MUSIC: Can We Use It To Win?

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Original Link:

http://www.whatyouwanttobelievein.com/14343.html

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Vijay Sarma - 2010 Mayor of Toronto Hopeful

1512-C Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 1T5

Vijay.Sarma@gmail.com | 647-857-5755

http://WhatYouWantToBelieveIn.com

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One of the most powerful tools we have to get us in the mood to fight for our future is music. It doesn't even have to be related to what we work on. Many of us already use it to work out, relax, escape, etc. But, it can also give us the energy to deal with serious issues in confident ways.

For example, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps said he used commercial hip hop music to help him train and win 12 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. While the aggressive content had nothing to do with swimming, he just translated it for his needs. We can all do the same thing.

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But, we should try doing something for other people, not just ourselves. Otherwise a lot of our modern music will reinforce our selfishness and isolation. We can also find older music with better messages reinforced to help us counter what we get. We can listen to both for balance.

Once we work on something that reflects better values, we can even use the bragging in music to boost our efforts. We're all raised on this culture and like parts of it, so instead of giving it up, just use it to do something worthwhile. It's hard today. So brag about it instead of feeling bad.

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Some people stop looking for new music after they're young or leave high school or college. This is a mistake. Instead of just feeling nostalgic, wishing you were a kid again and possibly becoming one, you can find something new that reinforces your ability to be happy as an adult.

Most of our problems have been the same forever. This always happens when corrupt people are in charge. While many people point this out, the ones we like the most are musicians who give us the truth with the energy to handle it. We have all the answers and inspiration we need.

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Bob Marley is probably the best at doing this. He tried to translate complex ideas into simple messages for his mostly impoverished and illiterate audience. They got it. We can too. While many people use Bob's music to escape, if you use it to connect, you'll make sense of today.

You can still use the music you get for anything. It's your music, so if you're "keeping it real", it's less important for your artists to be, especially when they're often not. Then you won't be warped by your favourite artists changing for the worse. The industry is shady, but we don't have to be.

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You can also try repeating the same song over and over again for hours. It sounds crazy, but if it gets you in the right mood, it can help you stay there. You don't need to stay focused on it, but it can help give you the consistent energy to finish working on stuff instead of getting distracted.

Finally, regardless of what our culture is meant to do to us, we should simply see what we're doing. If our culture is meant to weaken us, are we getting stronger? If we can control our culture instead of letting it control us, we can all find what we need to use to fight for our future and win.

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Enjoy good music to enjoy feeling you more! :-)

Cheers,

Vij

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Good Links To Help Explain Music

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New York Times: Exploring Music’s Hold on the Mind

A Conversation With Aniruddh D. Patel

Three years ago, when Oxford University Press published "Music, Language, and the Brain," Oliver Sacks described it as "a major synthesis that will be indispensable to neuroscientists."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/science/01conv.html?_r=1

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VIDEO: Music and the Mind - 51 mins

In this edition of "Grey Matters," Aniruddh Patel, of the Neurosciences Institute, discusses what music can teach us about the brain, and what brain science, in turn, can reveal about music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKFeuzGEns

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VIDEO: Music and the Brain: The World in Six Songs - 9 mins

Director of McGill University's Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition and Expertise and best-selling author of "This is Your Brain on Music," Daniel Levitin blends cutting-edge scientific findings with his own experiences as a former record producer and still-active musician.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyweM3CH-u0

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Good Links To Help Explain The Music Industry

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MUSIC: Alan Watt Explains the Culture Creation Industry

http://www.archive.org/details/MUSIC_BK_AlanWatt_8Apr2008

http://www.cuttingthroughthematrix.net/radio/Rude_Awakening_Black_Krishna_CKLN_FM.html

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VIGILANT CITIZEN: Former Music Producer Explains The Industry

http://vigilantcitizen.com

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Actor Anthony Mackie says Hollywood is dark, but the music business is a very, very dark place, in every way.

2.52 mins - "The film industry is a dark place, but the music industry is a very, very dark place, in every way. There are no rules. It's mano-a-mano. It's very dangerous. I don't have an appreciation for the industry. I have an appreciation for the art, but not for the industry."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R77eYNZls1A

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When Insiders Expose the Ugly Side of the Entertainment Industry feat. Video

http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=3925

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Some Favourite Musical Lines

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While thinking different thoughts, I often find music helps me figure out and finish them. Since I'm not the same person who's singing or rapping, I translate different lines and emotions in different ways for my purposes. Below are a few examples. To feel yourself, sometimes you need a hand.

Please be aware that there are some censored swear words below. We often get academic ways to explain things so we accept them, but when you want to change them, sometimes "fight music" helps, which sometimes has swear words. It's nothing personal. It's just part of our culture today.

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"You're in control, is there any place you want to go?
You're in control, is there anything you want to know?
The future's for discovering, the space in which we travel in,
From the start of the first page, to the end of the last days,
Somebody listening to what you say,
It doesn't matter who you are....
It doesn't matter who you are..."

- Coldplay, "Square One"

Sample Translation: Knowledge is power and we have technology that can free or enslave us, so as long as we listen to each other, we can each feel valued enough to fight for our future.

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"Confidence in me, is confidence in you, is confidence in a higher space..."

- Coldplay, "High Speed"

Sample Translation: Having confidence in each other is a better reflection of G-d's will about G-d's children on earth, it feels better, we're less paranoid and get better people to hang out with.

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"Them belly full, but they' hungry, a hungry mob is an angry mob..."

- Bob Marley, "Them Belly Full"

Sample Translation: We are overloaded with info-tainment options, yet we always crave more because they don't satisfy us. We wouldn't need to play all the time if it really made us happy.

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"Only the fittest of the fittest, shall survive, stay alive, could you be love? and be loved?"

- Bob Marley, "Could You Be Love?"

Sample Translation: Since the elite are into Darwinism, they want to get us fighting and killing each other for them. Could we act right and feel better so they don't succeed? It's about survival.

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"I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy..."

- Bob Marley, "I Shot The Sheriff"

Sample Translation: Tell the kids screaming "F--k the police!" to shut up and think about whether that helps solve anything or not. Fighting with the boss can change what employees have to do.

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"Though I tried to find the answers, to all the questions they ask,
Though I know it's impossible, to go living through the past,
Can't keep them down,
There's a natural mystic blowing through the air..."

- Bob Marley, "Natural Mystic"

Sample Translation: No matter how many ways we're given to avoid figuring out what's going on and handling it, there's a limit to how much those tricks will work with good forces working for us.

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"Much love, to my brothers in the pen, see ya, when I free ya, if not, when they shut me in..."

- Tupac Shakur, "Holler If U Hear Me"

Sample Translation: I will either see you when I and others help free you from your mind control and you feel your own power, or I'll see you when I succumb to the mind control and lose hope.

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"And now I'm like a major threat, 'cause I remind you of the things, you were made to forget,
Bring the noys, to all my boys, know the real from the bustas and the decoys..."

- Tupac Shakur, "Holler If U Hear Me"

Sample Translation: Learning how to explain things the state doesn't want us to know makes me dangerous, so I hope to help separate the real from the fake to make other guys dangerous too.

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"Probably be punished for it, although you can't ignore it,
I live my life like a thug n-gga, and die for it..."

- Tupac Shakur, "My Ambitions As A Ridah"

Sample Translation: Even though something bad might happen to me, if you know it, that means you know what's happening too. So, I'll keep doing my thing and hope for the best for all of us.

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"A secret psychotic society, somebody save me,
Addicted to drama, so even mama couldn't raise me,
Even my preachers and all my teachers couldn't reach me,
I run in the streets, while puffin' weed with my peeps..."

- Tupac Shakur, "If I Die Tonite"

Sample Translation: With something going on that my youthful authority figures didn't explain, my reaction was to rebel with other confused kids doing the same. That's why we all need to get it.

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"'Cause I'm a renegade, never been afraid to say,
What's on my mind at, any given time of day,
Yes I'm a renegade, never been afraid to talk about anything,
Anything? Anything? Anything!"

- Jay-Z and Eminem, "Renegade"

Sample Translation: When many people are getting more and more afraid to talk about serious issues, I'm not, never have been and never will be. That way we can avoid serious consequences.

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"Just know I'm sane enough, to let you play with my sanity,
Gives a f--k what you think of me, unless you' feedin' my family..."

- Young Jeezy, "My Ambitions As A Hustla"

Sample Translation: Unless you're fighting government and corporate corruption threatening our lives and futures, what you say can't shake me. There's too much at stake. It doesn't matter.

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"You can sound the alarm, you can call out your guards,
You can fence in your yard, you can hold all the cards,
But I won't back down, oh no I won't back down..."

- Eminem feat. Pink, "Won't Back Down"

Sample Translation: They can sic 20,000 cops, troops, mercs and spooks on us and put up a concentration camp's worth of fence during the Toronto G20 Martial Law, but I won't back down.

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"I'm not afraid, to take a stand, everybody, come take my hand,
We'll walk this road together, through the storm, whatever weather, cold or warm,
Just lettin' you know that, you're not alone,
Holler if you feel like you've been down the same road..."

- Eminem, "Not Afraid"

Sample Translation: I can figure out how we can deal with the big "conspiracy" most of us are afraid to talk about, whether things are good or bad. So, please let me know if you're interested.

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"So what's the deal ridaz?
Would you excuse me while I feel my nuts?
My balls are feelin' mighty big now, I might just have to dig down,
And pull 'em through my britches!"

- Eminem, "Ridaz"

Sample Translation: What's going on guys? We saw G20 Martial Law and know things are getting pretty bad, so when will we feel we can handle it? I feel better thinking I can. You should too.

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"I never wanted you to feel so full of anger, I never wanted you to be sombody else,
I never wanted you to be, someone afraid to know themselves,
I only wanted you to see things for yourself!"

- Guns'n'Roses, "Better"

Sample Translation: This was never about "me" being anything. That way I could just be taken out. This was about sharing the truth so we could avoid being confused by the lies and handle it.

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"I bring money to my n-ggaz that bring death to my enemies..."

- 50 Cent, "Death To My Enemies"

Sample Translation: We can use our publicly owned Bank of Canada to loan our City money debt and interest free if we "kill" the ideas of globalization controlling us. Then we can all be richer.

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"N-ggaz'll heat yo' a-- up, 'cause they hearts turned cold,
Now you can be a victim, or you can lock and load..."

- 50 Cent, "In My Hood"

Sample Translation: The corporations poisoning us aren't trying to stop, so they might want to kill us. That means we have to arm ourselves with dirt on them and then blast it out to everybody.

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"I don't trust a motherf--kin' soul, when the D's come they fold, on my first case they told..."

- 50 Cent, "In My Hood"

Sample Translation: When G20 Martial Law happened, half of downtown stayed home and tried to forget about instead of fight it, plus the first time I tried to explain stuff they didn't believe me.

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"I'm a hustler, how the f--k I'm supposed to eat when it's hot?"

- 50 Cent, "In My Hood"

Sample Translation: A few years ago, we had lots of job opportunities and an optimistic future. Now, the "police" or "corporate-banker" state and G20 Martial Law shows times have changed.

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"Yeah, I'm'a pick the world up, and I'm'a drop it on your f--kin' head,
Yeah, I'm'a pick the world up, and I'm'a drop it on your f--kin' head,
'Cause I could die now, rebirth motherf--ker,
Hop up in my spaceship and leave earth motherf--ker,
'Cause I'm gone, motherf--ker I'm gone, I'm gone..."

- Lil' Wayne feat. Eminem, "Drop The World"

Sample Translation: I will blow your mind with what I know because I have to, but even if I can't, I've put out enough work to live on long after I'm gone, so there will be some payback even if I leave.

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"My book of rhymes, got 'em crookin' boy,
This crooked mind of mind, got 'em all shook,
And scared to look in my eyes,
I stole that f--kin' clock, I took the time..."

- Lil' Wayne feat. Eminem, "Drop The World"

Sample Translation: I know the info I put out during G20 Martial Law and other times was seen as valuable, mostly when people were scared, knew I was right, and couldn't look me in the eye.

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"Ain't nuthin' poppin' a tag, we keep the mags 'cause they' mad,
And good ain't gon' outweight the bad,
I'm winnin', they' ain't glad, born ready shot for shot, stab for stab,
'Cause good ain't gon' outweigh the bad,
Bad enough we got the coppers on our tale,
N-ggaz hatin' at an all-time high, the love's stale,
Made man, one and only, better you know me..."

- Lloyd Banks, "Better You Know Me"

Sample Translation: I'm ready to react to anything going down in the hood. It sucked when the cops were sent after us during G20 Martial Law, but we can deal with this stuff. I'll show you how.

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Vijay Sarma - 2010 Mayor of Toronto Hopeful

1512-C Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 1T5

Vijay.Sarma@gmail.com | 647-857-5755

http://WhatYouWantToBelieveIn.com

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