This, That, and the Other

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has given us “boy bands” music. He defines boy bands as “a small ensemble of males in their teens or twenties that express youthful exuberance, and play pop songs geared especially to a young female audience ages 10-14.” This seems to be category that is different from male bands for some reason. Age maybe? Makes me wonder if the band Boyz II Men is a boy band or a male band.

Anyway, I texted my daughter and asked her what her favorite boy band is and she said OneRepublic. I’m assuming that she didn’t lead me astray and that OneRepublic is (or was), in fact, a boy band. Then I asked her what her favorite OneRepublic song is and she said “Counting Stars.”

“Counting Stars” was a song from American pop rock [boy?] band, OneRepublic from their third studio album, Native. The song was written by lead singer Ryan Tedder, and was the album’s second single, released on June 14, 2013. The song was one of the band’s most successful singles, reaching number one in many countries including Canada and the United Kingdom, number two in the United States, and the top ten in 20 other countries.

Tedder was working on some songs with Beyoncé for her new album when he came across a little known folk song that he fell in love with. Wanting to write his own version of the tune, he tried to reach out to the original writer to see if he would collaborate with him, but hit a dead end. So Tedder came up with his own interpretation, heavy on piano and acoustic guitar. This arrangement took on a more soulful, gospel sound than the original.

Tedder said that he debated playing his song for Beyoncé and putting it forward for her album, but he didn’t think it felt like a song Beyoncé would record. He immediately came up with the chorus idea, went home spent the next three months finishing the Native album.

According to the band, song is about “laying in bed awake at night when you’re stressed out of your mind, thinking, ‘How are we gonna make ends meet? How are we gonna pay the bills?’ You know, all those things you wanna do with your life, how are we gonna make them work? How’s this actually gonna happen or come to pass? So, instead of counting sheep, we’re counting stars.”

Here are the lyrics to “Counting Stars.”

Lately, I've been, I've been losin' sleep
Dreamin' about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard
Said, no more countin' dollars, we'll be countin' stars
Yeah, we'll be countin' stars

I see this life like a swingin' vine
Swing my heart across the line
In my face is flashin' signs
Seek it out and ye shall find
Old, but I'm not that old
Young, but I'm not that bold
And I don't think the world is sold
On just doing what we're told

I feel something so right
Doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong
Doing the right thing
I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Lately, I've been, I've been losin' sleep
Dreamin' about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard
Said, no more countin' dollars, we'll be countin' stars
Lately, I've been, I've been losin' sleep
Dreamin' about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard
Said, no more countin' dollars, we'll be
We'll be countin' stars

Hey, yeah

I feel your love and I feel it burn
Down this river, every turn
Hope is our four-letter word
Make that money, watch it burn
Old, but I'm not that old
Young, but I'm not that bold
And I don't think the world is sold
On just doing what we're told

And I feel something so wrong
Doing the right thing
I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie
Everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly

Lately, I've been, I've been losin' sleep
Dreamin' about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard
Said, no more countin' dollars, we'll be countin' stars
Lately, I've been, I've been losin' sleep
Dreamin' about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard
Said, no more countin' dollars, we'll be
We'll be countin' stars

Oh
Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I learned
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Lately, I've been, I've been losin' sleep
Dreamin' about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard
Said, no more countin' dollars, we'll be countin' stars
Lately, I've been, I've been losin' sleep
Dreamin' about the things that we could be
But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard
Said, no more countin' dollars, we'll be
We'll be countin' stars

Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I've learned
Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I've learned
Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I've learned
Take that money, watch it burn
Sink in the river the lessons I've learned