Songs that ease my mind

Songs that make me feel better.
Songs that make me smile.
Songs that I consider as relaxing.
Songs that help me to disconnect.
Songs that wake me up.

... A lot of categories of songs that save me from sadness, boredom or worries.

If there is a group with a song for each situation, this is COLDPLAY. No, you can't be the only person in this world that isn't aware of my favourite music band. They are fantastic. Their songs are sublime.

Don't you think so?

Paradise, The scientist, Fix You, Yellow, Strawberry swing, Another's arms, Always in my head, Atlas, Christmas lights, Clocks, God put a smile upon your face, True love, Us against the world... I could go on and on and on... and mention every song.

But now, in this moment, these days my favourite one, the one I like most, the one I can't get tired of listening to it once and again is...

MAGIC.



I have no words. I think it is simply... PERFECT. As magic is always...

Amélie

Cette semaine les élèves de français et moi sommes en train de régarder le film "Amélie" en version original sous-titré en espagnol. C'est une comédie romantique.

Ici tu peux voir le trailer d'Amélie:

"Amélie" n'est pas le titre complet... il s'agit de "Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain". Amélie est le prénom de la protagoniste, et je peux vous dire qu'elle n'est pas une fille normale et courante... Amélie est une jeune très speciale :)

Un des personnages du film est un voisin d'Amélie avec une maladie qui ne lui permet pas d'avoir une vie normale. L'homme de verre, comme il est connu, peint seulement une oeuvre très fameuse de Renoir, "Le déjeneur des canotiers". 

 J'ai acheté le DVD il y a quelques années... et c'est une de mes films préférés. En plus, sa musique (creé par Yann Tiersen) est devenue très fameuse. 

Et toi, tu as vu ce film? Je te recommande de le voir! 

Barcelona, nit d'estiu

Last Sunday I saw this film about six couples and their love relationships. Everything happens in a city you know well... Barcelona. Everything happens before a comet passes by, on a hot summer night.

I enjoyed the film a lot, but above all, I fell in love with the soundtrack. I discovered a new group called "Joan Dausà i els tipus d'interés" and a very intense song called "Jo mai mai". This song is performed on a scene in the film, and this is my favourite scene... Unfortunately I haven't found it on Youtube, so I can't show you how it is... But I can show you the song itself. Here you are!

Videos with lyrics

I am sure you like a lot of songs whose lyrics are in English. Do you understand what they are talking about? Sometimes they are a bit of nonsense, but sometimes they have deep meanings...

As you know, you can look for the lyrics on the internet but also using Youtube. Some people make incredible videos (I will show you some another time). These videos with the music and the lyrics help you to learn English. Why? Because you understand better the vocabulary, you learn new words and expressions, and above all, you learn the pronunciation. In addition, if you sing the song trying to pronounce as well as you can you will improve a lot your English.

Do you want to have a try? Let me show you the new Coldplay song. It is part of the "Hunger games: Catching fire" soundtrack. The song is called "Atlas" and, in my opinion, is amazing.

Here it is! Enjoy!

Song to cheer you up: Scatman's World

Sometimes you have a hard day... you feel tired, too tired... even to smile is an effort... so you have a very tough day, then!

I have a "collection" of very personal songs which I use to cheer me up when I feel a bit down... for me, they are infallible! I am sure you also have some of them... because if you listen to them, you start feeling better!

I encourage you to share your collection of "cheer up songs". My first one is this:




This song is  eighteen years old!!!! So probably you haven't listened to it before... but I am sure your parents have. Could you please show it to them and ask them about their opinion? It would be great that your parents (or other relatives) became part of your blogs ;)

By the way... This song was released in 1995... I was 16 years old... (I am getting depressed :P !!!
I liked this and another song by the same artist. He was already an old man when he got famous singing these two energetic and funny songs... so maybe it can help us to think about fighting for our dreams! Never is too late!!!!

I hope you enjoy this song. I am going to share some of my favourite songs with you, and I would be pleased to write about your opinions... either you like it or you don't!

Funny videos to learn

Sometimes you can learn thanks to videos you could think that are funny but useless... for example, do you know the videos of "Pulcino pio"? There is a version in each language! So through that catchy tune you can learn about onomatopeias and animals...

Here, in English! ("The little chick cheep")




Here, in French (Ici, en français, "Le poussin piou")



So, while singing... you learn a lot!!!

Sia - Breathe me

Do you know Sia? I am sure you do, even you don't know her as she is, you have listened to some of her songs. I discovered her some years ago, with this song. It is so special!




It is the song that ends a TV series that I am very keen on. It is called "Six feet under", and it talks about a family who work in a funeral home (where people gather when someone dies, and celebrate a funeral). It is a very different series, and I recommend it to everyone. There are very hard situations, but I learned a lot from life and death, and about feelings.

But I wanted to show you this song, "Breathe me", by Sia. It is a very moving song, for me. It talks about a person who has had a very tough day and has fallen again. Any of us know about these days when everything seems to go wrong... and how we need the support of a friend, their being-by-your-side in the worst moments... so this is what Sia is talking about, that feeling of needing a friend next to you.

A real friend!!!

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger

There are people who get upset when they get bad results... it's not my case. Well, I am not happy when something goes wrong... but instead of blaming others for MY mistakes, I always look for the possible solutions or possible ways to improve that bad situation.

Pessimistic thoughts are only good to bring bad things... whereas optimistic thoughts give you energy and strength.

If you are sad, worried, disappointed... well, let the feelings go, feel them, but learn from that bad situation. We are humans! We cannot know everything... we are always learning.

We have to keep the good things, even in the worst situations...

So... it is a good quote: "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!"

And here you are, a Kelly Clarkson's good song... it says the same I am trying to explain. This is an optimistic song, about a broken relationship... but looking at how strong I am, even when you think I am weak.

What do YOU think?

Somebody that I used to know...

Don't you know this song? I can't believe it! It has been one of the songs of 2012... and its chorus is so catchy!

I recommend you to watch the videoclip, in which Gotye and Kimbra, who "used to be a couple", sing about their relationship now and then... maybe you are too young to understand what they are talking about, or maybe not!

I consider the song and the videoclip as a masterpiece. For me, this song reflects very well a lot of feelings related to a broken relationship... and sometimes you cannot find the exact words to express those feelings, but a song appears, and that's it! 

Thanks to this song, I discovered Gotye, a great singer with a different style. Very different, yes! 

 Have you seen this cover? Walk Off the Earth is an American group who make covers of famous songs... but this is so incredible, as they are five people singing and playing the guitar at the same time. This is collaboration and coordination, that's for sure!!!

Do you like this song? Did you know it before? 

What is the 2012 song for you? 

The power of a smile

Smiling is one of the best things we have in life. It is free, it takes no effort, it makes you feel OK...

There are a lot of quotes related to smiles, and these are some of my favourite ones...

It is not always easy to smile. Sometimes you are really sad, or angry, and you don't feel like smiling... but, didn't you know that just the act of smiling will make you feel better? Yes, it is true... And the power of a smile to other people is amazing. So maybe you have some excuses when you are sad or angry, but you haven't any reason not to be smiling right now. Smile to your family and friends, but it would be so nice if you smiled to other people... to your classmates (even if you are not close friends), to your teachers, to your neighbours, to the shop assistant... 

and your smile will make them feel better. 

Now I am showing you this nice song by the great Charles Chaplin... it was Michael Jackson's favourite song. For me, it is really sad but at the same time, it is so beautiful... There are a lot of videos on Youtube, but I chose this one because it combines the song with Chaplin's film images.

I hope you like it!

SMILE!

Coldplay

One of the bands I am very keen on is Coldplay... I discovered them, I suppose, on the radio, but I always remember a song with a special moment... that was "Clocks", and I always think of my voyage to Budapest... it is funny how some songs are and will be always related to a place, or even a certain moment... a unique moment... a moment that will last forever in your heart...



Another special song related to a special moment... "The Scientist". I discovered this song thanks to a film called "Wicker Park"... the final scenes of this film were surrounded by the warm voice of Chris Martin... and I think it was with "The Scientist" when I got hooked to Coldplay atmosphere... maybe because this song talks about saying sorry...



And since then, I have always wanted to go to a Coldplay concert. I have seen some videos of them on concert, but obviously I want to see them "live"... I think that will be an unforgettable and very intense experience... as I know... that, one day, I will achieve my purpose...

Until then, I keep on listening to their songs. They always make me smile. Some of them have the power enough to charge my batteries up! And it doesn't matter how many times I have listened to them, I never get bored of them!

Do YOU like Coldplay? What do you think of their music?

Welcome to blogging!!!!

Blogging is a great way...

* to learn 

* to practise a foreign language

* to share with friends

* to keep things you like in a good place

* to express myself, to give my opinions

... What else? What do you think blogging is for?