High Hopes: A New Studio Album

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Born to Run Anniversary!


Hey Tramps! This is Laura! Yep, right I am not Margarida, I am her sister! But, let me introduce myself and explain the reason why I am writing here!

My name is Laura (@LauraBTR_Bruce) and regarding Born to Run release 40 years ago today, Margarida challenged my to write a post on her blog! Yet, I have to admit that I am not used to write in blogs and also I admire a lot the posts that she does, so for me it's a doble challenge, write about Bruce's best masterpiece and write in my sister's blog! My sister and I thought many times about me writing in her blog, so, is there any better occasion to do so?

What can I say about the Born to Run album that has not been said yet? Perhaps everybody has his story and ties related to this album that makes it the best music art in the world! I remember a post my sister did about the songs that are in the album, describing every and each song and her feelings through them! I cannot explain better what I feel when Born to Run is played in my IPod! 

But let me tell you something, I am sure everybody will agree with me when I say that the best way to enjoy most of this album's songs is turning the speakers loud! Then, when Bruce and the E Street Band seem to be playing in your living room is when you realize that love exists, that you only need to listen, dance, learn, cry and feel! Not every song requires a dance you know, I can imagine myself listening to Thunder Road without moving any part of my body except a tear coming down my cheeks and then close my eyes and think that the best song ever written in this world was written by Bruce!

This mixture of joy and saddness hidden in Bruce's songs is what I love the most! I think that this perfect contrast of energy and reflection is what makes Born to Run the greatest soundtrack of my life! I believe in Bruce's words and I also reckon that a life with only joy and without sadness is dangerous but also joy without hope is dangerous too! So, the best of both sides is what life's about, is Born to Run philosophy! 

BTR is a scream to the world  by the hand of a young Jersey boy who was BORN TO RUN! Born To Run saved Bruce's career 40 years ago today and some years later has saved a lot of souls because now and forever TRAMPS LIKE US, BABY, WE WERE BORN TO RUN!!  

Hope you all have enjoyed this reading as much as I enjoyed writing it! I also want to say a big thank you to my lovely soul sister for letting me this chance of posting in her blog! 

Hope you all enjoyed, till we meet again, take care!

With all the love in my soul,

Laura R. xxoo




Saturday, August 15, 2015

ELVIS IS ALIVE!

Today is August 16th. This may seem quite a normal day for a lot of people, but it isn’t for a lot of us, rock and roll lovers. On this day back in 1977, newspapers all over the globe had the same message in the cover: “Elvis Presley has died”.  This news left in shock all his fans, who could not believe that the KING OF ROCK AND ROLL would never sing on stage again.





A lot of people usually ask me: “Why do you like Elvis that much?”  My answer is always short, simple and direct: “Because he IS the king”. Now I am going to give more little details about the reasons that lead me to say that.

Elvis was not only a singer, he was THE singer. He opened up a new way of creating, dancing and enjoying music. He told us to move our hips and enjoy the rhythm around. His moves were not well received for everybody and that’s why in most of the TV programs he went, his image appears cut by his hips so we cannot see his leg moves.
Apart of his moves, his voice was special. As most of critics and producers say, he was a white boy with a black voice. That deep voice helped him to move us in each and every song. During the 50’s, that young and sexy boy from Mississipi changed music in each and every single way. He broke the rules, put every person up and started stirring up the building.




The bad side of the story is that someone that creates something of that size in such short time and short age is likely to become a character instead of a person. I think that this is what happened to the world. Everybody forgot that Elvis Aaron Presley was a person with his own life and treated him like a character inside and outside stage or recording studios. He loved his job and the proof is that he did not quit the road life but I am sure that he would have appreciated a bit of air and space from the whole world, who only wanted him to act, sing or dance.


Coming back to my reasons of my love for him, another artist joins the scene: BRUUUUUUUUCE!!! I got into Elvis music thanks to Bruce. Bruce said that thanks to Elvis appearance in the Ed Sullivan Show, he decided that he wanted to be like him and move and play the guitar like him. A lot of times, Bruce has played Elvis songs live and he even wrote a song for him: FIRE! So for me being fan of Elvis is getting to know a little bit more about Bruce and his music influences.




But the main reason why I love Elvis is because I could not help falling in love with him. Every time I see videos of him, I love the way he steps the stage, that confidence but tenderness at the same time is what made him big. He lived his life in his own and unique way.

Do I have a favorite Elvis song? Kind of. Maybe “IF I CAN DREAM” can occupy that 1st position because every time I see Elvis mentioned, I hum the same lyrics:
“We are lost in a cloud with too much rain; we’re trapped in a world that’s troubled with pain. But as long as a man has the strength to dream, he can redeem his soul and fly”
I don’t know if it is because of the music or because of the lyrics but one thing is for sure, it is because of the memories.



The world wasn’t ready to hear that Elvis had left the building the 16th of August of 1977, and neither would be now. My opinion? With only 42 years, Elvis had done more than 30 films and recorded more than 711 songs and that is a lot. I think that all was getting him crazy so he just disappeared. I know that there is a lot of conspiracy around and this is what I think about it. Elvis left our world in 1977 but he did not left his aloha world then.

As I said in the last Blog post about Clarence, someone who has been that big in so many ways never die. People will always remember them and keep them alive.




So this is all for today, grab your ipod, turntable or CD’s collection and start listening to some rock and roll. Then, if you like it, start dancing and you’ll see that life is a little bit better with a cool soundtrack around.



Till we meet again take care of yourselves, 

and Elvis, if you are out there you must know that we are still looking for you! ;)