Songs of Faith and Devotion

i wanted to share something with my readers today. for those of you that know me personally, you know that music is a HUGE part of my life. music moves me in ways that nothing else on this earth can. music has helped me out of the darkest days of my life and also led me through the happiest moments in my life. and still does to this day. i have a very wide range of music tastes and have a list of musicians and music that have played a very big part in my life. if you were to ask me who my all time favorite band is that has had the most influence on me - it would be depeche mode. i have followed them since i was in junior high and been a devotional (no pun intended with the title) fan of theirs from the first time i heard the album "catching up with depeche mode". i still have this cassette tape. i've seen them in concert more than 10 times (i've lost count) and will continue to see them every chance i get.

i saw this tour in 1993 at a very tough time in my life. i was dating a very abusive guy who was 8 years older than me at the time and i remember going to this show with him. i was 17 then. i adored this album and at that time, i was struggling with my faith. something i have done since as far back as i can remember. i was lost for a very long time. i believed in God, i didn't believe in God, i believed in "something"...i was always questioning and so confused. i always believe there was something there - i never considered myself athiest...but i always considered myself agnostic.

it wasn't until a few years ago that my faith truly started coming to me. that i was finally building a relationship with God. i continue to build that relationship daily with Him/Her. i have written a few times in this blog about my search and i'm sure there will be other posts in the future.

when i say i adore this album, i did. but i could never explain why. and in listening to the songs, i never really "got" them. i was driving home from work the other day, flipping through my cds and i found this album. i thought to myself that i hadn't heard it in so long and decided to pop it in the cd player. it has been in there on repeat since. i've probably listened to it atleast 8 times all the way through. i didn't realize until now the effect the words and the music had on me in this album until right now. it's funny when you've listened to something for so long and loved it, but it doesn't bring a deeper meaning until you least expect it.

every single song on this album is phenomenal. i did, however want to share with you all a few of the songs that move me the most. i am going to share a few videos from the devotional tour dvd that depeche mode put out and add the lyrics for you. i hope you enjoy them as well.

Depeche Mode - Higher Love




I can taste more than feel
This burning inside is so real
I can almost lay my hands upon
The warm glow that lingers on

Moved, lifted higher
Moved, my soul's on fire
Moved, by a higher love

I surrender all control
To the desire that consumes me whole
Leads me by the hand to infinity
Lies in wait at the heart of me

Moved, lifted higher
Moved, my soul's on fire
Moved, by a higher love

Heaven bound on the wings of love
There's so much that you can rise above

Moved, lifted higher
Moved, moved, by a higher love
By a higher love

I surrender heart and soul
Sacrificed to a higher goal

Moved, moved by a higher love
By a higher love
----------------------

Depeche Mode - Judas



Is simplicity best
Or simply the easiest
The narrowest path
Is always the holiest
So walk on barefoot for me
Suffer some misery
If you want my love
If you want my love

Man will survive
The harshest conditions
And stay alive
Through difficult decisions
So make up your mind for me
Walk the line for me
If you want my love
If you want my love

Idle talk
And hollow promises
Cheating Judases
Doubting Thomases
Don't just stand there and shout it
Do something about it

You can fulfill
Your wildest ambitions
And I'm sure you will
Lose your inhibitions
So open yourself for me
Risk your health for me
If you want my love
If you want my love
If you want my love
If you want my love
-------------

Depeche Mode - Mercy In You



You know what I need
When my heart bleeds
I suffer from greed
A longing to feed
On the mercy in you

I can't conceal
The way I'm healed
The pleasure I feel
When I have to deal
With the mercy in you

I would do it all again
Lose my way and fall again
Just so I could call again
On the mercy in you

When here in my mind
I feel inclined
To wrongly treat you unkind
I have faith I will find
The mercy in you

I would lose my way again
Be led hopelessly astray again
Just so I could pray again
For the mercy in you

When here in my mind
I have been blind
Emotionally behind
I have faith I will find
The mercy in you

Every Breath You Take

we were watching the live aid concert last night on vh1 classic from 1985. i had never seen it. strange. beside the point. anyway....sting played an acoustic version of "every breath you take" with phil collins that was purely just lovely. and i wanted to share it with you all.

enjoy.

Diamonds On The Inside

i was told by a very close friend the other day that i wore diamonds on the inside. i think that's the best compliment i've ever received. i was incredibly flattered.

Ben Harper - Diamonds On The Inside (official video)

I knew a girl
Her name was truth
She was a horrible liar
She couldnt spend one day alone
But she couldnt be satisfied
When you have everything
You have everything to lose
She made herself a bed of nails
And shes planning on putting it to use
But she had diamonds on the inside
She had diamonds on the inside
She had diamonds on the inside
Diamonds

A candle throws its light into the darkness
In a nasty world so shines a good deed
Make sure the fortune that you seek
Is the fortune that you need
Tell me why the first to ask
Is the last to give every time
What you say and do not mean
Follows you close behind
She had diamonds on the inside
She had diamonds on the inside
She wore diamonds on the inside
Diamonds
Diamonds

Like the soldier long standing under fire
Any change comes as a relief
Let the givers name remain unspoken
She is just a generous thief
She had diamonds on the inside
She had diamonds on the inside
She wore diamonds on the inside
She wore diamonds
Oh - diamonds
She had diamonds
She wore diamonds
Diamonds

Fidelity

i've been hearing this song a lot lately on my online radio station i listen to while working. i've heard several of her songs and i really dig her voice. she's fun and cute.

regina spektor - "fidelity"

Rebel With a Cause

i'm back at work today after a lovely vacation day off from work yesterday spent with LL since he's gotten back from his europe tour. we had a great day. HOWEVER, now i am sleepy cuz i dove into my twilight book again last night and ended up finishing the whole thing. dangit! it totally sucked me in just as i was told.

anyway....i bought the new gov't mule album "mighty high" over the weekend. it's fantastic. i highly suggest it.

this is the 2nd song on the album and definitely one of my favs. enjoy. happy tuesday!

Galactic and Ozomatli

so i'm ever so excited when i get my email yesterday for presale tickets at house of blues for the galactic / ozomatli show october 30th. *big smiles*

Break It Down Again

so i should be waiting until flashback friday for this, but dammit, i can't get it out of my head this morning and thought i would share.

Vanilla Ice Cream

ok this is really what i was looking for this morning. i had to email the morning show and find out who this was. i was laughing so hard in my car, i almost had to pull over. enjoy.



lyrics:

Vanilla Ice Cream - Stephen Lynch

Have a seat and listen, please don't say a thing
The matters of the heart sometimes, the truth will ever sting
Just don't take it personally, this is no attack
But we will never last because I am white and you are...also white

I only like black girls the brown girls, the café au lait
Caramel girls, and mocca girls just blow me away
If your a nubian, I want you to-be in every fantasy
But if you're a whitey, say nighty-nighty, your just not the girl for me

Oh I hate vanilla ice cream, I like chocolate instead
I hope she likes her soul food with a little Wonder Bread
Don't call it Jungle Fever cause that just isn't right
I am not a racist, some of my best friends are white

I just prefer black girls, the brown girls, the café au lait
A caramel girls and mocca girls just blow me away. If you're a cracker, you better get blacker or else you best get out
It is no mystery, I like a sister see that's what I'm talkin about

Our wedding song will be "Ebony and Ivory", and we'll sing Christmas carols round the old Kwanzaa tree
But color is not the issue here, it's dignity, it's class
It's all about her heart, okay it's partly about that ass
I want me some black girl, the brown girl, the café au lait
A caramel girls, and mocca girls, just blow me away
If you're a honky, you're singin the wrong key, it's the honest truth
The skin that she's dwellin in, must contain melanin, that is the Fountain of Youth.

Thomas Jefferson.

Robert DeNiro.

David Bowie.

To a certain extent...Ted Dansen.

Strom Thurmond!!! Strom Thurmond!!! yeeeahh...

The Sun Is A Mass of Incandescent Gas

having a crappy work week guys - sorry. i'll probably be fairly quiet the remainder of the week.

however, here is a good science lesson for the day. and this band makes me smile. because they are coo-coo for cocoa puffs.



ah yes, and i should save this for flashback friday, but meh....what the hay.

"Baby, I Love Your Way"

Good Excuse

in honor of the john butler trio concert that i will be attending this evening with natorchen at the house of blues, i would like to share a groovin song with you today. (i'm super excited!!!!!!!!!!)



holy crap - he totally chopped off all his dreads!!!!!!! *gasps*

The Way I Am

well kiddies, no Flashback for tomorrow, because i am taking a much needed day off from work. so enjoy your weekend ~ i hope it's lovely.

i will leave you will this sweet little ditty:

I Ain't Scurred

sooooooooo i'm not very big on "new" music now-a-days. and by new music i mean most mainstream bands that come out of the woodwork that sound just like the one that came out before that. that personally....i don't feel has any more talent than the average joe out there. i have a huge range of music taste (obviously), but for about the past 10 years i haven't paid much attention to the mainstream of things...unless it was a band that i already was into....u2, dmb...i could go on.

i usually listen to NPR on my drives or throw in a cd or even listen to my ipod. every few months or so, i will scour the radio stations to see if there is anything out there worth hearing or discovering. usually i end up disappointed. however, i have to admit, my guilty pleasure "new" band is maroon 5. i absolutely LOVE these guys. so i tend to follow them with getting their newest cd out on the market. these guys are rockin in my opinion. anyway.....

oh also, i have been slightly addicted to lone star 92.5 since it started up fairly recently, so that's always a good one.

i'm swaying away from my point here....so i will occasionally browse through the "adult alternative" music stations that we have here and i've heard this song quite a few times. and i'm comfortable enough in my own skin to be a dork and say that I LOVE IT! i don't know anything about this band or if i would like any of their other stuff, but i totally dig this song. it's got a great groove and the lyrics are pretty frickin awesome. i found two video versions of the song. so my friends, feel free to make fun of me all you want. i can take it. :-p

I Just Called....To Say....

this made me smile this morning. stevie is THE MAN.

Melody Gardot

HOLY FREAKIN HELL! natorchen told me i must check this girl out. i'm so thankful that i did.

brilliant talent here - she'll give you goosebumps.

Scuttle Buttin'

this put a little groove in my step this morning...hope it does the same for you :)

Sunshine

Find The River

one of my favorite REM songs and i woke up with it in my head this morning.



Hey now, little speedyhead,
The read on the speedmeter says
You have to go to task in the city
Where people drown and people serve
Don't be shy. Your just deserve
Is only just light years to go

Me, my thoughts are flower strewn
Ocean storm, bayberry moon
I have got to leave to find my way
Watch the road and memorize
This life that pass before my eyes
Nothing is going my way

The ocean is the river's goal,
A need to leave the water knows
We're closer now than light years to go

I have got to find the river,
Bergamot and vetiver
Run through my head and fall away
Leave the road and memorize
This life that pass before my eyes
Nothing is going my way

There's no one left to take the lead,
But I tell you and you can see
We're closer now than light years to go
Pick up here and chase the ride
The river empties to the tide
Fall into the ocean

The river to the ocean goes,
A fortune for the undertow
None of this is going my way
There is nothing left to throw
Of Ginger, lemon, indigo,
Coriander stem and rose of hay
Strength and courage overrides
The privileged and weary eyes
Of river poet search naivete
Pick up here and chase the ride
The river empties to the tide
All of this is coming your way

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