P.S. 22 Chorus "Viva La Vida"

This week on the blog I'll be writing about some of the artists scheduled to appear at Newport Folk, July 30th and 31st. Be sure to check out mvyradio's coverage. We'll be streaming most all of the main stage performances, and posting sets from the side stage bands on our website.

What was the coolest high school field trip you went on? A ski weekend? Knotts Berry Farm? World's 2nd Largest Ball Of Twine?

I mean, I thought we were pretty cool, going to Washington D.C. for Close-up.

But damn, Anne freakin' Hathaway didn't invite me to the Oscars.

Then again, I couldn't sing like the kids of P.S. 22 Chorus.

They'll be on one of the side stages this weekend, busting out amazing choral covers like the ones below. And check out the video of them going crazy, finding out they'll be going to the Academy Awards, plus their show-closing performance.

You can also listen to our Newport Folk Channel, for album tracks by all the artists on the bill. Stream it for free from the main page of mvyradio.

Viva La Vida

Hear the song on Youtube.

Rolling In The Deep

Hear the song on Youtube.

Anne Hathaway invites them to The Oscars

See the video on Youtube.

Their Oscar-Closing performance

See the video on Youtube.

Coldplay “Viva La Vida”

I’ve always found it a funny phenomenon when a songwriter doesn’t want to explain his/her song.

I mean, I guess I understand that you don’t want the media to reduce a complex thought to some simple copy. Or you don’t want to assign a definitive meaning to something that might be abstract enough that the interpretation of the song varies from listener to listener.

But some artists are really, almost hostile, to the question.

I recall that Chris Martin of Coldplay got so frustrated with a particular interviewer, because he’d been asked, probably for the 10,000 time, if he were writing songs about parenthood, now that he’s a parent.

I don’t have the interview handy, to quote directly, but he basically said that his songwriting was informed by lots of things and to think that just because he is now a parent, that that’s what he was writing about, is asinine.

That being said . . .

“Viva La Vida” came out around the time I became a parent, and I have always thought this tune was about being a father.

I used to rule the world,
Seas would rise when I gave the world.
Now in the morning I sleep alone,
Sweep the streets I used to roam.

He sings about how he was formerly the master of his universe, and now he is on the lowest rung.

He may not have written it about being a parent, but I have to say, at the time it came out, it struck a paternal chord with me, as I was going through the emotions of suddenly being the least important person living in my home, when formerly I was the most important (and only) person in my life.

So I don’t know. Chris? Did I get it right? Is that what this one is about?

Coldplay “Lost!”

Lost! with an exclamation point!

Every time I've heard this song, over the course of the last 9 months, I’d lament:

“I’ve got to wait until February!” with an exclamation point.

Lost, the TV show takes long hiatuses, at least for a broadcast TV show. And it’s a show that asks a lot of questions, leaving too many unanswered, but with a promise that there will be a conclusion. You just have to wait for it.

And wait.

And wait.

And the wait is finally over.

I ran my kid up and down the halls of the house, for an hour on Tuesday late afternoon, to make sure she went straight to bed. Poured myself a drink. Put the snacks on the side table and I watched the Season premiere.

And now I wait. Until next Tuesday.

And every time I hear this song, I’m reminded that the waiting is the hardest part. But that’s another song.