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Pop Rock Nation

Category: Videos

  • I think I’ve arrived…

    I think I’ve arrived…

    Lately, I’ve been posting videos on YouTube. Last night, one of them was muted because of a copyright violation. I think I’ve arrived…

    I have sort of a fascination with YouTube. I love watching videos, especially of old TV commercials, PSAs, music videos, and television shows. Of course, most of those videos are uploaded without the proper authorization from copyright holders. It always amuses me when someone writes in the video description that they don’t own the copyright to whatever it is they’ve uploaded. As if the powers that be at some random media company or YouTube is going to care that you bothered to admit that you don’t have the proper license to share something. If they catch you and are so inclined, they’ll probably still yank the video or, perhaps less harshly, mute it.

    It took me a long time to start uploading videos to YouTube, mainly because of copyright issues. You see, I am not particularly interested in being on camera myself. I am very self-conscious about how I come across on film. I sound better than I look. I’ve also been to a lot of interesting places and have a lot of photos and videos. Several months ago, I finally broke down and started using Garage Band and iMovie, two software packages that have been on my computer and went unused for years. I’ve discovered that I like making movies and videos, as long as I don’t have to be on film.

    Maybe six or seven months ago, I started making videos with photos from my travels and music tracks. A few times, I used music made by a recording artist. Most of the time, I use karaoke tracks that I pay for and then provide vocals to. I know this isn’t quite legal and I would like to make it right, but they don’t make it simple to ask permission to use music. Wouldn’t it be something if music distributors offered a simple way to buy the rights to use music, kind of the way people who sell stock photos do? If I could find a simple and reasonably affordable way to purchase the rights to use music, I probably would in an effort to prevent copyright claims. I recognize that people who are creative should be getting paid for what they do. At the same time, I don’t have the ability to create entirely original music. Or, maybe I do… it would just take a really long time and a lot of effort.

    One thing I have noticed from uploading my videos is that I am attracting other musically inclined folks. There’s one guy in Scotland who plays guitar and piano who has offered to send me a track that I can add vocals to. If I hadn’t illegally uploaded a few videos featuring my vocals, that couldn’t have happened. Perhaps the next step is to make something totally original with an original melody and lyrics. I don’t see myself as able to write a melody, but I could probably write decent lyrics. I’ve never tried to, but writing comes somewhat easily to me. I’d love to give it the college try.

    Last night, when I saw the YouTube note letting me know that one of the music publishers had made a claim and the sound on my video was muted, I decided to remove the video altogether. It had been up for about six weeks and the people I wanted to see it had seen it, so it served its purpose. I still have the film on my computer and it still tears me up to watch it, even though it had only gotten about 25 hits on YouTube. I don’t tend to share my videos extensively, anyway.

    Even though I know that copyrights are important, I find it very difficult to create something entirely original. Every idea has an inspiration and many times, it comes from an unoriginal source. Sometimes, if I am in a public place taking video, there’s music being played that I couldn’t turn off even if I wanted to. I have a couple of videos on YouTube like that, too; and they got the matched third party content notice, though the videos are still playable. And I see on YouTube that copyright violations, while not legal, are certainly rampant. If they busted every single user for copyright infringement, they would have very few videos to show.

    Anyway, I don’t upload many videos to YouTube and after this first experience with a video being muted, I’m not sure how many more I will upload. I need to go on vacation again anyway, so I’ll have more photos and film. Even though I think I’ve arrived, maybe moviemaking isn’t my forte. On the other hand, the prospect of sharing music and collaborating with others from other lands is exciting to me. Maybe this will lead to another skill.

    shargram (in Scotland) and Doc Protool (in Italy) collaborating on The Beatles’ “Yesterday”.

  • Fight the power!

    Back when I was in the Peace Corps, a few of my colleagues were upset about a local kiosk owner ripping us off. A friend of mine said, “C’mon Jenny, fight the “green shack” power!

    Lately, I’ve been feeling like protesting. Ever since our move in late July, I have had to deal with several companies that seem ill inclined to either do what they are being paid to do or correct their mistakes. I don’t want to get too much into my personal issues because if I start writing about them here, I will likely get carried away and never get around to writing about music. But I will say that these recent issues, which seriously, in the grand scheme of things are probably pretty minor, have made me feel kind of feisty. No one likes to feel like they’re being ripped off or cheated. No one likes to feel oppressed by “the man”. No one likes to pay for services not received. Those feelings have led to some great songs.

    Fight The Power by The Isley Brothers

    I was first introduced to this song by my friend, Weird Wilbur, who had used it as background music for one of his videos on YouTube. There’s something about this funky groove that makes me want to fight the power.

    Fight The Power by Public Enemy

    Years later, Public Enemy had their own hit called “Fight The Power”. It was used as the theme for Spike Lee’s film, Do The Right Thing, and includes samples from James Brown’s “Hot Pants”. Granted, both “Fight The Powers” are about racial oppression, but in the end, we all hate being screwed.

    Cash In Your Face by Stevie Wonder

    “Cash In Your Face” is a great song by Stevie Wonder addressing racial discrimination. The lyrics are heartbreaking; Stevie adopts a flat voice as he plays the man in charge denying housing or employment to people of color.

    Backstabbers by The O’Jays

    “What they doin’?” Smiling in your face, right? While they smile at you, they screw you over. This song is about dishonest “friends” trying to steal the singer’s woman. Personally, I don’t think it’s possible for people to steal other peoples’ significant others. However, the “smiling in your face” motif definitely comes into play when you’re dealing with politicians and customer service people. They bullshit you into thinking they’re helping you, when in fact you’re about to get it.

    Fucked Up, Fucked Over, and Hungry by Weird Wilbur

    Here’s a song by Weird Wilbur about a guy who gets screwed over when trying to launch a record deal because he fell for bullshit promises.

    If I Had The Copyright (The F Word Song) by Carla Ulbrich

    This song isn’t so much about being screwed by the man. It’s more about someone imagining being one of the wealthy making money off others. For some reason, this song skips at the end. Other versions are on YouTube, but they’re bleeped and I’m in the mood for profanity. I must warn you that the above song is not work or kid friendly.

    Anyway, I know I should write letters, make phone calls, and complain a lot. But despite appearances, I don’t enjoy complaining and I hate being on the phone with people who are both unsympathetic and uninformed. Anyway, I hope to be in a better mood by Friday.

  • Happy anniversary to me!

    Happy anniversary to me!

    Bill and me today!
    Bill and me today!

    I’m delighted to report that after eleven years of marriage, I still feel like saying “Happy anniversary to me!”

    My husband Bill and I were married on a rainy Saturday at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. The date was November 16th, 2002. It was Bill’s second trip down the aisle and my first. It’s hard to believe all that has transpired since that fateful day eleven years ago. For the most part, time has really flown. I love Bill more today than I ever have. Every day, I find new reasons to be glad we found each other. In the spirit of my celebratory mood, I have decided to write a post about the music that has meant a lot to me in my relationship with Bill.

    The Ceremony

    I will never forget planning our nuptials. It was a stressful time, mainly because for half the time leading up to our wedding, I was finishing graduate school. We were also really broke. Nevertheless, I determined that I would choose music for the wedding that meant a lot to us. Bill and I are both of Celtic descent. I have more Scottish ancestry, while he is very Irish. I wanted our wedding to be kind of Celtic, while it was also military. No one wore a kilt, with the exception of the guy who played the bagpipes during my walk down the aisle. I chose to eschew the usual “Bridal Chorus” in lieu of a beautiful piece called “Highland Cathedral”. “Highland Cathedral” was composed by two Germans in 1985, yet it sounds like it could be an ancient Scottish piece. The first time I heard it, it was 2001 and I was at a kirk’in of the tartans in Columbia, South Carolina. I was moved to tears and determined that I would use that piece in my wedding if I ever got married. Sure enough, I used it to great success.


    This is a video I made after Bill and I visited Scotland for our 10th anniversary. I used Phil Coulter’s version of “Highland Cathedral” followed by Amy Grant’s very different version of “Highland Cathedral”.

    At my wedding, we had an organist and bagpiper play “Highland Cathedral” together and it sounded something like this…

    Other music used in our ceremony were basic hymns. I also had people sing hymns for us, since I am always singing for them!

    Love songs

    There are quite a few love songs that make me think of my relationship with Bill. Our first dance was to “Someone To Watch Over Me”, a classic Gershwin tune.


    Amy Winehouse singing “our song”.

    But there are plenty of other mushy songs that make me go weak in the knees when I hear them. For instance, I gave serious thought to us dancing to this song by Lyle Lovett…


    It captures my sense of humor, but doesn’t really reflect the truth…

    A better song might have been this one by Beth Nielsen Chapman.


    “All I Have” is a gorgeous wedding song, but harder to dance to.


    My version of Beth Nielsen Chapman’s pretty love song.

    Other songs that come to mind are Judy Collins’ version of “In My Life” and Don Henley’s “Taking You Home”, both of which I recorded recently.


    Judy Collins singing in 1966.


    I covered Judy Collins’ cover of the Beatles’ “In My Life”.

    There have been other, less lovey songs that have inspired Bill and me. While we are in love with each other, our marriage is really more like a great friendship. And we do a lot of things that great friends do together, like drink a lot of beer.


    This video includes “King of Beers” by Too Much Joy and “Beer Run” by Todd Snider, as well as photos of Bill enjoying our favorite pastime.

    In any case, I feel pretty sure tomorrow we’ll have a great time. We usually take trips for our anniversary, but this year’s move and my recent dental woes precluded that. I have high hopes for next year, though! Have a great weekend, y’all!