Hola amigos, this week finds me in desperation. There are no good songs this
week. That is correct. In my opinion, not one of the songs out this week is
worth reviewing. That is why, to my own disgust, I am going to write about a
song from last week, which is still well worth listening to.

When I first heard it, I have to be honest, I wasn’t blown away. I was
expecting something as good as “Leave Right Now” and I don’t think this song
quite delivers to my taste buds in the same way. It is however, lovely and
shows a different vocal skill to some of Will’s other material. He shows much
more control and tenderness in this track than some of his other songs and he
does produce a moving vocal. I might just slip in that I would have preferred
a more climactic rendition. The simplicity of the backing, though, piano with
strings, does lend a beautiful sense of the philosophical which I think works.

The lyrics speak of holding out for love, waiting for the perfect love. The
question is raised as to whether or not you miss the opportunity to love
someone in waiting for the perfect love. Is there such a thing as the perfect
love? I find this fascinating. I’m inclined to think from my own experience
that it is possible to love more than one person to a profound level and I
don’t think I believe in soul friends either. I do, however, think that God
does bring people, who have offered him the first place in their lives,
together. The people that I have loved and that I love have appeared in my
life at too convenient a time for all concerned for it to have been
coincidence. I guess I would say, though, that I don’t think there is a cause
to be question whether each person you think you may be falling in love with is
the one and only person for you. There must be an element of faith in your
feelings and faith in the goodness of God in guiding your heart. That’s how I
remain confident and comfortable in my relationship choices and I don’t think
that it imposes on the place of love or romance.

I wonder what Will Young would think of that view? Whatever he thinks, the song
is nice and it definitely gives the listener some food for thought.

I thought two things when I first heard that this song existed. The first was that I would probably like it because I always thought Destiny’s Child were great and Beyonce’s solo work was even better. I also thought about how soul destroying some rap star’s careers must be. Many of them spend their entire life recording ten second raps for much bigger R&B stars and often don’t even get a mention. Luckily for Slim Thug, Beyonce has been generous this time.

There is nothing profound or remotely thought provoking about this song at all. But what can you expect? It is the soundtrack to the new Pink Panther movie which Beyonce will be appearing in. However, I don’t feel the need for the lyrics to be deep because the music has got me straight away. Beyonce’s voice is, as always, amazing on the recording. It’s quite different to some of her other work such as “Crazy In Love” with Jay Z or “Survivor” with Destiny’s Child. The backing is minimal. It’s mostly percussion with a quiet bass line. However, the song has one of the best dance grooves that I’ve heard in an R&B single for ages. The first time that I heard the melody I thought that it was, perhaps, two simple. Man, was I wrong. It is simple, but that’s the beauty of it. The words are, for the most part, monosyllabic and come rapidly and with attitude towards your ears. You kind of end up dizzy trying to figure out what she’s singing. As soon as you relax into the song though, it’s really fun to listen to and even better to dance to.

Don’t think too much about the song, just enjoy it and hope that it is the first single from a new album because after listening to the last album with Destiny’s Child I think her fans and I deserve a bit of a reward to be honest.

At last the charts are back to normal. There is a lull over Christmas where nothing comes out for two weeks. There are still only about two mainstream releases this week but one of them is Bon Jovi. This legendary band, among the most successful ever, is famed for their commitment to their style and quality of music, Always. (Excuse the pun)

The new material on the Have A Nice Day album is definitely some of their best and well worth a listen. This song in particular seems to be the token, “You must believe in yourself and have faith,” song. I can’t quite decide whether that’s a really inspiring message or whether it’s over done and cringe worthy. The thing is though, that the melody is great. Not only this, but the vocal is great. And if you want to sing a long, belting out the words, then the song is great. I think this is the thing that I really like about it because although it’s not stunningly unique, I do, very much, enjoy hearing it.

In all fairness, there is something powerful, or at least deep, behind the lyrics to the song. Jon sings, “you got to believe that right here, right now you're exactly where you're supposed to be.” This is very much true for those of us taking steps in life beyond our comfort zone. There is an extent to which you just have to gamble and pray and hope it pays off. Bon Jovi tries to comfort the listener by singing, “God makes no mistakes.” I do believe that this is true but sometimes it is hard to know whether you’ve picked up the right messages or whether you’re in the right place. Somehow, I find it comforting that there are people in very different walks of life to me that have similar thoughts. I’d definitely have a listen to this song.
Note: There was a suggestion that we could use this song on mission. What do you think? I’d love to hear your opinions.

When I went to see this film I was imprinted with the memory of the BBC TV version from 1988. Now I don’t know how many of you guys have seen it but in my house it was legend. This film had a lot to live up to. It was directed by Andrew Adamson who directed the Shrek movies so this film is very different for him. I think it paid off.

The special effects are beautiful to look at. The beavers are surprisingly cute and the mythical creatures such as fauns and centaurs are curiously believable. I found that I was able to find the characters believable enough to make it credible and still remain detached enough to engage in the fantasy. That was mostly down to the effects.

The other thing that I noticed about the film was that the actors were actually quite good. The children are, none of them, household names yet, unlike Harry Potter, they gave brilliant performances. Also, unlike the BBC version they looked the ages they were supposed to be. The other thing was that it was quite nice to hear voice work cameos from Ray Winstone, Dawn French and Rupert Everett as Narnian animals.

Thinking back over my life, the thing that really struck me about the movie, and the story, was how lucky those children are to be living an adventure like this. You may not know but C.S. Lewis wrote the story as an allegory for the Gospels. Aslan is like Jesus, being sacrificed, and the war is like the battle between heaven and hell. These children get to play a fundamental part in the fight for freedom, for righteousness, for faith. I found myself, while watching, wishing that I had known myself well enough as a child to play such a role in the real life struggle. I don’t know where you guys are on your journeys or what your place is in the battle but seeing this has made me think more than ever about where I fit in. A thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking film.