This has been a week of media input.  The Grammy’s.  The Superbowl.  The commercials for the Superbowl.  There is so much that could be said about all of that, a lot of which I predicted, a long time ago.  The Best New Artist award went to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.  I thought that would happen, but I swear if I hear their song Thrift Shop one more time, I’ll stop listening to pop music.  Song of the Year went to Royals by Lorde.  I loved that song the first time I heard it.  I wrote about it.  That song deserved its accolades.  So for us, what was there?  Best Rock Performance went to Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.  I find that one interesting because that song plays on both alternative rock radio format and on pop radio format, showing two things I often say, namely that rock is invading pop, slowly, and that to get a rock song noticed it has to invade pop.  Radio friendly.  Rock stars, that’s what’s going to get you there.  Daft Punk nailed three categories, two on the actual Grammy show, Record of the Year (Get Lucky, Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rogers), Album of the Year (Random Access Memories, Daft Punk), and the other in the Pre-Grammy ceremony, for Best Dance/Electronica Album (Random Memories).  And proving my point about the importance of radio play, the rock categories were announced as “Pre-Grammy” winners, with best rock album awarded to Celebration Day, by Led Zeppelin.  Seriously, who didn’t get that for Christmas/Hanukkah last year?  Like nobody!  Best Metal Performance (I didn’t know this was a category) went to God is Dead?, by Black Sabbath.  Giving them a tiny bit of credit, the televised Grammy show had an award for Best Rock Song, which was awarded to Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear for Cut Me Some Slack, but I’m certain I’ve never heard this song on the radio.  And that pretty much ends the appearance of rock, unless you count country, but I personally thought this time around the country category was more pop than rock, oh I mean country (confusion here on purpose because country gets more and more rock-like by the year).  The belle of the Grammy ball — the Best Pop Vocal Album award —  went to Bruno Mars, for Unorthodox Jukebox.  It makes me wonder if the Grammy’s don’t have an in with the Superbowl half-time performance selection, which brings up this week’s next big event.

The Superbowl.  It’s Seabirdies and Bucking Horsies in New York City!  Half-time?  In the most illogical pairing ever, we have Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, rendering me…completely speechless. The lyrics of two songs are what I’m thinking of, seeing as I love lyrics!  But think about the implications.  Think about the contradictions.  We have Mars’ big song When I Was Your Man facing off with Chili Peppers’ song Give it Away, or so I’m imagining.  Bruno could sing the first couple lines of his song, “same bed but it feels just a little bit bigger now, our song on the radio but it don’t sound the same”, depressing everyone so much they feel like running for the nearest high-carb snack (that I can’t have).  Then the Chili Peppers could launch into “what I’ve got, you’ve got to give it to your mamma, what I’ve got you’ve got to give it to your pappa, what I’ve got you’ve got to give it to your daughter, you do a little dance and then you drink a little water”.  And then we get their respective choruses.  Bruno, “too young, too dumb to realize that I should have bought you flowers and held your hand, should have gave you all my hours when I had the chance, take you to every party cause all you wanted to do was dance, now my baby’s dancing but she’s dancing with another man”.  And then into, so to speak, Chili Peppers’ “give it away, give it away, give it away now”.  Notice I skipped the Peppers’ first verse “what I’ve got you’ve got to get it, put it in you”, said about three times.  Is there a Superbowl lyric malfunction bleep?  There needs to be because after Mars’ depressing song we might need to hear some of what the Chili Peppers are offering, but for the life of me I don’t see how the lyric-police are going to let that one through (unless they are so lame that they don’t know what the Chili Peppers are talking about)!

And there you have it.  Aren’t lyrics amazing?  They make us happy.  They make us sad.  They make us want to dance.  They make us want to….  Or perhaps we play a certain song because we are already in one of those moods.  Perhaps it’s both.  And every once in a while I hear a song, I mean really hear it, and I hear it for the lyrics.  And I think wow, I totally could have written that … I wish I had written that.  I run to the computer to read the lyrics.  That was the case this morning.

I heard a familiar sound in this song, not sure who it was.  And I typed the word in the lyric that was evident.  Invisible.  And of course, I knew then the reason the song was so good.  U2.  Premiering today on the Superbowl (by the way, you can download the song for free for 24 hours) is U2’s Invisible, the title track of their upcoming album, but apparently not to be the first single.  I loved this song at first listen.  As for the Superbowl release, seriously, how do Bruno Mars or the Red Hot Chili Peppers face up to a new U2 song?  And I’m thinking U2 at the 2015 Grammy’s?  I think this song will be on all formats.  And I love the lyrics.  Yes, I do so very much love lyrics!

Invisible – lyrics:

It’s like the room just cleared of smoke
I didn’t even want the heart you broke
It’s yours to keep
You just might need one

I finally found my real name
I won’t be me when you see me again
No, I won’t be my father’s son

I’m more than you know
I’m more than you see here
More than you let me be
I’m more than you know
A body in a soul
You don’t see me but you will
I am not invisible

That’s right
I’ll be in the invisible world

I don’t dream, not as such
I don’t even think about you that much
Unless I start to think at all

All those frozen days
And your frozen ways
They melt away your face like snow

I’m more than you know
I’m more than you see here
I’m more than you let me be
I’m more than you know
A body in a soul
You don’t see me but you will
I am not invisible
I am here

P.S.  Happy Groundhog Day!  Indeed the groundhog saw his shadow, so six more weeks of winter.  Hang in their NEaster’s, I personally want more winter — rain I tell you, rain in California!  Please!