What Do You Got?

You probably didn't know my favorite band is Bon Jovi, but well...it is.

And they just announced the other day that their second Greatest Hits collection will be out in November (read: cause for Bon Jovi fans everywhere to dance and celebrate), along with FOUR new tracks written and produced exclusively for the compilation!

It's an exciting time for we Jovi nuts.

Well this morning, the first of those four new tracks was released online and on radio airwaves - called "What Do You Got?"

It premiered at 7am EST, so I was still zonked in my bed. But before 9am PST, I had devoured the song 5 times, downloaded it to my hard drive, added it to my iPod, and practically memorized the lyrics.

It's all the talk on Twitter, Facebook, Bon Jovi boards, blogs...you name it. But I thought I'd post it here for the sake of sharing the lyrics - because Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora are renowned for their lyrical talent, and this song is no exception.

Critics call it vanilla, boring, uncreative -- I call it classic Bon Jovi, traditional and true to what their music ALWAYS been and ALWAYS will be: feel-good, adrenaline-rushing love-and-life anthems. They get it. The average Joe and Mary can smile and nod because the song speaks to real life and gives them a sense of belonging, comfort, joy. And isn't that what music is all about?

What Do You Got

Everybody wants something, just a little more

We're makin' a living and what we're living for

Rich man or a poor man, a pawn or a king

You can live on the street, you can rule the whole world

But it don't mean one damn thing

What do you got if you ain't got love?

Whatever you got, it just ain't enough

You're walkin' a road but you're goin' nowhere

Tryin' to find your way home but there's no one there

Who do you hold in the dark of night?

You wanna give up but it's worth the fight

You can have all the things that you've been dreaming of

If you ain't got someone you're afraid to lose

Everybody needs just one someone to tell them the truth

Maybe I'm a dreamer but I still believe

I believe in hope, I believe that change can get us up off our knees

What do you got if you ain't got love?

Whatever you got just ain't enough

You're walkin' a road but you're goin' nowhere

Tryin' to find your way home but there's no one there

Who do you hold in the dark of night?

You wanna give up but it's worth the fight

You can have all the things that you've been dreaming of

If you ain't got love, it's all just keepin' score

If you ain't got love, what the hell we doin' it for?

I don't wanna have to talk about it

How many songs I gotta sing about it?

How long you gonna live without it?

Why does someone somewhere have to doubt it?

Someday you'll figure it out

What do you got if you ain't got love?

Whatever you got, it just ain't enough

You walk on that road but you're goin' nowhere

Tryin' to find your way home but there's no one there

Who do you hold in the dark of night?

You wanna give up but it's worth the fight

You can have all the things that you've been dreaming of

If you ain't got love, it's all just keepin' score

If you ain't got love, what the hell we doin' it for?

(Whoa oh oh oh) Ohh, what do you got if you ain't got love?

(Whoa oh oh oh) Ohh, what do you got if you ain't got love?

(Whoa oh oh oh) Ohh, what do you got if you ain't got love?

(Whoa oh oh oh)

Love's the Only Rule

I couldn't decide which song to feature today, so I'm featuring both. They both represent my feelings and my state of mind currently...and this one's my favorite artist, so I *had* to share. ;) It's an absolutely beautiful song though...

I don't give a damn

How it's supposed to be

That might work for you

It don't work for me

You write your truth

And I'll write mine

One man's ceiling is

Another man's sky-high

Flying like an aeroplane

Crying, like the lonely whistle of a long black train

Dance in the pouring rain

Spit in the eye of a hurricane

Who said life has got to be so cruel

Love's the only rule

It's written in the scars

Where I fit in

It's going to hurt sometimes

You've got to lose to win

You've got your sins

And I got mine

Sell your secrets

Kiss them all goodbye

Flying like an aeroplane

Alive, like a lonely note from John Coltrane

Run like it's a getaway

Say those things that you shouldn't say

Think about it - wouldn't that be cool?

If love's the only rule

Might be a wrecking ball

Or just a wake-up call

Doesn't matter where the pieces fall

I'm gonna fly like an aeroplane

Cry like the whistle of a long black train

Dance in the pouring rain

I'm alive

Like a lonely note from John Coltrane

Run like it's a getaway

Say those things that you shouldn't say

Where love, love's the only rule

Yes love, love's the only rule

Ah love, love's the only rule

Love, is the only rule...

Love's the only rule

-Bon Jovi

I'm Feelin' Alive...

Hello world - I know, I haven't posted in awhile...since I left college, actually! can you tell I'm enjoying summer a little?

Let me back up a bit -- since I last posted in my dorm room at CSUN, I have moved back home for the summer, been to New Jersey and seen three Bon Jovi concerts at the New Meadowlands Stadium, traveled around Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany, saw my first European castle, started a new job that works me 8-5 (usually) and has already yielded a beautiful paycheck, screamed my head off at the FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament and watched the USA go home too early [:(] but the Netherlands go verrry far (!!), and spent good quality time with friends and family.

I love summer.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and we're having a little get-together at my grandma's park. Then I'll join my best friends and watch the fireworks show at Bradley Park, a "tradition" we've had for a few years now.

I have Monday off, but I work the entire rest of the work...then on Friday night, I pick up Bjorn and his sister at the airport!! I am so excited to see them (again), and this will only be Ester's second time in the U.S., so we're going to sight-see a lot more than usual. The World Cup final will be on the Sunday after they arrive, and we're HOPING the Netherlands will be in it (they play in the 1st semi-final on Tuesday against Uruguay - HUP HOLLAND HUP!) so we can have a big party.

For some reason, I've had dorm decorating on my mind, and I've been looking at furniture and other odds and ends for our dorm apartment (with KITCHEN) for this coming year. Go figure, of course *I*, the one who couldn't wait to get home in May, am excited to move into our new dorm. (Father Time, that doesn't mean you can speed up my vacation, thankyouverymuch! I am perfectly happy with still having 6 weeks left until move-in.)

That's pretty much all that's new on this front - if anything else happens, I'll try to remember to blog it. I hope you're all enjoying your summers as well, and have a happy and safe 4th of July.

My state of mind currently:

HEEEY!
This is the night!
This is the night!
HEEEY!

I'm feelin' alive
I'm feelin' alive
My heart goes boom as the stars go blue
Like a sea of cell phone lights
The moon gets light as the sun goes down
Somewhere behind the Hollywood sign
Have you ever felt like you're living in the shadows?
Have you ever felt kept down?
I know sometimes that it feels like a battle
but it can turn around...

HEEEY!
This is the night!
This is the night!
HEEEY!
I'm feelin' alive
I'm feelin' alive

The kick drum starts as the boulevard,
Fills up with all the boys and girls
From the Jersey town to the L.A. crowd,
They hear us all over the world,
Have you ever felt like standing on a rooftop,
Have you ever wanted to scream?
Everybody dance, burn it up till we blast off,
Just like a rocket machine (Yeeahh!)

HEEEY!
This is the night!
This is the night!
HEEEY!
I'm feelin' alive
I'm feelin' alive

Cause we're not alone tonight,
So raise up your hands and touch the sky,
Cause we're not alone tonight,
Oo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
HEEEY!

This is the night!
This is the night! (Yeeaahh!)
HEEEY! (Yeah-ah)
I'm feelin' alive
I'm feelin' alive
(I'm feelin' alive)

New Jersey adventure!

In case you've been living under a rock lately, you might not know that I'm journeying to New York THIS MONTH (I can finally say that!) to see the band at Giants Stadium (now known as "New Meadowlands Stadium").

Many of you have followed my travel blogs in the past (thank you!), and I finally put up a page to keep them all in order:

My Adventures Series

So I suggest you bookmark that central page, follow it (using the followers tool), and subscribe if you have a Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, or Google account. Then you don't necessarily have to do so for each and every travel blog. :)

Have fun!

Musings on 'Everybody's Broken'

"Everybody's looking for something, and the answers are harder to find every day. And although nobody's perfect, everybody's got the little chinks in their armor. Everybody's got the little crack around the edges. And everybody's broken."
- JBJ, Chicago, July 30, 2007
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Part of the reason - or perhaps most of the reason - I love Bon Jovi is because their music, quite simply, speaks to you. The lyrics are completely relevant; fans can find "their story" in nearly any of the songs.

Today, not for the first time, but for a time that felt new and refreshing, I was listening to Everybody's Broken in my car on the way home from work. I remember the first time I heard it, I wasn't too keen on it - I didn't mind it, but certainly didn't love it. I felt that it spoke more to older fans (older than me, at least) who had experienced their share of hardships, troubles, trials, obstacles, and had tried to mend themselves again unsuccessfully.

Step into the deep end
Make yourself at home
When you wonder why you're breathing
Know you're not alone

I remember listening to it, more closely, a few months later on the train ride up to the Anaheim show that tour, and it suddenly struck a chord with me. Since then, I've grown fonder of it, and as life takes me down its crazy and unexpected path (now a full two years later on that path), I have a far deeper appreciation for it.

Now, it speaks to me.

Life is not easy. That's the understatement of the year. And while I'm young, and have most of my life ahead of me (I hope), I realized that it's okay to say that I am broken. It's not a bad thing. I've dealt with my own hardships, my own trials, my own obstacles, and I've fallen on my ass many a time. It doesn't mean that I'm having a mid-life crisis at 20, nor does it mean that I can't handle the obstacles yet to come in my life. Because I know they're waiting. Being broken doesn't mean you lack the ability to handle them. It actually means that you've learned. You've fallen and gotten up, slipped and straightened out, struggled and won in each instance. You're still alive.

It's so hard to believe
It's easier to doubt
You're trying to hold in
But you're dying to scream out

I don't believe you can ever be "whole" again - after all, what is whole? From the moment you are born, you are going to be stripped down, opened up, turned inside out, and stitched back together in this life, that's what it's all about. Only then can you truly learn and become the best YOU that you can be. So it's okay to admit that you're scared, that you're unsure of yourself, that you're broken...the point is to always take a look around, and ask if who you think you are is who you want to be. And then take sweet comfort in the company of the rest of the world. You will get through it.

And that's what I love about Bon Jovi - whether it's the anthem songs with the polished lyrics we all know in our sleep, or the new fresh material that you find yourself tapping your foot to...or the songs that wrap themselves around your heart, squeeze tightly, and don't let go. They all tie you to the band. You feel like they were written just for you, with you in mind. Like Jon's voice is singing straight to YOU through those speakers in your car, in your house, in the grocery store, in the mall. You can stop and listen, and smile softly, and it feels like he's smiling back and winking. It's okay. We're all in this together.

After all -

Everybody's broken
You're all right
It's just life.



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This post was originally posted on my Bon Jovi blog - Jovi Bits. Check it out and feel free to follow that as well. I'm trying to expand it! :) http://www.jovibits.blogspot.com