Songs For Friday

We sing Friday

The two faces of Friday: One is one of the worst songs ever, while another one is a well-beloved rock classic. So Friday is balanced, huh?

If you are going to sing about a day of the week, Friday is the best. (Monday comes a close second.) If you ask me, Friday is the best day to remember about anything of the past.

Friday and weekend past

When we were still schoolchildren, we looked forward to Friday because next day is Saturday, no school and a whole day to play and horse around, unless teachers bombard us with lots of homework and parents assign us our chores - and there is no escaping them. But at some time of the weekend, we still have fun, right?

I look forward to Friday evenings when I was young. It was the night of Pokemon, Digimon, Super Laff-In, Beast Wars, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Hercules, Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, Power Rangers, and numerous classic TV shows on ABS-CBN and GMA. Those were the times. That was my kind of Friday.

The weekend that followed is more interesting. More interesting TV shows, stress-free day-off for the young, and the house works too. And we did not have mobile gadgets, Internet, and coffee shops then.

That was then.

It was fun.

For the former college dudes and dudettes, Fridays mean dates or late-night parties after school. It also means going home for the weekends or travelling to a place unknown for some kinds of kicks.

Today's Fridays are complicated but laden with more opportunities for fun and socialization. Different eras have their own challenges and opportunities. We cannot return to the Fridays and weekends of our youth, but we can do to bring youthful energy and optimism in today's motion of free time.

Histories

If I'm not wrong, one of the worst earthquakes in mankind's history occurred on a Friday many years ago. Sunny Friday it was then after a week of heavy rain, and I had lettuce for lunch. For my upperclassmen, it was Junior-Senior (JS) prom time.

Speaking of JS prom, the first and last I attended in college was on a Friday too, this time not sunny, but gloomy and rainy. It was a night to remember and a night to forget too. I would later call for the abolition of such an expensive affair that allows teachers to get "additional income". I get trauma every time I remember the affair, and I would gladly make a pact with the devil to change the whole outcome of the event. It was a Friday of mixed feelings, and I was in love too, then.

Many TV shows also end on Fridays, an act which make Friday nights exciting around the TV set. Not anymore today, because we would be fine with catching up on the final episode on the Internet and spend Friday evening painting the town red or get into trouble.

Some Fridays did not change: beer Fridays, payday Fridays, dinner dates on Friday nights, being imprisoned on a Friday night, dying on a Friday night, etc.

Don't forget, Jesus died on a Friday.

What are your memories of Friday? Care to share it with your fellow readers? Juts hit the comment button below!

#Friday

"Nymphetamine" by Cradle of Filth (2004)

It's just a song...and a memory

Before I would proceed with this post, I would like to express my respect and apology to Christians and other people who find the music and stunts of the English extreme metal band to be Satanic and offensive to their faith. I do not intend to insult Jesus Christ and mock the faith of His believers, but to just share memories I have surrounding this song.

image from cradles.90s-fashion.com

The experience

The first time I heard this song was in the year I slowly opened myself to many forms of rock music, like nu metal, alternative and yes, the kind sung by Cradle of Filth, Slipknot and Marilyn Manson. And at the two years that followed, I got "interested" in Satanism, but I never went close to worshiping the devil, though I annoyed certain people by "expressing" "faith" in the devil. That was just that. Nothing serious, seriously.

The matter of church arson, vandalism

While digging deeper into what bands like Cradle of Filth and Marilyn Manson sing about, I have come to read about members of black metal bands and their fans setting fires on churches, some of them important historical landmarks, in Norway. People behind the wave of arson attacks on churches are thought to be Satanists or devil-worshipers, but these are the same people that commit murders and make threats against fellow black metal musicians. They are even thought to be pagans, but devil-worshipers, satanists, pagans or not, they are anti-people, anti-society and evil. Why can they just play for the sake of music?

image from xxsilvixx.tumblr.com

But what about those people who break into churches to steal consecrated hosts for use in their Black Mass? Not good! I won't mind them holding a ceremony that is a mockery of a Catholic Mass, but to steal something from somewhere to use at the ceremony? Why can't they just make their own bread? I won't even mind them sacrificing a child to the devil as long as they use one of their kind (but with the consent of the parents, of course) and not kidnap any other child.

Should you listen to this song?

If you are of strong religious faith, please listen to the song with caution. Know that Cradle of Filth harbors hatred against Christianity. For me, it's the song that matters.

This song will always be one of my favorites. It bring back the memories when Satan still ruled the mind of a former depressive and love-struck youth.

Please listen with care.

Manic Monday by The Bangles (1986)

Monday blues

On the website Urban Dictionary, Manic Monday is defined by Johnathan Angelo Rosa Jr. as

The beginning of the week: For work and/or school resulting in depression is a genetic condition that is triggered either spontaneously or from a significant amount of emotional pressure, associated with it being Monday!

How many times do we have to go to school or work on a rainy Monday morning? How many of us look forward to the day, which we give way after cutting short our attendance in a Sunday night party or a weekend trip to make it to work or school Monday morning right on cue? How many look gloomy or stressed-out on a Monday evening?

If your Sunday's messed up, you would not want to get up the next day. You want to skip school or work, right? I feel you.

But of course, you need to get up because school or work is life.

"Manic Monday" single cover

Mondays bring back the memories

I remembered a couple of years ago, a political scandal erupted on a Monday. I didn't catch up with most of the news that evening because I just arrived home from a month-long vacation and I missed my room. The scandal was in heated discussion for months, so if you have a scandal to reveal, please do it on a Monday and from the rooftop of your house.

Job interviews? Make sure you come on time. Leave your place 2-3 hours before schedule to avoid traffic or navigate the area, in case you get lost on the way. If you are unsure about the directions, Google Maps or scout the location a day or two before the big interview.

I didn't have Google Maps or use one because I didn't own a smartphone that time and I didn't know about Google Maps that time. I was thirty minutes late for the interview because I got lost. Thanks goodness, I got help - and the interviewer was not angry.l.

Starting on a new job? Make sure you bring an umbrella or raincoat. Don't get angry when it rains on your first Monday at work. It's a blessing, but make sure you come home dry. It was a dry day when I started at a new company, but a wet evening when I went home - and it was traffic too.

Monday Blues meme from Independent.ie

Why should you listen to this song?

"Manic Monday" is a fun track about the most lethargic day of the week. This is the song to start your week. Only a few artists sing about the days of the week, and The Bangles is one of them.

Dear readers, sing this song to blast away those Monday blues. Worry not, it will be Friday soon!

Monday again, arghh! Another damned week at school!

"Amish Paradise" by Weird Al Yankovic (1996)

Getting to know Weird Al Yankovic

I stumbled upon this parody of the great Weird Al Yankovic years ago, and I can't help but to laugh and to be amazed by his many talents.

"Amish Paradise" is a parody of the Grammy-award winning song "Gangsta Paradise" by gangsta rapper Coolio. Weird Al is in the business of making parodies of other people's music. Artists whose material he has parodied include Michael Jackson, Madonna, Avril Lavigne, and Lady Gaga.

Weird Al Yankovic, Amish Paradise 

I first read about Weird Al way back in 2003, in a newspaper article about him wanting to make a parody of the Oscar award-winning song "Lose Yourself" by Eminem. Eminem allowed Weird Al to make a parody of the song, but not make a music video to accompany the parody, which greatly disappointed Weird Al. It could have been one of the best music videos he ever made, said Weird Al.

Getting to know the Amish and their culture

This video showed me what I need to know about the Amish people, though in a somewhat humorous manner, but my basic understanding of the Amish was a result of the article I read in National Geographic way back in college.

The National Geographic featured the Amish in one of their issues in the late 2000s. It was one of the best articles I have ever read.

One of the pictures the magazine printed for that article showed an Amish man beheading countless chickens, a bloody pile of chicken heads on the ground. It was not a sight to behold for many people, especially animal rights activists who later wrote to the National Geographic.

Don't the Amish buy chicken meat at the nearest grocery store? Nah, they grow and make their own food. Self-sufficiency at one of its finest!

Amish people riding a horse buggy. Image from Iezzi Photography

Their simple way of living, plus their self-sufficiency and industry, is one reason why I want to living among the Amish and interact with them. They are a close knit community. Modern society could learn a lot of things from them.

Since reading that article, I harbored the desire to visit one of the many Amish communities in North America. I want to study their culture and traditions. I want to learn how they manage to live without most technological advancements that the modern world cannot seem to live without.

I hope I get the chance. Above all, I hope I can develop the mental and physical strength and gain the resources, land include, to live out the Amish life beyond my 50s.

God bless the Amish! Long live the Amish!

Why should you listen to this song?

“Amish Paradise” is a classic, and Weird Al is not only a master of parody and comedy rap but is also an enduring act.

Why don't people make parodies today like they used to? And why don't we hear them today?

Love this article? Don't forget to share with your friends!