the artists) are, from artists that would like us to believe they’re not just like us.

To expand on that a little, I believe most of country music (of course, there are exceptions) is driven by lyrics that show the commonalities we have as humans. The singer is saying, I am just like you. It’s why the cliches of singing about a dying dog, divorce, or drinking beers even exists. You can have someone like Luke Bryan who has a net worth of $140,000,000 singing about relaxing or partying on a beach like those of us with a net worth of <$140,000,000 like to do. In reality, Luke’s lifestyle is a lot different than the common person, yet he wants us to think he’s just like us.

In rap music (and just like country music, there are exceptions to this), the lyrics are driven by fame and fortune, to put it simply. Just using the “You Know You Lit” video from earlier in this post, the line “Balenciaga, got like 10 pairs,” shows the difference in perspective. I had to look it up, Balenciaga shoes make the Air Jordan 11 Retro’s look like a bargain. Hundreds of dollars for one pair! There are many other rap songs that ultimate say, You want to be like me. Whatever the net worth of these artists are, they want you to believe they wipe their butts with hundred dollar bills. In other words, envy them because they have what we all want.

I’m guessing reality is bit less glamorous than these rap artists want us to believe, and perhaps for the country artist, more glamorous than we know. What are your thoughts about this? If you have insight or opinions, share in the comments below! Until then… Gucci, Gucci, Gucci!

-Out of the Wilderness

“I’m Gonna Do That” – a middle of the night poem

I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and have these random lyrics in my mind. I happened to record this one. I think it’s a country song, especially because the hugging dogs thing.

I’m gonna trust my life to the God of the Bible.

I’m gonna love my wife every day that I’m breathing.

Gonna lend my money to those that need it.

I’m gonna do that, do that.

I’m gonna eat more veggies and maybe some tofu.

I’m gonna pay all the money back that I owe you.

Gonna hug my dogs a little bit longer.

I’m gonna do that, do that.

‘Cause life is short and life is sweet

and every day that goes by, I just believe

that we’d all be happy if we just get along.

So take your time and savor the moment.

Don’t shrink back but keep on growing.

All the cliches that you’ve ever heard,

are kinda sorta true which is what you preferred.

So live your life like you were dying

and there’s no such thing as racial profiling.

If you’re tired of your story, turn some pages.

Live your life outside of Lexus cages. 

Let’s do that, do that.

*Please note, 4 of the last 5 lines include nods to some of my favorite songs… Tim McGraw “Live Like You Were Dying,” Bone Thugs “Riding Dirty,” REO Speedwagon “Roll With the Changes,” and Switchfoot “Gone”

-Out of the Wilderness