Mat & Savanna v Angelica

 I don't mean "v" as meaning they're in conflict, but rather that I want to compare and contrast their approaches.

Here's an example Angelica performing recently

Here she is seen doing exactly what won her an enduring place in the national TV talent show world.  She's singing her heart out in a cover.

But notice what is behind her: basically nothing.  She's singing Karaoke.  To be sure she can accompany herself on the piano, but she's more dynamic this way.  However, the empty stage and idle instruments behind her are depressing.

Here she is performing at home while playing the piano.

Here are Mat & Savanna performing at their second streamed concert in the Eccles Theatre -- a major performance space -- only about a year after they went viral.  They've got an 8 piece band.  They've got staging.  It's much more exciting.

This is interesting to me, because I'm interested in social skills -- networking -- what makes people successful.  This is in part because of having unsuccessful people with autism spectrum disorders in my family.

Mat apparently runs a successful real estate business.  His daughter describes him as charismatic.  

Confronted with viral success on YouTube and the sudden possibility of realizing a long abandoned dream to be a professional singer, he used his money from Patreon to invest in better arrangements, more musicians, guest performers, and directors.  He made Steven Nelson, a skillful accompanist/arranger into a third member of their core group.  He hired Sierra Bogges, a famous Broadway actress, to direct.  This concept of investing money in growing a business reflects Mat's skill & experience in the business world.

Now, granted, he and Savanna are great singers -- but so is Angelica -- and Angelica is more famous.  Yet, the shows that Mat & Savanna put on are more exciting because there has been an investment in making them so -- having bigger and better productions each time.  

This concept that you grow a business by making initial upfront investments is an important one.

Also, when you see Mat talking to his collaborators, he's always making a big point to have them understand how important he thinks they are and how much he values their contributions.  He seldom or maybe never takes credit for anything himself. He points out his own shortcomings and then says "we've sure had a lot of help."  He empowers those around him.  That's a huge skill.  Look at this video at 3:30 et seq.

Now, I don't know for sure that Mat & Savanna are going to have lasting fame & success, but I suspect they're well on their way.  

I kind of suspect that Angelica Hale is not -- tho I could be wrong about that, obviously.

#BusinessAcumen #SocialSkills #Success 

#MatAndSavanna #MatAndSavannaShaw #AngelicaHale #MatAndSavannaMusic #Mat&Savanna

Mat and Savanna Shaw -- an incredible story

Just memorializing some tweets that

 I wrote about Mat & Savanna Shaw

#Mat&Savanna #MatAndSavannaShaw #PictureThis #FamilyDynamics #viral #viralperformers

Lyrics Interpretation @AdamLambert "Underneath"

 The performances of this song in Las Vegas in the fall of 2021 are *so* beautiful, intense & moving. I already wrote a blog about it, but I'm still listening to it.

 

 

In listening, I'm starting to sense that I might not have entirely understood the lyrics.  I've done some song interpretations before, with lyrics that I thought were ambiguous.  Here I feel that I've got more questions than answers.  

 

 

Strip away the flesh and bone Look beyond the lies you've known Everybody wants to talk about a freak No one wants to dig that deep Let me take you underneath Baby, better watch your step Never mind what's on the left You're gonna see things you might not wanna see Still not that easy for me, underneath	When I first listened to this song, I thought “you” referred to his partner. It’s occurring to me tho, that “you” is actually the audience. He could be introducing the song, by explaining that he’s going to tell the audience what it’s really like to have gay sex.   At first, I thought “underneath” referred to being on the bottom during sex, which it may -- but it also could mean that this is a view under his skin -- inside his soul or his mind.   At first, I thought “still not that easy for me” referred to that sexual position, but now I’m wondering if he’s saying it’s not that easy to talk about   I just realized that “on your left” refers to where you look when you cross the street -- and he’s saying that that’s not what he’s asking the listener to do.
A red river of screams, underneath Tears in my eyes, underneath Stars in my black and blue sky And underneath, under my skin Underneath the depths of my sin	This is probably the most intense part of the chorus of the song.   At first, I thought he was talking about orgasm.   But, maybe, he’s talking about his emotional state.
Look at me, now do you see? Welcome to my world of truth I don't wanna hide any part of me from you I'm standing here with no apologies Such a beautiful release, you inside of me   [repeated lyrics omitted]	This is where I may have gotten confused. “Such a beautiful release, you inside of me.”   At first, I thought that this was a description of the sex act, addressed to his partner -- but maybe it means that it’s a relief to be able to talk about it, addressed to the audience.   So is he saying he doesn’t want to hide any part of himself from his partner, or from the audience -- the listener?   I suppose there’s an interview somewhere on YouTube where he discusses this. I could look.

 

 

Addendum:

 

I decided to create a new table indicating how my thinking on this song has changed --mostly by writing this blog and looking at the words more locally

 

Lyrics	Interpretation 1	Interpretation 2	Interpretation 3
	This interpretation was entirely oriented around thinking that Adam was singing about a conversation with a partner	In this interpretation I thought the song was partly addressed to the audience	In this interpretation I came to believe that I was completely wrong about my initial interpretation and that the song is entirely addressed to the audience
Such a beautiful release, you inside of me	This was probably the key lyric that set me down the wrong path. It stuck me as clearly sexual	I continued to think that it was a sexual lyric	I came to think that this actually meant that it was a relief to share his inner self with his fans
Still not that easy for me, underneath	I’ve always assumed that Adam was butch & therefore would not be a bottom sexually. I’ve thought that, because his love interests have been smaller and more effeminate. This lyric tended to fit in with that belief.	Still adopting the first interpretation	I came to think that this actually meant that it wasn’t easy for him to reveal his true self to the audience
A red river of screams, underneath Tears in my eyes, underneath Stars in my black and blue sky	In my initial interpretation, I believed that this was a description of an unexpectedly intense orgasm after experimenting with a new sexual practice.	I began to see that he was talking to the audience. In this interpretation I thought he used such strong language to illustrate how powerful and inescapable his sexual orientation is --why he can’t hide or suppress it	Now I think that this is not a description of orgasm, but rather a description of his daily inner turmoil --how much emotional pain he is in most of the time.   The fact that his current version of this song is more emotional than earlier versions emphasizes how unhappy he’s been being shut up during the pandemic
I don't wanna hide any part of me from you	This lyric could be addressed to either the lover or the audience. It’s the final stanza of the song, also, which gives it especial significance.
Strip away the flesh and bone Look beyond the lies you've known Everybody wants to talk about a freak No one wants to dig that deep Let me take you underneath Baby, better watch your step Never mind what's on the left You're gonna see things you might not wanna see Still not that easy for me, underneath	This is the start of the song. I didn’t really pay too much attention to it at first, because the repetition of the lyrics about the “red rivers of screams,”etc. distracted me from it.   When I thought he was talking to a lover, I thought that he was describing the process of becoming open and vulnerable with a new partner   I thought “you’re going to see things you might not want to see”meant his naked butt	“everybody wants to talk about the freak”started breaking my initial take on this song. That would not be the sort of thing he would say to a lover, because, presumably, the lover is also gay.   In this intermediate interpretation, I thought that the first lines were addressed to the audience, while the sentence starting with “Baby" was addressed to the lover	I started seeing this whole section as addressed to the audience.   that “on your left”refers to where you look when you cross the street --and he’s saying that that’s not what he’s asking the listener to do -- not really central to the meaning of the song, but I suddenly noticed it
A red river of screams, underneath Tears in my eyes, underneath Stars in my black and blue sky And underneath, under my skin Underneath the depths of my sin	This may be the chorus of the song. I discussed part of it above --but the “underneath the depths of my sin”tended to confirm my thought that this song was a about sex   The frequent repetition of this section overwhelmed my impression of the song and lyrics that weren’t in line with my understanding faded into the background	Sama as 1st interpretation	Orgasm is pleasurable. Red rivers of screams do not sound pleasurable. Tears can indicate many different emotions; however “black and blue”sounds like a bruise. Seeing stars can indicate being injured.   Moreover, when Adam sings this song he doesn’t look happy. He looks like he’s in pain throughout. That’s not how he normally talks about sex
Look at me, now do you see? Welcome to my world of truth I don't wanna hide any part of me from you I'm standing here with no apologies Such a beautiful release, you inside of me   [repeated lyrics omitted]	This seemed consistent with the kind of conversation one would have with a lover		The thought that he would want to be so open and vulnerable with fans is moving in a totally different way.

 

 

Curiously, I had an interesting interchange on Twitter with another user who lamented how inappropriate some of the audience comments were during the Las Vegas concerts. In particular one person yelled out that Adam should dip his balls during this song. When I thought it was a sexual song, that seems like an appropriate comment. I couldn’t understand why this other Twitter user was so upset. Now that I see that it is probably not a sexual song I can see that it’s really very inconsiderate and someone’s baring their soul to be saying something like that

 

Second addendum:

 

The song is just not letting go of me. I feel -- now that I have a different take on the words -- it makes me worried about Adam.

 

I met him very briefly in October 2019 at a charity event in Connecticut. I didn’t say anything about it at the time, but he looked as if he had been crying. Maybe I should've said something. But I'd only just recently become a fan. I didn't feel that I knew him. I didn't feel comfortable drawing attention to the puffy, recently crying, look around his eyes.

 

It wasn't that much later that they announced that he and Javi were breaking up. I wonder if he was crying over that.

 

When someone said in a recent interview that Adam reminded them of Elvis Presley, he mentioned how Elvis Presley, at the end, was fat and drinking a lot of beer. He seemed to imply that that was the kind of Elvis that he identified with.

 

Elvis Presley died at age 42.

 

I suppose there's nothing I can do. I am worried, though. The current rendition of this song is *so* desperate.

 

I hope he doesn't end up like Elvis.