m2 - bon jovi

bon jovi

okay - so i'm going to mix it up. i was driving home from red deer last night on not-so awesome roads with a lot on my mind. i figured that i needed a distraction from the stress of glossy, high winds, and snowy so i put the ipod on a playlist that i seldom listen to and kept heading home. instead of my normal playlists of either "go for broke" (my favourite christian stuff) or 'heartful of angst" - i put on "the drive home"...a playlist that i created with the drive home from rugby practices in mind. it's basically music jumbalaya. everything from rock, eastcoast celtic, hip hop, electronica, country and oldies.

and like my ipod was deciding on the theme of today's post...5 bon jovi songs came on in a row. understand something - my playlists are created without an order...basically shuffled on my computer and then added to the ipod. THEN the ipod is left on shuffle (except when i listen to becs' playlists...then i'm obligated to take it off of shuffle)...which, now that i think of it...could deshuffle the original shuffling...maybe THAT'S the reason 5 bon jovi songs came on...hmm).

anyways...which brings me to the man of the hour...one of my first loves (and by first i mean when i started to buy my own music or steal my sister's cds to listen to - bon jovi and the proclaimers were among the most popular). i would steal my sister's cds and take old cassettes (in this case the cassettes were probably old psalty tapes), place tape over the top of them so that i could dub the cd onto them. this was the old school way of ripping music. apparently i didn't want to ask my mom for new recordable tapes...or admit to her that i was "rebelling".

bon jovi has been a lot of things to me. i first fell in love with him because of the movie "Young Guns". a very hollywood glamourization of billy the kid. emilio estevez plays billy the kid, keifer sutherland was doc...and mostly because they were all hot...they made a second Young Guns and added christian slater and william petersen (yes...the original CSI guy) was pat garrett. bon jovi's music was featured in the second movie (Blaze of Glory and Bad Medicine). I must have watched Young Guns II about 60 times before I hit grade 7.

so my basic love of young guns led me to buying one of my first cds. it wasn't the first but we'll hit that one on another monday. it was the second. and i wore it out, i played it so much. Blaze of Glory wasn't on the original album but was released after on the deluxe because of the movie.

so this was...about grade six for me. the years when rock stars had long hair and wore eyeliner and...wait...they do now. dang it. the more things change, the more they stay the same i suppose.

and then ally mcbeal and the dancing baby hit (about the same time). i felt a little whatever towards it for the longest time. but then they included people like robert downey jr. and bon jovi as characters. bon jovi was the hot carpenter. HOT carpenter. sure - he might have been the long haired, eye liner-wearing rocker but he was sensitive and beautiful on ally mcbeal.

what am i saying...he has always been beautiful. among blaze of glory and bed of roses. bon jovi has produced 12 studio albums and atleast 4 'greatest hits' albums and again - his music has been featured on grey's anatomy (which i'm learning is basically the make it/break it for most pop culture bands).

here's some of my favourite jon bon jovi songs (in no particular order):

Always
Blaze of Glory
Bed of Roses
It's my Life (i'm shameless, i know)
Livin' on a Prayer
I'll Be There For You
Superman Tonight
We Weren't Born to Follow
What Do You Got?
When We Were Beautiful
You Give Love A Bad Name
Something For The Pain
Have A Nice Day

i would still go to a bon jovi concert...and would probably dig out my ripped acid wash jeans and sleeveless shirt for it too. well there you go...the beginnings of my rock years. i think for anybody who has every loved bon jovi - there's a bit of a rebel inside them...otherwise...his music, lyrics, and bon jovi himself, just wouldn't make sense.

well, for all those rebels out there - here's one last song for you, i hope you enjoy.

peace out,
.:bear:.