Songs I Dig - 12

It's been a few months since I churned out a new "Songs I Dig" blog, which I was sort of expecting. There are times when I can sense that it might be awhile before I put out a blog like this and in October, that was exactly what I had sensed. Luckily it did not go into the new year before I could write about some new songs. A few of these have been playing on the radio for awhile and some are fairly new. And for the most part, the majority of the artists featured in this edition are new to the SID blog. There are a couple that aren't so familiar to "Luke's Ponderings," but have yet to be featured in this particular specific subject blog. So let's get on with it already, why don't we?

"A Little Too Not Over You" by David Archuleta - For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile, you probably are aware that David Archuleta was my favorite artist from season seven of American Idol. And although he did not win the competition, I must say he is doing quite well for himself after the Idol experience. His debut self-titled album is nearly certified gold, if not there already. The first song released off his album, "Crush," has already been certified platinum and it continues to gain sales. In fact, "Crush" is one of the top 50 songs in 2008 on a number of music charts. And in my personal opinion, "A Little Too Not Over You" won't be all that far behind. Obviously it hasn't been released long enough this year to get any kind of accolades for 2008, but maybe more into next year if the popularity of the song continues to spike. I don't anticipate his second tune to do quite as well as "Crush" did, but it shouldn't do all that badly for him. It's another fun, upbeat song that's just as catchy as it's predecessor, so don't be surprised to find yourself humming along to it once you hear it.

"Light On" by David Cook - Ah yes, it wouldn't be fair not to include the other David from season seven of American Idol; the David that won it all. And I'm not including him just because; I actually do like the first single from his self-titled debut album that has already been certified gold. "Light On" hasn't done quite as well as David's coronation song from American Idol, "Time of My Life" has done. But it's still early-enough in the game for the popularity of the song to continue to rise. And you look at his album; it's still gaining sales week after week. "Light On" is the perfect rock ballad for David. I would classify it as a mid-tempo song that could be described as a break-up song. From reading over the lyrics, the male protagonist is feeling rather down about the state of his relationship, almost as if to feel there's no hope. But towards the end of the song, he realizes that he's ready to give it a second chance. And the symbol of light in the chorus is basically a symbol for the entire song; the light being a beacon of hope. It can't be said much better than that.

"Without You" by Hinder - Hinder is a relatively new rock band to make it big; relative to a group like Bon Jovi who has been around forever. The group was formed in 2001 and their first record was released in 2003, only selling around 5,000 records. But it wasn't until 2005 when they were signed to a major label; Universal Records. Their first major album was released and titled "Extreme Behavior," but was negatively criticized by one publication, calling it 2005's worst album. But hit singles "Lips of an Angel" and "Better than Me" came from that album. It certainly ended up being a lot more favorable of an album than "worst of the year." Their newest album, "Take it to the Limit" was released in November 2008 and has already been certified gold. "Without You" is the second song released from "Take it to the Limit" and it continues to receive increased airplay with each day. I would classify it as an unconventional break-up song in that instead of the first person protagonist longing for the person they broke up with, this song goes in the complete opposite direction by saying, "When I watched you walk away ... Well I never thought I'd say ... I'm fine ... Without You." In other words, the break up was for all the right reasons.

"Gotta Be Somebody" by Nickelback - Here I thought Nickelback was featured on the "Songs I Dig" blog at some point in the past, but upon going back in the archives, I can't find it at all! That's a shame because I consider Nickelback to be one of the premiere rock groups of our time. They've had so many great hits already and they keep coming out with new ones all the time. Their current mainstream success began in 2001 when their album "Silver Side Up" was released with the song "How You Remind Me" shooting up to number one. They followed it up with "Too Bad" and "Never Again" from "Silver Side Up." Additional hit songs that Nickelback has released since then are "Someday," "Photograph," "Savin' Me," "Far Away," "If Everyone Cared," and "Rockstar." Nickelback is off to a great start with their newest album "Dark Horse," helped by the song "Gotta Be Somebody." In fact, "Dark Horse" has already been certified platinum and "Gotta Be Somebody" gets a tremendous amount of radio play. And for anyone single out there (like me), this song is great single's ballad, especially for those who've struggled to find the perfect soulmate in life. Because as it states in the chorus of the song, "Nobody wants to be the last one there ... 'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares ... There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere ... There's gotta be somebody for me out there."

"Let Me Be Myself" by 3 Doors Down - I can't tell you how happy I am to present such a great listing of songs and artists this time around, including such epic groups like Nickelback and 3 Doors Down. 3 Doors Down is another group I consider to be one of the premiere rock bands of our time. They have such an incredible listing of epic songs and continue to release hit songs all the time. 3 Doors Down started to hit the big time around 2000-2001, about the same time that Nickelback became a household name. Their song "Kryptonite" off their album "The Better Life" shot straight up to number one and stayed their for 11 consecutive weeks. The album was certified platinum six times and was helped with other hits such as "Loser" and "Be Like That." Since then, 3 Doors Down has gone on to release other big hits such as, "Here Without You," "When I'm Gone," "Away from the Sun," Let me Go," "Behind Those Eyes," "Landing in London," and "It's Not My Time." And you'll be able to add "Let Me Be Myself" to that list, as well. It's a power ballad and it deals with a first-person protagonist looking for some separation from their partner, as the lyrics say, "Please would you one time, let me be myself? ... So I can shine with my own light, let me by myself." For a better understanding of the meaning of the song, lead singer Brad Arnold says, "It's about living your life, and doing things your own way, but it's also about kind of bringing yourself back from being lost." Couldn't have said it any better than that.

That wraps it up for this edition of the "Songs I Dig." As always, thank you for stopping by to read what I have to say about music and life in general. I hope you enjoyed what I had to say and please look forward to a new "Songs I Dig" blog within the next few months. It all depends upon the newest song releases that come out between now and then. Hopefully it will be soon rather than later.

As a side note while composing this blog entry, I remembered why I had thought I had included Nickelback in the SID blog in a previous edition. A few years back at my old WordPress blog, I had done a blog doing a comparison of the Nickelback song "Photograph" to events that happened in my past. It was a fun little entry but was sadly deleted by an unfortunate hiccup by the webhost of one of my web projects. So that answers that particular question.