Red

It's time.  It's been promised, and I like to keep my promises.

I thought that before we begin reviewing the songs, we should pay attention to her style.  Taylor is known for her red lips, winged eyeliner and seemingly flawless skin.  I would categorize her style as chic and modest.  Her good reputation still reigns over her fellow singer/songwriters.  She has become a style icon and role model for many young girls, like me.  Plus, she writes some pretty darn good songs!

She has definitely grown up since some of her first songs.  Her style and sound have matured and improved.  She has become an individual.  Also, did you notice her hair?!  Instead of sticking with her famous curls, she has started to straighten her hair and then curl it again.  I think it really fits her new style, but I'm sad to see her change it up!

I thought that I would just link the track-list below and talk about some of my personal favorites from the album (even though every one of them is gorgeous).  Click on a few to try them out.  It won't take you away from the blog, just open a new window.

1.  State of Grace

2.  Red

3.  Treacherous

4.  I Knew You Were Trouble

5.  All Too Well

6.  22

7.  I Almost Do

8.  We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

9.  Stay Stay Stay

10.  The Last Time (ft. Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol)

11.  Holy Ground

12.  Sad Beautiful Tragic

13.  The Lucky One

14.  Everything Has Changed (ft. Ed Sheeran)

15.  Starlight

16.  Begin Again

17.  The Moment I Knew

18.  Come Back... Be Here

19.  Girl At Home

I tried not to link the pitched version of the songs, but I apologize if I accidentally did.  It's hard to find the real version now a days with YouTube becoming so strict!  So I wanted to just talk about a few of my favorite songs from her album.

Okay, so my absolute favorite one of hers off this album would have to be "I Knew You Were Trouble".  It's a very upbeat song, different than her usual style.  This one and "22" are considered more pop than country.  I love them both, because of how catchy they are.  They just stick in your brain very easily.

Another one I've loved listening to is "Red".  It's the title track of this album and you may have also heard it in a recent Target commercial.  I think it has the most even mix of country and pop.  It's very much like what we think of as Taylor.  The lyrics are so meaningful and real.

The last one I'll talk about is "Everything Has Changed".  First and foremost, it's got Ed Sheeran.  Ed freaking Sheeran.  I'm in love :) If you don't know who he is, he is a British singer/songwriter who, like Taylor, is considered one of the best.  He actually wrote Little Things by One Direction.  I'll leave that down below.  He is amazing!  This song is so simple and catchy.  Like all of Ed's songs, it has a solemn feel to it, but still lovable.  I definitely recommend it.

The tracks above are from the deluxe edition (available at Target).  Check it out and support Taylor if you like the songs.  The album just made my Christmas wish list!

I hope you all have an amazing fall break!  I love you all!

Much Love,

Proof of Your Love

Some of you may have already read this post when it was on my other blog, so you don't have to read it again.  I promise, there will be new stuff soon!  I'm already working on it!

When I decided to create a new blog, I needed a name.  After playing with all kinds of different combinations of strange names, I decided to hunt down some inspiration.  I knew that I needed a little refreshing spritz of creativity.  Even when I have a block of some sorts, I can always count on music to produce new ideas.  The web address from this blog actually came from the song "Already There" by Casting Crowns.

That's when I started humming,"Let my life be the proof, the proof of your love!"

That song had been stuck in my head for ages.  What better way to let it overtake me than to let it inspire me?  It was absolute perfect timing.  The only problem was that I had not yet come up with a good  name.

I pulled up the lyrics, the video and even an interview to get a real good look at the song.  However, I eventually came back to the first verse.  Personally, I think this is one of the most brilliant songs I've heard in a long while.  Even at the beginning, you get a powerful message.  Here's how the verse goes.

"If I sing but don't have love

 I waste my breath with every song

 I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise

 If I speak with a silver tongue

 Convince a crowd but don't have love

 I leave a bitter taste with every word I say"

That was it.  No Wasted Breath.  It was everything I had hoped for, but more.  I loved how it played in well with this particular song, but also as a blog.  I thought it was kind of clever, since I don't talk or "waste breath" to write and create these posts.  Since people won't automatically think of For King and Country or this song, it's good to have a meaning that still makes sense.

As I said previously, I'm in love with this song and the band, For King and Country.  Luke and Joel, these talented musicians, are just plain amazing.  For starters, they're from Sydney, Australia.  See, my name is Sydney, so that's pretty cool :).  I love how they are so unique and original.  Aside from their beautiful voices, they use and play all of these different instruments like the "Magic Box" and the glockenspiel.  The different elements make their music so much more fun and add really cool layers.

One last thing is about the monologue in the song.  It is the verse that, I suppose, inspired this piece.  That would be 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.  It goes like this.

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.  If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.  If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."

Isn't that so overwhelmingly powerful?  Even better, it's straight from the King, my King.

I would definitely recommend checking them out if you haven't already.  I'll link a lyric video below, so go listen to it!  I hope you enjoy it as much and thoroughly as I did.

Much Love!

If Today Was Your Last Day

I got to thinking about what I would do if I knew I only had one day left to live.  All the people I'd see and the places I'd go.  The food I would eat or the books I would read.  My inspiration was from Nickelback's "If Today Was Your Last Day," hence the title of this post.  I encourage you to play this video.  It's a great song with a great message.  Basically, it says to do what you want with your life right now.  Don't just cruise along and hope it turns out right.  There's no second chances, so live like there's no tomorrow.  But we don't ever to die.  We live to please and have fun.  We prepare for the future and sometimes fail to live in the moment.  I'm not telling you to quit school and never think about things, but just live a little.  Do some things that make you smile and don't regret them.  It'll always be worth the price.  So what would I do if there was only one more day?

Honestly, I would start off the day thinking about how I only have one day left of my life.  Then, I would dig out all the money I had and give it to a local charity.  I would call up all my friends, or go talk to them myself and tell them what they mean to me.  I wouldn't want to go anywhere big on my last day.  I would just end up spending a bunch of time in the car/plane.  I would go and tell everyone about how Jesus loves everyone and hope that they'd spread the news when I left.  I would go through all of my old pictures and take in every moment of my life just once more.  Then, run around outside barefoot.  Run around on the pine needles and hot cement.  Take a short dip in the pool and run around a while.  I would eat some of my favorite foods and spend some time with my family.  Of course, I would thank God for that last day and prepare to come into his kingdom.  Read some of my favorite versus in the Bible and enjoy his creations.  Listen to my favorite music.  Pretty much, do everything  that makes me happy I'm alive.  I would also call up all of my enemies and forgive them.  Tell them I am sorry for what I may have say to them and hope for forgiveness in return.  All that in one day.  What would you do?