The Toolbox: Music

Beautiful movie on resilience, persistence, finding a way forward, building creativity, and connection.  Stuff that matters.

Finale song from the movie "Save the Last Dance."  The music alone is an amplifier, but the final scene in the movie with this song is even more so.  Excerpted lyrics below are from here:

"It's the chance of life, get ready, set, fly high.
Above the fear of your mind, go for it.
It's hit or miss, too late for you to quit.
You gotta show 'em how bad you really want this, so...

Live your dreams, it's not as hard as it may seem.
You gotta work to get the green, on your hopes you must lean
From your fears, you have to wean yourself.
It's all or nothing, give your everything...

...Are what you believe, you got to bring the dreams.
Set the pace, competitions take the lead.
This is it, all eyes on you.
So stay on point and prove,
that you deserve whats long overdue...

...My heart is still recovering,
From the heartbreak of another kind,
I'm still drying my tears.
Getting over my own fears in my life.
So I wanna make sure this time that I'm strong enough,
To give it my all...

...So you gotta live your dreams,
So don't you be afraid.
Just set the pace, and take the lead,
It's your time to shine.
Please believe."

This song is in the resource section because it is hilarious, much like "The Lego Movie" that it came from (2014).  And then there's the fact that "counterfear" is all about "the opposite of darkness" vs. the focus of this song:  DARKNESS.  It's funnier when you have the movie context to add irony, but it's pretty good either way.  LYRICS, via a double-length (repeated verse) version here:  "Darkness / No parents / Continued darkness / More darkness / Get it? / The opposite of light!!! / Black hole / Curtains drawn / In the basement / Middle of the night / Blacked out windows / Black suit / Black coffee / You get it that's just the first verse! / Darkness / No parents / Super rich / Kinda makes it better!!!!!"

Some roots go so deep that they're unexplainable.  Ties that bind.  This song is posted in honor of those - they are our anchors.

Quality programming from CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  2:08 min.

Craig and company sync to "I Will Melt With You," by Modern English, on CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Theme song from The Lego Movie.  Intro lyrics from Google Play:  "Everything is awesome / Everything is cool when you're part of a team / Everything is awesome when we're living our dream / Everything is better when we stick together / Side by side, you and I gonna win forever, let's party forever / We're the same, I'm like you, you're like me, we're all working in harmony..."

Video of "Feel Good Inc.," by Gorillaz.  Not censored.

"Feel so close" - Calvin Harris.  "I feel so close to you right now."  If you are looking for a video of community and neighbors and fun and people taking care of each other, this is hard to beat.  Fantastic.  I learned of this video when I friend I was rooming with at an amazing convention woke up with the lyrics in her head from a dream.  We Googled it, and this came up.  We should have expected nothing less.

Gangsta's Paradise, with closed-captioning.  Lyrics included on the YouTube page.

Official Lyrics Minions Version of Pharrell Williams' "Happy," from the Despicable Me 2 movie soundtrack.  From the YouTube:  "check out http://24hoursofhappy.com to experience the world's first 24 hour music video!"

From The Walking Dead collection.  With lyrics.  A good anchor for going through a tough time... like a big move, or a leg break, or a career change, or a bunch of stuff like that all at once.  Here is the original scene, although it makes more sense if you've been watching the show.

Added 8/26/16.  Lyrics here.  "So I, I bet my life, I bet my life, I bet my life on you..."

"Tubthumping," by Chumbawamba.  It's no secret that this song is about drinking, but the chorus is fantastic for thinking resilience:  "I get knocked down... but I get up again... you are never gonna keep me down...."

"Changes" Lyric Video, by Longhorne Slim & The Law.

You can't beat this if you need an inspirational-leaping-or-fighter-type song... "Livin' on a Prayer," by Bon Jovi.  A sparkly diamond from the world of 1986.

The link is the opening scene from the movie Stigmata, with the song "Mary, Mary" by Chumbawamba.  Full song available here.

My gypsy road couldn't take me home either, so I finally switched roads.  A little something for the GenX crowd; an homage to roots & home... and the road.

"Start livin', that's the next thing on my list..."

"No Time to Kill," song by Clint Black.  Lyrics here.

Excerpt:  "No time to kill, even I've said it, and probably always will... But I can look ahead and see that time ain't standin' still... No time to kill but time to change the kind of hurry I've been in... And quit this work and worry lookin' back at where I've been... If you don't look ahead nobody will, there's no time to kill."

"Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses.

This song does not meet any particular counterfear goal except that it kept me sane through countless stop-and-go commutes in the Washington, DC area.  Some time after the song came out, there was some fuss over the lyrics having to do with shooting and guns and running, which would have been obvious to anyone who actually listened to the lyrics in the first place.

Fantastic music & community/neighbor/people video.  Michael Franti & Spearhead - "Say Hey (I Love You)."  Try dancing around to this one for a while.  If you need an extra laugh on top of all this happiness, try "Craig Ferguson Says Hey! I Love you!"  There may be puppets.  Just saying.

State of Mind song, by Clint Black.  Lyrics here.  Excerpt:  "It can make a right from a wrong, it can make you fall in love, It can get you singin' along, Chase the clouds away and make the sun shine above.  A melody can bring back a memory, Take you to another place in time, Completely change your state of mind."

Thrift Shop (featuring Wanz) by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.  UNCENSORED.

The "Top Gun" movie anthem, by Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens.

From the Walking Dead collection.  Posted 9/11/2017.  Lyrics here.  "I'm going to get myself in fighting trim; Scope out every angle of unfair advantage..."

Katrina & The Waves (not the hurricane) - "Walking on Sunshine."  One of the best-ever quick-pick-me-ups - 

"We Are Young," by Fun, featuring Janelle Monae.  Disturbing opening lyrics in what sounds like domestic violence, which is not okay.  The chorus resonates: "Tonight... we are young... so let's set the world on fire... we can burn brighter... than the sun..."

Country. "Where the sidewalk ends and the road begins / We said goodbye on a cold dark night / I'm not afraid to go you bet I'm not / Where the side walk ends, you left a lot."  Lyrics here.

This here is the version of "Wonderful Night" by Fatboy Slim, as shown on CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  Hilarious.  Maybe not for kiddos.

There is always something viral and funny on the YouTube; it is a great counterfear tool.  If you need a laugh and you're new to The Internet, try searching YouTube for "hilarious" + "cat".  YouTube is a great source for a million other resources - from movies to training to inspiration.