Finally I got to hear the lyrics to Charlie's song. My poor heartbroken boy still struggles with the love he has for this girl. Heartache allows a way to create amazing works of art in song, music, painting, etc. And this is no exception. It's a hauntingly beautiful song. It talks of feelings that burst through the surface in the least of expected moments because the heart demands to be dealt with and the mind does its best to distract it from lingering feelings.
I thought the girl left him because he said that they dated 2 years until a few months ago and he hoped he was not someone that she used to know. But reading this line: "But I rather make her wait on us" makes me believe that he decided to put things on hold to see if he could make it on American Idol. Sounds wise enough to me if only the mind was in charge of course. He has much to do, and if all stars align, he'll get a deal after the concert. (He has to be at that concert!!) So it's good to step back, do what needs to be done and comeback to reassess his feelings.
My sky blue diamond
The siren's calling but I don't want to leave you
My sky blue diamond
The siren's calling but I don't want to leave you
She's reaching up to pull me under
But I rather make her wait on us
My sky blue diamond
The sun is bleeding out into to the sea
My sky blue diamond
The sun is bleeding out into to the sea-with me
My heart's keeping time to the beat of sound
but there's still so much that I haven't done here yet
I've gotta get out of this whole mess
I just want to stay here and love you, kiss you and hold you
just like the day we met
just cause she's pulling me down now
don't mean I love you any less
Any less....
My Sky blue diamond...
This is obviously off topic but just thought I'd post this very interesting comment that Charlie's dad posted on Facebook (to the same comment about the woman who had Asperger's, was wondering if Charlie had it too, his uncle said no, etc.):
ReplyDeleteIt is an honor for Charlie to be so warmly received by kids his own age with Asperger's Syndrom. It moves me deeply to watch him interact in public with a fan who obviously has Asperger's, as happened recently for me. Charlie struggles for words when he gets emotional. He finds release in his music. Just like he said. He is very bright and recharges through solitude. We did suspect he had Asperger's or mild functional Autism of some type, and when we took him to the Doctor to find out he told us he had "Charlie Askew Syndrome". True.
I have a son with Aspergers. My son has never been officially diagnosed but Aspergers is not something that has to be diagnosed. When my son was young we always thought he was highly functioning autistic or something. He was introverted but not like sit in the corner totally alone either. He had a hard time communicating with people and was shy and VERY routine. People with Aspergers are usually above average intelligence to being a genius at music, math or science. My son is a math wiz! I knew at the age of 7 my son had something special after I bought him a Rubic's Cube. He always loved puzzles of any kind, so I thought he would sit for hours trying to figure out the cube. I mixed up the cube handed it to him, explained what to do. He looked at me like I was stupid and he carefully turn each side taking about a minute and handed it back. Completed.
DeleteMost genius are Aspies! Einstein, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg (Facebook founder) and Michael Jackson. My son relates best with other Aspies and he loves Charlie like I do.
Aspies also are completely into whatever their gift is. Charlie very into his music probably spends hours working on it everyday, totally involved! I do think Charlie has Aspergers or something very similar. Oh and my son loves the same kind of music Charlie loves. My son has been a "Queen" fan for as long as I can remember, which I always found odd when he was younger!
He is 15 now and he has been sitting on his computer voting away for Charlie. He keeps telling me the way we are doing it is stupid and he can probably come up with a way to make it tally 1000's of votes by itself...I told him no. I told him to just keep clicking.
Anyways, regarding the topic it is a very beautiful, honest, and heartfelt song. For me honestly the bridge is a tad of a mess with some cliched lyrics, but I think if he teamed up with some professional writers and producers who understand his style they can polish his writing skills a bit and make his ideas sound a little more professional and less "teenage boy writing in his room." He's still young, he has plenty of time for relationships and to grow as an artist. I too think he was torn between choosing his relationship or being on Idol and of course this is his dream, it just shows how dedicated he is to his music and making it big. He's young and has something going for him right now, he doesn't need a relationship tying him down.
ReplyDeleteHis father wrote on Facebook that Charlie has actually done a full 6-minute recording of this song on his computer, he played all the instruments and mixed it himself, but he hasn't uploaded it anywhere yet. I'm curious to see what other kinds of songs he's written (with lyrics, not his instrumental songs).
For me, the genius parts of the song are:
ReplyDelete1) The siren
2) She's reaching up to pull me under + the chord he does there
3) The sun is bleeding out into the sea
4) The cadence he adds when he says "with me"
5) The little instrumental break before he goes into the "my sky blue diamond" chorus part
6) The whole freakin' piano arrangement
From this song, just as a songwriter myself making some observations, I think he is, like myself, pretty strong with composition and melody, but with lyrics being more secondary. But like I mentioned, there are some really good lines, I especially like "the sun is bleeding out into the sea."
Andrea, great comments!! :)
ReplyDeleteEven though I would have liked for some lyrics not to be repeated I agree certain words and piano arrangements really pulls this song to a higher level. I think teenage girls will identify with the simplicity of some his lyrics. I connect with the composition of the piano and just his overall angst with which he performs this song. And yes, I love the "with me" part and crescendo musically that follows.
The moment I heard the word "original" coming from Ryan's mouth, everything else just went away for me and then I heard the power of his voice in acapella and I all I could do is just "feel" the song, without paying attention to anything else. That's why it took me a bit to figure out the words.
Miss Andrea you'll have to post some of your original music, I'll post it here!! :)
Ok, so the Aspergers is finally cleared up by his Dad. Great, you were on the money when we first discussed this. I think he will get better at public speaking with experience. I still remember Kelly Clarkson adding the word "so" after every single thought, and she had many thoughts! She was the fastest talker I've ever seen. Once her own fans made a funny video of all her "so"s , soon after that she finally worked on it. She was the opposite of Charlie, she had too much to say, too fast, and all came rushing at you at Nascar speeds. Now she's a pro at it. And the same will be with Charlie. The amount of interviews they do is crazy. It becomes second nature. That's one of the reasons I wanted Charlie to stay in the show. To get a crash course of the industry, from interviews, to video shoots, to camera blocking etc. It's all fast paced but extremely fun. But he'll get plenty of tour experience (i'm still crossing my fingers and toes!) and the friendships he'll make will make the experience unforgetable.
I agree with your points about his song as well and yes! When Ryan said he was performing an original I was so surprised and excited since I thought they'd have to follow the Idols theme. And of course I was curious to see what kind of music he writes. He's only 18, we have no idea how long he has actually been writing for, so I think with time and experience he will improve.
DeleteMy YouTube channel is BogoGog24, but if you search Andrea DeFrancesco you will able to find it. I have various other videos up there as well. In fact, I was going to keep this a surprise, but I plan to make a couple tribute videos for our Charlie using some very special songs that I think have a lot of meaning. XD I just have to wait until I have the time to work on them but I'm on vacation next week so I might be able to at least start the first one then.
And I agree the show would have definitely helped him become more comfortable with all of that, but if he gets to go on the tour at least he will do some interviews there and meet fans so that will give him some experience. I remember Lee DeWyze kept saying "you know" between every sentence, haha! At least Charlie doesn't have any problems like that, as far as I know. XD Oh God I just thought about how if Charlie makes the tour he will have to spend a whole summer on a bus with his lovely buddy Curtis. XD Hahahah I was trying to figure out maybe which guys and girls he is probably close with, I'd assume Devin and Burnell in particular because they are around the same ages, maybe Lazaro and Paul as well. And Amber posted a photo with him before, they're the same age, as is Angie. I'm sure he's good friends with all of them, maybe he even made friends with Curtis because he retweeted Mariah Carey's tweet about missing Curtis. He seems like the type of person who makes friends easily. I felt bad for him when all of his friends kept getting eliminated like Peter and JDA.
I just listened to a few of your songs too! Awesome voice girl! I love it! I express a lot of my feelings in writing. I write more poetry than anything else but I can't hold a tune at all. If you have not tried out for idol...do it! We need more singers like you and Charlie. If either of you need help with song writing, please contact me! You can find me poo n Facebook. I go by emmie parks. I live in north Carolina.
DeleteWow thanks so much! Yay for being from North Carolina because Scotty McCreery is from there too and I like him a lot. XD
DeleteYo!! I just listened to some of your music and girl you are multi-talented! You have a beautiful voice!! I loved your Christmas songs, especially Silent Night, loved "Imagine" and "Momma said". You have a very unique tone, a certain fragileness but not in a dainty way.
ReplyDeleteOk , please tell me you've auditioned to American Idol? All you have to do is think of a serious sob story, ok?? Your dog died, your boyfriend left you, you have a mental disorder, any of those! LOL. Ok, I'm really not kidding. Just think of a struggle you've been through and highlight that the moment you talk to a representative and you're in! You seem to have a lot of experience already, so you are definitely ready for the big time.
You see Charlie?? You attract serious talented fans. :)
Andrea do you have a link to your music? I want to listen. :)
DeleteWow thank you so much! Haha I actually have a very rare growth disorder called Russell Silver Syndrome, so I guess that's my "struggle" in life. Like Charlie, I am also a very shy and introverted person as well. No, I've actually never auditioned for American Idol before, though I've always imagined myself being on the show haha. I'm from Connecticut and I believe they only had 1 season where they held auditions here, they're usually held quite far away. I'm not sure if I'd be right for a show like that, it seems like a lot of pressure, but who knows lol. I definitely do want to make my own records one day though. If I get the chance to make my own album someday, I will definitely reach out to Charlie and ask him to collaborate because he's a really talented instrumentalist and I'd love to write with him and have him do some mixing for me haha XD
DeleteKas, the link for my YouTube is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BogoGog24?feature=mhee
I also have a SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/andrea-defrancesco
Andrea! Your music is beautiful! I wish you would try out for American Idol, I think you would do great!
DeleteWe need you for next season!
When I get time later I'm going to listen to more. :)
Andrea, thanks for sharing about your condition. I had never heard of it and now I know much more. So thank you for enlighten us. :) Well, watching AI, I'm always amazed at the contestants' fighting spirits, no matter how hard they have it. This season definitely had wonderful back stories.
ReplyDeleteI think you're very talented and from seeing your videos you have experience singing in front of a crowd. AI is just one avenue of many out there. So whatever one you choose, I wish you best of luck and definitely let me know when you have something ready to download. :)
And definitely call up Charlie, I think you two would make great music together.! :)
Aw thanks! :D
DeleteHi KAS!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I keep missing some comments, I do apologize. Kas, thank you so much for telling us about your son and the similarities he has with Charlie. I think it's awesome and I didn't know all those personalities had it too. Wow, you learn something new every day. I bet your son would have figured out how to power vote if given enough time. But I have a good feeling he'll be on the tour. If not, I'll eat my shoe!! LOL
Hi Emmie! Poets make the best lyric writers!! Did I not say Charlie has serious talented fans?? That's pretty awesome! And I agree, Andrea should audition for something!! Anything! LOL
Thanks Sun Pee!
ReplyDeleteI hope you keep this blog going after American idol. I'm obsessed with Charlie and I like having a place to go to keep up with Charlie and what he does and becomes! And I do think he has Aspergers because he is too much of a music genius not to have it! And whatever he wants to call it is fine, I actually like him calling it "Charlie Askew Syndome"! It is a gift no matter what!
Thanks Sue Pee for all you do here!
You're welcome! And yes he's special no matter what the heck he has! :)
ReplyDelete