Me Singing Along to My Song “I Know You Can Make It” – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 056 – Music
FIELDS OF DESTINY :: https://amzn.to/2JqMQqo
music
Everything’s Gonna Be Alright – The Ashlee Craft Show – Episode 021 – Music
Get the Fields of Destiny Album HERE
LYRICS
I saw you in the street with tears on your face
You falsely thought you were behind in life’s race
But how do you expect that you can even face yourself
If you don’t think you have the strength to pull your dreams down from that shelf?
I’ll stand beside, I’ll always lend you my hand
I’ll do whatever it takes to help you understand
That everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna work out fine
Everything’s gonna be alright
You just gotta let things happen in their own time
You had been fooled into believing it wasn’t you
Who controls your destiny, who controlled what you had to do
‘Cause only you can decide what path is right to take
If you choose what you know is right, no choice is a mistake
I’ll stand beside you, you can always count on me
I want to guide you down that road, I want to help you see
That everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna work out fine
Everything’s gonna be alright
You just gotta let things happen in their own time
You were looking for hope, you didn’t know where it could be found
You’ll find that hope you seek when you realize what is profound
Whatever you want life to be, it will all work out
It’s not your job to understand what life’s about
I’ll stand beside when the going gets tough
For I too have been on the seas when they seemed so rough
And everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna work out fine
Everything’s gonna be alright
You just gotta let things happen in their own time
Oh, everything’s gonna be alright
Everything’s gonna work out fine
Everything’s gonna be alright
You just gotta let things happen in their own time
(Everything’s gonna be alright)
Everything’s gonna be alright
(Everything’s gonna work out fine)
You can do this
(Everything’s gonna be alright)
Someday, thing’ll be easier
(You just gotta let things happen in their own time)
Happen in their own time
(Everything’s gonna be alright)
Everything’s gonna be alright
Remembering Tom Petty
Tom Petty’s songs made special moments better & ordinary moments feel significant.
1.
I first heard Tom Petty’s music when I was fifteen & just getting into classic rock. His songs would come on my classic rock & Beatles-themed Pandora radio stations. I realized that Tom Petty’s Learning to Fly was different than Pink Floyd’s. The Traveling Wilburys bridged my love of the Beatles with my newfound love of Bob Dylan. As my musical interests continued to change, his songs kept finding their way into my Pandora stations. In that way, I became familiar with some of them.
2.
My father & I walked into Guitar Center. Mary Jane’s Last Dance was playing distinctly over their speakers as a guy crouched down cradling a black guitar tuned it. The combination of the two sounds mingled with the sounds of what everyone else in the store was playing. The memory, the aesthetic, of the way it sounded is what I always think about when I hear that song now.
3.
The first time I heard American Girl, I was leaving my neighborhood. The song was playing quiet over the car stereo. My dad was trying to make a phone call so I strained my ears to hear the lyrics. I immediately fell in love with it. There was something about the jangling guitars & the continuous pedal tones & the slightly bittersweet optimism that made me love it. When I got home, I looked up the lyrics & saw it was a Tom Petty song. Months later, I stayed in the car longer in the parking lot at the dollar store just so I could hear it.
4.
A year ago, everything in my life felt stressful. I was overwhelmed. But I always sang along to I Won’t Back Down. Listening to it made me feel better. It became my anthem. I wanted to give up, I wanted to give in, but then I was always reminded of this declaration of strength. & I knew I was going to keep fighting for what was right for me & the kind of life I wanted to live until I got there. No matter what.
5.
My sister & I drove on through the cold dark December night. We were going to watch the play Proof at the theater. The classic rock station was playing. A Tom Petty song came on. My sister turned up the volume. “I love his music.” She declared. I was surprised learning this, because I loved his music & yet I never knew she did. We talked about this. I told her there was a Tom Petty concert happening in a few months, if we saved money maybe we could go to it. We made plans to do this, but by the time we had the money, all the cheaper tickets were sold out.
6.
I was driving across the Overseas Highway on the forth day of my road trip. I’d driven from Key Largo to Key West & now I was driving more than two hours back to Key Largo in the same day. It was late afternoon, the space between the beginning of sunset & the beginning of twilight. I came upon the Tom Petty section of my playlist. All my favorite songs of his. The likes of Free Fallin’, American Girl, Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Breakdown, Refugee, & I Won’t Back Down were my soundtrack. His music sounded like a road trip, like the open road. The songs felt special, hearing them halfway through the road trip, in the purity of freedom, on a very long highway when the sun was setting over the ocean.
7.
I heard it on the radio when I was sitting at a stoplight. A few Tom Petty songs had played consecutively; I wasn’t sure why. “Remembering Tom Petty.” The announcer said. It felt like a slap to the face. The second of the day; the first was hearing about what happened in Las Vegas. They said he’d passed away earlier. More songs played, but now they all sounded bittersweet. I wanted to hear them & turn them off at the same time. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t. I thought about Mary Jane’s Last Dance in Guitar Center & American Girl in the parking lot & I Won’t Back Down on my stereo & Overseas highway. I thought about how my sister & I never did get to go to that concert. That we’d missed our chance. It hurt like when David Bowie died. I couldn’t believe it.
8.
A few hours later on the way home, Don’t Do Me Like That finished playing. The announcer said, “Despite earlier reports that Tom Petty had passed away, apparently he isn’t actually dead. He’s in critical condition, but he’s alive.” I grinned & slapped my steering wheel. “YOU BASTARDS! You bastards! He’s alive! He’s alive!” I laughed. I came home. “Did you hear Tom Petty died earlier?” My sister asked. “Yes, but he’s not actually dead! Not yet!” I explained. No one online was sure now whether or not he was dead. Please be alive. Please, please pull through, I prayed. When I woke up the next day, I learned he really was gone.
9.
How many people have been inspired to pick up a guitar because of him? How many of us have listened to I Won’t Back Down & decided, once more, to keep moving forward? How many moment of specific, perfect aesthetic moments have his songs soundtracked? Those are the things he has left behind for us. Those are the things we can keep close. Music, & the memories surrounding it, are something that cannot be lost. & what an amazing catalog of music he has left behind. But what’s perhaps an equally important legacy to me as his music is the reminder that even in a world that would rather we be what it wants us to be, we can still be ourselves if we choose to.
Fields of Destiny Re-Release! (Plus Song Lyric Designs for You to Save + Share)
Available on iTunes
Available on Amazon Music
Listen to Fields of Destiny on YouTube
On August 26th my debut album, Fields of Destiny, was re-released on my publishing label, Freedom Meadow Media. You can read more about it on the Freedom Meadow Media website, if you’d like an overview of what the album is like. Basically though, I’m very, very excited about the re-release, for a couple of reasons.
First of all, I’m thrilled that there is a label for it to be published on, that I started my record label after many years of wanting to, & that my music can be released on my terms, with all the legitimacy having your album released on a label includes. It was so nice when I was submitting a song from my album to Pandora to actually be able to put something in the “Label Name” field! I’ve been waiting so long to be able to do that.
Second, I am so glad that people will actually be able to buy my album. When I released my first song ever (the single version of The Strength of Hope), I chose to distribute it through CD Baby. That was about four years ago, but it seems longer. After much recording, re-recording, mixing, re-mixing, & spending significant amounts of time getting my songs sounding the way I wanted them to, I released Fields of Destiny. I published it on YouTube & Soundcloud, allowing free downloads of some of the songs on the album & streaming of the album. For about the next year after releasing it, I either forgot about wanting to distribute it via CD Baby, lost interest in or procrastinated in publishing it, or didn’t have the extra money to pay the approximate $70 it cost. After that point, I procrastinated putting it for sale because I wanted to start my label first, which ultimately made more sense. Unfortunately, this included some additional delays as I learned about how to properly start a company & went about starting it, but I’m glad I waited.
Third, one of the reasons I’m glad I waited is because I did a little more mixing on the overall sound of the songs on my album. When I listened to the first “proof” version of my music on CD Baby before approving it, the songs sounded reasonably tinny, thin, & just lacking something. I put all the songs into Audacity, played around with some of the EQs, & ultimately ended up with something I am THRILLED with. Chills were literally running down my spine when I listened to the remastered proof version of my album, because the songs sound so damn good now, better than they ever have before.
You can check it out on iTunes or Amazon here. It is or will be in the near future on a lot of other great music websites, so if you’re into a music source other than Amazon or iTunes, keep your eyes open, because there’s a good chance it will be on there soon.
Now, here are 10 awesome song lyric photo designs for you to save, share, + enjoy!
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P. S. –
If you buy my album, I would really appreciate if you could leave a quick review for it on whatever site you buy it on, your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or whatever social media site you like, so thank you in advance for reviewing my music, but thank you even more for buying it in the first place!
Obsessed with the Aesthetics of Everything
From Issue 12 of Assemblage.
The way the art looked on the wall when it was winter & pale afternoon sunlight streamed in. The affected manner in which he always spoke. The Zig-zags painted on his face & constantly evolving persona. The way she looked as she stepped off the bus & music was playing. The way fields looked in the summer, or the porch that night we watched the stars & looked forward towards impending change & impending maturity. The way she strolled through the store with red dyed hair & combat boots like nothing could touch her, not even Fear. The feeling I got when I was finally able to say it was truth. The way light streamed in through windows onto the floor making patterns & the way it felt driving down the highway with the windows open listening to The Rolling Stones. The characteristic fedora, the iconic red braids & the flying bicycle, & watching that movie where he modernized Shakespeare. The way it needed to be put in that exact place in that exact time; replicating movie scenes listening to their theme songs in tandem, or the way the moon looked at night riding around with the windows open listening to particular songs. The way the pictures characterized the exact way that I was feeling, & the way that dancing in the moonlight felt on a summer evening, or how they fell in love & lived in the forest together.
December 6, 2015 // Playlist
1. Love Will Find a Way – Pablo Cruise
2. Call Me – Blondie
3. Safe & Sound – Capitol Cities
4. Break the Walls – Fitz & the Tantrums
5. Confident – Demi Lovato
6. I Am Not a Robot – Marina & the Diamonds
7. I Spy – Mikhael Paskalev
8. Dreams – Fleetwood Mac
9. You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates
10. Thunder Clatter – Wild Cub
11. Oh No! – Marina & the Diamonds
12. Bulletproof – La Roux
My Favorite Things, December 4, 2015
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products that I recommend. When you click on an affiliate link to a product on an external website, I will recieve compensation if you buy something. If I recommend something though, it is because I really do like it. Thank you for your support.
LISTEN
★ I Spy by Mikhael Paskalev. LET ME SAY HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SONG. This is one of those songs that just gives you a music epiphany. That makes shivers run down your spine & makes your ears feel bliss. I can’t really even put its brilliance & ebullience & magic into words. I love how it starts out sounding kind of lo-fi like it’s playing on a record in a room in your house. I love how it suddenly gets powerful & passionate when all the other instruments come in. I love the part where everyone is singing the part about “lost at sea” & the reverb at this part. Pure, pure magic.
★ Bulletproof by La Roux. This is the song I am playing on repeat & have been ever since I first heard it. I was creeping on YouTube looking for new music & found this song via the recommended video section of a Marina & The Diamonds song. It’s my go-to feel good song right now. I love everything about it. The bouncing, active, futuristic synth feel of it, the fierce lyrics, don’t-bring-me-down message, & the overall feel of it. Also, the music video is so awesome, & reminds me a little of David Bowie’s work.
★ Blue Moon by Beck. I heard this song on the radio & immediately wanted to know what song it was. It has a driving, dreamy sound to it that made me fall in love with it & all its bittersweet renditions of love.
★ Confident by Demi Lovato. A badass song. Confidence is the key, & if you’re not confident yet, then I am a firm believer in faking it ’till you make it. Great for practicing your confidence walk to, posing in front of the mirror, or dancing to.
★ Safe & Sound by Capitol Cities. “I know that we’ll be safe & sound.” I love the bouncing & warm & synthy sound of this song. I find it a feel-good, comforting song.
EAT
★ Odwalla Superfood Drink. It has apples, peaches, strawberries, bananas, mango, spirulina, & kale. What more can you ask for? KALE. It tastes good, & tastes more fruit-based than greens-based, but it still has that little bit of hearty earthiness that more greens-based drinks provide. Also, it comes in bulk, which saves money. I like veggie smoothies like this because they make it easy for me to get my daily servings of vegetables in even if I’m busy.
★ Better Than Bullion Organic Vegetable Base. A recent major-fave of mine. I make a package of plain ramen noodles & when they’re done, I dissolve some of this in hot water & pour it over the noodles. It tastes exactly like regular ramen noodles, if regular ramen noodles’ flavoring was both organic & vegetarian. I love this stuff.
★ CHEESY PRETZELS. Since I discovered these, they fit into the category of foods that I always want to keep around in my house. They have a great cheese flavor, the right amount of saltiness, & as an added bonus, you get a collection of cheese dust stuck to your fingers to lick off when you’re done eating the pretzels. I love these things.
READ
★ Am I Really Happy Every Single Day? A few great tips on how you can make your life into the awesomeness that it can be.
★ The Importance of Play. Even though you might be busy/stressed/bored/an adult/etc, play is still important.
WATCH
★ 13 Sandwiches From Around the World. These look SO GOOD & made me want to create a whole bunch of new, weird sandwiches, as well as try all the sandwiches in this video.
★ Baby Owls Blinking. That’s all you need to know. They are so fuzzy.
WEAR
★ Flannel Shirts. I own a pink flannel shirt & a red flannel shirt. They look rugged & wintery & woodsy, & I typically roll up the sleeves. Also, flannel shirts are cozy for the winter, as well as very comfortable.
★ Combat Boots. They look badass, & you can wear them with pretty much any outfit to make it look even more awesome. Jeans & a t-shirt? Badass. Rugged pants & flannel? Badass. Frilly pink dress & a hair ribbon? Badass. They go with everything, last a long time if you get good ones, & can be worn at all times of the year. Kind of like good ol’ Converse. Both are essentials, as well as versitle classics.
★ Photo Print Socks. I adore my photo print socks mostly because (a) they look cool, & (b) they look really cool inside my clear glitter jelly shoes. I only own a pair of strawberry-print ones currently, but I would like to own lots of pairs of them, especially ones with pizza, doughnuts, & probably ones with pineapples & animals too.
TO DO
★ Make Perfect Corners On a Bed Sheet. I did this last time I changed my sheets & it looked beautiful. I never used to use a flat sheet but now I do, so with that comes the necessary education of making it look really nice.
★ Unplug From the Internet with Help From Rookie Mag. I love these articles about doing Real Things in Real Life. The Internet is great, but you shouldn’t live there.
THINGS
★ Nothing is worth it if you aren’t happy. Doesn’t matter what accolades or prestige it has, or whether it’s what you’re “supposed” to do. You gotta live life on your own terms, & as long as you aren’t hurting anybody, go full speed ahead towards the things that really make you happy, & shun & push away anything that doesn’t.
NEW AWESOME THINGS
★ Issue 7 of Ashlee Craft / Assemblage has been released!
★ I had a great Thanksgiving. I had the day off, so I sat around the house & worked on my upcoming poetry book & the novel I am currently working on. I ate turkey, vegetarian turkey cutlets, & lots of great side dishes, as well as pecan pie. Then, my family watched The Santa Clause, which is a holiday tradition of ours for us to watch it sometime during the holiday season. It was a fun & relaxing day.
(above) My veggie tray meal as a snack on Thanksgiving afternoon.
Thanksgiving dinner!
★ More Christmas posts will be coming soon! This means coloring pages like the Thanksgiving ones I made, & hopefully soon some lists of cool things to buy for people you know.
My Favorite Things : October 27, 2015
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products that I recommend. When you click on an affiliate link to a product on an external website, I will receive compensation if you buy something. Thank you for your support.
LISTEN
★ Walk On – U2
★ Sweet Thing – Van Morrison
★ You Still Believe In Me – The Beach Boys
★ Crowded House. I started listening to more Crowded House recently. The song that made me start loving their music was Archer’s Arrows (which is a phenomenal & fantastic song). Then I heard Don’t Dream It’s Over (see below), & fell in love with that too. I haven’t heard that many songs of theirs yet, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far. Their songs are very aesthetically pleasing, & very atmospheric. They’re the kind of songs I would like to work into a variety of playlists.
★ In A Sentimental Mood – John Coltrane & Duke Ellington
EAT
★ Vanilla Talenti Gelato. Seriously. Try this with rainbow sprinkles. It’s seriously THE BEST. Rainbow sprinkles make good things even better. Gelato somehow always manages to taste elegant & make you feel elegant while you’re eating it. I also love Talenti, because they keep their ingredients simple & to the point, & produce an awesome product. Fun fact : my father usually refers to my Gelato as “ice cream”, a term which I don’t think encompasses the awesomeness & quality of Gelato.
★ Ducktrap Smoked Salmon & Ducktrap Smoked Trout. I am a huge fan of smoked fish. A huge fan. Their smoked salmon with dill is AMAZING, & I am so in love right now with their smoked trout, which I just recently tried. The smoked trout tastes like a combination between fresh smoked herring fillets and smoked salmon. One thing I love about both the smoked trout & the smoked salmon is that the fillets of them are nice, thick, & wholesome, which is even better than the thin fillets more commonly found. Also, I want to put dill on everything now. I recently made homemade guacamole with dill in it, & it was great.
★ This awesome meal I made a while ago
READ
★ Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
★ 10 Really Easy Ways to Love Yourself More Today. As always, Gala Darling has a lovely, illuminating, magical list. I especially like Point #8, about liking what you like & not liking things just because they’re popular.
★ This article about Street Dreams Magazine from The New York Times. I really, really like the idea of bringing the Internet into a more tangible, DIY form. Like a zine, of photographs.
WATCH
★ Jamming Baby Owls. BABY OWLS DANCING. Owls are the best thing ever.
★ John Owen-Jones Singing “Who Am I?” From Les Miserables. I love this song with a passion, & John Owen-Jones is the very best at singing it. He fills it with an emotion & evocative vulnerability that I haven’t heard in other renditions of the song. It is the most real, honest version, & because of this, a favorite.
WEAR
★ Colorful socks inside my awesome sparkly jelly shoes. Right now, I am especially loving my photo print strawberry socks, but since I bought the jelly shoes, I have bought a lot of cute, colorful novelty socks, just for wearing inside my jelly shoes.
★ My canvas medic bag
★ Knee Socks with Jelly Shoes or Combat Boots. I will be posting photos of this combination soon, but it looks tough but feminine at the same time, & also allows me to include the edginess of combat boots while still showing off all my cool, patterned knee socks.
TO DO
★ Laying on the floor with my dog & playing fetch with him when I get home from work. He looks forward to this, & would seriously play for hours on end if I didn’t get tired of throwing his toys for him.
★ Learning how to drive. I didn’t learn when I was younger because I had no need to, but I’m learning now, & it’s going great!
★ Earning my GED & passing all the subjects the first time around. I got honors on Reasoning Through Language Arts and in Social Studies, & was one point away from honors in Science. This was something I’d wanted to do for a long time, & I’m so proud of myself for accomplishing this goal.
THINGS
★ “When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” ― Margaret Drabble. Embrace the confusion. Now that you have nothing to lose & maybe nothing to prove, you can do anything. Now that you’re confused & uncertain & scared of the changes going on around you, you can turn this into anything. You have a blank canvas from which you can paint & create & shape into whatever feels best for you.
NEW AWESOME THINGS
★ My new album, Confusion is Over.
★ New Book – Document Your Life : A Journal.
★ New Book – Ashlee Craft / Assemblage Issue 5
Playlist // Fierce & Looking for Respect
From Issue 5 of Ashlee Craft / Assemblage
1. Hold Your Head Up – Argent
2. Respect – Aretha Franklin
3. My Life – Billy Joel
4. F**k You – CeeLo Green
5. I Really Don’t Care – Demi Lovato
6. Shake it Off – Taylor Swift
7. This is Gospel – Panic! At the Disco
8. Already Gone – The Eagles
9. Another Day – Whigfield
10. Fly By Night – Rush
11. I’m Still Standing – Elton John
12. Mean – Taylor Swift
13. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
14. Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp
Note: this is a live version & not the original unfortunately, because I couldn’t find the original on YouTube.
15. Let It Go – Idina Menzel
16. You Don’t Own Me – Lesley Gore
17. Invisible – U2
Playlist // 10 Most Underrated Queen Songs
I discovered Queen’s music when I was 17. I saw the song Bohemian Rhapsody on a list of best classic rock songs & I’d remembered hearing it years prior, so I decided to give it a listen (I listened to the live version at Wembley, then the album version). I fell in love with Queen right then & there. Then I listened to Somebody To Love, & watched the music video, & heard all their soaring harmonies, & I was hooked. I began listening to as much Queen music as possible. I’ve probably heard all their albums in their entireties at least a few times each, & listened to some individual songs about a million times. I’m not quite as obsessed with Queen as I used to be, but they are definitely still one of my very favorite bands.
One thing I noticed was that there are lots of Queen songs that are very much a part of popular culture, songs that people hear on the radio or in supermarkets or in movies & commercials when they’re growing up but maybe never know who the artist is. Songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody To Love, We Will Rock You, & Another Bites the Dust. Songs that everybody knows.
But hidden among their awesome popular songs are an incredible number of awesome lesser-known gems. These songs are seriously fantastic & just as good, if not better, in some cases, than their popular songs, & are filled with brilliant & moving harmonies, Brian May’s soaring & evocative guitar solos, epic instrumentation, Freddie Mercury’s unique & expressive voice, & let’s not forget about the perfect textbook examples of fantastic rhythm instrumentation by John Deacon & Roger Taylor.
Note : it’s admittedly really hard to narrow it down to only 10 songs, so at some point I will inevitably end up making ANOTHER list of more awesome-but-more-obscure Queen songs.
Here are the songs :
1. Spread Your Wings (News of the World, 1977)
2. March of the Black Queen (Queen II, 1974)
3. You & I (A Day at the Races, 1976)
4. Doing Alright (Queen, 1973)
5. Liar (Queen, 1973)
6. Brighton Rock (Sheer Heart Attack, 1974)
7. Long Away (A Day at the Races, 1976)
8. The Hero (Flash Gordon Soundtrack, 1980)
9. Breakthru (The Miracle, 1989)
10. Cool Cat (Hot Space, 1982)
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