Life Is A Story

So today as I sat in Sports Marketing I started to do what I always do when I get bored: I started to sing a song. I started singing I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty and of course while I was singing Taylor, who was next to me, said something about my beautiful vocal abilities. This however created a question in my mind: What makes a song great? The answer is what lies in the song. The best songs are the ones that tell a story. All songs and songwriters attempt to tell stories but it's the ones that tell them exceptionally and connect them to the real world that stand the test of time.

One reason why I love Bon Jovi is because they are exceptional storytellers. They have always been able to write songs that make their listeners feel apart of the story. In 1986 Bon Jovi released their biggest single to date Livin' On A Prayer. Just like all great songs Livin' On A Prayer tells a story. As Jon Bon Jovi was working on material for the bands third album he looked everywhere for inspiration. Growing up Jon had a buddy who loved to play baseball. He loved baseball more than anything in the world except for one thing: His girlfriend. Jon's friend had real ambitions of playing baseball for a living. That all changed one day however. He recieved a phone call. It was his girlfriend. She said she was pregnant. Just like that life had changed. Jon's friend had to put down his bat and hang up his glove. He found a job so he could support his girlfriend and his unborn child. Jon found real inspriration in this situation. He wrote a song about his friend's situation but just like a long distance dedication, the names were changed to protect the innocent. This is the story of Tommy and Gina. Livin' On A Prayer tells their story. It says no matter how tough times get for them it doesn't matter because having each other is enough for them. As long as they believe in each other they'll make it in life. Sometimes in the most desperate of situations you live for the fight because that's all that you got. I think Livin' On A Prayer is a very inspirational story of hope and love that everybody can relate to.

Just like Livin' On A Prayer, I've been able to relate to so many other of Bon Jovi's songs. That's THE reason why I love them so much. It seems like all of their songs describe some event in my life, most notably the bad events in my life. In the past I've had things transpire in life that have really gotten me down. I have always been able to find safe haven in their songs. I've always been able to cling to something in their songs that has kept me in a positive state of mind. In a bad situation I try to never let it show how much it's affecting me. Only five or six people will be able to tell if something is up. The reason the other people I associate with don't see something is up is because I'm able to keep a happy state of mind due to Bon Jovi. Their songs have always been reassuring to me that everything will be okay. Now on the other side of the emotional spectrum, I love to listen to Bon Jovi when I feel on top of the world. A ton of their songs have huge choruses that I love to sing as loud as I can driving a million miles an hour with the windows down. Ironically enough, you can figure out what mood I'm in by which Bon Jovi album I'm listening to at the time.

I think Kid Rock said it best, "When the trend is bigger than the song, eventually the song will fade away. But when the song is bigger than the trend, you know you can't go wrong".
Play Livin' On A Prayer at any dance or party and I gaurantee that every single person will be singing the chorus word for word. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye7H6yMy1Ks

Slippery When Wet

This is the start of my adventure about how Bon Jovi is the greatest band of all time. The title of this post is how it all started for Bon Jovi. In 1986 they came out with their third album entitled Slippery When Wet. This shot the band to superstardom and they have never looked back. On that record were the hit songs Wanted Dead Or Alive, You Give Love A Bad Name, and Livin' On A Prayer. They have sold over 130 million albums.

If we flashback to Christmas of 2005 my life changed forever. My mother gave me Bon Jovi's new album Have A Nice Day for a present. At the time I had no real interest in music at all. A few months after that however I put that CD in my Walkman. I was astonished at what I heard. The title track of the album "Have A Nice Day" was awesome. So raw. So rebelious. Jon Bon Jovi's vocals along with Richie Sambora's backing vocals and guitar playing was amazing. To prove this point, they are both in The Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Little did I know that this discovery would play a big part in my life.