Paul Baribeau Part I- S/T

Paul Baribeau is a folk punk singer songwriter from Michigan. No, his music isn't like Mumford and Sons, it's actually not that very well known. His acoustic guitar riffs are simple and he can't really sing, but his lyrics make up for it. Baribeau's lyrics are personal, honest and raw. If you're familiar with the Juno soundtrack, you might have heard him reference in Kimya Dawson's "Tire Swing

"I took a wrong turn and ended up in Michigan
Paul Baribeau took me to the giant tire swing"  

He's actually also referenced in Captain Chao's "Six Wishes"

"I wish i wrote words like Paul Baribeau

If i can do that than I think you would know

How beautiful I think you are"

A person twice (maybe even more) referenced more must mean this guy is pretty good, right? 

I first heard Paul Baribeau on a last.fm radio station. The song in particular was "Never Get To Know" ,off his self titled. I loved the simplicity and rawness of it. Simple guitar riff and honest , heartbreaking lyrics.The song has an anti- drug and alcohol message. It describes the many people in Baribeau's life that were engulfed by the world of drugs and alcohol. But what really got to me was when Baribeau cries:

"And I'll never get to know my mom
Because my mom is an alcholic
And I bet when she was young
She never saw it coming"   

Total gut puncher. He continues with this 

"You might wonder why I'm an asshole
I wonder I'm so uptight
I wonder why I just don't chill out
And learn how to have a good time
But sometimes I'm scared right out of my mind
And sometimes I just get angry
Because I've been let down by the people that I love
But I will not let down the people who love me." 

Of course, I cried due to the related manner of it. I'm sure people also see me as an uptight loser for not doing drugs. There's a reson i don't do it. I've seen how people get on it and I feel that not doing drugs is something I can actually control(and I'm bad at controlling things). Of course, I immediatly looked for his first album, Paul Baribeau.His self titled is filled with more of his honest, diary like lyrics and simple yet fast acoustic strums.

Here are my favorites off this album

"Tablecloth" - Interesting opener with no guitar strums but a simple beat on the guitar. Baribeau just sings about a past girlfriend repeating the line "You made a skirt from an old table cloth".Although the rhythm  and vocals are off, the lyrics provide a look on his past relationship .

"Only Babies Cry" - Starts with "I was working when i should have gone to school/Never got the hang of that college thing " The song describes Baribeau's past decisions and his uncertainty on his current life.Again, this has a nice simple acoustic riff, the majority of the album does.

"Strawberry"- Starts with a much gentler, sweeter riff.Another well known song, it's a love songs with clever comparsions that would make many swoons.It's no wonder why it's his most covered song (You tube has countless covers).

"Boys Like Me" goes back to autobiographical lyrics. "Broken hearted boys like me are everywhere you look". The song explains what makes Baribeau so broken hearted."Not going to go to into as I reccommed you listen to it.

"Brown, Brown, Brown"- is a song of unrequited love with a stranger. Super cathcy riff. Easily relate able in my neck of the wood, (everyone here has brown hair, eyes and skin). You can hair me singing this loudly when I'm riding my bike. 

Give the album a listen . Part 2 will see me talk about Paul Baribeau's next two albums- Grand Ledge and Unbearable. 

Paul Baribeau's Self Titled

Comic Crazy

Awhile ago, a friend messaged me through Facebook with questions. She knew I was really into comics and wanted to read them, but didn't know where to start. Regular people would recommend a couple of series than encourage them to go to comic book shops. Then there's me. This is what I wrote :

Right now, I’m reading the New 52 Batman and a couple of Marvel Now series. I recommend them since it’s basically a retelling of the Superheros beginnings and great if you want to start comics. For DC’s new 52 I recommend- Batman by Scott Synder, Justice League by Geoff Johns, Aquaman by Geoff Johns ,Batman Incorporated by Grant Morrison and Batman and Robin by Peter J.Tomas and Superman Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski.For Marvel Now, i recommend- Captain America by Rick Remender, Nova by Jeph Loeb, Thanos Rising by Jason Aaron, Hawkeye by Matt Fraction , Guardians of the Galaxy and of course Age of Ultron.All of Marvel Now stuff is good although i didn’t like Savage Wolverine or Uncanny Avengers.

For Batman - I don’t think i came across a Batman comics that i didn’t like except for Frank Miller’s All Star Batman and Robin.Check out Jeph Loeb’s and Tim Sale’s series- The Long Halloween, Haunted Knight and Dark Victory. Grant Morrison’s ( a great writer) Batman Incorporated, Batman and Son, Batman RIP and Batman and Robin series are great. Fraank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.Oh! and The Killing Joke by Alan Moore.

There’s alot of X-men! But my favorites are Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon (The Avengers director, also created Buffy The Vampire Sayer), X Men Days of Future Past.

Avengers VS Xmen. Haven’t read alot of Wolverine, but  Wolverine-Old Man Logan by mark millar is awesome. Ed Brubaker’s Capt. America is great.

Non super hero related- Blankets by Craig Thompson, Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol, Saga by Brian K Vaughan (note- contains nudity), Y The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan, Revival by Tim Seely, Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, Hark! A Vagrant! by Kate Beaton , Transition by Alec Longstrength.They have an ongoing Docter Who comic series as well as some for Star Wars and Star Trek.There’s also this run called Before Watchmen which focuses on ALan Moore’s Watchmen universe, it focuses on one character- I reccommend the Dr. Manhattan run and the Minutemen run Whew! 

PTSD

I recently came across an amazing  band called The Wonder Years. I have heard of them before but never really payed attention to their music until i heard Passing Through A Screen Door. It's off their new album The Greatest Generation and it really got to me. I was intrigued by the riff and vocals and thought i hear it. At around :15 i heard the lyrics

"And They keep asking me what i'm doing with my life

While my cousins go to bed with their wives

I'm feeling like I've fallen behind."

I paused it and thought "Wait, what?" I replayed it again and again, it was so relateable. In my head i changed it to "well, my cousins have their kids and are wives/It's obvious that I've fallen behind.  

  

 I come from a culture where women marry and give birth young. My grandmother gave birth to her first child at the age of 16. In my neighborhood, It's normal to get pregnant at 15 or 14. School? Who needs it?! Now your purpose in life is to be a mother, wife and go to work. Yes, I do have cousins who had kids before marriage. But i also have cousins who got married "right" (virgin) and had kids. My older sister had the honor to get married right, but she got married around my age. I'm 21, I don't have kids and I'm not married. I have dated a couple of times, but i never took my "date" to my family and said "hey, I'm dating this guy, he might be my boyfriend".Thus, I'm pretty sure my family thinks I'm a lesbian. If not that, I'm still  an oddity. Don't get me wrong, boys are awesome but i just focused on my studies. I'd love a husband and kids in the future but i feel i have to do things for myself first. Strangers, family friends, friends, neighbors they all wonder and ask what I'm doing with my life. To them, a university doesn't mean shit to them. Life is settling down and having a family. I have no life.

Whew! I'll move on :36-:53 

"I was born to run away from anything good

Escape Artist son, Sun dried pavement in my blood

The first thing that i do when i walk in

Is plan a way out for when shit gets bad" 

I tend to be a bit pessimistic on alot of things. I find it hard to believe everything is going the way it's suppose to. If someone is nice to me, i find it really strange. Good is just really hard to grasp for some reason. I have a habit of worrying about everything.In college, I went to therapy for a bit cus i could not handle these panic/anxiety attacks.Therapist told me i have symptoms for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and/or Post Dramatic Stress Disorder. He set up a sessions elsewhere to get tested. I never went. What if i do have it? Hell, what if i have both?!? I honestly don't want to know.I do seem to always plan ahead, it annoys many. If class or a movie starts at 5pm, I'll get there at 3:30pm somehow because i have a fear of being late."If this doesn't work out, how do i get out of it?! Should I even attempt it?! Nah, I shouldn't...." I seem to always have the Jaws themes song in my head on alot of things.

Okay, now 1:20-1:36 

"Well, I'm terrified like a kid in the 60's 

Staring at the sky, waiting for th bomb to fall 

It's all a lie What they say about stability 

It scares me sometimes,  The emptyness in my eyes" 

Again, I'm terrified of alot of things. I'm constantly thinking "somethings gonna go wrong". It's like I'm waiting for it to happen.Stability also scares me because i always wonder if i'll ever achieve it.People my age have a family and they still live with their parents. My sister constantly has money problems.My brother hardly works and just got evicted from his apartment, he goes back and forth to friends houses. I don't want to end up that way. My eyes have bags under them and sometimes i can't stand seeing them, they look lifeless. 

1:38-1:52

 "And all the kids name i ever liked 

Are tied to tragedy 

I don't want my children growing up to be 

Anything like me"   

At this point, I'm crying. I pry and hope that my kids don't turn out like me. I hope they never have a mean teacher, i hope they never get bullied. I pry they never have to deal with panic attacks or feeling worthless. I hope they don't go biking all night in a dangerous neighborhood. I hope they're outgoing, have alot of friends and are in sports.I don't want them to be like me at all. I'm not the type of person that has a list of kids name ready, but i remembered i did really like Dante ( I kid you not!)

2:26-2:41 

"I keep a flashlight and a small knife 

In the corner of my bedstand 

I keep a flashlight and the train times

You wouldn't understand

How can you understand?"

Funny, I actually had to get a flashlight for astronomy.Before that though, I had math class at night. It was pretty scary, alot of the times people on the bus would say obscene things. I had to get off on the stop with the tunnel to get home. The tunnel was dark enough for someone to get away with mugging or worse. I would wait until a car went through it, the headlights guided me and i ran through it. I don't rely on train times but bus times. Alot of the times, i take the bus for no reason. Of course nobody would understand because everyone has a car.

2:44-3:03

"Jesus Christ! I'm 26!

All the people I graduated with 

All have kids! All have wives!

All have people who care if they come home at night 

Well, Jesus Christ! Did I fuck up?!?! 

Crying continues. I think this is more self explanatory. I'm 21 and yes people i know are already married and have kids.They have a family that worry about them. I ask myself  that last line a little too much....

3:05 - 

I've been looking for tears in the screen door 

I've been waiting for another disaster 

I was kinda hoping you stayed 

I was kinda hoping you stayed. 

It's really hard to be with someone that's anxious. If you notice Passing Through The Screen Door and Post Tramatic Stress Disorder have the same initials. I'm not sure i that was on purpose or not. I hope the people i hang out with bear with me.