Tuesday, October 8, 2013

A visual review of Lee DeWyze "Frames" track #2 : Fire Away"


 
Track 2 of this Album is contagious. You can feel the energy and it makes you want to sing along. To ME, this song seems to represent dealing with the backlash of fame. Sure, you get all these fans that love what you do… But no matter how good you are at something- there are going to be the doubters & the haters… To me this song is telling them to say whatever they want, but it's not going to affect you…. I think that is what Lee does. He knows the kind of musician he is and he fights for that… it's one of the things I admire most about him. He stays true to himself and I think that's rare when you are in the spot light…
 
This is another song that just makes you want to dance. (actually, I'm dancing right now…)
 
I thought about this song and I wanted to capture the image of "Fire Away" with bullets, but that's not really my style.
 
One night, I actually stayed up tossing and turning an entire night because I could not stop thinking of all the ways I wanted to represent this song. Finally, I had the best idea. I painted the canvas to look like old and tattered wallpaper- with a retro girly feel (to counter balance the bullet holes of course) but in order to really show you the  "the bullet holes already in the wall".. That's what I did….I put bullet holes in the canvas….  No, I did not shoot my canvas,(although I did think about taking it to a shooting range, but quickly dismissed that idea, as it would have exploded the canvas. Haha, but I thought about it)  After the wall was painted, I actually took two bottle caps and pushed them through the fabric, then filled it with oil paint to be the “inside of the wall” after the bullet busted through… clever, right? I woke up that morning and started right away, before I finished my first cup of coffee, this painting was well on it's way….
 
**wanna know a secret? After that sleepless night of thinking…I not only created THIS  painting, but at the same time I started working on another painting that you will hear about later. ..I did two paintings at the same time… this is how jumbled my creative mind gets…


**Mare's point of view as a fan of the music:
 
This song lights a fire under my..... well.... it gets me going. In all seriousness, I play it EVERY morning. Jenn sent me her draft before I had given this post much thought. I wrote her back saying we had “same brain syndrome”.... meaning there isn’t much I could add that hadn’t already been said. It really is a circle. I had also seen this artwork in progress through many texts and phone calls and know the thought process behind each step, from sketch to canvas. 

For me, this song is about standing up to negativity and knowing yourself and believing in yourself enough to let the negative roll off of you... and not wasting your time getting caught up in it. People will always have negative things to say about something you’ve done, and when you’re in the spotlight.... multiply that by 1000. It takes a brave person, but also one who knows who they are to basically say.... go scratch, you have no power over me. 

Two quotes that I love: 

“The strong-minded rise to the challenge of their goals and dreams. The weak-minded become haters.” ~ Dr. Steve Marboli

“You’ve got enemies? Good. That means you actually stood up for something in your life.” ~ Eminem

Staying true to who he is and always has been.... Fire Away IS Lee Dewyze. Maybe that’s why I love this song so much? It’s either that, or.... His SICK amount of skills on the guitar in this one. 

The art, at first, looks simple.... pretty. Look closer. It’s rough, textured, almost scratched and imperfect. That wall has been around for awhile. Those bullet holes... the damage to the wall.... actually make the wall have a kind of depth. A perfect imperfection. And the wall still stands. It's a strong wall. Sound familiar? It does to me.....
 
** Danielle's point if view based on the art alone:
 
Fire away...when I look at this painting I'm overwhelmed with memories...I mean...hello forget me nots!! Its like the painting is telling me that even though life flies by and we get hazy....don't forget what got you where you are. The holes are like those times I question how I made it to where I am in life...with all that's thrown my way and how fast time has flown by....the painting says to me....Remember and within lies the answer

You can listen to "Fire Away" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyrEoWcMXGo&sns=em

* This video was taken by Kelly , @LeesBiggestFan (thank you Kelly! ) 
 
"Fire Away"

Fire Away, Fire Away, the bullet holes already in the wall
 
Fire Away, Fire Away, I'll do my very best to catch Em' all
 
And now there's holes up in the ceiling and I'm afraid that the ceilings gonna fall
 
One of us is walking out alive, and the others gonna crawl
 
Oh fire away, fire away
I'm saving all my fire for another day
So you go right ahead and fire away
 
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
 
Fire away, fire away
I'm saving all my fire for another day
So you go right ahead and fire away
 
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
 
Fire away fire away, I'm walking out the door if you'll allow
Fire away fire away, I'm still alive and breathing, don't stop now
But now there's holes up in the ceiling, and I'm afraid that the ceilings coming down
One of us is walking out alive, and the others in the ground
 
Oh fire away fire away
I'm saving all my fire for another day
So you go right ahead and fire away
 
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
 

Stay tuned... Next up will be "Silver Lining" ..... Soon ( wink) 

 
 

1 comment:

  1. Another favorite, from the vintage Victorian style wallpaper with forget-me-nots (memories, things remembered) to the technique Jenn came up with to create the "gouges" in the paper. It's got a story to tell...a story of survival. Beauty from scars

    Love this Mare quote:
    "For me, this song is about standing up to negativity and knowing yourself and believing in yourself enough to let the negative roll off of you... and not wasting your time getting caught up in it."

    This year has been one in learning to become more secure in who I am. Like anyone, I've encountered my own share of "haters". But I still stand, and am learning it's not my job to please everybody. That depletes authenticity and integrity.

    Our "job" is to learn how to use our unique stories to give and love. We are "perfected imperfection[s]", so good we can say to the haters, "Scratch. You have no power over me."

    Thanks for this encouraging post, gals!

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