Music that applies to us

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Transformer Man, by Neil Young:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eblFQppJfyg

This song is from a parent's perspective, and while it can be interpreted as Aspie, it can really apply to any disability. Young has a severely disabled son who can't speak and is reliant on a motorized wheelchair to get around. Young struck on the idea of electronically distorting his voice in order to communicate with his son, and his attempts were surprisingly successful. So Young wrote an entire album in which his voice was distorted almost beyond recognition.

I've noticed that people with autism tend to heavily lean on technology, and often prefer dealing with technology to dealing with people. Communication is often problematic. The lead vocal of Transformer Man is almost impossible to understand because it's been completely merged with electronics. That strikes me as a particularly Aspie state of being.

And the lyrics are brilliant. They keep returning to the idea of throwing down chains, gaining power, and Young's conviction that there are "so many things still left to do/but we haven't made it yet". It's a work of disability activism before disability activism really existed.

I don't know if this necessarily fits, but I know I can identify with it (for the most part).

Dyslexic Heart-Paul Westerberg

You shoot me glances and they're so hard to read
I misconstrue what you mean
Slip me a napkin and now that’s a start
Is this your name or a doctor's eye chart?

I try and comprehend you but I've got a dyslexic heart
I ain't dyin’ to offend you, I’ve got a dyslexic heart

Thanks for the book, now my table is ready
Is this a library or a bar?
Between the covers I thought you were ready
Half angel, half tart

I try and comprehend you but I've got a dyslexic heart
I ain't dyin’ to offend you, I’ve got a dyslexic heart

Do I read you correctly, lead me directly,
Help me with this part…
Do I date you? Do I hate you?
Do I got a dyslexic heart?

You keep swayin’…What are you sayin’?
Are you thinkin’ ‘bout stayin’?
Or are you just playin’, makin’ passes?
Well, my heart could use some glasses

I try and comprehend you
I got a dyslexic heart
Do I read you correctly, I need you directly
Help me with this part...
Do I love you? Do I hate you?
I’ve got a dyslexic heart

Let the sky grow dark
With a heavy heart
Let the funeral start
Let the funeral start

Suddenly it seemed
Love was just a dream
On a TV screen
In a magazine

Mother please hold on
Brother please be strong
Yeah they played a song
We all sang along
I see trees of green, red roses too, scattered out for you
On a grave stone
I'm 12 years older I can't stay sober
And there's a bluebird in my heart
That's caged and it can't sing
So fill your bloodlines up with bourbon kid this won't sting
It's like the slowing of your senses just might solve something
Let the mourners of St Pauls lead the parade

Suddenly it seems
I'm settled in my old routines
Another year has gone
I still sing the same sad song
So when the snow has finally cleared
I'm gonna swim away from here
And wake my father's bones
And drag his ghost into the road

This house could hold nothing but melodies
So sombre, such miserable memories
Three cheers for love of the simplest kind
Let's drink to all that he left behind

Suddenly it seems
I'm settled in my old routines
Another year has gone
I still sing the same sad song
Let the sky grow dark
With a heavy heart
Let the funeral start
Let the funeral start

The band I tend to relate the most to is Porcupine Tree. I sometimes wonder if Steven Wilson (the main writer) has AS. If you haven't heard their music, here's a medley of their upcoming album "The Incident":

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oXPsSZeo90[/youtube]

I tend to gravitate towards melancholic music. I might not be very empathic, but I'm certainly not void of emotion. Quite the opposite.

Counting Crows - Colorblind Lyrics

I am color...blind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am
taffy stuck, tongue tied
Stuttered shook and uptight
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am...fine
I am covered in skin
No one gets to come in
Pull me out from inside
I am folded, and unfolded, and unfolding
I am
colorblind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am...fine
I am.... fine
I am fine

Underworld - Juanita/Kiteless/To Dream of Love

there is a sound on the other side of this wall
burning singing on the other side of this glass
silence is preserving the voice

Underworld - Confusion the Waitress

the silence in the silence I see you my confidence

Are Friends Electric?

"It's cold outside
And the paint's peeling off of my walls
There's a man outside
In a long coat, grey hat, smoking a cigarette

Now the light fades out
And I wonder what I'm doing in a room like this
There's a knock on the door
And just for a second I thought I remembered you

So now I'm alone
Now I can think for myself
About little deals and issues
And things that I just don't understand
A white lie that night
Or a sly touch at times
I don't think it meant anything to you

So I open the door
It's the friend that I'd left in the hallway
'Please sit down'
A candlelit shadow on a wall near the bed

You know I hate to ask
But are 'friends' electric?
Only mine's broke down
And now I've no-one to love

So I found out your reasons
For the phone calls and smiles
And it hurts and I'm lonely
And I should never have tried
And I missed you tonight
So it's time to leave
You see it meant everything to me."

Blue Monday

"How does it feel
To treat me like you do
When youve laid your hands upon me
And told me who you are

I thought I was mistaken
I thought I heard your words
Tell me how do I feel
Tell me now how do I feel

Those who came before me
Lived through their vocations
From the past until completion
They will turn away no more

And I still find it so hard
To say what I need to say
But Im quite sure that youll tell me
Just how I should feel today

I see a ship in the harbor
I can and shall obey
But if it wasnt for your misfortunes
Id be a heavenly person today

And I thought I was mistaken
And I thought I heard you speak
Tell me how do I feel
Tell me now how should I feel

Now I stand here waiting

I thought I told you to leave me
While I walked down to the beach
Tell me how does it feel
When your heart grows cold
(grows cold, grows cold, grows cold)"

This is my favourite song of all time.

I can't find a good you tube version by either Gordon Lightfoot (live, his vocal mannerisms can be annoying) or the Johnny Cash version i fell in love with long long ago,(legalities I guess) so here is some unknown guy making a good attempt at it.

If I had the cash, contacts or influences, I'd give anything to hear either Mark Lanegan or Mark Eitzel sing this, they both have the right range and raspy wearniness to do this well

No, i'm not writing out the lyrics, that is too close to my school age former nerdiness. You'll either give it a go or you won't.

Please listen to the song, the words sum it up beautifully. Thanks

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR3H0iiwHdg[/youtube]

Thanks Fidget. The Moldy Peaches are AWESOME!! They're my new favorite band.

They're like a cross between Camper Van Beethoven and Bikini Kill.

A Few Simple Words
Cowboy Junkies

What does he see in those mashed potatoes?

what secrets does he hold that can be so grim?

the silence like a canyon dividing them

he's on one side she's opposite him

trying so desperately to get his attention



she says, "honey, you're a bastard of great proportion."

he says, "darling, I plead guilty to that sin."

with potatoes half way to his mouth

he looks her in the eye and says,
"without a doubt

my love for you is all that I believe in."



With those few simple words

her heart is sent soaring

she's able to face another day,

through the anger and the laughter

she knows that she matters

and somebody out there cares.



What does she gain by all this sulking?

what trouble can there be for one so young?

dark tension building like the clouds of a storm

her daughter's in her room and she's at the door

trying to figure what all this fuss is for.



she says, "mother, you're a witch

and I'll always hate you."

she says, "daughter, perhaps these words

you speak are true."

she quietly moves towards the bed,

looks her in the eye gently says,

"but I will always believe in you."



With those few simple words

her heart is sent soaring

she's able to face another day.

through the anger and the laughter

she knows that she matters

and somebody out there cares.



what do we need to keep us going?

what do we need at the end of the day?

mysteries keep piling like dirty clothes

in the corner.

you never thought you'd give up.

but you're beginning to wonder

when through the gloom you hear

a familiar voice say....


.... a few simple words

that send your heart soaring

you're able to face another day.

through the anger and the laughter

you know that you matter

and somebody out there cares.

(except the looking the eye part)

how soon is now?

I am the son
and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am Human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

I am the son
and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am Human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

There's a club, if you'd like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home
And you cry
And you want to die

When you say it's gonna happen now,
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone

I am Human And I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does


also most joy division songs

joy division-disorder

I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand.
Kill these sensations, make me feel the pleasures of a normal man.
New sensations barely end since we've been for another day.
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, take the shock away.

It's getting faster, moving faster now, it's getting out of hand.
On the tenth floor, down the backstairs into no man's land.
Lights are flashing, cars are crashing, getting frequent now.
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, let it out somehow.

What means to you, what means to me, and we will meet again.
I'm watching you, I watch it all, I take no pity from your friends.
Who is right and who can tell and who gives a damn right now.

Until the spirit, new sensation takes hold, then you know.

WHO CAN FORGET THIS?????
MC frontalot - you got aspergers kid
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PEuF4lIz2I[/youtube]

PAATOS - "Happiness"

suddenly the strangest feeling
inside of me
i don't know what it is
turning into someone else
do i need it
still i don't know what it is

suddenly my only friend is
loneliness
and all i'm wishing for is
happiness

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22y0zExFV1Y[/youtube]