“Afterlife” by Avenged Sevenfold (2007)

Avenged Sevenfold holds on to rock

I thought 2009 would be the resurgence of Rock music. I was wrong. Anyway, I was happy enough to have witnessed the 'last years of Rock'.

By the 'last years of Rock', I mean the last time when Rock, in its many sub-genres, was a regular staple in FM stations, MTV, and Channel V. I speak about the time when listeners tune in to Rock, talk about Rock, read about Rock, and think about Rock.

And also in other words, I speak about the time people ROCK – and we do not even have Facebook, Instagram or selfie sticks then. We do not need them to be cool then.

It was years ago when I first saw “Afterlife” on Channel V. I was new to the city and the city was new to me, so that made us even. I just landed my first job. I was still building self-confidence. It was an unforgettable year. It is a year I would like to travel back to tweak a few things.

Too bad time travel is still impossible. But death is always inevitable.

Image from http://www.bandswallpapers.com/img6118.htm

Musings of life

I am no philosopher nor theologian, but death is a topic that I ponder on whenever I feel alone, afraid, sad – when there is nothing to think about.

Will people say good things about me when I die? How would my family handle the money and belongings I would leave behind? Will by secrets be finally revealed? What would become of the people who owe me money?

Have I been a good person after all? Have I enjoyed life? Have I been a good and trustworthy steward of the money and material possessions placed into my hands?

Would people remember me for the good I have done or the good I have failed to do so?

But the serious questions: When will I die? How will I die? Why will I die? Where will I die?

Whatever, I am too young to die, and it's too early for me to die. I still have too many things to do, to accomplish on earth. If I die, I will tell God or Satan to send me back. Should I be lucky, I will make things right so I can “escape from the afterlife”.

Moreover, I don't like to die in the city.

I would like this song to be played at my funeral, along with “Helena” by My Chemical Romance.

"The Mission" by Steve Green (1989)

Christian song evokes memories of school event

The first day of my first high school intramural wasn't a sunny day way back in August 2000. Well, I got new shoes, shiny black, and I wore them to the event and I also brought my slippers.

However, I failed to make my costume for the verse choir contest. I got my staff, covered with shiny papers from cigarette packs and some brown material that I got from coconut trees. I thought costume making was going to be a team effort but I was wrong. Each man was to his own.

Luckily I met one of my mates for the verse choir contest. He got no brown material but had sewing material at home, so I went with him to get some needles and thread, returned to school, and made our costumes. I shared my brown material with him. We both skipped the parade.

Intramural hour. The event was graced by a doxology contest, which, after many years, I think was inappropriate to start the event. You don't hold a contest to see who sing better when praising and thanking God, right? The head teacher and the adviser of my faction, both Evangelical Protestants, should know better.

(Image from Amazon)

I forgot the title and the tune of my faction's doxology piece, but I can't forget those of the competition: "The Mission". I admit it was a better piece than ours, which was a less upbeat, but more solemn.

The competition won but I got wind that we could have won, if only one of the members did not change position right on stage and in front of the judges. Well, one of the judges, a nurse, was a close friend of one of the advisers of the other faction. I can really spot nepotism.

The dancing squad contest was held after the literary contests, and my shoes were shiny black no more. Actually, it was for this contest that I got new shoes, black shoes.

By lunch time, the school was quiet. I was one of the very few students who remained at school because we didn't live near the school's vicinity. Later that afternoon, I went to the area's basketball court to help with the decorations for the musical competition and coronation program. It wasn't a sunny afternoon, but no rain.

It was a bad evening, which I'd like to forget and not write about it. I don't want to associate anything bad or negative with the things that I like, and in this case, a Christian song.

Mission is enduring suffering

It was only in 2011 that I remember to research "The Mission" on YouTube, and that's when I know who the singer is. And I suddenly remembered the Christians who suffer from persecution in some parts in some parts of the world. May God protect and bless them. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of all Christians, the words inscribed on a church in China.

Radicals torch properties of Christians in Pakistan (Image from the European Center for Law and Justice)

"If I Let You Go" by Westlife (1999)

Westlife: lasting memories

I may have heard the song "Fool Again" by Westlife way back in 2000, during the summer afternoons, everytime I boiled hot water for next morning's milk. I thought the title of the song was "Born Again".

Late that year, everyone at (high) school was singing "My Love", another song of theirs. I didn't care much about popular music then. I was heavy into trading cards and toys: I collected Dragon Ball Z, Digimon, and Pokemon cards from my classmates, and also bought a set of tiny Digimon toys from my history teacher.

After the Yuletide break, a classmate brought his Christmas purchase, the first album of the record-breaking Irish vocal group. I would buy that cassette months later, after I bought a bootlegged copy of British group A1's third album "Learn To Fly".

At the school's Valentine's Day program, some bloke from the sophomores performed a solo rendition of "If I Let You Go". I don't know what hit me or took hold of me, but the song instantly became my last song syndrom (LSS). It would eventually land in my top 100 favorite songs.

Image from mahkarani.blogspot.com

Westlife's 2nd UK chart-topper off the first album was my ultimate LSS in the first quarter of 2001. In what was one of my favorite summers, their rendition of the Billy Joel classic "Uptown Girl" took over as LSS.

14 years has passed, but "If I Let You Go" remains my most favorite Westlife song, my most favorite pop song. It was the catalyst for my great interest in music, one that fueled my attraction to Britney Spears, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, AKB48, and Nogizaka46.

Like every other song that I like, "If I Let You Go" brings back certain memories. While writing this post, I suddenly remember my former crush (a sophomore) and another schoolmate (a classmate's boyfriend) who always played the song (on his guitar) at my request. May God bless them wherever they are now.

And how could I forget when four other classmates and I sang the song ala-Westlife during the convocation program, when my class hosted the event? Days later we would sing "Flying Without Wings" at another school program.

Too bad I can never turn back time to relive those memories. At least, I can enjoy those moments in my memory, with the song playing in the background.

"All The Love In The World" by The Corrs (2000)

The Corrs hit evokes memories of school prom

I was a high school sophomore when I first heard about The Corrs. My mother and my sister liked them, so I was curious to know more about the band that hails from the same country as U2, Boyzone, and Westlife.

Thanks to FM radio and music video CDs, I got to know about their music, their notable songs being "Breathless", "Irresistible", and "All The Love In The World" which was the soundtrack to the movie America's Sweethearts, starring starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The movie to the song (Image from Wikipedia)

If I could go back time, I'd like to maul to death the people who picked and approved "All The Love In The World" as music for the prom dance when I was a high school junior. Though I didn't get to dance (because I refused to), I can't stand the blasphemy that took place. It's horrible to relieve the painful memory. It's something I'd like to forget... or rectify if I ever had the chance.

Why "All The Love In The World", and not anything from Disturbed, System Of A Down, or Linkin Park? Too bad the lord of the underworld did not bestow upon me the spirit of Jessica Priest when I needed it.

I'd like to push a bullet down the throat of one schoolmate who had the gall to complain about our meager food on our poor-looking table. You see, we had groupings in our prom, and I was grouped with fellow juniors and seniors who didn't dance - and yes, we were not moneyed enough to provide for ourselves a nice table and lots of good food, just a pitcher of juice and some bread. The other groups had a feast. And that schoolmate, he didn't even contribute.

Next year, I'd endure another horrible moment at the prom, this time I was forced to dance. I forgot the music, though, but it was the appropriate music for the dance, if you ask me. But what about the songs played as interval music for the affair? It wasn't screaming music.

I was glad I left before things can get mushy or embarrassing for me. I asked a cousin to hold my bag for me while I had something to eat. (How wicked of me!)

Later, I sneaked out and headed for home. I got away just in time to escape from embarrassment. Hours after arriving home, I watched music videos of Mel C (of the Spice Girls fame), Jennifer Lopez, Macy Gray, Mandy Moore, and yes, The Corrs.

Ban proms now

Those high school proms took place around the time when I was going through some sorts of problems and I was alone in facing them. Perhaps I can't still move on from those sad and painful moments, reason why I hate proms, but proms don't serve any purpose at all, just only to get people wear fancy clothes and spend a lot of money.

I pray for the day the government will ban proms, and if I have the resources to fight a war to implement the ban, I'd do it. But I have to watch the movie first.

"All The Small Things" by Blink-182 (2000)

Blink-182: legacy

A UK music poll once adjudged "All The Small Things" by Blink-182 as one of the best music videos of all times. Westlife's "Flying Without Wings" and the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody" also made it to the top ten. Back then, the songs were noteworthy, the videos were fantastic, and the artists were great. Not anymore.

The first time I heard Blink-182's pop punk magnum opus was way back in 2001, when part of the song was incorporated into the teaser of a local TV station's Sunday sitcom, Bitoy's World, top-billed by the talented Michael V and shown on GMA 7 every Sunday evening. Too bad it didn't make it to year 2002.

Bitoy's World. All roles performed by Michael V (Image from Retro Pilipinas blogspot)

But I remember the song. In 2003, my brother got hold of an FM station that played rock, R&B, and hip-hop tunes, and "All The Small Things" was included in rotation on the station's Sunday afternoon rock music program. It was also on this FM station that I first heard Evanescence, t.A.T.u., Matchbox Twenty, and Daniel Bedingfield. It was also on this station where I heard Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong", Christina Aguilera's "Fighter" and "The Voice Within", and Michelle Branch's "Breathe".

"All The Small Things" was etched in my consciousness. Maybe because the three-piece band parodied the popular music videos of that time: "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, "Because of You" by 98 Degrees, "Sometimes" by Britney Spears, and "Genie in a Bottle" by Aguilera (who was a teen pop gal then).

Or maybe because the song was catchy and timeless. Well, timeless because no pop punk, metal and rock bands make it to today's music scene, and what we have now is an overdose of music that appeals to oversexed, club-hopping, and drunk teenagers and adults. Good Lord, if the devil can take them now and bring back to life Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, and Amy Winehouse.

In the summer of 2005, I would fall for another Blink-182 hit, "Stay Together For The Kids". I stumbled upon the song on a local music video station, and next year, I would watch a live performance of the song, wherein the band got a pianist to perform with them.

Weeks ago, I read about one of the members being ousted from the band. So bad, so sad.