the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
What the ever living fuck
trashy-cracker-kitty
The day I don’t reblog this is the day I have lost my sense of humor completely
cosmiic-underwear
FUCK NOT THIS AGAIN
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
oh my god this is gonna be stuck in my head forever
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY🎆🎇
[ID: A blackout poem made of lyrics from the Green Day song “American Idiot”. The blackout poem reads, “Don’t wanna be an American… fuck America”. End ID] Plain Text: Happy fourth of July
Audio description: the beginning of “American Idiot” plays, but all of the blacked out words in the blackout poem have been removed.
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
like black people are present in every single fucking genre and scene and popularized and straight up created several but people are so fucking hell bent on finding every possible excuse to not engage with their music because its easier than trying to confront their own racism. like okay well if its truly just a disinterest in most rap music then surely you listen to black artists in other genres right? who am i fucking kidding. of course you dont.
anyways. you will listen.
this was initially just gonna be me force feeding all of you like black alt music but actually here. music from black artists with vibes all across the spectrum because what a fucking shocker black talent exists everywhere and if youre gonna be pulling the bullshit excuse of truly just not liking rap you need to learn to shut your fucking mouth and go back to tswift or broaden your fucking horizons.
a couple more
actually yeah everyone PLEASE feel free to drop some of your favourite black artists (whether thats solo artists, groups, duos, etc.) in the reblogs or replies, share 🤲
(special interest is a punk band with multiple members but their singer is black)
*Cracks knuckles in goth*
a playlist i've been adding to for a few years of black music -- specifically one shifting focus away from men, who are only present as features
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
Anonymous asked:
As someone who grew up living under a rock in the early 2000s and was completely lost on what hip-hop and rap was good until earlier this year I would absolutely support a crash course playlist
Best listened to on shuffle. Very NSFW, including some lyrics from A Different Time. Tried to focus on the essentials and then a few noteworthy personal favorites. Look below the cut for some commentary on what’s what ⬇️
*this playlist is subject to change, and since it’s original posting has already been edited to add Beastie Boys, Salt N Pepa, and MF DOOM
the-narddog
I will never understand why this Christmas song goes so hard.
OKAY MOTHERFUCKERS LISTEN UP
BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS NOT CAROL OF THE BELLS
IT IS CHRISTMAS EVE/SARAJEVO 12/24 AND IT IS SO MUCH FUCKING MORE THAN CAROL OF THE BELLS.
so during the bosnian war (which was this nasty-ass conflict in bosnia and herzgovina) there was this badass cello-playing motherfucker named vedran smailovic. He was from Sarajevo, was upset about all the shit and nastiness that came about through this war (this was full-on brother-killing-brother shit!) that he went around to bombed-out, blown up buildings and funderals––where he was at risk of FUCKING SNIPER FIRE––and playing the cello. This guy was so set on providing one tiny spot of beauty in a seriously nasty war he was risking being fucking SHOT OR BLOWN UP.
AND THIS IS THE GUY WHO INSPIRED THIS SONG.
He’s why there’s the calm cello part at the beginning before everything gets all violent-sounding. It’s THEMATIC.
THAT’S WHY THIS CHRISTMAS SONG GOES SO FUCKING HARD.
grammarmancer
WHY ISN’T MORE CHRISTMAS MUSIC LIKE THIS?????
warriormaggie
There’s the wikipedia article about him and yes…true story…
It’s also important to understand that Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 was not originally a Trans Siberian Orchestra song. It was originally recorded by Savatage, a metal band, for their concept album “Dead Winter Dead,” and when some Savatage members formed TSO, they adopted that song as a TSO song because yeah it’s fucking amazing.
Friendly reminder that this exists.
Friendly reminder that Vedran’s performances also included a pile of rubble that used to be a fountain IN THE CENTER OF A TOWN SQUARE WITH NO COVER.
When asked years later why he’d down something so apparently suicidal, he shrugged and replied that it was his way of proving that “the spirit of humanity was still alive in that place, despite all evidence to the contrary.”
May we all be as brave and stalwart in protesting violence and injustice as Vedran “The Most Bad-Ass Cellist Ever” Smailović.
Also, despite what some articles may say, Vedran was not an old man when this happened. He’s only in his early 60s today, which would have made him no older than 37 when he was playing in the ruins of Sarajevo. Never let anyone tell you it’s only old men who can make a difference.
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
Wellerman but an epic version that sounds like it should be playing in the background of a pirate fight scene
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
This is the best thing i’ve ever heard, (This had 200,000 notes and then tumblr deleted it.
Holy shit
This is the greatest thing ever. I’m crying
ginger-snap420
ITS BACK YOU GUYS
Songs Sampled: My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade - 0:00 Green Day - Good Riddance - 0:12 Panic! at the Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies - 0:24 blink-182 - What’s My Age Again? - 0:34 Jimmy Eat World - The Middle - 0:46 We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet - 0:46 Third Eye Blind - Graduate - 0:56 All Time Low - Weightless - 0:58 All Time Low - Dear Maria Count Me In - 1:07 Switchfoot - Meant to Live - 1:18 Fall Out Boy - Sugar We’re Going Down - 1:07 My Chemical Romance - I’m Not Okay (I Promise) - 1:29 Boys Like Girls - Thunder - 1:40 30 Seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens - 1:50 Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue - 1:59 Relient K - Be My Escape - 2:00 Relient K - Sadie Hawkins Dance - 2:03 Simple Plan - I’d Do Anything - 2:14 Paramore - Misery Business - 2:15 Rise Against - Savior - 2:25 Sum 41 - Fat Lip - 2:33 My Chemical Romance - Teenagers - 2:34 Fountains of Wayne - Stacy’s Mom - 2:43 All American Rejects - Gives You Hell - 2:51 blink-182 - Feeling This - 2:53 Lit - My Own Worst Enemy - 3:08 Sum 41 - In Too Deep - 3:09 The Cab - One of THOSE Nights - 3:37 Relient K - High of 75 - 3:37 blink-182 - I Miss You - 3:37 Paramore - That’s What You Get - 3:48 AFI - Miss Murder - 4:03 Good Charlotte - Dance Floor Anthem - 4:04 Cute Is What We Aim For - Curse of Curves - 4:18 30 Seconds to Mars - Closer to the Edge - 4:30 A Day to Remember - All I Want - 4:45 Mayday Parade - Jamie All Over - 4:57 Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - 4:57 Cartel - Say Anything (Else) - 5:22 Taking Back Sunday - MakeDamnSure - 5:37 Rise Against - Audience of One - 5:47 Fall Out Boy - Sugar We’re Going Down - 5:48 Download: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/usx1p…
champagneandsecrets
THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING THANK YOU SO MUCH TO WHOMEVER DID THIS
It’s back
damn
IM SO EMO
godDAMN
xx-art-is-the-weapon-xx
H O L Y F U C K
nail-bat-lesbian
YES
my-nickname-is-atrocity
i love this
ag-lasadh-geal
This is so fucking good
This is great
Like, this is gonna be my new pinned post, it’s a surprise that something beat it but, it has been beaten
I showed this to my brother and he was singing along to it PERFECTLY until it would switch songs and he would look all confused and then start singing to the new sample
I like lots.
torristrey
Oh my god I’ve actually been blessed
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
not-burnie-deactivated20140804
1949
- Harry Truman was inaugurated as U.S. president after being elected in 1948 to his own term; previously he was sworn in following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He authorized the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II, on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively.
- Doris Day enters the public spotlight with the films My Dream Is Yours and It’s a Great Feeling as well as popular songs like “It’s Magic”; divorces her second husband.
- Red China: The Communist Party of China wins the Chinese Civil War, establishing the People’s Republic of China.
- Johnnie Ray signs his first recording contract with Okeh Records, although he would not become popular for another two years.
- South Pacific, the prize-winning musical, opens on Broadway on April 7.
- Walter Winchell is an aggressive radio and newspaper journalist credited with inventing the gossip column.
- Joe DiMaggio and the New York Yankees go to the World Series five times in the 1940s, winning four of them.
1950
- Joe McCarthy, the US Senator, gains national attention and begins his anti-communist crusade with his Lincoln Day speech.
- Richard Nixon is first elected to the United States Senate.
- Studebaker, a popular car company, begins its financial downfall.
- Television is becoming widespread throughout Europe and North America.
- North Korea and South Korea declare war after Northern forces stream south on June 25.
- Marilyn Monroe soars in popularity with five new movies, including The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve, and attempts suicide after the death of friend Johnny Hyde who asked to marry her several times, but she refused respectfully. Monroe would later (1954) be married for a brief time to Joe DiMaggio (mentioned in the previous verse).
1951
- The Rosenbergs, Ethel and Julius, were convicted on March 29 for espionage.
- H-Bomb is in the middle of its development as a nuclear weapon, announced in early 1950 and first tested in late 1952.
- Sugar Ray Robinson, a champion welterweight boxer.
- Panmunjom, the border village in Korea, is the location of truce talks between the parties of the Korean War.
- Marlon Brando is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire.
- The King and I, musical, opens on Broadway on March 29.
- The Catcher in the Rye, a controversial novel by J. D. Salinger, is published.
1952
- Dwight D. Eisenhower is first elected as U.S. president, winning by a landslide margin of 442 to 89 electoral votes.
- The vaccine for polio is privately tested by Jonas Salk.
- England’s got a new queen: Queen Elizabeth II succeeds to the throne upon the death of her father, George VI, and is crowned the next year.
- Rocky Marciano defeats Jersey Joe Walcott, becoming the world Heavyweight champion.
- Liberace has a popular 1950s television show for his musical entertainment.
- Santayana goodbye: George Santayana, philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist, dies on September 26.
1953
- Joseph Stalin dies on March 5, yielding his position as leader of the Soviet Union.
- Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Stalin for six months following his death. Malenkov had presided over Stalin’s purges of party “enemies”, but would be spared a similar fate by Nikita Khrushchev mentioned later in verse.
- Gamal Abdel Nasser acts as the true power behind the new Egyptian nation as Muhammad Naguib’s minister of the interior.
- Sergei Prokofiev, the composer, dies on March 5, the same day as Stalin.
- Winthrop Rockefeller and his wife Barbara are involved in a highly publicized divorce, culminating in 1954 with a record-breaking $5.5 million settlement.[12]
- Roy Campanella, an African-American baseball catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, receives the National League’s Most Valuable Player award for the second time.
- Communist bloc is a group of communist nations dominated by the Soviet Union at this time. Probably a reference to the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany.
1954
- Roy Cohn resigns as Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel and enters private practice with the fall of McCarthy. He also worked to prosecute the Rosenbergs, mentioned earlier.
- Juan Perón spends his last full year as President of Argentina before a September 1955 coup.
- Arturo Toscanini is at the height of his fame as a conductor, performing regularly with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on national radio.
- Dacron is an early artificial fiber made from the same plastic as polyester.
- Dien Bien Phu falls. A village in North Vietnam falls to Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap, leading to the creation of North Vietnam and South Vietnam as separate states.
- “Rock Around the Clock” is a hit single released by Bill Haley & His Comets in May, spurring worldwide interest in rock and roll music.
1955
- Albert Einstein dies on April 18 at the age of 76.
- James Dean achieves success with East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, gets nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and dies in a car accident on September 30 at the age of 24.
- Brooklyn’s got a winning team: The Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series for the only time before their move to Los Angeles.
- Davy Crockett is a Disney television miniseries about the legendary frontiersman of the same name. The show was a huge hit with young boys and inspired a short-lived “coonskin cap” craze.
- Peter Pan is broadcast on TV live and in color from the 1954 version of the stage musical starring Mary Martin on March 7. Disney released an animated version the previous year.
- Elvis Presley signs with RCA Records on November 21, beginning his pop career.
- Disneyland opens on July 17, 1955 as Walt Disney’s first theme park.
1956
- Brigitte Bardot appears in her first mainstream film And God Created Woman and establishes an international reputation as a French “sex kitten”.
- Budapest is the capital city of Hungary and site of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
- Alabama is the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ultimately led to the removal of the last race laws in the USA. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr figure prominently.
- Nikita Khrushchev makes his famous Secret Speech denouncing Stalin’s “cult of personality” on February 25.
- Princess Grace Kelly releases her last film, High Society, and marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
- Peyton Place, the best-selling novel by Grace Metalious, is published. Though mild compared to today’s prime time, it shocked the reserved values of the 1950s.
- Trouble in the Suez: The Suez Crisis boils as Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal on October 29.
1957
- Little Rock, Arkansas is the site of an anti-integration standoff, as Governor Orval Faubus stops the Little Rock Nine from attending Little Rock Central High School and President Dwight D. Eisenhower deploys the 101st Airborne Division to counteract him.
- Boris Pasternak, the Russian author, publishes his famous novel Doctor Zhivago.
- Mickey Mantle is in the middle of his career as a famous New York Yankees outfielder and American League All-Star for the sixth year in a row.
- Jack Kerouac publishes his first novel in seven years, On the Road.
- Sputnik becomes the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, marking the start of the space race.
- Chou En-Lai, Premier of the People’s Republic of China, survives an assassination attempt on the charter airliner Kashmir Princess.
- Bridge on the River Kwai is released as a film adaptation of the 1954 novel and receives seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.[13]
1958
- Lebanon is engulfed in a political and religious crisis that eventually involves U.S. intervention.
- Charles de Gaulle is elected first president of the French Fifth Republic following the Algerian Crisis.
- California baseball begins as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California and become the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. They are the first major league teams west of Kansas City.
- Charles Starkweather Homicide captures the attention of Americans, in which he kills eleven people between January 25 and 29 before being caught in a massive manhunt in Douglas, Wyoming.
- Children of Thalidomide: Mothers taking the drug Thalidomide had children born with congenital birth defects caused by the sleeping aid and antiemetic, which was also used at times to treat morning sickness.
1959
- Buddy Holly dies in a plane crash on February 3 with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, in a day that had a devastating impact on the country and youth culture. Joel prefaces the lyric with a Holly signature vocal hiccup: “Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
- Ben-Hur, a film based around the New Testament starring Charlton Heston, wins eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
- Space Monkey: Able and Miss Baker return to Earth from space aboard the flight Jupiter AM-18.
- The Mafia are the center of attention for the FBI and public attention builds to this organized crime society with a historically Sicilian-American origin.
- Hula hoops reach 100 million in sales as the latest toy fad.
- Fidel Castro comes to power after a revolution in Cuba and visits the United States later that year on an unofficial twelve-day tour.
- Edsel is a no-go: Production of this car marque ends after only three years due to poor sales.
1960
- U-2: An American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union, causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960.
- Syngman Rhee was rescued by the CIA after being forced to resign as leader of South Korea for allegedly fixing an election and embezzling more than US $20 million.
- Payola, illegal payments for radio broadcasting of songs, was publicized due to Dick Clark’s testimony before Congress and Alan Freed’s public disgrace.
- John F. Kennedy beats Richard Nixon in the November 8 general election.
- Chubby Checker popularizes the dance The Twist with his cover of the song of the same name.
- Psycho: An Alfred Hitchcock thriller, based on a pulp novel by Robert Bloch and adapted by Joseph Stefano, which becomes a landmark in graphic violence and cinema sensationalism. The screeching violins heard briefly in the background of the song are a trademark of the film’s soundtrack.
- Belgians in the Congo: The Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville) was declared independent of Belgium on June 30, with Joseph Kasavubu as President and Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister.
1961
- Ernest Hemingway commits suicide on July 2 after a long battle with depression.
- Adolf Eichmann, a “most wanted” Nazi war criminal, is traced to Argentina and captured by Mossad agents. He is covertly taken to Israel where he is put on trial for crimes against humanityin Germany during World War II, convicted, and hanged.
- Stranger in a Strange Land, written by Robert A. Heinlein, is a breakthrough best-seller with themes of sexual freedom and liberation.
- Bob Dylan is signed to Columbia Records after a New York Times review by critic Robert Shelton.
- Berlin is separated into West Berlin and East Berlin, and from the rest of East Germany, when the Berlin Wall is erected on August 13 to prevent citizens escaping to the West.
- The Bay of Pigs Invasion fails, an attempt by United States-trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro.
1962
- Lawrence of Arabia: The Academy Award-winning film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence starring Peter O’Toole premieres in America on December 16.
- British Beatlemania: The Beatles, a British rock group, gain Ringo Starr as drummer and Brian Epstein as manager, and join the EMI’s Parlophone label. They soon become the world’s most famous rock band, with the word “Beatlemania” adopted by the press for their fans’ unprecedented enthusiasm. It also began the British Invasion in the United States.
- Ole’ Miss: James Meredith integrates the University of Mississippi
- John Glenn: Flew the first American manned orbital mission termed “Friendship 7” on February 20.
- Liston beats Patterson: Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson fight for the world heavyweight championship on September 25, ending in a first-round knockout. This match marked the first time Patterson had ever been knocked out and one of only eight losses in his 20-year professional career.
1963
- Pope Paul VI: Cardinal Giovanni Montini is elected to the papacy and takes the papal name of Paul VI.
- Malcolm X makes his infamous statement “The chickens have come home to roost” about the Kennedy assassination, thus causing the Nation of Islam to censor him.
- British politician sex: The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, has a relationship with a showgirl, and then lies when questioned about it before the House of Commons. When the truth came out, it led to his own resignation and undermined the credibility of the Prime Minister.
- JFK blown away: President John F. Kennedy is assassinated on November 22 while riding in an open convertible through Dallas.
1965
- Birth control: In the early 1960s, oral contraceptives, popularly known as “the pill”, first go on the market and are extremely popular. Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 challenged a Connecticut law prohibiting contraceptives. In 1968, Pope Paul VI released a papal encyclical entitled Humanae Vitae which declared artificial birth control a sin.
- Ho Chi Minh: A Vietnamese communist, who served as President of Vietnam from 1954–1969. March 2 Operation Rolling Thunder begins bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply line from North Vietnam to the Vietcong rebels in the south. On March 8, the first U.S. combat troops, 3,500 marines, land in South Vietnam.
1968
- Richard Nixon back again: Former Vice President Nixon is elected President in 1968.
1969
- Moonshot: Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing, successfully lands on the moon.
- Woodstock: Famous rock and roll festival of 1969 that came to be the epitome of the counterculture movement.
1974–75
- Watergate: Political scandal that began when the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC was broken into. After the break-in, word began to spread that President Richard Nixon (a Republican) may have known about the break-in, and tried to cover it up. The scandal would ultimately result in the resignation of President Nixon, and to date, this remains the only time that anyone has ever resigned the United States Presidency.
- Punk rock: The Ramones form, with the Sex Pistols following in 1975, bringing in the punk era.
1976–77
(An item from 1977 comes before three items from 1976 to make the song scan.)
- Menachem Begin becomes Prime Minister of Israel in 1977 and negotiates the Camp David Accords with Egypt’s president in 1978.
- Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States in 1980, but he first attempted to run for the position in 1976.
- Palestine: a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state and to end the Israeli occupation.
- Terror on the airline: Numerous aircraft hijackings take place, specifically, the Palestinian hijack of Air France Flight 139 and the subsequent Operation Entebbe in Uganda.
1979
- Ayatollah’s in Iran: During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the West-backed and secular Shah is overthrown as the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gains power after years in exile and forces Islamic law.
- Russians in Afghanistan: Following their move into Afghanistan, Soviet forces fight a ten-year war, from 1979 to 1989.
1983
- Wheel of Fortune: A hit television game show which has been TV’s highest-rated syndicated program since 1983.
- Sally Ride: In 1983 she becomes the first American woman in space. Ride’s quip from space “Better than an E-ticket”, harkens back to the opening of Disneyland mentioned earlier, with the E-ticket purchase needed for the best rides.
- Heavy metal suicide: In the 1980s Ozzy Osbourne and the bands Judas Priest and Metallica were brought to court by parents who accused the musicians of hiding subliminal pro-suicide messages in their music.
- Foreign debts: Persistent U.S. trade deficits
- Homeless vets: Veterans of the Vietnam War, including many disabled ex-military, are reported to be left homeless and impoverished.
- AIDS: A collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is first detected and recognized in the 1980s, and was on its way to becoming a pandemic.
- Crack cocaine use surged in the mid-to-late 1980s.
1984
- Bernie Goetz: On December 22, Goetz shot four young men who he said were threatening him on a New York City subway. Goetz was charged with attempted murder but was acquitted of the charges, though convicted of carrying an unlicensed gun.
1988
- Hypodermics on the shore: Medical waste was found washed up on beaches in New Jersey after being illegally dumped at sea. Before this event, waste dumped in the oceans was an “out of sight, out of mind” affair. This has been cited as one of the crucial turning points in popular opinion on environmentalism.
1989
- China’s under martial law: On May 20, China declares martial law, enabling them to use force of arms against protesting students to end the Tiananmen Square protests.
- Rock-and-roller cola wars: Soft drink giants Coke and Pepsi each run marketing campaigns using rock & roll and popular music stars to reach the teenage and young adult demographic.
Short summaries of all 119 references mentioned in the song, you’re welcome
This is awesome and helpful! Thank you, OP!
My 9th grade English teacher used this song in his class every year. He assigned each of us a verse and we had to write a research paper on one of the events from the verse. So thanks for hurtling me back in time!
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
personpitch2007
DELETE THIS POST
stumbleoutermales
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME
*clicks play in morbid curiosity*
*hammers reblog button*
I think I find this post every April Fools Day and I am so happy that I do
the-beacons-of-minas-tirith reblogged
the-narddog
I will never understand why this Christmas song goes so hard.
OKAY MOTHERFUCKERS LISTEN UP
BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS NOT CAROL OF THE BELLS
IT IS CHRISTMAS EVE/SARAJEVO 12/24 AND IT IS SO MUCH FUCKING MORE THAN CAROL OF THE BELLS.
so during the bosnian war (which was this nasty-ass conflict in bosnia and herzgovina) there was this badass cello-playing motherfucker named vedran smailovic. He was from Sarajevo, was upset about all the shit and nastiness that came about through this war (this was full-on brother-killing-brother shit!) that he went around to bombed-out, blown up buildings and funderals––where he was at risk of FUCKING SNIPER FIRE––and playing the cello. This guy was so set on providing one tiny spot of beauty in a seriously nasty war he was risking being fucking SHOT OR BLOWN UP.
AND THIS IS THE GUY WHO INSPIRED THIS SONG.
He’s why there’s the calm cello part at the beginning before everything gets all violent-sounding. It’s THEMATIC.
THAT’S WHY THIS CHRISTMAS SONG GOES SO FUCKING HARD.
grammarmancer
WHY ISN’T MORE CHRISTMAS MUSIC LIKE THIS?????
warriormaggie
There’s the wikipedia article about him and yes…true story…
It’s also important to understand that Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 was not originally a Trans Siberian Orchestra song. It was originally recorded by Savatage, a metal band, for their concept album “Dead Winter Dead,” and when some Savatage members formed TSO, they adopted that song as a TSO song because yeah it’s fucking amazing.
Friendly reminder that this exists.
Friendly reminder that Vedran’s performances also included a pile of rubble that used to be a fountain IN THE CENTER OF A TOWN SQUARE WITH NO COVER.
When asked years later why he’d down something so apparently suicidal, he shrugged and replied that it was his way of proving that “the spirit of humanity was still alive in that place, despite all evidence to the contrary.”
May we all be as brave and stalwart in protesting violence and injustice as Vedran “The Most Bad-Ass Cellist Ever” Smailović.
Also, despite what some articles may say, Vedran was not an old man when this happened. He’s only in his early 60s today, which would have made him no older than 37 when he was playing in the ruins of Sarajevo. Never let anyone tell you it’s only old men who can make a difference.