Terrific Tune Tuesday

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

I think I’ll add a new T-word each Tuesday…we’ll see how long that lasts. Comment with any t-words, I’m sure I’ll run out soon.

Go.

Song: Life is Wonderful
Artist: Jason Mraz
Album: Mr. A-Z

This is probably one of my favorite albums, if not #1. And Jason Mraz has been a favorite of mine for quite a few years. Mraz’s brilliant writing skills, wit, humor, and obvious musical abilities are incredible and show wonderfully on this CD.

“Life is Wonderful” is the first track on the CD and Mraz uses his elegant voice to express common thought-provoking questions, like which came first the chicken or the egg…

It takes an egg to make a hen
It takes a hen to make an egg
There is no end to what I'm saying

But then lead into new questions that get the listener to think outside of the box…

And it takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
It takes some fears to make you trust
It takes those tears to make it rust
It takes the dust to have it polished

I had to listen over and over to those last three lines, but the meaning is inspiring.

In this song, Mraz moves smoothly across musical styles to represent just what the lyrics state—life can be a string of turns and twists and highs and lows; but in the end, life is wonderful.

Mraz uses the technique of different musical styles throughout the whole CD with a touch of opera, love ballads, insane piano solos, 70’s vibe, bluesy, Latin, and even a classic sound like the Beatles. All of these styles and “Life is Wonderful” convey a common theme, that life is complex, full of emotions, joy, and pain, but in the end is wonderful.

End.