Alternative

Definition: "An umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Throughout much of its history, alternative rock has been largely defined by its rejection of the commercialism of mainstream culture. Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in small clubs, recorded for independent labels, and spread their popularity through word of mouth. As such, there is no set musical style for alternative rock as a whole, although The New York Times in 1989 asserted that the genre is 'guitar music first of all, with guitars that blast out power chords, pick out chiming riffs, buzz with fuzztone and squeal in feedback.' Sounds range from the dirty guitars of grunge to the gloomy soundscapes of gothic rock to the guitar pop revivalism of Britpop to the shambolic performance style of twee pop. More often than in other rock styles, alternative rock lyrics tend to address topics of social concern, such as drug use, depression, and environmentalism. This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s and early 1990s." (Wikipedia)

Sidonie's Side Notes: Very similar to indie, but not quite the same. It's easy to confuse them. Alt is more mellow... it's the kind of music that I listen to while doing homework. Most of the bands I listen to are alternative.

Sidonie's favs/current obsessions:
Bands- Armor For Sleep, Death Cab For Cutie (Death Cab), Lifehouse, Nickelback, The Fray, Muse, The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP), Rise Against, Fountains of Wayne, Coldplay, R.E.M.
Songs- Raindrop by Armor For Sleep, I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab, Tiny Vessels by Death Cab, Soul Meets Body by Death Cab, You Can Do Better Than Me by Death Cab, No Sunlight by Death Cab, She Says by Howie Day, Collide by Howie Day, From Where You Are by Lifehouse, Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse, You & Me by Lifehouse, Far Away by Nickelback, If Everybody Cared by Nickelback, Come Home by One Republic, All The Right Moves by One Republic, Never Say Never by The Fray, Look After You by The Fray, You Found Me by The Fray, Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, Uprising by Muse, Assassin by Muse, Starlight by Muse, Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, Romeo & Juliet by The Killers, A Dustland Fairytale by The Killers, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, When You Were Young by The Killers, Human by The Killers, That's What You Get by Paramore, Decode by Paramore, Ignorance by Paramore, Misery Business by Paramore, Under The Bridge by RHCP, Scar Tissue by RHCP, Snow (Hey Oh) by RHCP, Can't Stop by RHCP, Audience of One by Rise Against, Paper Wings by Rise Against, Savior by Rise Against, Entertainment by Rise Against, Valley Winter Song by Fountains of Wayne, Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne, All Kinds Of Time by Fountains of Wayne, The Scientist by Coldplay, Fix You by Coldplay, Yellow by Coldplay, Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg, Nightswimming by R.E.M., Losing My Religion by R.E.M., Everybody Hurts by R.E.M., Amber by 311, Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade, Your Call by Secondhand Serenade, White Lines & Red Lights by Between the Trees

Lyrics: Valley Winter Song...
Hey Sweet Annie
Don't take it so bad
You know the summer's coming soon
Though the interstate is choking under salt and dirty sand
And it seems the sun is hiding from the moon

Your daddy told you
When you were a girl
The kind of things that come to those who wait
So give it a rest girl
Take a deep breath girl
And meet me at the Bay State tonight

And the snow is coming down
On our New England town
And it's been falling all day long
What else is new?
What could I do?
I wrote a valley winter song
To play for you

And late December
Can drag a man down
You feel it deep in your gut
Short days and afternoons spent puttering around
In a dark house with the windows painted shut

Remember New York
Staring outside
As reckless winter made its way
From Staton Island to the Upper West Side
Whiting out our streets along the way

And the snow is coming down
On our New England town
And it's been falling all day long
What else is new?
What can I do?
But sing this valley winter song
I wrote for you x2

Raindrops...
You appear like raindrops
And leave like you sink through
The streets that you fall on
The cars that slip on you
All of this for just one night

Suffocate me, all you need,
I won’t breathe but it’s okay
You’ll be somewhere around me
And I won’t need air

The clouds will break my house
And throw me from my room
I’ll drown in the rainfall
And float till I find you

You appear like raindrops
And leave like you sink through
The streets that you fall on
The cars that slip on you
All of this for just one night

Suffocate me, all you need,
I won’t breathe but it’s okay
You’ll be somewhere around me
And I won’t need air

And I won’t need air
And I won’t need air
And I won’t need air
And I won’t need air
And I won't need air

Suffocate me, all you need,
I won’t breathe but its okay
You’ll be somewhere around me
And I won’t need air

Suffocate me, all you need,
I won’t breathe but its okay
You’ll be somewhere around me
And I won’t need air

Tiny Vessels...
This is the moment that you know
That you told her that you loved her but you don't.
You touch her skin and then you think
That she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me.
Yeah, she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me.

I spent two weeks in Silver lake
The California sun cascading down my face
There was a girl with light brown streaks,
And she was beautiful but she didn't mean a thing to me.
Yeah, she was beautiful but she didn't mean a thing to me.

I wanted to believe in all the words that I was speaking,
As we moved together in the dark
And all the friends that I was telling
All the playful misspellings
and every bite I gave you left a mark

Tiny vessels oozed into your neck
And formed the bruises
That you said you didn't want to fade
But they did, and so did I that day

All I see are dark Grey clouds
In the distance moving closer with every hour
So when you ask "Is something wrong?"
I think "You're damn right there is but we can't talk about it now.
No, we can't talk about it now."

So one last touch and then you'll go
And we'll pretend that it meant something so much more
But it was vile, and it was cheap
and you are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me
yeah you are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me (x2)