MAN ON THE MOON

R.E.M.(MICHAEL STIPE)

SONGWRITERS: BILL BERRY; PETER LAWRENCE BUCK; JOHN MICHAEL STIPE & EDWARD MILLS

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE

LABEL: WARNER BROS

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 1992

 

          R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. Liner notes from some of the band's albums list attorney Bertis Downs and manager Jefferson Holt as non-musical members. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style; Stipe's distinctive vocal quality, unique stage presence, and obscure lyrics; Mills's melodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming style. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left the band in 1997, the band continued its career in the 2000s with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011 with members devoting time to solo projects after having sold more than 85 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.

        John Michael Stipe(born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M.. He is known for his distinctive vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence.

Possessing a distinctive voice, Stipe has been noted for the "mumbling" style of his early career. Since the mid-1980s, Stipe has sung in "wailing, keening, arching vocal figures" that R.E.M. biographer David Buckley compared to Celtic folk artists and Muslim muezzin. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual aspect, often selecting album artwork and directing many of the band's music videos. Outside the music industry, he owns and runs two film production studios, C-00 and Single Cell Pictures.

          As a member of R.E.M., Stipe was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. As a singer-songwriter, Stipe influenced a wide range of artists, including Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Bono of U2 described his voice as "extraordinary", and Yorke told The Guardian that Stipe is his favorite lyricist, saying "I loved the way he would take an emotion and then take a step back from it and in doing so make it so much more powerful."

      "Man on the Moon" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their 1992 album, Automatic for the People. The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck, and credited to the whole band as usual. The song was well received by critics and peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and number one in Iceland. It remains one of R.E.M.'s most popular songs and was included on the compilations In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011.

           Lyrically, the song is a tribute to the comedian and performer Andy Kaufman, with numerous references to his career, including his Elvis impersonation, wrestling, and the film My Breakfast with Blassie. The song's title and chorus refer to the Moon landing conspiracy theories, as an oblique allusion to rumors that Kaufman's death in 1984 was faked. The song gave its name to Miloš Forman's comedy-drama film Man on the Moon (1999), starring Jim Carrey, based on Kaufman's life and was featured prominently in the film's soundtrack.

Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

Monopoly, twenty-one checkers, and chess

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

Let's play Twister, let's play Risk

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

See you in Heaven if you make the list

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

Now, Andy, did you hear about this one?

Tell me, are you locked in the punch?

Andy, are you goofing on Elvis?

Hey baby, are we losing touch?

 

If you believed they put a man on the moon

Man on the moon

If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve

Then nothing is cool

 

Moses went walking with the staff of wood

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Newton got beaned by the apple good

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

Now Andy, did you hear about this one?

Tell me, are you locked in the punch?

And Andy are you goofing on Elvis?

Hey baby, are you having fun?

 

If you believed they put a man on the moon

Man on the moon

If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve

Then nothing is cool

 

Here's a little agit for the never-believer

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Here's a little ghost for the offering

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

Here's a truck stop instead of Saint Peter's

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Mister Andy Kaufman's gone wrestling

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

 

Now, Andy, did you hear about this one?

Tell me, are you locked in the punch?

Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis?

Hey baby, are we losing touch?

 

If you believed they put a man on the moon

Man on the moon

If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve

Then nothing is cool

 

If you believed they put a man on the moon

Man on the moon

If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve

Then nothing is cool

 

If you believed they put a man on the moon

Man on the moon

If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve

Then nothing is cool

 

If you believed they put a man on the moon

Man on the moon

If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve

Then nothing is cool.

THE AIR THAT I BREATHE

THE HOLLIE

SONGWRITERS: ALBERT HAMMOND & MIKE HAZELWOOD

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: HOLLIES

LABEL: POLYDOR RECORDS

GENRE: SOFT ROCK

YEAR: 1974

 

        The Hollies are a British pop rock group formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid 1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band as a Merseybeat-type music group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north in East Lancashire. Graham Nash left the group in 1968 to form Crosby, Stills & Nash.

      They enjoyed considerable popularity in many countries (with at least 60 singles or EPs and 26 albums charting somewhere in the world, spanning over five decades), although they did not achieve major US chart success until "Bus Stop" was released in 1966. The Hollies had over 30 charting singles on the UK Singles Chart and 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

           The Hollies are one of the few UK groups of the early 1960s, along with the Rolling Stones, who have never disbanded and continue to record and perform. In recognition of their achievements, the Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

          "The Air That I Breathe" is a ballad written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood, initially recorded by Albert Hammond on his 1972 album It Never Rains in Southern California. It was a major hit for the Hollies in early 1974, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart.

            "The Air That I Breathe" was a major hit for the Hollies in early 1974, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart. In mid 1974, it reached number six in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number three on the Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number five on the RPM magazine charts. The audio engineering for "The Air That I Breathe" was done by Alan Parsons. In an interview, Parsons mentioned that Eric Clapton said the first note of "The Air That I Breathe" had more soul than anything he'd ever heard.

      This version of the song featured a string orchestra arrangement, which also featured a horn section.

         The 1992 Radiohead song "Creep" uses a similar chord progression and shares some melodic content with the 1972 version of "The Air That I Breathe". As a result, the song's publisher sued Radiohead for copyright infringement and a settlement was reached in which Hammond and Hazlewood were given co-writing credits and a portion of the royaltie.

If I could make a wish

I think I'd pass

Can't think of anything I need

No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound

Nothing to eat, no books to read

 

Making love with you

Has left me peaceful, warm, and tired

What more could I ask

There's nothing left to be desired

Peace came upon me and it leaves me weak

So sleep, silent angel, go to sleep

 

Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe

And to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe

Yes to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe

 

Peace came upon me and it leaves me weak

So sleep, silent angel, go to sleep

 

Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe

And to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe

Yes to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe

 

Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe

And to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe

Yes to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe

And to love you

All I need is the air that I breathe.

TAKE THIS WALTZ

LEONARD COHEN

SONGWRITERS: GARCIA LORCA & LEONARD COHEN

COUNTRY: CANADA

ALBUM: I’M YOUR MAN

LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS

GENRE: SOFT ROCK

YEAR: 1988

 

      Leonard Norman Cohen(September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death and romantic relationships. Cohen was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize.

         Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the 1950s and early 1960s, and did not begin a music career until 1967 at the age of 33. His first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen(1967), was followed by three more albums of folk music: Songs from a Room(1969), Songs of Love and Hate(1971) and New Skin for the Old Ceremony(1974). His 1977 record Death of a Ladies' Man, co-written and produced by Phil Spector, was a move away from Cohen's previous minimalist sound. In 1979, Cohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songs, which blended his acoustic style with jazz, East Asian, and Mediterranean influences. Cohen's most famous song, "Hallelujah", was first released on his studio álbum Various Positions in 1984. I'm Your Man in 1988 marked Cohen's turn to synthesized productions. In 1992, Cohen released its follow-up, The Future, which had dark lyrics and references to political and social unrest.

         Cohen returned to music in 2001 with the release of Ten New Songs, which was a major hit in Canada and Europe. His 11th album, Dear Heather, followed in 2004. Following a successful string of tours between 2008 and 2013, Cohen released three albums in the final four years of his life: Old Ideas(2012), Popular Problems (2014) and You Want It Darker(2016), the last of which was released three weeks before his death. A posthumous album, Thanks for the Dance, was released in November 2019, his fifteenth and final studio album.

      I'm Your Man is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, released on February 2, 1988 by Columbia Records. The album marked Cohen's further move to a more modern sound, with many songs having a synthesizer-oriented production. It soon became the most successful album which Cohen had released in the US, and it reached number one in several European countries, transforming Cohen into a best-selling artist.

Now in Vienna there's ten pretty women

There's a shoulder where death comes to cry

There's a lobby with nine hundred windows

There's a tree where the doves go to die

There's a piece that was torn from the morning

And it hangs in the Gallery of Frost

 

Aey, aey, aey, aey

Take this waltz, take this waltz

Take this waltz with the clamp on its jaws

 

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you

On a chair with a dead magazine

In a cave at the tip of the lily

In some hallway where love's never been

On a bed where the moon has been sweating

In a cry filled with footsteps and sand

 

Aey, aey, aey, aey

Take this waltz, take this waltz

Take its broken waist in your hand

 

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz

With its very own breath of brandy and death

Dragging its tail in the sea

 

There's a concert hall in Vienna

Where your mouth had a thousand reviews

There's a bar where the boys have stopped talking

They've been sentenced to death by the blues

Ah but who is it climbs to your picture

With a garland of freshly cut tears?

 

Aey, aey, aey, aey

Take this waltz, take this waltz

Take this waltz it's been dying for years

 

There's an attic where children are playing

Where I've got to lie down with you soon

In a dream of Hungarian lanterns

In the mist of some sweet afternoon

And I'll see what you've chained to your sorrow

All your sheep and your lilies of snow

 

Aey, aey, aey, aey

Take this waltz, take this waltz

With its, I'll never forget you, you know

 

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz

With its very own breath of brandy and death

Dragging its tail in the sea

 

And I'll dance with you in Vienna

I'll be wearing a river's disguise

The hyacinth wild on my shoulder

My mouth on the dew of your thighs

 

And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook

With the photographs there, and the moss

And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty

My cheap violin and my cross

 

And you'll carry me down on your dancing

To the pools that you lift on your wrist

Oh my love, oh my love

Take this waltz, take this waltz

It's yours now, it's all that there is.

LA LA LAND

DEMI LOVATO

SONGWRITERS: LOVATO DEMITRIA; JONAS JOSEPH ADAMS; JONAS NICHOLAS JERRY & JONAS PAUL KEVIN II

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: DON’T FORGET

GENRE: POP ROCK

YEAR: 2008

 

           Demetria Devonne Lovato(/ləˈvɑːtoʊ/ lə-VAH-toh; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actresse. After appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends(2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence as Mitchie Torres in the musical television film Camp Rock(2008) and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam(2010); the former film's soundtrack contained "This Is Me", Lovato's debut single and duet with Joe Jonas, which peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

         After signing with Hollywood Records, Lovato released their pop rock debut album, Don't Forget(2008), which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its follow-up, Here We Go Again(2009), debuted at number one in the U.S., while its title track reached number 15 on the Hot 100. Lovato's third studio album, Unbroken(2011), experimented with pop and R&B and spawned the U.S. platinum-certified single "Skyscraper". They released their eponymous fourth album in 2013, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and contained the top-ten international hit "Heart Attack". Lovato's fifth and sixth albums, Confident(2015) and Tell Me You Love Me(2017), infused soul and mature themes; they earned a Grammy Award nomination for Confident, while "Sorry Not Sorry", the lead single from Tell Me You Love Me, became their highest-charting single in the U.S., reaching number six. After a hiatus, Lovato released their seventh album, Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over(2021), which reached number two on the Billboard 200.

         On television, Lovato has starred as the titular character on the sitcom Sonny with a Chance(2009–2011), served as a judge on the music competition series The X Factor USA for its second and third seasons, and appeared as a recurring character on the musical comedy Glee(2013–2014) and the sitcom Will & Grace(2020). They also starred in the television drama film Princess Protection Program(2009), the animated comedy film Smurfs: The Lost Village(2017), and the musical comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020).

          Lovato has sold over 24 million records in the United States and has also received numerous accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, a Guinness World Record, and was included on the Time 100 annual list in 2017. An activist for several social causes, Lovato's struggles with an eating disorder and substance abuse have been well-documented by the media, in response to which they published a book, Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year(2013), and released the documentaries Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated(2017) and Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil(2021).

         "La La Land" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato. It was written by Lovato, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas and produced by the Jonas Brothers alongside John Fields, for Lovato's debut studio album, Don't Forget(2008). It was released as the album's second single on December 18, 2008, through Hollywood Records. "La La Land" is one of six songs on the album co-written by the Jonas Brothers, who also contributed backing vocals and guitars to the track. Lovato said that they wrote the song about being yourself in Hollywood and not letting other people change who you are. Musically, the song is a guitar-driven pop rock song and the lyrics speak of Lovato feeling "out of place" in Hollywood.

        The song was met with positive reviews from critics. Commercially, "La La Land" peaked at number fifty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number thirty-five on the UK Singles Chart. The song achieved its highest peak in Ireland, where it reached number thirty on the Irish Singles Chart. It was less successful in Australia and Germany, where it peaked in the lower half of the charts. The song was used to promote Lovato's Disney Channel sitcom Sonny with a Chance and its music video features appearances from their co-stars.

I am confident, but

I still have my moments

Baby, that's just me

 

And I'm not a supermodelo

I still eat McDonalds

Baby, that's just me

 

Well, some may say I need to be afraid

Of losing everything

Because of where I've

Had my start and where I made my name

Well everything's the same

In the La la land machine, machine

 

Who said I can't wear my

Converse with my dress?

Oh, Baby, That's just me!

 

And who said I can't be single?

And have to go out and mingle?

Baby, that's not me

Noo, noo.

 

Some may say I need to be afraid

Of losing everything

Because of where I've

Had my start and where I made my name

Well, everything's the same

In the La la land

 

Tell me do you feel the way I feel?

'Cuz nothing else is real

In the la-la land machine

 

Well, some may say I need to be afraid

Of losing everything

Because of where I've

Had my start and

Where I made my name

Well, everything's the same

In the La la land machine

Well, I'm not gonna change

In the La la land machine

I will stay the same

In the La la land...

Machine

Machine

Machine

I won't change anything in my life

(I won't change anything in my life)

I'm staying myself tonight

(I'm staying myself tonight).