I became a fan of Bon Jovi right around when Have a Nice Day was released.
Posts Tagged ‘Deadliest Catch’
On Fantasy, Hair, and Other Things
Monday, May 16th, 2011“Lady Mary” Benefit
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009The “Lady Mary”, a commercial fishing boat, sank off the New Jersey coast on March 24th. On September 27th, a benefit will be held to raise money for the children of the crew members who died.
Some of the items donated for the silent auction and/or raffle include a guitar and other unspecified memorabilia from Jon.
Unfortunately, I have prior commitments for that weekend, or I might make my usual autumn shore trip that weekend. After years of watching Deadliest Catch, I feel terrible whenever I hear about things like this. Usually, I’m completely helpless when a ship is lost, but this is a way to help the families of the fishermen, and the event itself sounds quite nice. (The chance of being able to get a guitar autographed by Jon is pretty cool too.)
The full details of the benefit, including the other donated items, can be found at the Cape May County Herald.
Random Song: Rainbow In The Dark
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009Artist: Dio
Album: Holy Diver
I can’t really remember how I got into Dio. I seem to remember that it was kind of similar to how I found Bon Jovi–through Deadliest Catch. As I recall, it was because I had heard Edgar Hansen talking about Rainbow In The Dark, and once again I got curious. (That is one terrible picture of Edgar.)
The thing that I love most about Rainbow In The Dark is the wonderful hook that it has. It stands up, slaps you in the face and declares that you are about to experience metal. You can’t do anything else but headbang when you hear this song.
The lyrics are also a battle cry for anyone who’s feeling abandoned. The song embodies a relationship that has drifted apart or fallen apart, without descending into maudlin glop like pop music. Only heavy metal can take a subject as emotionally weighted as an unraveling relationship and turn it into something gloriously dark.
The lyric “do your demons, do they ever let you go” is an unflinching confrontation of the personal issues that destroy so many relationships. The song doesn’t gloss over what the demons did to the relationship. There’s anger about the failure of the relationship, and it’s angry at the other person for letting their demons win.
The open way that metal songs, like this one, unflinchingly explore and even revel in the darker emotions is part of what drew me to the genre in the first place. Pop songs about failed relationships are inevitably dreary and sad. Metal introduced me to music that shone a light on feelings that other songs hadn’t explored.
The guitars in this song are also spectacular. Yes, it does use synthesizers, but it’s the guitar work in this song that shines as only heavy metal guitar can. The technical skill required to play a guitar like that is awe-inspiring.
This kind of song is what helped me appreciate the depth and breadth of what music could be, after having grown up during the unfortunate Age of Grunge.
The Bering Sea Cowboys are Back
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009Season 5 of Deadliest Catch begins tonight at 9 PM. You can check out the official Discovery Channel Blog, or head on over to check things out at the site for the FV Northwestern.
I bought my first Bon Jovi album ever to get the theme song from Deadliest Catch–Wanted Dead or Alive. I wouldn’t be creating this blog now if it weren’t for the Discovery Channel. I marched into Best Buy and bought Cross Road purely because of this TV show. Of course, I pretty quickly discovered that not only was everything on that CD great, but a lot of my favorite songs were already on there.
It’s kind of odd that Bon Jovi has provided the soundtrack for a lot of my life–and a lot of my favorite songs, without me ever really knowing who they were. At least until Deadliest Catch came along.
(I’m pretty sure I spotted the Northwestern in one of the video clips on the big screen during “I Love This Town” on the tour last year. Also, the Northwestern totally rules.)
So, file this under ‘licensing’, and tune in to the Discovery Channel at 9 PM tonight to check out the show, if you haven’t seen it before. It’s a whole different kind of reality TV.