Tag Archives: Ellie Goulding

Grammys

Best Pop Solo Performance – Predictions

Best Pop Solo Performance Nominees:

  • “Heartbeat Song” – Kelly Clarkson
  • “Blank Space” – Taylor Swift
  • “Love Me Like You Do” – Ellie Goulding
  • “Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran
  • “Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd

Who Should Win: “Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran

Performance categories are always hard for me because each artist has a different singing style, so you can’t judge based on their vocal quality.  I mean, if you put Adele in the category (I know she’s not this year, but next year…) she’d win because Adele could sing my grocery list and it’d be flawless.  Therefore, I’d have to judge this based on which performance grabbed me in the most and had struck me the most, and Ed Sheeran did that.  He doesn’t hold back and really grabs the listener into his song. When he sings on this track, it feels like time stands still.


Who Will Probably Win: “Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd

I feel like I’m going to write this a lot, but any one of these nominees could win.  They each have very emotive performances, so it probably will come down to politics…

Still, The Weeknd, does have an exceptional vocal performance on “Can’t Feel My Face.”  I personally enjoy when he sings in his lower register.  Still, I’d prefer to see Ed Sheeran win because he does this vocal thing in the last chorus that feels more real than The Weeknd’s performance.  But, again, it’s a gut feeling…

#PhillipsSongOfTheDay, Music

Got Ellie Goulding “On My Mind”

Ellie Goulding’s new single “On My Mind” has grabbed my attention and doesn’t seem to be letting it go.  I first heard the song on the radio a couple weeks ago and I really liked the beat and synth work (I wish I could describe the instrumentation a bit better, but I’m not quite as familiar with synths as I am with stringed instruments – I can play the violin, cello, guitar, ukulele, piano, etc.)  But I really like how she sings the verses (or, I suppose, raps?) because it’s perfectly in time to drive the song.  I especially like how she harmonizes the lyric “Saying that I hurt you but I still don’t get it/ You didn’t love me, no, not really” in the second verse.  In any event, it’s a good song to bop to.

My favorite part of the song (and the reason why I’m sharing) is the lyric during the bridge: “You got yourself in a dangerous zone/ ‘Cause we both have the fear of being alone.”  I found this lyric quite powerful; one of the great things about music in my opinion is that you can take a song and interpret it in your own way or understand it any way you want.  For instance, I read online that that lyric was referring to an ex-boyfriend who had a problem with gambling (I don’t know if it was true, but I’m using it as an example), but it made me think of someone getting married (or getting into a serious relationship). I’m not saying this is what she meant or how you should take the song, I just thought the line could be used to describe a situation where one person is engaged and the narrator (in this case, the singer who is not engaged) is telling the person who is engaged that they both want to end up married, but one should not marry the wrong person (i.e. get in a “dangerous zone”) to avoid the fear of dying alone (which they both have in common).  If we try to make the lyric fit the internet’s suggested topic of gambling, I don’t think it would fit as well.  The first part of the lyric certainly would fit – gambling can be a bit dangerous if you don’t know when to stop – but how would that be related to having “the fear of being alone?”  I just saw the line referring to someone so desperate to be in a relationship that they get in a relationship with the wrong person just to say they have a partner.

Regardless of the fact whether my interpretation of a lyric is true, we still end up with having Ellie Goulding on our minds.

#PhillipRadio, Music

Biking/Work Out Playlist

I may have mentioned a couple times this past summer, like every summer, that I’ve been biking a lot.  There’s a great bike path right down the street from me, so it’s great to blare the music and peddle my problems away.  Usually I create a playlist each year, and then add or remove songs throughout the year.

I created a Spotify Playlist of some of the music I listen to while biking/working out in case you’re looking for some new beats or a song to change up your playlist.

NOTE: There’s no particular order because I just hit “shuffle” before I start biking.

 

Here’s other songs that I usually listen to, but couldn’t find on Spotify:

#PhillipRadio, Music

Hide & Seek

It’s been a while since I posted a playlist, and I’m not entirely sure anyone has actually listened to any of them besides myself, but I thought it be fun to post what kind of stuff I’ve been listening to lately.  When I started tweeting out #PhillipsSongOfTheDay with a song title (it’s been a while, forgive me), I started keeping keeping a list of those songs (which you can peruse here).  It’s been interesting to see how my taste in music/listening patterns have changed over time; it seemed to reflect what I was going through in life.  Recently, I’ve been getting into alternative and some indie rock music (which is something I never thought I’d get into).  I mean, the playlist below doesn’t really portray that because there are still some big pop numbers in there, but I think it does show my slow transition into the alternative taste.

#PhillipRadio

She Can Go Spit to the Mountains…

I found this playlist on my computer with the title “She Can Go Spit to the Mountains.”  I have absolutely no idea why I thought that was a fitting title, but I do remember I made this playlist for a road trip my family went on last year….If you have any ideas, let us know in the comments!