This is my new favorite song

I heard this song on KLTY this morning. It so speaks to my life and where I am right now, and it's my new favorite. It's called "This is the Stuff", by Francesca Battistelli.



Here are the lyrics, in case you couldn't quite make them out in the song:

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

45 in a 35
Sirens and fines while I'm running behind
Whoa

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world
Oh Oh Oh

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff
Someone save me
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
And I've gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

Oh Oh Oh Oh
This is the stuff You use

Since I last posted, I've lost my job. Talk about the stuff that drives me crazy and things getting under my skin. I'm having to really trust that God knows exactly what He's doing, and that this is not, in fact, the end of the world. It's going to be a learning and growing experience, for sure. And somehow, I think I'll be listening to this song quite a lot.

Review: Harry Connick, Jr., "Your Songs"

I'm a Harry Connick fan. I'm a big Harry Connick fan. I've loved his work since I heard the soundtrack to When Harry Met Sally, many years ago. So when One2One Network offered a chance to review his latest album, "Your Songs", I jumped at it. I figured it would become yet another of my favorites, like so much of his other work has.

As much as I hate to say it, that just didn't happen. In this album, Harry puts his own spin on standards such as "Besame Mucho" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". He also covers more recent fare such as "Just the Way You Are", "Your Song", and "And I Love Her". Much to my chagrin, most of the songs struck me as having a serious lounge lizard vibe rather than the funky piano-based jazz I've come to know and love from Harry. "Some Enchanted Evening" sounded to me for all the world like something you'd expect to hear in a campy Vegas show. And while there are some songs that are classic and timeless and can be well done by a variety of singers, some of the songs on here don't fall in that category. "Just the Way You Are", for instance - I grew up with the Billy Joel version, and as far as I'm concerned, that's a Billy Joel song. When anyone else performs it, no matter who, no matter how good they are, it's just a knockoff. Same with "Your Song" - that's Elton John. "Can't Help Falling In Love With You" - come on, man, that's Elvis. You don't mess with the King. And "Close to You" just makes me want to poke a stick in my ear, no matter who sings it, so that definitely wasn't a hit.

That being said, the album wasn't without its gems. "All The Way" was nicely done, very reminiscent of "When Harry Met Sally". "And I Love You So", originally recorded by Don McLean, was just lovely. "Mona Lisa" is one of those standards that can be done well by a variety of performers, and it was well done here. And "Smile" may be, for me, the redeeming piece on the album. It's darn near vintage Harry, and it did indeed make me smile.

Overall, the album didn't do a lot for me. But the few songs I did enjoy, I'll listen to a good bit.

Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good

This song by Don Williams came up on shuffle on my iTunes, and it just fits my current mood so well:

Lord, I hope this day is good
I'm feeling empty and misunderstood
I should be thankful, Lord, I know I should
But Lord, I hope this day is good

Lord, have you forgotten me
I've been prayin' to you faithfully
I'm not saying I'm a righteous man
But Lord, I hope you understand
I don't need fortune and I don't need fame
Send down the thunder, Lord, send down the rain
But when you're planning just how it will be
Plan a good day for me

Lord, I hope this day is good
I'm feeling empty and misunderstood
I should be thankful, Lord, I know I should
But Lord, I hope this day is good

You've been the King since the dawn of time
All that I'm asking is a little less cryin'
It might be hard for the devil to do
But it would be easy for you

Lord, I hope this day is good
I'm feeling empty and misunderstood
I should be thankful, Lord, I know I should
But Lord, I hope this day is good

Boy, do I have a lot to catch up on!

We're settling in to married life, J is doing well and seems to be benefiting from having a man around the house, and now if Brian could just get some more sub work rolling in until he finds a full-time job, life would be dandy! So much to write about!

But first - Bloggy Giveaways. I had no idea such a thing existed, until someone posted it on the Lush forums. I'm entering the ones that appeal to me, and with 700+ giveaways posted, there are a lot of those! I'm hoping to have a giveaway of my own the next time they have a Bloggy Carnival.

I've got my first craft show coming up on May 3 - Bright Blessings will have a booth at Midlothian's Spring Fling. It's from 10 AM to 3 PM in Heritage Park, if any of my readers are in the D/FW area, come by and say hi! I'm freaking right out, wondering if I'm anywhere near prepared for this. LOL

And in other news, it looks like Brian will be in a band! He's going to be a bass drummer (*the* bass drummer?) for World Gone Mad. Thanks to my friend Heather and her husband for giving him the opportunity - he's really excited to be getting back to playing, and is driving me bonkers with the sticks and the practice pad. LOL

Busy afternoon at work, I'll write more later! No, really, I will!

Shine Like the Sun

www.myspace.com/murfmurphymusic

I don't know how to add this to my music player in the sidebar, so I'm putting it here. An old friend of mine wrote this song for his wife's mother's funeral, and he shared it with me.

I miss my mother, but it's a great comfort knowing that the goodbye I told her in 1995 isn't goodbye forever.

Hang On Little Tomato

By Pink Martini

The sun has left and forgotten me
It's dark, I cannot see
Why does this rain pour down
I'm gonna drown
In a sea
Of deep confusion

Somebody told me, I don't know who
Whenever you are sad and blue
And you're feelin' all alone and left behind
Just take a look inside and you will find

You gotta hold on, hold on through the night
Hang on, things will be all right
Even when it's dark
And not a bit of sparkling
Sing-song sunshine from above
Spreading rays of sunny love

Just hang on, hang on to the vine
Stay on, soon you'll be divine
If you start to cry, look up to the sky
Something's coming up ahead
To turn your tears to dew instead

And so I hold on to his advice
When change is hard and not so nice
You listen to your heart the whole night through
Your sunny someday will come one day soon to you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think this is my new favorite song. I've got it on the music player on the sidebar of my blog, if you'd like to hear it.