Cultural Opportunity: Down Concert

This past Friday I went and saw one of my favorite bands in concert: Down. Most people haven't really heard of them before. The lead singer is Phil Anselmo and the bass player is Rex Brown, both from Pantera. This was the 3rd time I've seen these guys and it was their best show yet! I rocked out the entire time and had a fucking blast!

During the show, they played many of my favorite songs: New Orleans is a Dying Whore, Stone the Crows, The Seed, Lifer, and Temptation's Wings.

New Orleans is a Dying Whore is probably their most badass song in my opinion. The guys of Down are from New Orleans and because of Hurricane Katrina, they never played the song at their shows. That is, until Friday! When the song came on, my brother and I freaked out! This song deals with the not-so-pretty side of the city. With lyrics like "...straight to the street run, no bar room virgin, double vision - cocaine, to a whore house of pain..." you can begin to understand the sort of things the guys were involved with in their home town. Other lyrics include "Mob world politics, so broke it can't fix, trapped in a time zone, there's no place like home..." But even with words like that, the song also shows that no matter what, these guys love New Orleans.

Stone the Crows would have to be one of my favorite Down songs. The beautiful riff is what makes the song. But let’s take a deeper look into the slightly depressing words of the tune. “A bout of deep depression. Can't seem to move it forward…I never died before. Can't live what happened yesterday…No one can share this hurt that is mine, mine, mine…No matter how I try, no matter what I say, I'm blamed, I'm Shamed, I'm judged unfairly.” Back in 2004, when Dimebag Darrel, Pantera’s guitarist, was murdered, many people blamed Phil for what happened. These lyrics demonstrate the hurt and pain that Phil dealt with during those hard times. But lyrics like “You too have died before. I'm not as stoned as yesterday. I never stoned the crow, stoned the crow no, no…” show that he has been able to work through the pain.

The Seed is all about marijuana. The very first line of the song says “Smoke up, do what you must do, wake up, inhale the earth grown fumes.” The rest of the song talks about all the marijuana grown around the world and “the perfection of the seed.”

Lifer is a song that Phil always dedicates to the late Dimebag Darrel. With lyrics like “free at last” and “I’m standing way on the other side,” it’s obvious what this song represents: Just because Dimebag is gone, his legend and spirit live on. He’s a Lifer.

Temptation’s Wings is a very heavy song that deals with Phil’s addiction to heroin and several other drugs. “I feel the pressure it lightens” expresses the pain of addiction. The entire chorus talks about how he pretty much gave his life to drugs: “I gave my life to reason, so now I'm watching my life go, my wit is falling apart, I can't shake temptations wings.” The final verse gives the heartbreaking details of his struggle: “I bury my head with frustration and I look at others and wonder why I'm feeding my cancer. A broken vision that stole my sight.”

Overall, the lyrics of Phil Anselmo and the other members of Down show a wide range of writing abilities and experiences. These guys put their hearts and souls into their music, and the lyrics perfectly demonstrate this.

Keep on Rocking!

Case Study #2: Physical

Like I’ve said many times, I write constantly. I take notes at school, I write papers, I write poetry, and I usually doodle little ideas that pop into my head every now and then. But when I’m actually sitting down to write, there has to be a certain atmosphere in order to get the best out of what I’m writing. For example, when I write poetry, I love being in my room. I usually have plenty of light, and I tend to curl up either on my couch or on my bed. My big journal is where I keep the majority of my poetry, songs, and letters that I write to myself. For the most part I use pens. Pens just seem to help my racing thoughts come out on paper faster. I also tend to write very fast. And when I really get into it and I’m writing crazy-fast, you can usually see my hunched over my notebook with my nose practically against the paper. For some reason this helps me get into it more, I suppose. But then sometimes I’ll pause and think, “why the hell am I so damn close to the paper?” Then after a few moments, you’ll find me once again all up in my notebook. I’m not totally sure why I do this, but I guess it helps right? A lot of my best poetry and lyrics come about when I write late at night. I can remember late summer nights at 2 or 3 in the morning when I’m laying in bed with one light on just going at it. And if it really starts to get good, I’ll grab my guitar and try to put music to my words. But if it’s just a simple paper that I’m writing, I like to have plenty of light. I also don’t like staying up late to write papers for school. I guess I don’t feel that school should take up that much of my time…

Open Discussion #2

I've probably been sitting here for about 10 minutes thinking about what to write for open discussion. So I started to go through my comments and Stephanie suggested that I put up some poetry. And I noticed that Chad put up some of his lyrics so I've decided to give him some moral support.


I figured I'd put one of my more odd pieces up. I ususally don't write in this style but I really like how this one turned out.



Burning inside
desire lurking
pain subsides
Wisdom bestowed
ignorance thwarted
Revolution begins
Calm replaces hysteria
riots soon dissipate
anger fades
ecstasy replaced
Senses heightened
mind drifts and melts
Losing faith
gaining perspective
knowledge grows
power enhanced
weakness shot down
Bullets of love
floral memories
Joining the birds
the sky a safe haven
virtue, trust, grace
Soaring.

Entry #2: Myself as a Writer

Every single day of my life I write. Whether it’s taking notes at school, writing poetry, taking a message at work, texting a friend, or writing a list of groceries, a pen is constantly in my hand. Each form of writing is different, therefore you get a different sense of me for each type. For notes in school, I jot down the important things. I also tend to abbreviate and write very sloppy. When I’m writing an essay or paragraph for class, my writing is very formal. I spell everything out perfectly and make sure to explain myself thoroughly. When I write poetry I am able to express myself the best. Poetry is the most creative form of writing that I can compose. My vocabulary tends to be very expansive and graphic. When writing poetry or songs for me, I can be myself the most. Therefore, I use my every day language, which may not always be appropriate. I also use a lot of metaphors. Poetry is beautiful and I have my best writing experiences during those sessions of creativity. When taking messages at work, my writing is simple and precise. I write down only a few words. Messages show the least amount of skill that I have as a writer. When texting friends and family, that’s where my writing is at its worst. I spell things wrong, I use computer jargon, and I rarely use correct punctuation and grammar. The vast differences in all of these forms of writing show my range of skills as a writer, both good and bad.