The Voice

Song of the week: “Summer of ’69” gets listeners in the mood for Summer

By Courtney Thomas
March 4, 2015

[T]he song “Summer of ‘69” by Bryan Adams fell into my hands today. I have heard the song before, but only today, when I was going through all my parent’s old cassettes, did I rediscover it. Adams released the song in June of 1985 on his fourth studio album, “Reckless.” The song reminds me of how desperately I want this bitterly cold winter to go away, and how much I want the warmth of summer. The song just makes me think of how fun the teenage years are supposed to be and how you should make the most of your free time. The video is a classic oldie, with the cliche angles and black and white to color shots. It was ranked number 50 on “The 100 Best Singles of the ‘80s” and had even higher rankings in Canada. The video has had over 33 million views since being released.

Song of the week: ‘Uptown Funk’ is still number one

By Courtney Thomas
February 25, 2015

Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” featuring Bruno Mars, was released Nov, 14, 2014. The song has an early ‘80s feel with an electric funk sound. It has reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list. The music video was released on Nov. 19, 2014 to YouTube. The video has the same feel as the song, old-school, ‘80s music. The song makes Mars seem like a “ladies man,” and that is exactly how he is portrayed in the music video. “Uptown Funk” is one of the catchiest songs of 2015, so far.

HHS Kicks off First Ever Basketball Pep Assembly

By Courtney Thomas
February 22, 2015

The Homecoming 2.0 Pep Rally was kicked off by a basketball shoot off, juniors against sophomores and seniors against freshmen. The winners of each, the sophomores and seniors, went head to head and the seniors won, making 6 out of 10 of their baskets.

Song of the week: Experience the new single “FourFiveSeconds”

By Courtney Thomas
February 18, 2015

The song “FourFiveSeconds” by Rihanna, Kayne West, and Paul McCartney was released on Jan. 24, 2015. It is the lead single for Rihanna’s eighth studio album. The song is something different from what Rihanna and West usually do; it is an acoustic song. On the Billboard Hot 100, “FourFiveSeconds” peaked at number six. The black and white music video appears to have been filmed in a small box. The video starts off with a silhouette of Rihanna and West’s that is featured periodically throughout the video. The song itself is catchy and so different from the normal for these artists that you cannot help but love it.

Song of the Week: “Stay With Me”

By Courtney Thomas
February 10, 2015

“Stay with Me” by Sam Smith won Song of the Year at the 2015 Grammy Awards, and Smith also won the Best New Artist. The song was released on April 14, as a single from the album “In the Lonely Hour.” The music video is very cliche, starting with Smith walking down an empty street and lip syncing terribly. While the music video is cliche and horribly done, the song itself is catchy and still playing all over the radios across the world. The song peaked at number one on 14 different charts and has had over 200 million views. Check out the music video below.

Song of the Week: “I Lived”

By Courtney Thomas
February 3, 2015

The music video for the song “I Lived” by One Republic was released Sept. 25, 2014. It features 15-year-old Bryan Warnecke, a super fan, who suffers from cystic fibrosis and him talking about how he just wants to live his life because his life expectancy is only 36 years old. The music video is home movies of Warnecke’s life and everything he has done in order to live his life to the fullest. “I Lived” was released on the album “Native” and was the sixth single from the album. One Republic dedicated the video to Warnecke and the many people around the world suffering with cystic fibrosis. Ryan Tedder, the lead singer, wrote this song for his 4-year-old son, Copeland.

Song of the Week: Cigarette Daydreams

By Courtney Thomas
January 26, 2015

The song “Cigarette Daydreams,” recorded by Cage the Elephant, was released as a single Aug. 26, 2014. The song to me is about a daydream that the singer has while smoking a cigarette, about someone he lost. In the music video, he is recalling all of the memories he has of her. The music video is a mix between black and white and color, which I think makes the song even more beautiful. “Cigarette Daydreams” just makes me think of all the happy moments in life and all of the tragic ones. It reminds me that while you do not have all of the answers right now, sometimes you do not need them to be happy and that is one of the greatest messages I have ever gotten out of a song.

Fall Out Boy album review : American Beauty/American Psycho

By Courtney Thomas
January 25, 2015

all Out Boy’s newest album, “American Beauty/American Psycho” was released Jan. 16. “Centuries” was the first single released from the album...

Song of the Week: Hero

By Courtney Thomas
January 22, 2015

The song “Hero” by Family of the Year is a song that kind of just fell into my lap. While struggling to find a song for this week, this song came up in my YouTube feed and I watched it. I do not think I stopped smiling the whole song. I had never heard the song before, but now, I cannot stop singing it. There are two music videos for the song and it also took some time to figure out the reason for that. The first video is the official music video (the black and white one). The song itself was released in 2012 on the album “Loma Vista” and following the release of the album was the music video. Recently, the movie “Boyhood” was released and this song was basically the theme song for the video. The second music video includes clips from the movie and is in color.

Song of the Week: Thinking Out Loud

By Courtney Thomas
January 12, 2015

Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” was released Aug. 24, 2014 on his album “X”. The first time I heard this song, I pictured a couple’s first dance at their wedding. The music video, which was released in Oct., reached over 2 million views on YouTube in the first 16 hours it had been out. The music video is Sheeran and dancer, Brittany Cherry, dancing alone in a huge ballroom. The dancing itself was flawless and so well put together to go to every beat of the song. I cannot stop singing this song out loud, and I know you will do the same if you listen to the song as well.

Song of the Week: “Dominick the Donkey”

By Courtney Thomas
December 15, 2014

[S]ong “Dominick the Donkey” by Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg and Wandra Merrell, was released in 1960. It is an Italian song about a donkey who helps Santa bring toys to all the Italian children. The song reached number 14 on Billboard's Bubbling under the Hot 100 in December of 1960. It is a hilarious song with a very catchy song that will have you whistling the tune all day long.

Song of the Week: Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24

By Courtney Thomas
December 9, 2014

The song “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” by Trans Siberian Orchestra was released in 1996. It is an instrumental mash-up of “Carol of the Bells” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and is the single greatest jam-out Christmas song out there. It is the rock and roll version of two very low key songs and always makes me want to head bang. The song depicts a lonely cello player in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, playing a forgotten Christmas carol. The song charted at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song is highly popular at houses such as the one in the video.