Tag Archives: music

Beastie Boys – No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Inspiration Behind No Sleep Till Brooklyn:

Adam Yauch’s punk band, developed a riff from the Motörhead’s 1981 album No Sleep ’til Hammersmith. Since Yauch had used “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” as a song title before, he thought this would be a good fit for the Beastie Boys. No Sleep Til Brooklyn is a mix of rap. hard rock and metal. The title suggests the old motto “rock til you drop.”

Biblical Application:

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[d]? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[e] and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone, James 2:20-24.

Exegesis of No Sleep Til Brooklyn:

No sleep ’til
Brooklyn

Staying energized until arriving or after this show. Perhaps the last stop on one of their tours.

Foot on the pedal, never ever false metal
Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle
My job ain’t a job, it’s a damn good time
City to city, I’m running my rhymes
On location, touring around the nation
Beastie Boys always on vacation
Itchy trigger finger, but a stable turntable
I do what I do best because I’m illing and able
Ain’t no faking, your money I’m taking
Going coast to coast to watch all the girlies shaking
While you’re at the job working nine-to-five
The Beastie Boys at the Garden cold kicking it live

Rapping and performing at concerts is a blast, requiring tons of energy. While touring with the Beastie Boys, their motto is we’re always on vacation. The preparations and efforts necessary to put on a memorable show. The band uses an analogy about how great their life is playing at Madison Square Garden.

No sleep ’til

Keep pressing on.

Another plane, another train
Another bottle in the brain
Another girl, another fight
Another drive all night

The travel involved in being on tour can be grueling. Sometimes drugs were necessary to keep going. Down time is spent with women or alone on the next flight out of town.

Our manager’s crazy, he always smokes dust
He’s got his own room at the back of the bus
Tour around the world, you rock around the clock
Plane to hotel, girls on the jock
We’re trashing hotels like it’s going out of style
Getting paid along the way ’cause it’s worth your while
Four on the floor, Ad-Rock’s out the door
MCA’s in the back ’cause he’s skeezing with a whore
We got a safe in the trunk with money in a stack
With dice in the front and Brooklyn’s in the back
White boys got more rhymes

Then band manager has a drug problem with his own room at the back of their tour bus. This is what is necessary when you’re constantly on tour, traveling around the world. This type of lifestyle is leaving behind a path of destruction. This is what happens when you feed your sinful nature. This image of cash and gambling points to a reckless lifestyle that these rappers were seeking to enjoy while their stardom remained bright.

No sleep ’til

No sleep ’til Brooklyn
No sleep ’til Brooklyn

The Beastie Boys lived each day to the fullest, but not in an honorable fashion.

Ain’t seen the light since we started this band
So, MCA, get on the mic, my man!

Staying up late often, means sleeping all day, The lead singer keeps his focus on the next concept and rap.

Born and bred in Brooklyn USA
They call me Adam Yauch, but I’m MCA
Like a lemon to a lime, a lime to a lemon
I sip the Def ale with all the fly women
Limos, arenas, and TV shows
Autographed pictures and classy hoes
Step off, Holmes, get out of my way!
Taxing little girlies from here to LA
Waking up before I get to sleep
‘Cause I’ll be rocking this party eight days a week

Adam shares a little bit about himself as well as how he likes to spend his days. The media attention, groupies who threw themselves at band members and daily schedule felt like partying 8 days a week.

No sleep ’til

No sleep ’til Brooklyn
No sleep ’til Brooklyn
No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn (’til Brooklyn)
No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn

The mindset necessary to tour around the world.

No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
No (no) sleep (sleep) ’til Brooklyn (Brooklyn)

When you are young, you can live this way for a while. At some point, you will crash.

Final Thoughts:

While in college, I discovered that I did my best studying late at night. After dinner, I would grab a Big Gulp of Mountain Dew, find a quiet room on campus and stay up all night to prepare for my next exam. This setting was free from distractions; I had caffeine to keep me awake and the adrenaline of this looming test keep me going all night. Yet, now as an adult, staying up past 10 PM is a rare occurrence. You can’t keep up this pace forever. If you asked the members of the Beastie Boys today, they would probably have a similar story about crashing at some point.

by Jay Mankus

Darius Rucker – Wagon Wheel (Lyrics)

Inspiration Behind Wagon Wheel:

Wagon Wheel was inspired by his daughter’s talent show at her school. This rendition rekindled Rucker’s appreciation for Bob Dylan’s demo that was completed by Ketch Secor of the Old Crow Medicine Show. Upon hearing the faculty band perform “Wagon Wheel,” Darius turned to his wife saying, “I need to cut this song.” This set into motion Rucker’s version of Wagon Wheel.

Biblical Application:

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. ² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” ³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about, Genesis 22:1-3.

Exegesis of Wagon Wheel:

Heading down south to the land of the pines
I’m thumbing my way into North Caroline
Staring up the road and pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in 17 hours
Picking me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I’m a-hoping for Raleigh, I can see my baby tonight

Traveling south to North Carolina. Daruis is driving all night to avoid traffic, hoping he doesn’t fall asleep. After 17 hours in a car, Darius stops off to pick up flowers. Darius is driving home to see his wife and or newborn child.

So rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel
Rock me, mama, any way you feel
Hey, mama, rock me
Rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, mama, rock me

Darius transitions from his version to the original chorus. It appears to be a mother is holding and rocking a newborn baby. A train is compared with a wagon wheel, impacted by the weather.

Running from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
My baby plays the guitar, I pick a banjo now
Oh, north-country winters keep a-getting me down
Lost my money playing poker, so I had to leave town
But I ain’t turning back to living that old life no more

Since Darius was born in South Carolina, this is either about Bob Dylan or Ketch Secor. While Dylan was born in Minnesota, this stanza could be about him or another musician who learned to play a guitar early on. Gambling stalled his career initially.

So rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel

Rock me, mama, any way you feel
Hey, mama, rock me
Yeah, rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, mama, rock me

The chorus is repeated. There is something comforting about being held and rocked. The child inside doesn’t care how he is rocked, as long as he is held by his mom.

Walking to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly, had a nice long toke
But he’s a-headed west from the Cumberland gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I got to get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby calling my name, and I know that she’s the only one
And if I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free

Hitch hiking led to a pleasant ride in Virginia and Tennessee. Then a call from his girlfriend or wife leads him back to North Carolina.

So rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel
Rock me, mama, any way you feel
Hey, mama, rock me
Oh, rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, hey, mama, rock me, oh

If you haven’t been on a horse and carriage before, it’s hard to get a sense for the opening of this chorus. Yet, being held by a parent provides a sense of security within a child.

So rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel
Rock me, mama, any way you feel (oh, I wanna feel)
Hey, hey, mama, rock me
Mama, rock me, mama, rock me
Rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain (oh)
Rock me, mama, like a southbound train
Hey, yeah-yeah, mama, rock me
You can rock me, rock me

The final chorus made me visualize a mother on her front porch, sitting in a rocking chair, rocking a child back to sleep.

Final Thoughts:

The Wagon Wheel takes me back to the first time I rode on a horse and carriage in Williamsburg, Virginia. Yet, growing up in Delaware, every house had a front porch where you would sit and talk every evening in the summer. Nearly every porch had at least one rocking chair. These are the memories that came racing back to my mind as I listened to Wagon Wheels.

by Jay Mankus

Brad Paisley – American Saturday Night (Official Video)

Inspiration Behind American Saturday Night:

American Saturday Night was a collaboration between Ashley Gorley, Kelley Lovelace and Brad Paisley. The goal of this song was to create a sing along anthem to celebrate the cultural melting pot of the United States. American Saturday Night marked a shift in Paisley’s earlier comedic style toward a clever, up-tempo country sound.

Biblical Application:

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you, Deuteronomy 6:1-3.

Exegesis of American Saturday Night:

Whoa-oh-oh-oh)

Whoa-oh-oh-oh

Fun introduction to set the tone.

She’s got Brazilian leather boots on the pedal of her German car
Listenin’ to The Beatles singin’ “Back in the USSR”
Yes, she’s going ’round the world tonight, but she ain’t leavin’ here
She’s just going to meet her boyfriend down at the street fair

You can buy almost anything in America. Meanwhile, you have the freedom to listen to the music that you enjoy. Apparently, her choice of music is international, but she is simply going across town to meet her boyfriend.

And it’s a French kiss, Italian ice
Spanish moss in the moonlight (whoa-oh-oh-oh)
Just another American Saturday night

Highlights from their date, ending with a romantic setting.

There’s a big toga party tonight down at Delta Chi
They got Canadian bacon on their pizza pie
They got a cooler full of cold Coronas and Amstel Light
It’s like we’re all livin’ in a big old cup
Just fire up the blender, mix it all up

On campus there is another celebration. The final portion of this stanza sums up America’s ability to embrace, blend and mix up multiple cultures and nationalities.

It’s a French kiss, Italian ice
Margaritas in the moonlight (whoa-oh-oh-oh)
Just another American Saturday night

Back to the chorus which adds French and Italian to highlight America’s melting pot.

And you know everywhere has something they’re known for
Although usually it washes up on our shores
My great-great-great-granddaddy stepped off of that ship
I bet he never ever dreamed we’d have all this

America is a place where immigrants flocked to, beginning a new life. While every country has their own special foods and traditions, this country is filled with individuals from all over the world. Despite leaving their former countries, you still have access to so many things from outside of America.

You know everywhere has something they’re known for
Although usually it washes up on our shores
A little Italy and Chinatown sittin’ there side by side
Live from New York (it’s Saturday night)

This stanza is repeated from earlier with the final 2 lines different. If you want to experience certain foods or towns, large cities like New York have everything available for you on any Saturday night.

It’s a French kiss, Italian ice
Spanish moss in the moonlight (whoa-oh-oh-oh)
Just another American, I’m just another American
And it’s just another American Saturday night

A final glimpse of what you might experience while out on a date in America on a Saturday night.

Final Thoughts:

While visiting states on vacation over the years, there are certain chain convenience stores, gas stations and restaurants that only exist is specific areas of this country. Subsequently, whenever I go on vacation, there are a few establishments that I must visit at least once to get my fix. These are the Diners, Drive ins and Dives that make small towns stand out. Before the summer ends, don’t forget to visit one of these special places in America.

by Jay Mankus