"The Bird and the Worm" by The Used from Lies for the Liars

Okay, I admit—found this song from the Moonlight episode "Arrested Development," when Mick's getting beaten up by the 16 going-on-200 vampire. First Moonlight episode I saw, and I liked it enough to try another episode or two, which got me hooked on the rest.

This single from The Used's third studio album Lies for the Liars is evidently one of their cleaner ones. (Evidently the band doesn't mind using, for example, the f-word.)

The mysic and lyrics of "The Bird and the Worm" have been called a dark-toned edition of Panic! at the Disco. Maybe that's why it caught my ear. I'm personally also reminded of Three Days' Grace. Bret McCracken has similar vocals to those other two bands, too.

Most people aren't sure what the song means. Some suggestions for the meaning of "He crawls like a worm from a bird" have ranged from a regular person struggling with unavoidable events in life to an abused individual fleeing the abuser.

In any event, the end result is a kinda gritty-sounding song that meshes a few different sounds and tempos with the growling and such. I'm not quite sure how to describe it besides "darkly rough." It has something of a post-grunge feel to it, even if the band doesn't classify it that way.

Overall, it was a very good choice for where it was put in the Moonlight episode. Personally, I don't care for listening to it on its own, though others who like the genre will likely be quite fond of it.

And the music video is bewilderingly freaky. (Oh, and a bit gruesome.) As a bit of a warning.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"Sorrow" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

"We kiss each other one more time and sing this lie that's halfway mine…"

This song—like many of Flyleaf's, unfortunately—personifies what bothers me and many other Christians about Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Christian bands make ambiguous lyrics that could be referring to God or a lover. (I have heard people call that an asset, but for a Christian it's downright irreverent.)

People interpret the lyrics of "Sorrow" in several ways to comfort in different situations. That ability to nail emotions I do consider a strength of Flyleaf's. The interpretation that suits the lyrics as a whole defines the song narrator as a woman who's struggled and fallen with abstinence. Bluntly: she had sex outside of marriage and now regrets it. ("I won't be fooled by his angel light" is a reference to resisting the wiles of Satan, who was the angel of light.)

Lacey sings in her usual characteristic style that I personally don't have anything to compare it with, but… What's with screaming "Joy will come!"? And the music's melding grates on the ear. Something about it sounds… off.

Eh, it could've been worse. It's really kinda normal for CCM.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 6/10

"Pain" by Three Days Grace from One-X

"Pain, without love. Pain, I can't get enough. Pain—I like it rough, 'cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all."

From that opening, the post-grunge song has a bit of a rough sound as fits the raw emotions it's speaking of. Three Days Grace says it's speaking of the fact that they'd rather be in pain than emotionally numb, but it's not uncommon for people to interpret it with a… kinky… twist.

Add "anger and agony are better than misery" to "trust me, I've got a plan; when the lights go off you will understand," and you end up with lyrics that suggest the kinky interpretation might have more merit than the band admits. When you start looking through the song with that lens, the song overall makes more sense. (I wanted to phrase that another way, but it accidentally produced a pun I don't want to play with.)

Adam Gontier does seem to have a voice that knows how to sing, at least, and he uses it well in the song. He sings roughly to match the song's tone.

Overall, I think it's… better than okay, but you have to get past the lyrics.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"It's Not Over" by Daughtry from Daughtry

"My life with you means everything, so I won't give up that easily." 'Cause evidently "It's all misunderstood", his actions that caused the woman to leave the narrator. "It's not over", he insists, since she's "the only one" for him and he'll "try to do it right this time around". He's determined that neither of them "get caught up in" themselves.

The promise of change and working to make the one relationship work instead of bouncing to another one offers a welcome shift from some songs. The music video suggests the man served jail time. (The music video isn't really appropriate for children, though it's cleaner than those of many popular bands. It still shows clips of the heads of a couple presumably making love in the modern sense of the phrase.)

Though the song staunchly declares that "It's Not Over", it's because of his willingness to work at making it turn out rather than an immature determination for things to just go back how things were that seems to popularize songs.

"This love is killing me" serves as my complaint about the lyrics. Uh, right.

Chris Daughtry, who was the forth-place finalist on American Idol's highly popular fifth season, sings eloquently. Words and emotions come through his singing, though it really sounds similar to a lot of male rock vocals.

The guitar-based rock (post-grunge) music also offers more layered variety and smooth melding than is common for rock. It flows very well with the song and isn't afraid to shift within the song as necessary. For the genre concerned, the music is top-notch.

Okay, so I tend to prefer female vocals with this kind of music, but that's my preference. Daughtry does offer a pretty good and mature song in "It's Not Over".

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace from One-X

"Even if I say, 'It'll be all right;' I still hear you say you want to end your life."

Unlike most songs speaking of suicide, this is a friend talking to the suicidal individual. The narrator's encouraging his suicidal friend to continue living. "This world will never be what I expected, and if I don't belong" "maybe we'll turn it all around 'cause it's not too late. It's never too late" to seek to pull yourself out of the depression and hopelessness.

Lead singer Adam Gontier has a voice well-suited for the post-grunge-influence rock Three Days Grace produces, but it also fits well in this song that could be qualified as a guitar-based rock ballad. Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums, and cymbals meld in a way that's pleasing to the ears if you like rock. None of it's discordant, and it all flows together in such a way that I can't imagine the song fitting to anything else.

The music video involves a girl playing with her parents, intercut with the girl as a young woman fighting nurses who are keeping her from killing herself. The video symbolically portrays the child's molestation without the parents' knowledge that led to her current institutionalization, and as "Never Too Late" comes to its ending, she overcomes her past.

Overall, it's a refreshing (albeit darkly-toned) song that considers life worth living even if it looks dark. "Never Too Late" encourages both the sucidal individual and his friend that life isn't over just because it seems hopeless.

As a Christian, I view it as incomplete since it fails to address that God is man's hope. Parents may not want their younger children to listen to the song, either, from the psychological elements it addresses. Nonetheless, it's a remarkably well put-together song considering the junk that tends to end up on the radio a lot, these days.

As of this writing, the song was displayed on the MySpace page of Three Days Grace.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"All Around Me" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

"I can feel You all around me…"

Say what? A Christian metal band? Yep.

Unfortunately, this song in particular suffers from that one complaint many Christians have about "Christian" bands: it doesn't point-blank mention God. Still, that's not a particular habit of Flyleaf, and the details and imagery of "All Around Me" obviously speak of an omnipresent being surrounded by angels and white light.

What this song does have is Flyleaf's continued insistence that being alive is a good thing. "I'm alive! I'm alive!" with a "heart that's healing" and "healed".

At any rate, while "All Around Me" may not be the best lyricwise that Flyleaf has produced, I think it's the best I've heard from them for music and vocals. Both meld smoothly and well-accentuate the lyrics. I can easily think them top of the post-grunge music genre.

For a debut album, I'd say Flyleaf's done pretty well to have this as their third single.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 9/10

"Fully Alive" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

Lacey Mosley would sound a whole lot more "normal" if she sang a different style. But she doesn't sing a normal style, and for me, that's part of her appeal. Even in live recordings, she sounds the same (unlike some artists).

"Telling Layla's story spoken 'bout how all her bones are broken" may open "Fully Alive" on a dark note, but "she's glad for one day of comfort only because she has suffered". It's a poignent point that having had a bad life should make you all the more appreciative of good things. In Layla's case, she's "fully alive, more than most, ready to smile and love life"—"she knows how to believe in futures".

When was the last time you found another post-grunge or heavy metal song that said that?

The music is better than average, with some involved electric guitar in there. It is a little rough on the ears, according to its post-grunge genre, but it's well put-together.

Looking for heavy metal or post-grunge music with uplifting lyrics? That's found in Flyleaf.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"My Sacrifice" by Creed from Weathered

"I just want to say hello again…"

Before… what? Sounds like you died. You can say "hi" when dead… how?

Creed's oddly popular in Christian circles. I guess it is better quality than Christian rock in general, but… Creed isn't a Christian band. They use Christian allusions, true, but the band isn't Christian.

Maybe it's just the bands I tend to listen to, but it seems like guy singers prefer guitar-based rock, gals piano-based. The guitar-based music is better than some, but it doesn't sound anything special.

Um, have you tried opening your mouth? The singer has an average voice, demonstrating an average slur as he sings his not-so-average tribute to friendship and the sacrifices of 9/11 heroes.

Lyricwise, it's refreshing to hear about the strength of a non-romantic friendship. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel very fluid. Maybe it's me, but that's my impression of it, at any rate.

It's an okay song. I don't mind it; not that I particularly like it, either.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 6/10

"I'm So Sick" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

My first thought on hearing this band? …Weird voice. Interesting, but weird. My brother's response? "Girls growling doesn't sound right."

Nonetheless, this was Flyleaf's debut single as Flyleaf (they went through a few name changes while independent), and it does well demonstrate the band.

Overall, Flyleaf has dark themes, yes, as are commonly popular, nowadays. But they don't leave the narrator (or listeners) wallowing. They are Christian! Not only do they explore the dark and gritty, but hope is included in the darkness. The narrator is "so sick, infected with where [she] live[s]." But she's not content to stay there till she can "sell out [or] die out"—she wants to "live without this empty bliss, selfishness."

Moreover, the lyrics are clean, as well. My complaint is the lyrics seem more together associatively rather than as a coherent expression of their point. (And there's the grammatical problem of using to heed as if it's an intransitive verb, but hey, I'm a grammar nutcase.)

The music is the very dark, low base type that I know a lot of older adults don't like (and worries some of them). The music is very limited, but that's part of its appeal. (Evidently it's post-grunge.) Any more would be overdone, particularly considering Lacey Mosley's voice.

Lacey Mosley's voice is odd. I have no better way to describe it, but it does work well with the heavy metal she's chosen to produce. It may just be a matter of what she's done with it; I suspect her voice would sound more "normal" in a different range. She sings and she screams.

Um, yeah, about that screaming… It's at the beginning when she's saying she will "break, break", with a little more at the end. I don't particularly like screaming, but at least Flyleaf doesn't seem to throw it in there for the heck of it. It's chosen on purpose.

Also as a warning, the words tend to have odd tempos, making it a bit harder to understand what's being said, but once used to it, it can be followed. Somewhat.

Sure, I'll listen to more Flyleaf. I'd rather look to see if there's another song I might like more, though.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Cassie" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

The first song I'd consciously ever listened to by Flyleaf, I first heard "Cassie" when Cassie came up in conversation. That's the Cassie who died in the U.S.-famous Columbine school shooting through the words, "Yes, I believe in God". (Though some people say it was an urban legend, my memory and the old news articles I can find verify her martyrdom.) I've been wanting to read her biography/diary for years.

"Cassie" is a tribute to that girl and her final words. "'Do you believe in God?' written on the bullet. Say 'yes' to pull the trigger." "And Cassie pulled the trigger."

The Christian band Flyleaf doesn't stop at offering a tribute to Cassie. Lacey Mosley directly brings the story home to where it should apply to the listener: "How many will die? I will die—I, I will say yes" (screaming the "yes", but the rest of the song is sung with a second "in the air" whispered). What happened to Cassie could easily happen to one of us, and what would we say in that event?

There are a few versions to this song. Two main ones, the regular LP one and the EP version referencing another Columbine death, Rachel, as a fellow girl who was shot for her faith that day. There's also an acoustic version of "Cassie" that can be at least listened to online.

The simple music of all the versions well-suits Lacy Mosley's unusual voice, as does the odd tempo of the lyrics.

If you can't handle post-grunge metal, check out the acoustic version of this song, at least. Flyleaf isn't just "good for Christian music", but they're good for their post-grunge genre. If you don't mind the singer's strange vocals, that is.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

Edited 10/16/07 thanks to Anonymous.

"Animal I Have Become" by Three Days Grace from One-X

When I get in my mother's car, chances are some rock station will be playing. That I often avoid those stations on my own is well-established in my family. "Animal I Have Become," with its standard yelling and hard rock beat, would generally a prime example of 'songs Carradee would avoid.' The look on my mother's and my brother's faces one day when they realized that was me singing along with this song was priceless. (That it took them a near minute to realize who was singing was another matter.)

I first heard this song—or, at least, I was first aware of having heard this song—shortly after I saw Underworld last year. (The first one.) I highly enjoyed the literal fantasy element of this song of a newly-bitten werewolf or vampire struggling to cope with the beast now within. (The music video leans towards vampire, but I tend to think of the narrator as a werewolf.) Literalist me has great difficulty with symbolism, but the song was written as the singer admitting his darker side comes out in his music and coming to terms with it.

The lyrics themselves work very well, capturing the fear, frustration, pleading, confusion, and anger all wrapped into either the literal fantasy or the symbolic realistic meaning. They are pretty short and direct, but at least the songwriter ended when he had a tightly-woven song rather than trying to needlessly stretch it out. "Animal I Have Become" does repeat itself, but that repetition links the many conflicting emotions of the piece.

Now, I think he has a good voice, but much of the song yells, making it hard to tell. "Somebody get me through this nightmare—I can't control myself!" he yells in frustration and fear. The song addresses that "this animal" is who he now is; no one can change that, but he still pleads for someone to "help me tame this animal I have become!"

The word hell is used, though not as an expletive. ("I can't excape this hell.") It's overall a dark tone, with a sound I can only describe as "rough," though not in a musically unskilled kind of way. It suits the subject matter.

"Animal I Have Become" has helped me adapt to hard rock and the post-grunge influence, so I can tolerate them. I liked the song enough that I forced myself to sit through listening to it.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 7/10