Posts by redbear12

quietfox38 said:"La Paloma," written back in the 1850s? Honestly, that was probably the world's first actual pop hit. Long before anyone even dreamed up the concept of "pop music," they already had this.

So, here’s the deal with this song. It’s one thing to hear a track playing in the background at a Starbucks, but it’s a whole different beast when you actually sit down and dig into what’s going on under the hood. You know that feeling? When a melody just hits you right in the gut and you realize everything you thought you knew about it was totally wrong? Yeah, that.
So, I was falling down a rabbit hole earlier and stumbled upon this piece called "La Paloma." It’s one of those classic Spanish melodies that somehow ended up everywhere in America. You know the vibe—it’s got that sweeping, romantic, slightly dramatic flair that makes you feel like you should be wearing a tuxedo in a dimly lit jazz club in Chicago or something. It’s basically this legendary waltz that everyone from opera singers to street performers has tried their hand at. It’s catchy, sure, but there’s a certain weight to it. It’s not just some mindless pop tune; it actually carries some soul. Honestly, it’s the kind of song that hits you right in the nostalgia, even if you didn't live through the era it came from. Just one of those timeless things that refuses to go out of style.

I don't know how you're picturing the arrangement exactly, but it’s gotta have that same driving rhythm you hear in that famous aria from the opera Carmen.

Man, I didn't catch that at first, but now that you mention it, it totally sounds like Little Uncle. 😵
It felt a bit out of place sitting there between "O Sole Mio" and all that Verdi stuff.

Greensleeves 1580

1580

A bit more modern. This is how I picture a "pop" version of the Renaissance.🕺

It’s a bit of a slow burn for today's standards, honestly. A little sluggish. But man, that melody? It’s catchy as hell, even if it only repeats three times. Definitely falls under that American folk umbrella. If Simon & Schuster had anything from the Renaissance era, I bet they'd have something like this. They actually did a cover of some famous Renaissance folk tune once, too.

Pop music has always been around. It just used to go by the name "folk." 🤔

People have always wanted to be entertained, so honestly, it’s just common sense that pop music has existed since forever. I’m not talking about today’s Top 40 hits or even what was playing 20 or 30 years ago—I mean the actual "pop-ness" of it. Catchy tunes, stuff you don't have to overthink while listening, simple, fun, relaxing, and yeah, it repeats patterns just to keep things moving. It’s all about the vibe.

Here’s my take. I read somewhere that while music went totally massive in the late 1900s, it was already hitting huge crowds back in the 1800s. People usually claim pop "started" with rock and roll. We had that first big rock era, then it drifted into disco and electronic stuff, and eventually hip-hop showed up. But when I talk about what I mentioned in the first paragraph, I’m not stuck on a specific genre; I’m talking about that pop sensibility.
But wait, what came before rock? You’ve got the jazz era, musicals... but what was considered "serious" music back then? Well, the pop music of those times would’ve been folk or traditional tunes—that was the stuff people played for fun. But here’s the kicker: there’s actually a lot of pop hidden in classical music.

To me, it sounds crazy, but someone like Johann Strauss is basically pure pop.

An Italian track written in 1880.


All these "lighter" musical forms really started popping up once the middle class emerged.
The Baroque period (which I love) and the Classical period (okay, maybe a little less) often feel like they follow the same mold, but the compositions are weirdly catchy.

Back in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (not my favorite, feels a bit too slow for me), you had troubadours, who were essentially the pop stars of their day. In a way, you can see echoes of that in what Americans call folk music—though obviously, that's different from how people elsewhere might define it. 😁

Look, I get it—trying to categorize music is a nightmare. Back in the day, people used this wild system of dividing music into folk, popular, and classical (the "serious" stuff). Even if textbooks didn't spell it out perfectly, they admitted that these categories are pretty flawed. Folk music can definitely be popular; in fact, if it's folk, it usually is. And are some "artistic" forms within popular music actually classical? Is it more like pop Strauss or Pink Floyd? Who’s actually popular, and who’s more "art"? It's all blurry.

Bottom line: the whole point of this is to hunt for pop music—or rather, that pop sensibility—throughout all of music history, from twenty centuries ago right back to the beginning of time. 😁

Hey, fellow Republicans,

The votes are in. You guys just picked the crew that’s going to steer this ship for the next stretch. Now that the dust has settled, I really hope the new leadership has enough sense and vision to actually bring us together and move things in a direction that benefits both the party and America. Elections are exhausting, man, but hey, fighting for what you believe in is always worth the hassle.
Thanks for having my back. Seeing that we crushed it in the El Paso area with over 86% of the vote—that kind of win makes me realize I can't back down from my path.

Congrats to the winners!

Ivan Penava Facebook 😵🤦 🙂

Was Škoro right when he said they’re all staying in the Republican Party even after these internal elections?☕

Just noticed Kovács and Stier haven't posted a single thing. Meanwhile, Penava is out there making the most of those massive numbers in his hometown.

So, is the whole squad sticking around the Republican Party now, just waiting for their moment to shine?? 🙂