I, personally, don’t have one particular music taste. I remem-

ber being woken up by my mom blasting George Michael or

Barbra Streisand on a Saturday morning so I was brought up

listening to all kinds of music and I think my music taste now

really reflects that. Compared to other 14-16 year olds, I

have a very different music taste because I don’t think that

many teenagers would walk around the high street listening

to The Beatles.

in today’s generation, the latest trend changes more times

than most people change clothes. I listen to anything from

grunge to pop depending on the artist. From Nirvana to Be-

yoncé. My favourite lyrics are from a song by Chris Brown:

Substitute love for a better thing. it’s saying that there are

more important things than love.. Kids, especially 12-15 year

olds, are finding themselves so it’s important for them to re-

alise that as they grow older they need to think about things

other than love.. I found in my research that 14-16 year olds

have favourite songs which are pop music about love.

Music and society: Ellie’s opinion

If you’re more of a rock/grunge type, listen to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwctEiWLe84

If you like pop/rap, try listening to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNTWqdSjJnA

Listen to a classic because as we all know, classics are the

best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

My recommended playlist for you:

All Apologies– Nirvana

Bloodstream– Ed Sheeran

Bohemian Rhapsody– Queen

Centuries– Fall Out Boy

Come As You Are– Nirvana

Dirty Dianna– Michael Jackson

Fine China– Chris Brown

Flawless– Beyonce

Give me love– ed sheeran

How to save a life– the fray

Lithium– nirvana

The man who cant be moved– the script

Never say never– the fray

X– chris brown

Earned it– the weekend

Climax– usher

SPORT and GAMING?

FIFA 15!!

Fifa 15 is, arguably, the most well known sporting company on the planet. Its latest game release ‘Fifa 15’ is now in the public eye and is being known for ultimate team FIFA 15 is, in purely technical terms, stunningly impressive. The player models, though a little top heavy, have taken another huge stride to-wards photorealism, and the renewed match atmos-phere effects - team sheets being read out, player emotions, licensed stadiums, authentic terrace chants, to name but a few - combine to create a real wow factor for the first few games you play.

This is, lest we forget, the first fully-fledged next-gen release for the series, and you sense EA has decided the best way to catapult the series forward is to lob the proverbial kitchen sink into our living rooms, cramming in two or three years' worth of updates all in one go.

The new features and improvements are too numer-ous to describe comprehensively. But the over-whelming impression is of the enormous amount of care taken by a team that has a fan's appreciation of the game. While this may be authenticity only in the sense that it replicates the match day experience as

invented by Sky in 1992, the fluent televisual dialogue of replays, pop-backed montages and quick cuts add a real sense of drama. Slot in a few games of FIFA between Super Sunday matches and the transition is seamless.

But can you remember what the crowd looked like on PES5? Or how realistic the grass looked on FIFA 10? It seems strange that sport games are so often sold on their appearance when, unlike al-most any other genre, its target au-dience has such a clear idea of the real-life experience the game is trying to recreate. Consider how many gamers will have kicked a football compared to firing a gun. Then think about how far we still seem to be defining from how a football game should feel to play.

Music these days is one of the main inspirations to

todays youth. Some of them use music to get away

from their everyday lives for example to get away

from the stress of school life. Most 14-16 year olds

listen to music on a daily basis or every other day.

Pop, dance and R&B seem to be the most popular

genres of music.

In an interview with Ellis Lake (16) I asked her who inspired her and

why. She replied “Demi Lovato is a big inspiration to many people in

today’s society because her story is very relatable. She overcame

bullying throughout high school, this led her to become an icon to

many teenagers who are going through something similar. She also

inspired me to begin writing music and strive to achieve my dreams

involving music”

Music is a big part of teenagers lives whether they prefer classical or

Pop, Demi Lovato or Maroon 5 they all agree that music is important

to them and helps them achieve their goals in life. When somebody

achieves well in music or just succeeds in general through hard work

and perseverance after facing many personal and environmental

problems it shows those who look up to

them that anything is possible. Even a

song which has a deep meaning of

achievement can help to really motivate

and inspire so many young people.

Although music can be a good influence on

the youth of today, there is always a

chance of a star inspiring their fans in a

negative way. Stars are often condemned

for their actions and judged on whether

their actions mean they are portraying

themselves in a way which would mean they are a bad influence on

the young which look up to them in the way they do.

Justin Bieber has also received bad press for his actions. Engaging in

quite a lot of criminal activity. This was always a risk considering his

age when he reached stardom.

In my opinion I believe that the actions of these music stars do not

affect the youth in the way the media portrays. They can make their

own decisions on how they act.

One other star which has been labelled as a bad influence would be

Miley Cyrus, going from ‘Hannah Montana’ to the star she is today.

Despite the positive views on her massive change she is still seen as

a bad role-model for the girls today due to her provocative nature

and performances. Miley’s music video for we can’t stop (https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrUvu1mlWco) was the first real taster

of the new Miley. The video, in which shocked many people, fea-

tures her quite new look and actions quite far from the sweet teen

pop-star we once knew.

If your reading this article and would like

to voice your own opinions on inspirations

in music feel free to voice your comments

below.

By Ellie-Louise Carroll

Music… What is it? Usually it’s just a form of

entertainment for when we’re bored or for

parties. But to the people who really under-

stand, it’s a way for them to express them-

selves. A way of showing how they really feel.

Music comes in many forms, and by that I

mean emotions. Sometimes it’s happy and up-

beat, the kind you listen to when you’re in a

good mood or when you want to cheer up.

Other music can be slower and sound more

relaxed, this is the music we listen to when

we’re not in such a great mood, or we simply

want to chill out or have a case of ‘the feels’.

Music can evoke strong feelings in anybody,

even the strongest, most fierce person can be

brought to tears from a song.

Happy music, naturally, is played a lot. Ellis Lake says ‘I listen to happy

music because it inspires me to do something with my life.’ This shows

just how much of a positive effect it can have on people. An example of

this could be ‘All about that Bass’ by Meghan Trainor (https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk0) which is about not caring

how big you are. This brings up the self-esteem of people who have none

because it teaches them not to care so much, and the upbeat tune to the

song puts them in a positive mood anyway. However, happy music

doesn’t always mean happy lyrics. Sometimes the lyrics can be so sad,

and so meaningful, yet they sound so happy and you can’t quite help

yourself but feel good. For example, the song ‘Bullet’ by Hollywood Un-

dead (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP077RitNAc). This song is

about suicide, and the lyrics express the want to die and the attempts at

Sad or slow music is a very different subject. They tend to calm people down, relax them.

Cameron Thompson says ‘you can’t touch music, but music can touch you.’ This is a

prime example of how music really gets to people. Sometimes a song can be so sad, and

so slow that you feel the way the vocalist sounds. ‘Cancer’ by My Chemical Romance

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byVA-YfNxds) is a song about having cancer, and

the pain and depression of the illness and the song itself has almost no beat, to evoke a

feeling of being still and alone. On the other hand, once again slow song does not mean

sad lyrics. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp-

EO5I60KA) is a slow song, but expresses a man’s love for a woman and what she means

to him. This is a ‘couples’ song, made to bring out the happiness within the relationship,

even if the tune is slow and downbeat.

LEAVE A COMMENT

Music is a huge part of many peoples’ lives; it

makes most people who they are and is actually a

big factor in their choice of friends. This is because

in today’s society, more specifically teenagers,

people judge each other on the music they listen

to. Music helps people to bond; Daniella Crosby

said ‘when I’m singing with my friends it feels like

we’re doing something together rather than just

with each other.’ This shows how music makes us

feel connected to the people around us. A large

claim throughout society is that music has saved

peoples’ lives, it is said that the lyrics alone in a

song are enough to prevent a person from suicide

as they’re inspired or touched by the words. The

fact that music can have this effect on people

shows that it is well and truly a huge part of the

world we live in today.

Although music is important to listeners, it is equally or maybe even more

important to performers. They use it to say what they really think or feel,

because they find it easier to put it into a song than to simply say it. For

example Adele dedicated her entire album, 21, to her ex and the way he

made her feel. Don’t be mistaken, however, that you’ll always understand

what the artists are trying to say, as a lot of the time they are seriously

misunderstood. ‘All Apologies’ by Nirvana was Kurt Cobain’s (1967-1994

RIP) way of expressing how he felt about his job and his fame. It expresses

his loss of interest in it and how he faked his happiness to please his fans.

So music can mean a lot of things, good or bad, but at the end of the day it

all has a meaning. The meaning can be specific, or it can be down to pure

interpretation, but it is one of the most important art forms and is one of

the rare things in this world that truly connects us all.