Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay. Coming home for a weekend is kind of like being thrown into a shark tank---there's not enough of you to go around. I'm actually just getting back in the door and I cannot wait to get some much needed sleep in a non-dorm bed. YES.

So anyway, I figured I would start with a song that isn't new to me, but happens to be one of my all time favorites by my favorite artist.

"Lovalot -- M.I.A." 

Controversial as she is as an artist, my favorite thing about this particular song is how much controversy it avoids by making its political undertones fairly subliminal.

The chorus in which she chants, "I really lovalot," translates to "I really love Allah," if you listen carefully.

The song itself is a commentary on radical Islam with some lyrics that address war and retaliation. I.e. Opening the song by likening herself to a "Taliban trucker," and including the line "I won't turn my cheek like I'm Ghandi, I fight the ones that fight me."

The overproduction of the song musically makes it really easy for the messages she's presenting to be overlooked. I'm not sure if this helps her to broaden her audience or if its a missed opportunity to have a recognized political commentary.

What do you think of the song? Do you think she should focus more on the message or the music? Both?


I'll be back with something very different for my next post.

-Kirstin

Welcome!

As you can probably tell from the very tactful description above, I am REALLY into music. So much so, that I try not to go more than a day without adding at least one new song to my iTunes library. I use the word new very loosely, because I tend to gravitate to a lot of older stuff from the days when talent was actually a legitimate requirement for an artist to get any airplay. This appetite has resulted in a regularly pretty hefty iTunes charge and very limited memory on my cellphone but hey, sacrificing a few apps to have some of the world's best songs at my fingertips is definitely worth it. For the most part, this blog is gonna be dedicated to sharing those songs with you along with my thoughts and hopefully some of yours. Check back later today to see what I'm listening to! 

-Kirstin