sMiLe sOmE

#1 major connection for Yellowcard is 9/11 and the war in Iraq as well as the public opinion on the Bush administration. In the book From 9/11 to Terror War: the dangers of the Bush legacy the author, Douglas Kellner, expresses feelings of the public as well as those that the band points out in their lyrics and music videos not to mention my own opinions of how the government is handling the war in Iraq. It goes a little something like this: “The Bush Administration’s Iraq policy has created tremendous ongoing controversy. Since the 9/11 attacks, the Bush Administration’s foreign policy has exhibited a marked unilateralism and militarism in which U.S. military power is used to advance U.S. interests and military hegemony. The policy was first evident in the Afganistan intervention following September 11, 2001, terror attacks, and informed the 2003 war against Iraq.” It goes on about how Kellner feels Cheney and Bush were pushing for a war no matter if there was a rightful cause or not. “On September 8, 2002, Cheney and the other top warmongers of the Bush Administration were all over the Sunday talk shows making their case for war against Iraq. Cheney repeated on Meet the Press all of the well known crimes of Saddam Hussein, insinuated long-discredited ties between Iraq and al Qalda, and even tried to pin the anthrax attacks on Iraq, although all evidence pointed to U.S. weapons-grade facilities. Cheney was going to have war against Iraq no matter what the price, and it appeared that George W. Bush was equally gung ho and set on war.” I have a lot to go on here.

Elton John… wow I’m excited about this one. I plan on expaining in some detail the backbone of the Watergate scandal. Like in the Elvis article I am going to assume that my reader doesn’t know all the details about what caused the scandal as well the conspiracy behind it. Here’s a little examlple from The Watergate Crisis by Michael Genovese: “The roots of Watergate extend as far back as the Vietnam War and the divisiveness it cuases at home. Nixon was elected in 1968 in the midst of that long divisive war. He was elected in part, on his promise to end the war. But when he became president, he realized that getting out of Vietnam would be no easy task…” Watergate involved 3 separate, but interconnected conspiracies. The Plumbers conspiracy, the reelection conspiracy, and the cover-up conspiracy. << I’ll go into a little more detail here about what each of these mean. The difficult part here is how to tie in all my pictures, cartoons, articles, reviews, quotes, cover art, lyrics, and so on, into one coherent flowing message.

1.) Yellowcard Ocean Avenue review by Stephen Haag
“But here’s the mildly astonishing part about Yellowcard: They’d be a solid band even without their calling card/gimmick (and let’s be honest; that’s what Mackin’s violin is, even if it is entertaining and well-played). Maybe it’s a product of the band being slightly older than many of their contemporaries on the scene — guitarist Ben Harper is the baby at 22 — but it’s refreshing to hear an album that’s not bogged down with party odes and rants about mean girls.”

2.) Yellow card review by Ashley Rigazio
“Unlike many other singers on the scene lately, Ryan Key’s vocals aren’t whiny and his lyrics aren’t frivolous. Instead, Key writes introspective lyrics relevant to his life and sings clearly in an unoffending voice. Despite the inevitable pop-punk tag, there is nothing irritable about Yellowcard.”

3.) Negative review for Yellowcard by Matt Aucoin
“…is it just me or is Yellowcard’s album Ocean Avenue a perfect summation of how bland and just plain bad that the pop-punk (some may say “emo”) genre has become?
Let’s start with the single that has helped this band break into the top 40 and score a gold certification in the process, the title track. The song’s arrangement finds simple rippling chords being played over a simple drumbeat and a lack of bass that rips the underbelly of the song out from under itself. This is followed by a breezy chorus that is delivered with “passion” and lyrics that are about as deep as President Shrub when he doesn’t have a script in front of him.
But wait, this band is different say the usual defenders of crappy rock music. They have a violin in their songs, that’s so punk rock, because after all, what’s more punk rock than having a violin?”

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8.) Review for Elton John by Jon Landau, Rolling Stone, 7/17/75
“First things first. This is one of Elton John’s best albums. He hasn’t tried to top past successes, only to continue the good work he’s been doing. And he’s succeeded, even taking a few chances in the process. The record is devoid of the gimmicky rock numbers from Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player phase. It isn’t weighted down with the overarranging and overproduction that marred so much of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It sounds freer and more relaxed than Caribou. His voice sounds rough, hoarse, almost weary. But that only helps make him sound more personal and intimate than in the past. ”

9.) Review for Elton by Billboard, 1975
“The pleasant surprise, however, is that, as always, the artist continues to change and progress. Lyrical content here is primarily autobiographical (the music careers of both John and lyricist Bernie Taupin) with stories centering around difficulties with publishers, life on the road, good and bad reviews, writing and so forth. Musical content is more varied than the last few LPs, with countryish flavoring here and there, one cut with soul/disco type strings, more emphasis on solos (particularly some rock items from guitarist Davey Johnstone) from band members, and a strong classical feel on several of the cuts. Majority of the set is self-contained (handled by Elton’s band) and the music itself is of a simpler structural nature than the past few LPs. One grows to expect a lot from an artist the stature of Elton John, and there is no disappointment here.”

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On wednesday in class we discussed some ideas on how to write the paper. Using different techniques to relate your topic of discussion to your specific audience. For example, language and word usage is highly important when it comes to making the connection with the reader. You want to set the tone, use quotes, allusions, personal stories, etc. to draw the reader in and make your writing imteresting. The articles we read over in class gave me insight into how you work your writing to fit the needs of your paper. I’m not sure which techniques I want to utilize in my own paper, but I’m recognizing that these ideas and strategies are important to my own writing, in this proposal and in my future writings.

Over all I was satisfied with my proposal. My life is filled with music, not one day goes by where I’m not listening to music. I wake up to music on my alarm, put it on in my car on the way to school, listen to my cd’s between classes, music during homework, radio on to fall asleep. But up until this class I never sat down and THOUGHT about how music is entertwined in life, reflecting culture, politics, religion… This proposal “opened my eyes” to how I actually feel about the music I listen to and the reasons behind why I relate to the artists I enjoy listening to countless times on repeat.

As far as further research and improvement goes I’m looking forward to expanding on my ideas with the Cover art for Elton John and politics from the time period. As well as including more examples of terrorism and the war in the lyrics for Yellowcard. I think that my main focus for improvement and expansion lies in my personal reflections and antecdotes. I need some aspect in my writing to enclose and wrap up my thoughts and connections into one tight bundle. I want my readers to understand what I’m trying to get at… the big “what and why” statement.

I’m very excited to see my final project come together… I hope that I will be able to sort through all my ideas and combine them into a great paper.

My proposal is moving along much faster as of Monday… I need to focus on finding resources off the web for both Elton and Yellowcard. I can already forsee small issues with finding more than magazine articles for Yellowcard, but I should be able to find more on the connection i’m making between the War in Iraq as well as the album’s story line direction between the songs and the band’s journey away from Jacksonville, Florida (their home) to far away California. The connections I’m trying to make between Elton’s album is one between the Watergate scandal and the depressing tone of Elton’s songs. I’m researching more on how the morals and trust between the world and it’s leaders was going downhill in the 1970s. I think that finding off line resources regarding Watergate should be fairly easy. Most of the work I have to do is in the details of the connections. But I think that I’m on a roll so far.

Elton John
1974: Punk rock music emerges in Britain, with themes of nihilism, anarchy.
1974: Nobel Prize in Literature: Swedish novelists Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson.
1974: The word “Internet” enters the lexicon.
1974: Carrie is the first of Stephen King’s blockbuster gothic novels.
1974: U.S. newspapers start to replace reporters’ typewriters with terminals.
1974: Also at the movies: The Towering Inferno, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles.
1974: West Germany, after a somewhat shaky start to the tournament, eventually ran into form to win “its” FIFA World Cup. In the final, led by the “Kaiser”, Franz Beckenbauer, the West Germans were at the top of their game to beat a brilliant Netherlands side. The 10th FIFA World Cup tournament in Germany in 1974 was marked by the arrival of colour television! And as if to highlight this cultural revolution even more, the “Weltmeisterschaft 74″ featured two other major changes. The first was a change in the tournament rules. The first round group system followed by knock-out in the second round was replaced by a group system in both rounds. The second change was the replacing of the Jules Rimet trophy - won outright by Brazil four years earlier after winning the FIFA World Cup three times (1958, 1962, 1970) - by a new solid gold statuette known as the “FIFA World Cup”.
1974: The 55-mph Speed Limit Introduced:
Our theory about the 55-mph speed limit is that someone who always took the bus to work thought this brilliant idea up. Either that, or they were frustrated that they couldn’t get any action despite having sunk a high percentage of their salary into that puke-colored AMC Gremlin. And even though folks back then should have noticed these things, we have no doubt this 55-mph speed limit proposal was undoubtedly given Considerable Official Support before it got kicked up to The Powers That Be. Therefore, on behalf of everyone here at The Rant, we’d just like to say, “Way to go, wide-lapel pleather-wearing Seventies-era policy-wonk team! Thanks for all those wasted hours spent in the back of our folks’ car as we drove from Michigan to Pennsylvania! Thanks for letting our insurance firms charge us more money when we were caught boosting the speed up to a sinful 65 or even – gasp – 70 miles per hour!” A friend of ours did note today, however, that the 55-mph speed limit did prompt Sammy Hagar to write a song about the idiotic idea. Also he — Mr Hagar, not our friend — jumped around in some kind of weird yellow jumpsuit. Therefore, we must say this was a Cultural Watershed.
1974: Kraftwerk release ‘Autobahn’: Kraftwerk signalled the coming of the machine age, creating sleek computerised pop in their state-of-the-art Düsseldorf studio. This 22-minute opus to the monotony of the German motorway system reached the US and British charts in an edited version, and subsequently became a huge influence on hip hop, house and techno.
1973: Gram Parsons dies at the Joshua Tree Inn: It is debatable whether Parsons invented country rock, but he remains its most visionary exponent. Only 26 when he died from a heroin overdose, he left his stamp on three classic albums: Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968), The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969), and Grievous Angel (1973). Thirty years on, he remains the defining presence in America’s thriving alternative country scene.

Yellowcard
2003: The IP phone is a mini-computer that can transmit movies.
2003: Two AARP magazines far outstrip all others in circulation.
2003: Nobel Prize in Literature: John M. Coetzee, South Africa.
2003: Alabama chief justice Roy S. Moore forced from office after his refusal to remove monument of the Ten Commandments
2003: On the premiere of Ashton Kutcher’s reality show with a straight razor’s edge, Ashton and his cohorts decided to have a little fun with JT by fooling the *NSYNCer into believing that he owed a considerable sum of money to the federal government, and that they were there to repossess all of Justin’s valuable personal belongings like his house, car, dog and even an acoustic guitar. It was television magic in motion that celebrated both the twisted pleasures of Ashton Kutcher and the hopeless naivete of the former Mouseketeer.
2003: If anybody can make married life interesting, it’s Jessica Simpson, along with her new hubby Nick Lachey. In what has now become the most infamous moment of the show, Jessica isn’t quite able to wrap her young nubile mind around a can of tuna fish. The can, which proclaimed tuna as “the chicken of the sea,” confused her. Tuna: chicken or fish? After a moment of stunned disbelief, her helpful hubby eased her troubled mind by explaining that tuna fish is fish–fish being the key word there.
2003: The opening smooch of the 2003 Video Music Awards sent shockwaves through the cathode ray tubes of anyone with their television sets turned on. A cross-generational, superstar lip-lock on live TV went a seriously long way for the superstar divas. Madonna, clad in her uniquely masculine latex tuxedo, embraced Britney and Christina–2 innocent girls donned in their own white wedding dresses–and passionately kissed them. Theirs weren’t the only open mouths in the house.
2003: In a fit of CGI-induced mania, Frodo’s traveling buddy from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers lost his mind during his acceptance speech at the MTV Movie Awards on May 31. After beating out stiff competition from Kangaroo Jack, Yoda and Scooby-Doo, the slithery virtual Gollum won the award for Best Virtual Performance. In an apparent battle with his alter ego Smeagol, Gollum delivered an expletive-riddled diatribe against his co-stars, MTV and his poor, poor competitors. Virtual golden popcorn, it seems, has as much psychotic power as that damn ring.
In early March, MTV News reporter Gideon Yago traded in the comfort of taxis and hot dog vendors in Times Square for the dust and heat of Kuwait City, knowing full well that the region was teetering on the brink of a massive scale invasion. Armed with a camera crew, Gideon found himself inside a nation about to witness the first major war of the 21st century. Gideon made it his duty to find out what was going through the minds of teenagers from around the region. It was a profound, moving experience, for both Gideon and the American public.
2003: Jackass expats Steve-O and Chris Pontius embarked on a quest to explore that special kinship they share with many of the earth’s most notorious creatures. In the premiere episode of their new show Wildboyz, the two stars of low moral caliber decide to brave the cold water and hang out with Jaws himself. The only thing that could make the crazy stunt any funnier was if they were actually ripped to shreds by the sharks. But, we wouldn’t want that to happen now, would we…?
2003 : Time Magazine: Could the Boykin problem really have been a surprise? The remarks that landed Lieut. General William ” Jerry” Boykin in so much trouble last week —his attaching a Christian mission to the war on terrorism—were part of a message he has been delivering in his dress uniform for more than a year. And one signal that these views could trip him up as the man charged with pursuing Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein came only six months ago.

Remembering Yellowcard:
1.) Ocean Avenue, Yellowcard’s debut for Capitol Records, was produced by Neal Avron and mixed by Tom-Lord-Alge. On the album, themes of self-empowerment and self-awareness reveal themselves throughout the 13 songs on tracks like “Believe” and “Inside Out.” And there is a conspicuous lack of irony or sarcasm — sincerity rules.
“We’re definitely a positive band,” says Key. “We want to take experiences in our life and use them in a productive way, to encourage people not to let anybody tell them what to do with their life.”
2.) He says the group realize they’re begging comparison with Good Charlotte and Simple Plan by courting the mainstream, but they’re confident they’ve got the goods to avoid a backlash. “We’re not getting, ‘Oh, it’s just another Good Charlotte,’ because we do our own thing. I just think we’re a little more intellectual when it comes to our songwriting, our performances, and our story — we have a story to tell. Those are the only rock bands that have really gotten any hype lately, on that kind of level. Hopefully, we’ll bridge the gap between cheesy and cool. You can be catchy but not be some kind of little-kid thing.”
3.)The song’s nostalgic kick makes it a foolproof emo anthem, but Harper says the actual object of its sentimentality is Jacksonville, which the group left behind when they moved to California’s Central Coast a few years back. “It’s this place where we used to hang out in Jacksonville. Instead of talking about a girl, it’s talking about a scene and a feeling that we want to get back to: hanging out and writing, before we moved to California.”
4.) The 2003 North America blackout was a massive power outage which occurred throughout parts of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada on Thursday, August 14th.
5.) Feb 1, 2003. Space shuttle Columbia explodes, killing all seven astronauts.

Cowboy Memories
1.) “The big thing was the cover, which was just a brilliant piece of animation by Alan Aldridge that perfectly summed up the cartoon aspect of our lives at that time. I think it was quite remarkable and unique for its time. You can put that cover next to ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and get the same feeling.” - Bernie Taupin.
2.) While his voice most often resembles Jose Feliciano; there are at times touches of Leon Russell and Mick Jagger… John’s songs are co-written by lyricist Bernie Taupin, whose lyrics often capture the same timeless, objective spirit of the Band’s Robbie Robertson… Beyond his vocals, melodies and arrangements there is a certain sense of the absurd … that is reminiscent of the American rock stars of the mid-1950s …
3.) `You’re always saying how Bernie has become the Brown Dirt Cowboy’ — he lives on a ranch in Santa Ynez (Calif.) — and I’m this guy who plays concert after concert, buying art, buying photographs, living a very lavish lifestyle. I’ve become Captain Fantastic.
4.) While Taupin sweated over every line, John dashed off the music on a luxury ocean liner. “I’d tried to book the ship’s music room, but an opera singer had it for the whole five days,” John said. “The only time she wasn’t there was when she scoffed her lunch for two hours. So every lunchtime I’d nip in there and grab the piano.”
5.) March 1, 1974- Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice. Including President Nixon, who resigned, the 1st president to do so.

Elton John history 1974
1.) http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time/1970s.html
1974: Carrie is the first of Stephen King’s blockbuster gothic novels.
1974: Robert Pirsig’s oddly titled novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
1974: In England, the BBC transmits Teletext data to TV sets.
1974: Coaxial cable can carry 108,000 phone conversations at the same time.
1974: Electronic News Gathering (ENG).
1974: Telephone “hot line” is set up between the White House and the Kremlin.
1974: Arcade video game Tank uses ROM chips to store graphics.
1974: International digital voice transmission.
1974: Satellite transmission of mailgrams.
1974: Punk rock music emerges in Britain, with themes of nihilism, anarchy.
1974: Wall Street Journal successfully transmits an edition by satellite.
1974: Nobel Prize in Literature: Swedish novelists Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson.
1974: Telnet offers commercial packet data service.
1974: James Michener, Centennial, a fictional account of a Colorado town.
1974: Heinrich Bšll, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum.
1974: Magazine article on $439 Altair kit inspires many computer hobbyists.
1974: In Japan, Yukio Mishima’s The Sea of Fertility tetralogy published after death.
1974: Oscars: The Godfather, Part II, Art Carney, Ellen Burstyn.
1974: Also at the movies: The Towering Inferno, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles.
1974: Foreign language film Oscar: Amarcord, Italy.
1974: U.S. newspapers start to replace reporters’ typewriters with terminals.
1974: “Teacher-in-the-Sky” satellite begins educational mission.
1974: The word “Internet” enters the lexicon.
1974: Dolby Labs demonstrates Surround Sound and Pro Logic for movies.

2.)http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/sshglo.htm#Corporatism
Corporatism
R. E. Pahl and Jack Winkler argued in 1974 that a political vocabulary that “sees the alternative pure forms of economy as simply capitalism or socialism” is “blinkered”. They wanted to re- introduce the term Corporatism as “a distinct form of economic structure”. This was the term that Mussolini used for the economic organisation of Italy under fascism. Pahl and Winkler argued that it fitted the social order that was emerging in response to the the crisis of capitalism that people saw in the 1970s.
“This corporatism is a comprehensive economic system under which the state intensively channels predominantly privately owned business towards four goals, which have become increasingly explicit during the current economic crisis: Order, Unity, Nationalism, and Success.”
It was a direction in which political economic development might have gone - but it did not.

3.) http://www.thenortheast.fsnet.co.uk/page94.htm
1974 April 1, - TYNE AND WEAR AND CLEVELAND CREATED
(North-East)
Local government reforms have considerably changed the shape of County Durham’s boundaries. Gateshead, Jarrow, Blaydon, South Shields and Sunderland have all been moved from County Durham into the new county of Tyne and Wear. Most of the Tyneside area north of the Tyne has been moved from Northumberland into Tyne and Wear. In southern County Durham, Hartlepool has been moved into the newly-created County of Clevaland which includes most of the old borough of Teesside, which dates from 1967, plus areas of rural North Yorkshire including Guisborough.
1974 - METRO STARTED
(Tyneside)
The building of the Metro Rapid Transport System commences on Tyneside.

4.)http://en.wikipedia.org/
July 22 - the US Navy and Marine Corps evacuate 500 people from Cyprus, away from the conflict erupting between Greece and Turkey on the island
March 3 - Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a DC-10, crashes into forest near Ermenonville, France, killing 346 people. At the time, it was the worst aviation disaster in history.
September 1 - a SR-71 Blackbird crosses the Atlantic Ocean in less than two hours.
November 20 - Lufthansa flight 540 crashes and burns moments after takeoff, killing 59 people. It was the first major accident involving the Boeing 747.
Psychology
Civilized Man’s Eight Deadly Sins is published by Konrad Lorenz.
Astronomy and space exploration
February 8 - After 84 days in space, the last crew of the temporary American space station Skylab return to Earth
Events
January 2 - Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
January 4 - U.S. President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
February 28 - After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations.
February 28 - General election in the U.K. results in no majority for any party; Labour will form a minority government until October despite having received fewer votes nationally than the Conservatives. See UK general election, 1974 (February).
March 1 - Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
April 25 - Portuguese democratic revolution.
May 18 - “Smiling Buddha” nuclear weapon test by India.
July 20 - Turkey invades the country of Cyprus and occupies the northern third of the island (later declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus).
August 9 - Resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon.
September 12 - Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie ousted in a coup by the Derg.
October 10 - General election in the U.K. is won narrowly by Labour.

5.) http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/UK/uk74.htm
Top Ten Singles in UK
1. Tiger Feet - MUD
2. Seasons in the sun - Terry Jacks
3. Billy, don’t be a hero - Paper Lace
4. when will i see you again - The Three degrees
5. Rock your baby - George McCrae
6. gonna make you a star - David Essex
7. she - Charles Aznavour
8. kung fu fighting - Carl Douglas
9. everything i own - Ken Boothe
10. sugar baby love - The Rubettes

Yellowcard history 2003
1.) http://en.wikipedia.org/
The 2003 North America blackout was a massive power outage which occurred throughout parts of the northeastern United States and eastern
Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003.

2.)http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030904-7.html Patriot day declared by Bush on September 11, 2003

3.) http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/time/2000s.html
2003: From Apple Computer: the browser Safari.
2003: For the first time, more DVDs than videotapes are rented in the U.S.
2003: Cellphones add computer and Internet capabilities.
2003: Supreme Court mandates porn filters in federally funded public libraries.
2003: iTunes music store offers tunes for 99 cents.
2003: Flash mobs, organized on the Net, start in New York, spread worldwide.
2003: Some U.S. states tax Internet bandwidth.
2003: Zip-Codes.com offers Zip-code information online.
2003: Popularity of blogs increases sharply.
2003: The IP phone is a mini-computer that can transmit movies.
2003: One-third of books bought in U.S. is a romance novel.
2003: Amazon.com scans texts of 120,000 books for Internet users.
2003: An estimated one million camcorders worldwide.
2003: Harry Potter books attacked as satanic, but also defended.
2003: International piracy of films is rampant.
2003: Estmated 5 trillion unwanted messages set on the Internet.
2003: A World Summit on the Information Society meets in Switzerland.
2003: European Union requires Internet companies to tax downloads.
2003: French Ministry of Culture bans the word “email.” Wants “courriel.”
2003: Two AARP magazines far outstrip all others in circulation.
2003: Cable TV offers TiVo-like features: storing, skipping commercials.
2003: Intelsat has more than 20 communication satellites orbiting worldwide.
2003: Internet becomes integral part of political campaigning.
2003: Apple’s G5 64-bit processor contains 58 million transistors.
2003: Destructive computer worms and viruses sharply increase.
2003: Hollywood releases heavy on special effects, violence, sequels.
2003: Auckland, New Zealand, has city-wide high-speed wireless network.
2003: Nobel Prize in Literature: John M. Coetzee, South Africa.
2003: Oscars: The Lord of the Rings, Sean Penn, Charlize Theron.
2003: Non-English language film Oscar: The Barbarian Invasions.
2003: Oscar for animated film: Finding Nemo.
2003: Also at the movies: Pirates of the Caribbean, Mystic, Cold Mountain.
2003: U.S. law bars telemarketers from “Do not call” phone list.

4.)http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0921199.html
there is a huge page of world history for 2003 on this page

5.)http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/time14.htm
Sports
Tigers Capture BCS Title
The grand finale of the college Bowl season took place on Jan. 4, as the Tigers of Louisiana State defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, 21-14, in the Sugar Bowl. Among the highlights were LSU freshman Justin Vincent rushing for 117 yards and Marcus Spears scoring a touchdown off an interception for the Tigers. LSU never trailed in the game.

2003 - Pat Summitt becomes the first coach in women’s basketball to win 800 career games when her Lady Vols beat DePaul 76-57. She is just the fourth coach in Division I to post 800 victories, and the first woman. Her record stands at 800-161 in 29 seasons with six national championships.

2003 - Serena Slam: Serena Williams wins her fourth consecutive Grand Slam, the Australian Open, against old sister Venus (7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4). In 2002 she won the French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon, all in finals matches against her sister. Serena has a 5-4 career edge over Venus in major titles, and 6-5 lead in sister-to-sister matches. This is only the sixth time a woman has held all four of tennis’ major championships at the same time (last done in 1994 by Steffi Graf). The Williams sisters are the first two women in Grand Slam history to square off in four consecutive finals.

The first time I heard Elton John’s “Captain Fansastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” I thought it was just going to be another of my mom’s boring CDs, like her 25 Neil Diamond CDs. I was surprised by how interesting and catchy the songs were.
Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is the first song on the album and as I listened to the lyrics I was wondering what they were talking about in the chorus
For cheap easy meals and hardly a home on the range
Too hot for the band with a desperate desire for change
We’ve thrown in the towel too many times
Out for the count and when we’re down
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
From the end of the world to your town
I didn’t know what it meant to “throw in the towel” so I asked my mom and she told me that it had something to do with quitting in a boxing match. I literally thought the song was talking about boxing, which led me to ask my mom if Elton John was a boxer. He’s not. The lyrics were meant in a completely different way. My recent research tells me that in this album Elton John is the Captain and his song writer, Bernie Taupin, is the Cowboy. Now that I’m older, I appreciate the meaning behind the words.

Tower of Babel is about drugs and the harsh reality of the world. Elton sings about lies that young beauties tell you before you die, and he calls out asking But where were all your shoulders when we cried? He sings that Jesus won’t save them from their graves.
It’s party time for the guys in the tower of Babel
Sodom meet Gomorrah,
Cain meet Abel.
Have a ball ya’ll
See the letches crawl
With the call girls under the table.
Watch ‘em dig their graves,
‘Cause Jesus don’t save the guys
In the tower of Babel.
I knew about Babel and Cain and Abel from the Bible and stories I’d heard, but when I first heard this song I had no idea what it meant. I was a little too Naive to understand what it meant to have “call girls” and “dealers”. But now being older and having more experience in life, I am surprised at how self-important and hateful the lyrics are to this song. The way Elton John sings it, it just sounds like another melodramatic song.

Bitter Fingers. I don’t really understand this song all that much, what I get out of it is that maybe Elton is having some regrets and issues with the singing scene. Or maybe since Taupin wrote this song, maybe he’s having some bitter feelings toward Elton…
It’s hard to write a song with bitter fingers
So much to prove, so few to tell you why
Those old die-hards in Denmark Street start laughing
At the keyboard player’s hollow haunted eyes
Taupin writing the songs and Elton being the keyboard player.

Tell me when the whistle blows is a fairly straight forward song, Elton sings about homesickness and being young and wild. He compares “himself” to an old man laying in the gutter drunk and passed out, saying
Me I’m young and I’m so wild
And I still feel the need
Of your apron strings once in a while
It reminds the listeners how young Taupin and Elton were when they were writing and recording this LP. They were only 17 and 19, and they often slept on the floor of the studio. I can relate to this song a good deal, because when I moved from Mount Clemens to Sterling Heights I was having fun and enjoyed the “new” feel, but all I wanted was to go back “home”.

Someone Saved My Life Tonight is a critical finger pointer from Elton. He pins the blame on the critics and even the people demanding his music
And I would have walked head on into the deep end of the river
Clinging to your stocks and bonds
Paying your H.P. demands forever
He also references getting caught up in the social scene stating that he’s just a pawn being played to further someone else’s needs. Elton feels used and this song is like the aftermath of him giving it all up. roped and tied and he even dreams about A slip noose hanging and mentions the electric chair. He says They’re coming in the morning with a truck to take me home. This made me think that perhaps Elton feels he’s going crazy. But in the end some one saves him from it all and he’s able to move on. Elton is remembering the
East End lights, muggy nights
The curtains drawn in the little room downstairs
Prima Donna lord you really should have been there
“From Londinium to the glittering towers of Canary Wharf, the story of the East End of London is that of immigration, innovation, enterprise, revolution and hope. But most of all it is the story of individuals who – for good or bad – imposed their personality and dreams on the ever-changing East End.” (Eastlondonhistory.com) Just a little connection there to where the “east end” is.

(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket. When I heard this song I thought that Elton was singing about being poor and needing a meal ticket to get food. But I realize now that he’s really refering to something quite different.
I’d have a cardiac if I had such luck
Lucky losers, lucky losers landing on skid row
Landing on skid row
While the Diamond Jims
And the Kings road pimps
Breath heavy in their brand new clothes
I’m on the bottom line, I’m on the bottom line
“The American term skid row or skid road is used to refer to the rundown area of a city where alcoholics and vagrants congregate. There is a formally identified Skid Row in Seattle and Los Angeles as well as informally identified districts in almost every major American city, such as The Bowery in New York City. The term was memorialized in the song Skid Row from the musical Little Shop of Horrors.” (wikipedia.org). Elton definately isn’t singing about being poor here, he’s refering to drugs, sex, and violence.

Better off Dead almost reads like a poem. It’s kind of sad really. Elton is singing about getting away from authority and watching the rest get carried away. He talks about sitting in an all night cafe and parents locking up their daughters, Elton is playing the “badboy” here.
There was a face on a hoarding that someone had drawn on
And just enough time for the night to pass by without warning
Away in the distance there’s a blue flashing light
Someone’s in trouble somewhere tonight
As the flickering neon stands ready to fuse
The wind blows away all of yesterday’s news
Well they’ve locked up their daughters and they battened the hatches
They always could find us but they never could catch us
Through the grease streaked windows of an all night cafe
We watched the arrested get taken away
And that cigarette haze has ecology beat
As the whores and the drunks filed in from the street
‘Cause the steams in the boiler the coals in the fire
If you ask how I am then I’ll just say inspired
If the thorn of a rose is the thorn in your side
Then you’re better off dead if you haven’t yet died

Writing is an upbeat song compared to the songs in the middle of this album. This song is about Elton and Bernie writing together, their future being layed out in the lines they are writing. The line “we will be writing in the approaching years” looks out to Elton’s future as a song writer, you have to remember he’s only 19. His future came true, Elton and Bernie are still writing together.
Not the kind to dawdle
Will the things we wrote today
Sound as good tomorrow
We will still be writing
In approaching years
Stifling yawns on Sundays
As the weekends disappear
We could stretch our legs if we’d half a mind
But don’t disturb us if you hear us trying
To instigate the structure of another line or two
Cause writing’s lighting up
And I like life enough to see it through

We All Fall In Love Sometimes. Elton had to have at least one love song on here. At least a happy one. This album is layed out like a story of Elton and Taupin’s lives, they were young boys, I’m sure they fell in love.
For heavy eyes could hardly hold us
Aching legs that often told us
It’s all worth it
We all fall in love sometimes
The full moon’s bright
And starlight filled the evening
We wrote it and I played it
Something happened it’s so strange this feeling
Naive notions that were childish
Simple tunes that tried to hide it
But when it comes
We all fall in love sometimes

Curtains is the last song on the album, and I think that even if you didn’t know that you’d get that feeling just from the title. The end of the story, curtain call, we all go home. It ends with what the beginning would be “once upon a time”.
But that’s okay
There’s treasure children always seek to find
And just like us
You must have had
A once upon a time

Initally I thought I wouldn’t like this Album, but now I’ve come to relate to and understand exactly what Elton and Taupin were getting at… it’s hard being a teenager growing up and making a life of your own. Curtains closed.

1.) This first one is kind of silly. The cover of Yellowcard’s Ocean Avenue reminds me of a road trip I went on last summer to Lake Michigan. We drove for hours and finally ended up at a beach on Lake Michigan. I have a picture of my Boyfriend’s sister that looks just like the cover of this album from that night when we were eating dinner on the beach.

2.) “Miles Away”- Yellowcard. The one song I can listen to when I’m missing KC, especially when he’s away at drill and when he was in bootcamp. It’s a good mushy song. But it’s actually about reflecting on the divergence of friends’ lives after seminal periods like high school.

3.) Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is a cartoon version of what Elton John would look like through the eyes of Bernie Taupin who imagined himself as a mixture of “English farm boy and American cowboy”. That idea reminds me of moving from Mt. Clemens to Sterling Heights. The people here were so different from what I was used to. My new friends in Sterling Heights were like Elton John as a magical presence in his outfits and I was like Bernie Taupin looking up in awe in my overalls and cowgirl style pig tails.