Popular Music Blog

A TISKET   A TASKET I used to sing this song ALL THE TIME. I don’t know where I learned it. I didn’t even know all the words. My brother and I would make up our own lyrics to fill in for the parts we didn’t know. To me, “A-Tisket A-Tasket” was similar to the nursery rhyme “Mary had a little lamb.” Obviously you have to learn it at some point but you don’t remember where or when. You just remember always knowing it.  This song was a fun throwback to 2011. Eight year old me is quaking at the fact that after listening to this song three times in a row I could probably sing ALL the words.  The lyrics to “A-Tisket A-Tasket” are fairly simple. There’s a reason why it’s a nursery rhyme. However, Ella Fitzgerald, a jazz legend, really brought this song to life.  Her scat singing in this song should also be noted. I used to dance around and sing  “A-Tisket A-Tasket” when I was eight years old. Ella Fitzgerald made me want to dance ...

AFTER THE BALL Almost 100 years before Taylor Swift was born, if you wanted to listen to a good song about heartbreak then you listened to After the Ball. After the Ball was wildly popular in the late 1800's. In the song, an uncle tells his niece why he never married. He saw his sweetheart kissing another man at the ball. He was justifiably mad and refused to listen to her explanation. Many years later, after the woman had died, he learned that the man was her brother. When I returned, dear, there stood a man Kissing my sweetheart, as lovers can Down fell the glass, pet broken, that's all Just as my heart was after the ball. I am personally confused at why his sweetheart was kissing her brother passionately enough that the man in the story assumed it was another "lover" of hers. But clearly no one else was concerned with this fact during the time period because the sheet music for After the Ball became the first sheet music in history to sell a million copies. Even th...

  BARBARY  ALLEN  Barbary Allen is a narrative song, or a song that tells a story. In many ways the song Barbary Allen feels like words of a story being sang aloud instead of lyrics that were written for a song. At least it feels like that by todays definition of what a song is. Barbary Allen tells the story of William, a young man who, as he lies on his deathbed, calls out to Barbary Allen. Barbary takes her time to answer his call and when she finally meets him she treats him harshly. She reminds him of how he slighted her and says if my love is the only thing that can save you then "No better, no better you'll never be For you can't have Barbary Allen." On her journey home, she hears the "death bell knelling." She knows that it means William has died. She immediately regrets her harshness and knows she will soon die of grief herself. "Oh mother, oh mother go make my bed  Go make it lone and narrow      ...

  About  Me  My name is Zoe Blohm. I am 18 years old. I love snowboarding. I love reading. I love eating crazy bread from Little Caesars. I love the movie Titanic. At the top of the list of the things I love is Music.  Music is such a big part of who I am. I live for the words "You have a good taste in music," and "Hey, Zoe do you wanna aux?"  Picking a favorite artist is like picking a favorite Friends Character, almost impossible. However, when I really think about it the only real pop icon that I could ever honestly say is my favorite artist is Ke$ha.  I t’s pretty magical how music can take you right back to a certain time in your life. Suddenly you remember exactly how it felt to be the version of you that the song reminded you of. Ke$ha is not poetic and she is a terrible role model but when I listen Ke$ha I'm transported back to me and my dads dance parties in the living room.  When I was eight years old my dad went through ...