Reviews

Music Review: B.o.B (feat. Taylor Swift) – Both of Us


Check out B.o.B‘s brand-new track “Both Of Us” featuring Taylor Swift. “Both Of Us” will be featured on B.O.B.’s new albumStrange Clouds“. The track opens with some light guitar plucking and Taylor singing, “I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both of us.” Then a beat kicks in and Bobby Ray dives into his life-lesson rap & Taylor slides back into the choruses.

It feels like two songs that were mixed together & it works because of the way the themes humbly tie together. It’s an uplifting  little song with stories that anyone can relate to on some level.

B.o.B and Taylor first joined forces last fall during the country-pop diva’s tour stop in Dallas, where she brought Bobby Ray out while covering “Airplanes”.

So what’ your take on this song?


Both of Us (Lyrics):

[Taylor Swift – Chorus]
I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both us
Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us

[B.o.B]
Ever thought about losing it?
When your money is all gone and you lose your whip
You might lose your grip
When the landlord tell you that you’re due for rent
And the grass so green on the other side
Make a nigga wanna run straight through the fence
Open up the fridge about 20 times
But still can’t find no food in it
That’s foolishness
And sometimes I wonder
All we care so much about the way we look
And the way we talk, and the way we act
And the clothes we bought, how much that cost?
Does it even really matter?
Cuz if life is an uphill battle,
We all try to climb on the same old ladder
In the same boat with the same old paddle
Why so shallow, I’m just asking
What’s the pattern to the madness?
Everybody in a #1 draft pick
Most of us aint Hollywood actors
But if it’s all for one, and one for all
Then maybe one day we all can ball
Do it one time for the underdogs
Sincerely yours, from one of y’all

[Taylor Swift – Chorus]
I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both us
Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us

[B.o.B]
I can feel your pain,
I can feel your struggle
You just want to live
But everything so low,
That you can drown in the puddle
That’s why I gotta hold us up
Yeah hold us up
For all the times no one ever spoke for us
So every single time that they play this song
You can say that, “that’s what Bobby Ray wrote for us”
When his eyes get too high
And the sea up underneath get so deep
And you feel like you’re just another person
Getting lost in the crowd
Way up high in the nosebleeds (Uh)
Because we’ve both been there
Yeah both of us
But we still stand tall
With our shoulders up
And even though we always against the odds
These are the things that have molded us
And if life hadn’t chosen us
Sometimes I wonder
Where I would have wound up
Cuz if it was up to me
I would make a new blueprint
Then build it from the ground up
Hey, but if its all for one
And One for all
Then maybe one day
We all could ball
Do it one time for the underdogs
From Bobby Ray to all of y’all

[Taylor Swift – Chorus]
I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both us
Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us

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Book Review: “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch


The Last Lecture, a book that Pausch and Jeff ...

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The Dreams Will Come to You

One of the staples of “the college experience” at many schools is the “last lecture” — a beloved professor sums up a lifetime of scholarship and teaching as if they were heading out the door for the last time. But a “last lecture” by Randy Pausch was different in every possible way. The professor of Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University was just 46, and this really was his last lecture because he was dying.

“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” – Randy Pausch

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Music Review: Skyscraper by Demi Lovato


“Skyscraper” is Demi Lovato’s first piece of new music since emerging from rehab earlier this year. The song is clearly autobiographical (although she didn’t write it at all), given the very public meltdown and rehab that she went through last fall.

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Album Review: Lifehouse – Who We Are


12 tracks
46 Minutes, 18 Seconds

1. Disarray – This song definitely opens the album in a great rockin’ intro.
2. First Time – The single for this album; greatly put together and makes for some good on-the-go music.
3. Whatever it Takes – This song contains an emotional breakdown of rock and soul.
4. Who We Are – Nicely written lyrics, kind of a filler-song for the album.
5. Broken – This would make a good ending for a sad movie. Lyrics are great!
6. The Joke – If you had fallen asleep to the rest of the album, this song will wake you up.
7. Easier To Be – This is another one of my favorite songs.
8. Make Me Over – This song sets the mood for the 2nd half of the album. One of my favorites, I’ve had it in heavy rotation.
9. Mesmerized – One of the more sappier songs, but emotionally appealing.
10. Bridges – This upbeat performance is one of the last harder songs on the album.
11. Learn You Inside Out – The lyrics to this song are powerful and worth listening to very carefully.
12. Storm – A remake from “Diff’s Lucky Day“, this song is powerful, and finishes the album in awe.


“Disarray”
gets the music off to a rocking start the way “Spin” did for “Stanley Climbfall”.

“First Time”
is an upbeat love song, sort of a Hanging By A Moment meets “Spin” with more of a distinct romantic angle like “You And Me.” It’s a good sign when the 1st single is not the best song on the album even though it is already a hit.

“Whatever It Takes” is the kind of song that proves that Jason Wade is one of the better songwriters in music today, it takes a situation that we’ve heard before and presents it in a fresh way lyrically.

“Broken” is the best song on the album and likely to be a huge hit both on mainstream and Christian music radio stations. An emotional, powerful ballad, this song is an example of how Wade’s lyrics can appeal to both the spiritual and secular crowd. This song came out of a trip Wade took to Nashville to visit a dear friend waiting on a kidney transplant, but it can be related to many different situations because of Wade’s universal lyrics. I’m sure I’ll be hearing it in a movie or TV show one day.

“The Joke” is going to be a hit or a miss for fans because it is different from any song that they have ever done. It’s in your face, unapologetic and vastly darker. It’s edgier sound pierces the sonic landscape and wakes you up.

The true gem of this album though is the last song “Storm”. Previously available only on a limited release entitled “Diff’s Lucky Day” (an album by Lifehouse when they were known as” Blyss“). This is an amazing song and a great way to end the album. Wade’s deep vocals are strong enough to carry the first minute of this song without any instrumental accompaniment, and the rest of this song finishes the album on a strong note. Since I’m used to the original Blyss version it took me a few listens to stop making comparisons and I have to say that I like the pacing and purity of the vocals that were laid out on this this version of the track.

Most of the singles can easily become Lifehouse classics along the lines of “Hanging By a Moment”, “Spin”, “You and Me” and “Blind”. All in all, this new album addresses their maturity as a band, and connects the dots from their past albums to the present.

“First Time”, “Broken” and “Storm” have been confirmed as their chosen singles for this album. If they have a 4th single, I hope it will be “Whatever It Takes” or “Disarray”.

*UPDATE*
The album sold 105,000 on the first day.
Sources say that “I Want You To Know”, “Signs of Life” & “I’ll Keep The Change”will be released as digital bonus tracks.


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