More than Just a Slice

Happy February, my dear readers!  Before I start, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who follows this blog religiously.  Thanks for checking back regularly.  I try to make this as entertaining as possible to keep you smiling, so I hope I'm not failing too badly at that!  I was also recently checking my stats for this blog, and I realized that I've had 35 page views from Russia.  Yup, you read that right.  Russia.  As far as I can remember, I don't know anyone from Russia.  So I checked out all the sites that my blog's traffic comes from, and what do you know!  One of them is a Russian news site that (supposedly) advertises my blog.  While I find this a little bit creepy and unnecessary, I'm flattered that they're interested in my life!  Thanks, Russian readers!

And now let's get back to the main point of this post.
So the other night, my Granny told me that I'm an "analyzer."  What does that even mean?  I asked her what I analyze.  Her answer was less than satisfactory, so I'm still completely confused as to what being an "analyzer" actually entails.  But, in an attempt to live up to this new title I've been given, I'm going to analyze some song lyrics.

Slice by Five for Fighting is a song that frequently pops up on a couple different playlists on my iPod.  If you're not familiar with this song, or you just haven't heard it in a while, check it out.

If your computer is going crazy and won't let you see this video, click here to watch it directly on YouTube.  Or if you're in a quiet zone (like a library or a nursery), you can read the lyrics here.

So this song is basically about music and how it brings people together and creates a soundtrack to our lives.  At least that's what I get from it.  (If I'm wrong, don't tell me.)  But I'd like to analyze a few of the lyrics and discuss how they relate to my life.  So here we go!

How Slice Applies to My Life

"There was a time a long, long time ago
Chevys and levees played on the radio.
No cell phones, just 20,000 lights
Swaying on a Saturday night, alright."

At almost every concert nowadays, when the band starts to play a slow song, the entire crowd whips out their cell phones and iPods and waves them in the air, lighting up the arena.  It wasn't always that way, though, my young friends!  Instead of phones, people used to use lighters.  What can I say?  Times have changed.  Other than the fact that glowing screens are much less of a fire hazard than thousands of little flames, cell phones and iPods are just way more popular and trendy to have on your person at all times.  But if you still want to go the classic route and wave your lighter in the air at the next concert you attend, fear not.  There's an app for that.

"Have you read my blog today?
300 million little USAs.
Your doorstep is just a click away,
We'll get together one of these days."

I'm going to break this stanza down line by line.  "Have you read my blog today?"  This is a pleasant way of putting the way I plug my blog on a daily basis.  It's usually something more like, "Do you read my blog???  It's at tasteofsiouxcity.blogspot.com!!!  You should read it!  You'd love it!  It's all about SIOUX CITY!!!  Did you want me to post the link on your wall?"  You know you're an avid plug-machine when you start telling your fish to read your blog.
"300 million little USAs."  I'd like to think that there are 300 million people all over the United States reading my blog.  But alas, the lyrics to my version of this song would be "5 USAs and 2 Russias."  (Clearly I have a huge fan base.)  Not only does that not rhyme, but it's too many syllables to fit in there.  I guess that's why Five for Fighting used the original lyrics.

"Your doorstep is just a click away, we'll get together one of these days."   

I'm always telling my friends back home that we should really get together when I'm in town.  Unfortunately, that's usually as far as it gets.  We rave about how we're dying to see each other, but then we never do.  Welcome to the wonderful world of Facebook.

Ok, I realize this is getting long, so I'll just analyze one more line.  :)

"How can you be as nice as me and not from the same slice as me?"

I like to think I'm Minnesota nice.  Everyone at home is!  But coming to Sioux City has made me realize that lots of Iowans are equally as nice.  They don't have a cool title for it, but they really are genuine.  How is this possible?  They're not from Minnesota!  This is one question that I have a feeling I will never find an answer to.

I would also like to point out that Five for Fighting (which is actually just one guy, not five) gets its name from a hockey penalty.  Take that, Iowa!  Hockey is a big deal.

And that'll do it for my analyzing.  I hope my Granny is pleased!
Being someone who thinks that less is more, I apologize for the insane length of this post.  I'll try to make the next one shorter and include a bullet-pointed list.

Shout-out to my brother.  Happy 17th.  :)