A Proposal for the Speaker of the House Job Opening (also, some music reviews!)

Congress is too committed to the bit. Like seriously, guys, it wasn't all that funny to begin with considering the constant power-tripping that a certain contingent of the GOP was addicted to. It got less funny when y'all voted the Speaker out for the first time ever, and it got significantly less funny when we realized you couldn't settle on a new one, going through two new candidates in a few short days.

It's time for a change. And I'm ready to be the change I want to see in the world. Accordingly, I would like to formally submit to the House of Representatives my bid to take on the duties of the Speaker of the House. Here are my qualifications:

• Blog writer

• Listens to the music of a 50-year-old man (therefore, I would fit right in!)

• Good at networking (I made a LinkedIn profile the other day!)

• Popular online presence to rally support for policies and bills (my Taylor Swift blog post has over 100 views!)

• Adult (no term limits, so why bother with that pesky House minimum age? Just give me a free pass)

• Some common sense, but enough creativity to suspend said sense when dealing with "children" (read: "members of Congress")

• Dick's Sporting Goods' Footwear Associate (valuable people skills! Also, 25% discount for eligible Representatives!)

• DC sports fan (loyal to my country)

• UVA sports fan (used to disappointment)

What's that? You'll think about it? You won't think about it? Ah, well, I tried. Here's the music of the week/month/however long it's been now.

Ripple - Grateful Dead

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this one here, but Ripple is the epitome of vivid songwriting. It's the journey and the destination; it's a comfortable song to listen to. It's basically just acoustic guitar, brushes on a drumset, a bass, and a singer. If you're looking for a bit of peace this semester, put on Ripple and walk around outside. Instant teleportation to a simpler time, guaranteed.

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine

And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung

Would you hear my voice come through the music

Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken

Perhaps they're better left unsung

I don't know, don't really care

Let there be songs to fill the air

It's songs like these that reinforce my belief that songwriting is the purest form of poetry, and that poems are often simply songs waiting to be sung. Ripple has my favorite pure lyricism out of any song I can think of, not to mention excellent instrumentation.

Find the River - REM

I've surely mentioned this one at some point, but I'll mention it again. Something about the harmonica and the chord progression have magically calming effects.

Me, my thoughts are flower strewn

WIth ocean storm, bayberry moon

I have got to leave to find my way

Watch the road and memorize

This life that pass before my eyes

And nothing is going my way

There's a sad element to Find the River, as Stipe depicts his journey to find the river as everything works against him. Perhaps nothing ever goes his way, but as he says in the final chorus:

Pick up here and chase the ride

The river empties to the tide

All of this is coming your way

It's nice, sometimes, to appreciate things going well for others in the wake of your misfortune, or even in your lack of fortune. That's something I've learned. So, if this month hasn't been the greatest for you, look upon others not with envy, but with happiness. All of this is, perhaps, coming your way sooner rather than later.

Everlong - Foo Fighters

Can you believe I haven't listened to this song before? Inexcusable. I see now why it's so very popular, and although a further foray into the Foo Fighters did not result in a new Foo Fighters Phase, I feel significantly safer from the Foo than I did before.

And I wonder, when I sing along with you

If everything could ever feel this real forever

If anything could ever be this good again

The only thing I'll ever ask of you

You gotta promise not to stop when I say when

She sang

Grohl is real, completely authentic, and his singing conveys his emotions in a much more complete way than many. In my opinion, he's a relic of a lost time. I'm glad I'm beginning to appreciate his talent fully.

Roll Away Your Stone - Mumford & Sons

There's some music that I find myself, and there's some music that I picked up entirely due to my dad's music choice in the car over the years. And then there's something in the middle, something that I vaguely remember hearing in the car that I rediscover after the fact.

[And] Darkness is a harsh term, don't you think?

And yet it dominates the things I see

...

Stars, hide your fires

These here are my desires

And I won't give them up to you this time around

And so I'll be found with my stake stuck in this ground

Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul

It's really a shame that M&S didn't grow on me more outside of two albums. Folk stomp-type music doesn't usually vibe with me, but their brand of it has always resonated. I think there's a certain appeal to loud and fast, stomp-and-holler that most people enjoy, but when combined with excellent songwriting it takes on another level of contagious energy. If you like this one, there's a lot more where it came from.

E-Bow the Letter - REM (listen to the live version w/ Thom Yorke after you listen to the original) (that's assuming you listen to any of this, which is quite an assumption)

There's something ominous about E-Bow, to the degree that I was worried to listen to it too often out of fear that it would harm my mood in some way. The organ and the background vocals and the strings just induce some kind of reaction that's impossible to encapsulate. The more I listened to it, though, the more I appreciated the power behind it.

My loss, and here we go again

(I'll take you over)

Aluminum, tastes like fear (there)

Adrenaline, it pulls us near (I'll take you over, there)

And while the original is certainly excellent, the live version with Yorke has more drive, more energy, and backing vocals from the lead singer of Radiohead. If you've ever listened to Radiohead, you know exactly why I'm recommending this.