"Marijuana" by Brujeria

"Marijuana" from a workmate and songs past

As an avid enthusiast of things past, it is always a great experience to meet like-minded folks. There is this new guy at work, and like me, he listens to music - old songs - and he plays them at work. He did not save MP3 files in his laptop at work but he plays them from YouTube playlists. (I don't know why he doesn't use Spotify.)

Him playing old songs of different artists and diverse genres, from Incubus to Spice Girls, from alternative rock to teen pop, really brings back the memories of school. And there is this one particular song that he shared to me, after knowing I would also listen to Marilyn Manson and System of a Down.

"Marijuana" by Brujeria (image from http://www.metal-archives.com)

"Marijuana" by the Mexican-American extreme metal band Brujeria (Spanish for "witchcraft") is a gem I place alongside "Nymphetamine by Cradle of Filth and "This Is The New Shit" by Marilyn Manson. Although the band reeks of  anti-Christianity, Satanism, and sex, I am not offended, and I would even prefer them over current artists (too many to mention). (But I will have to choose the songs I would listen to and play on my MP3 player).

Old classmates evoke memories over marijuana

What memories does the song "Marijuana" brings? Memories of high school classmates who, after listening to Bob Marley, gravitated towards reggae music and adopted the word "marijuana" as their motto or catchphrase of their small gang. The people in that gang used to be rock players, including the ones who introduced me to alternative rock and nu metal and the seniors who played "You're a God" by Vertical Horizon.

My classmates, together with their circle of friends, were fine folks, by the way. They were among the finest people that I have ever met. Although I did not share their love for reggae, they respect my choice of music, and I respect them. I admit I found myself humming to one of Bob Marley's songs, "Buffalo Soldier" at times, and it is the only song I knew so far.

The Rastafari and his holy weed (image from Pinterest)

Them listening to reggae is one thing, but marijuana is another. My teachers thought my classmates started smoking weed, an accusation they vehemently denied (and I believe them). However, there was this one time one of them told me that the reggae legend belonged to a religion called Rastafarianism, which followers smoke marijuana is part of their rituals. A religion that involves pot? I found that strange.

One time they designed a class poster, which had a drawing of a marijuana leaf at the bottom. It was days before my teachers recognized the drawing. I knew what the drawing was, but I did not squeal to the teachers because I believed the drawing was harmless. The teachers ordered the poster down, fearing school division officials.

My class held our Christmas party on a rainy day. I received a marijuana necklace as a gift from a classmate who is now a devout Evangelical Christian. I never wear it because it is not cool to wear a marijuana necklace that lack a blade.

Many years passed, and debates over marijuana get intense. I support medical marijuana and I believe the plant has other potential uses, like paper. Marijuana is an organic product and it's better than shabu, cocaine, and other drugs manufactured in laboratories.

How I wish could introduce "Marijuana" to my classmates!

"Sotsugyoushiki no Wasuremono" by SKE48 (2011)

SKE48 song evokes memories of graduation

Love a song in a language that is foreign to yours? Then it pays to read and understand its lyrics in your language. As in the case of this coupling song from AKB48's sister group, I browsed through its English translation in the Stage48 website – and one word makes certain things “coming back to me now”.

CD+DVD Type-A (Regular Edition) cover of Banzai Venus by SKE48 

Graduation Ceremony's Forgotten Things. That's the English title of SKE48's “Sotsugyoushiki no Wasuremono”, a coupling song from their 2011 maxi single “Banzai Venus”. This was released a few years after my graduation, and the keyword “graduation” in the title struck a chord in my memory.

SKE48 ace Jurina Matsui attempts to place a note in someone's shoe locker. Sweet!

Recalling college graduation

Graduation. I forgot to enjoy the days leading to my graduation because I was preoccupied with “helping” my classmates graduate. I was done with my research paper during the previous semester, and I should be relaxing on my last months at school, but no.

Matsui tearfully looks to heaven

I got dragged into my classmates' problem regarding their overdue research paper. Well, mine was overdue too, but I worked on it and completed it weeks before graduation semester. While I spent my summer vacation interpreting and encoding data, my classmates were enjoying theirs, going to places and hanging out with friends. Unfair!

Matsui and company dance to the music

I got dragged because the research instructor told me to help them because if they don't graduate, I don't graduate too. More salt into my wounds as some classmates even “blackmailed” me. I was at a disadvantage, but I don't want trouble. They should be thankful that The Purge movies were not in theaters that time. I could have brought them to meet their Creator.

Friends share a smile

Graduation. Other than that research paper matter, I was preoccupied with wooing a classmate, who didn't graduate that semester. I even helped her research paper group just to get close to her, but to no avail. Five semesters of spurned love, and I can't move forward post-graduation with an emotional baggage, so I decided to stop pursuing. Decision hour was just less than two weeks before graduation day.

Rushing to play tennis

Graduation. I failed to have a graduation portrait taken. I don't have the money.

The pain of recalling due to just one word in a title of a pop song. "Sotsugyoushiki no Wasuremono" is my current LSS. I listen to it with the hope that my counterpart in an alternate reality is enjoying or had enjoyed his/her last days at college. I listen to the hope that I can pierce my classmates' shins with a pitch fork even just in my dreams.

I listen to this song with the hope that I can date SKE48's ace Jurina Matsui one day.

Meeting of friends after school

“One Last Song” by A1 (2002)

A1 brings lasting memories

My appreciation for the British music act A1 came late in the second half of 2002, when they had already shifted to pop rock. I was earlier exposed to their dance pop and teen pop material in 2001. Their change in musical direction, however, did not come as a shock for me. What caught my surprise was the departure of Paul Marazzi, one of the two most popular members of the four-piece band.

A1: Paul Marazzi, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Ben Adams, and Mark Read (image from www.fanpop.com)

A1 really brings back the memories, some painful for me to narrate. I saw them perform thrice on national TV, borrowed a cassette tape of their 2nd album "The A List " from a cousin, tried to borrow a cassette tape of their 1st album "Here We Come" from a schoolmate, bought a bootlegged cassette tape of their 3rd album "Make It Good", and borrowed materials from classmates.

How could I even forget the songs! At the modern dance competition of the 2001 intramurals back in high school, two rival factions danced to A1 tunes, namely “Same Old Brand New You” and “Take On Me”. The faction I belonged to played “We've Got It Goin' On” by the Backstreet Boys.

I also remember singing “Like A Rose" in my room one afternoon of March 2002. It was my most favorite A1 song until “One Last Song” was released.

A1's third album Make It Good, released in 2002 (image from Amazon)

Is it true that the late music icon Michael Jackson asked the British quartet to write him a few songs to use in his album? I read about it in a music magazine way back in 2002. If it's true, then the group was indeed worthy of attention from one of music's greatest artists. A1 wrote and co-wrote most of their songs, a reason why I considered them to be more talented than their Irish rival Westlife.

Good-bye song to pop?

"One Last Song" for me was somewhat a farewell song to the era of boy-band music and teen pop, with 2002 being their final year. For pop listeners who were always open to other genres, 2002 gave way to a lot of exciting acts and powerful genres - music that pop devotees could listen to and appreciate. The demise of pop was not for naught, for new sounds followed and new acts emerged.

Too bad the demise of pop also signaled the rise of thugs and whores and the popularity of their trashy music.

A1 as of 2014 (image from www.thesun.co.uk)

“Judas” by Lady Gaga (2011)

Song as controversial as fallen apostle Judas

Never was a Lady Gaga fan, but I love four of her songs: “Paparazzi”, “Alejandro”, “Bad Romance”, and “Judas”. Controversial, the music video for “Judas” was for its use of religious imagery and its irreverent and highly sexualized portrayal of Jesus Christ, which angered Christians.

Mary Magdalene (Lady Gaga) riding at the back of Jesus Christ (Rick Gonzalez)

"Judas" was one of the most anticipated singles of 2011, the same year that gave us Rebecca Black's “Friday”, Nicki Minaj's “Super Bass”, Demi Lovato's “Skyscraper”, and Girls Generation's “Mr. Taxi”. The song turned five last month, and writing this blog piece is my way of (post)celebration.

Blasphemous, the video may be in the eyes of Christians, but cool for me. It was mayhem meeting faith, prayer inspiring dance (or the other way round). The character Jesus was just being Jesus, meeting people and healing the sick. The character Judas was way badass, having good time with the crowd and picking fights while his Master was doing God's business.

Judas (Norman Reedus) kissing Jesus Christ (Rick Gonzalez)

Judas, a cool song anyway

"Judas" makes a good movie adaption, a relevant and modern retelling of the Passion of the Christ, but without the lipstick coming out of a gold-plated gun. That's way too silly.

"Judas" was released around the time when I was slowly gravitating towards Jpop. If I am not wrong, this could be the only song in English and from the West that I like in current times. I already loved it when it was released, and when I heard it full. It played more on my mind than Beyonce's “Best Thing I Never Had”, Carly Rae Jepsen's “Call Me Maybe”, and Eminem and Rihanna's “The Monster”.

I just discovered on the Internet some hits by Western artists but they were old songs and coming from artists I have not heard of before. And there was this one modern soundtrack, a remake of a rock classic by a singer of a genre that I rarely listen to. About that singer, it was 10 years since I first heard her.