It's Not Easy, Bein' Green.

My longest blog yet, but it has a HUGE place in my heart. Sorry for this one taking a bit to read, but trust me; you won't regret it. It may not flow the smoothest either, as it is 1:40 in the morning.


This week has been a trying week for myself and a number of my friends. With the final preparations for the S.O.U.P organization's "Candlelight Vigil", the newest episode of Glee having the "jaw dropping" effect, and hearing some very emotional music; my friends and I have leaned on each other throughout this entire week. To answer the question of "Why did you title this post in that manner?" it deals with a new song I heard during Glee's new episode.


"It's Not Easy, Bein' Green" was originally sang by Kermit the Frog from The Muppets. Kermit sang this song, at first thinking that he wasn't as good as everyone else, because he was green. He thought being a different, more vibrant color would make life better and easier. What really hit me with this song, though, were these two verses:


"It's not easy being green It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water Or stars in the sky

"But green's the color of Spring And green can be cool and friendly-like And green can be big like an ocean, or important Like a mountain, or tall like a tree"


Kermit at first continues to bring himself down, that he is too "normal" for society and that he doesn't stand out and be himself. But, soon after he says this, he realizes that he is important, that he is a unique and special individual. The fact that HE alone can make a difference, and that his life is important. This song was sang by one of the newest members of Glee, Damian McGinty. His performance blew me away, not only for being able to change his voice on the spot, but the brilliant aria of notes that sailed from his vocal chords. The context was still the same, that he was a minority and that he should change in order to fit in. But, he realizes that being himself is the best option, that someone, somewhere, will accept him  for who he is.


Another song that really hit me this week was a song by Martina Mcbride, titled "I'm Gonna Love You Through It." The song tells a story of a women dealing with being diagnosed with cancer. How this disease...it doesn't care how old you are, how many kids you have, or how much of a financial crisis you are in. Cancer just comes at you, and it expects to win. But, through the song, it explains that there are twists with treatment, that things don't go as planned, and that life is hard. Through family, friends, and loved ones, we CAN get through this. You will be a survivor, and you will learn to help others go through it. My mother is a THREE-TIME CANCER SURVIVOR. Yeah, that's right world; she is one tough cookie, and I love her to death. Even with her surviving this many times, I'm still scared to death for anyone I know getting this disease. Cancer patients greatly appreciate anything and everything that you do to help them through this hard time in their life, and Martina wanted to make an anthem for them. I cannot, yes cannot, sing this song without tearing up and/or crying through it; because I know and understand how hard life is having a family member go through this. With this song and Kermit's song now on my mind, the following day became a very hard one.


S.O.U.P hosted their annual "Candlelight Vigil". A speak out against bullying, touches so many hearts in such a short amount of time. Speeches were made not only about the lifestyles of the LGBT community and how people responded to it, but speeches were made about personal experiences. I'm leaving names out of this, in order to protect students' identities. A presenter looked down at their notes, and began speaking. I will NEVER forget those 15 minutes, those 15 minutes it took to tell this story, because I never thought people were capable of this. A girl, trying to live life the way she wants, and gets punished for it. And not the punishment of being grounded, the punishment of being beaten. Being beaten on a daily basis, just for being who she was. Her immediate family was oblivious, except for her psycho father, who was the source of these beatings. She ran, and came up with a new lifestyle in order to avoid the beatings. This lifestyle included drugs, prostitution, and various other cohorts in order to deal with what she was going through. She stayed the days at various family members' houses, and then learned to survive the nights on her own. When she finally figured out how to stand up for herself, she went back home. She came out to her parents, that she aligned herself with the LGBT community, and that she was proud of it. Her father, due to built up anger, aggression, and disappointment, lunged at her. She ducked, and fought back. Her mother defended her, got her in the house, locked the door, and called the police. She is now able to live free of these horrors, and although she is scared to death when she see's that man, she has courage. She has hope. She has strength. She loves who she is, and her friends love her for who she is.


So why tell this story, why share this with the world on the interwebs, for everyone to see and read? Because so many people out there, whether they are friends, family, or even people you have never met; have a hard time finding self-confidence. I know I'm in that boat, but after going through this week, and hearing these stories, listening to these songs...I know I can be who I want to be. I can live life how I want, because it is MY DECISION. And YOU can too! If people don't like who you are, then screw them. For those that choose to talk about how people live their life behind their back, you all are weak.  If you can't even accept other people's lifestyles, how can you even respect your own? Going back to saying what Kermit and Damian  have sang, it isn't easy being ourselves, but we are unique, we are awesome, and we will find people who see that, respect that, and support that decision.

Was Superman able to throw a face on everyday?

I've recently been in a Boyce Avenue/cover artist mood, and I came across some interesting covers. One of them, that I have come to love, is "Superman" by Five for Fighting. It was done with an electric guitar instead of a piano, but what caught my ear was the amount of emotion in the singer's voice. It has the same or more than the singer for Five for Fighting had when he sang it. The second chorus in this song get's me every time is this:

"I wish that I could cry Fall upon my knees Find a way to lie About a home I’ll never see.  It may sound absurd…but don’t be naive Even heroes have the right to bleed I may be disturbed…but won’t you concede Even heroes have the right to dream And it’s not easy to be me."


At least when I hear this in the song, I can see Superman, or Batman, or your super hero of choice, just wanting to give up on what their doing. Live their own life, not having so much pressure on their shoulders. The pressure they have to deal with may be anything from the life of their alter ego, or having to live up to an image, having to seem like their invincible, etc. The song says "Even heroes have the right to bleed", but do they? What if, like a lot of people in this world, these super heroes are throwing on a face just to please the mass amounts of people that rely on them? Like the song says "Even heroes have the right to dream". Do they even have the right? I know superheroes don't exist, and they are only seen in movies, comic books and video games, but still. Shouldn't we all just give them, and everyone putting a face on some slack? 


A little less stress in anyone can make a difference in the world. Are you gonna be the one to reduce the stress? Or are you just gonna sit by and let stress take over thousand's of people's lives?

Half Broken Heart = Falling Tear Drop

One Thursday evening, I had been hanging out with a few of my friends. One of them, happened to be doodling on a sheet of paper, getting her mind off of the stressful week she had had.  She continued her drawing, and once satisfied with the result, she asked me, "Andy Roo, what do you see in this picture? And be honest."

 After a lot of thinking, improvisation of ideas, and wild guesses, I came to the conclusion that this photograph looked like a teardrop. My friend replied "Although that is correct, there is another thing that this looks like, what is it?" Now I really started pulling things out of my ass and making oddly wild guesses. Finally, after a lot of laughter, my friend told me that it is also half a broken heart. After turning the sheet of paper upside down, I finally realized that she was right. Which made me start to wonder; was there a reason why the human heart is depicted in this way? Are humans bound to some type of heartbreak in their life time? And if so, why? Who should be the one to suffer this awful feeling; of shame, sorrow, regret, remorse, sadness, anger, guilt, and a loss of self worth. No one. This feeling has been felt by so many people world wide, and it honestly needs to stop.

"When you're dreaming with a broken heart 

Then waking up is the hardest part
You roll outta bed and down on your knees
And for a moment you can hardly breathe
Wondering was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?
No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone...."  

John Mayer's "Dreaming With a Broken Heart (Listen to the song at the end of the post!)

Knowing who I am, I never, and I mean NEVER, want to cause this feeling to ANYONE. Have I caused this to people? Yes, I honestly have, and it sucks making someone feel like that. That's why one of my main goals in life, is to try and prevent people from feeling this. I will do whatever I can, to remove this feeling from any said person. Also, if I can't do this, I will find someone or something that will make that person feel better! Now, I will prevent the self harmful ways of feeling better; such as cutting, drinking, and drugs. Those are counter productive and are quick fixes for this, and they are very ill advised. This horrible feeling can turn the smartest and kindest people into the complete opposite, due to the sheer amount of stress and doubt that they feel when heartbreak occurs. 

Those hit artists that no one hear's about!!!

Ke$sha, Bruno Mars, Avenged Sevenfold, Jason Aldean, Tyler Ward, Jason Levasseur, Jeff Hendrick, Boyce Avenue, Justin Caldwell ...wait what?!

The first half of that list; hit artists of 2009 to the current day. The second half? Artists that people haven't even heard of...unless you have gone on an awesome YouTube adventure! Everyone is so hooked on what you hear on the radio these days, with all the club versions of songs and the heavy bass that you hear in the car or when you are trying to go to sleep and the neighbor has his sub as loud as it will go. The real good stuff, that literally anyone can enjoy, is just waiting to be discovered. For example, you have artists like Tyler Ward and Jeff Hendrick, who are excellent YouTube sensations. They don't necessarily write their own music, but what they do is cover famous songs that people know, making them even BETTER. Why do people appreciate covers of songs? 1. People don't always like all the "computer" noises that you hear everyday in today's "Top 40" radio stations. 2. Sometimes, songs are better without the distortion of an electric guitar or the re verb of a bass; and third but most importantly: 3. The people who cover the song have a better or an equal quality of voice than the original artist!

Tyler Ward, who is one of my favorites, has done multiple covers of artists ranging from Kings of Leon, to Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry to Eminem. Yet, the one that stands out the most to me; is of this frightful and very feminine singer we all know of: Justin Bieber. "Oh great, here we go...we got a Bieber Fan who is over the age of 13" Actually, no. Bieber is a HORRIBLE pop icon in my opinion, and you all can thank Usher, because that boy or girl or whatever it is, is his mentor. The song Tyler covers is "Baby". Yes, even Sam from Glee tried to cover this and IT STILL SUCKED! Although it IS a Bieber tune, it is completely re-done. With just a guitar and piano at his disposal, Tyler creates this wicked, soft, peaceful version of the song, and mashes it up with "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston and "Stand By Me" by Ben E King. So, fellow bloggers; as you blog about, well whatever you blog about, type in a song on YouTube you wanna hear, and then type "cover" after it; just to see what pops up. Trust me, you find some amazing stuff!!!