Month: September 2017

Day 30. A song that reminds you of yourself.

I’ve struggled with this one. The culmination of a month’s worth of music should be something meaningful, especially when describing oneself, no? I mean, over the previous 29 days there have been several hundred songs referenced. ONE has to stand out somehow as being mindful of oneself.

I don’t know that this song does fully remind me of…me, but it does a good job. I don’t want to be an American Idiot.

This song stands for so much of how I feel about America today, and so I think it’s worth my day 30 pick.

I want to thank everyone who has participated in this little exercise. It’s been so fun learning about your musical taste and learning from your participation. It’s been a very fun month.

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

Piano Man Billy Joel

Just the Way You Are Billy Joel

F**kin’ Perfect P!nk

Dancing With Myself Billy Idol

Try Colbie Caillat

Here I Go Again Whitesnake

‘Voodoo Child’ (Slight Return) Jimi Hendrix

You Don’t Own Me Leslie Gore

Beautiful  Christina Aguilera

Somebody To Love Kacey Musgraves

“Bad Girls”  MIA

For Your Precious Love Michael McDonald

Ballerina Girl Lionel Richie

Idiots Rule Jane’s Addiction

Under the sun Black Sabbath

All On Me Devin Dawson

That I Would Be Good  Alanis Morissette

 

 

 

A song that you remember from your childhood.

I wasn’t sure where I was going to go with this, but I sat and thought for a couple of minutes and it was right there. Plain as day.

This isn’t contemporaneous with my childhood, it was an oldie even then, but it was a song my parents enjoyed so I remember hearing it not infrequently.

It’s a silly song, but it’s fun.

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

Jelly Man Kelly James Taylor

Stuck In The Middle With You Stealers Wheel

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Wham!

One Billion Is Big The Fat Boys

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Dominique  The Singing Nun

The Candy Man  Sammy Davis, Jr.

Don’t Stop Believin’ Journey

Eruption/You Really Got Me Van Halen

“Puff the Magic Dragon” Peter, Paul & Mary

ITSY BITSY SPIDER

Happy & You Know It

I Want To Hold Your Hand The Beatles

RINGO Lorne Greene

Summer Wine Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood

Courtship of Eddie’s Father theme song

Surfin’ Safari  The Beach Boys

 

 

A song by an artist with a voice you love.

There are a few I love for different reasons. I think Paul Stanley has one of the more unique sounds out there, especially with Kiss’ mid 1980’s stuff.

Ozzy’s earlier stuff into the 1990’s is similarly unique.

I love the stuff my daughter has recorded, although it would be patronizing for me to choose that – I assure you that if I didn’t think it would be over the top, I would go there.

There’s Colbie Caillat whose voice is just like butter. But none of these folks are my pick on this 28th day of the challenge.

This one is probably going to come out of the woodwork though, you’re probably not going to see it coming. I can’t point to a given song by this person that I love, nor have I ever considered myself a fan, but the voice. Simply amazing. So much power and control.

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

“You Raise Me Up” Josh Groban

“Sweet Surrender” Sarah McLaughlin

“Angel” Sarah McLaughlin

“Suedehead” Morrissey

“Patience” Guns N Roses

“Magic man” Heart

“Alone” Heart

“Are You Strong Enough to Be My Man” Sheryl Crow & Stevie Nicks

“Hunger Strike” Temple of the Dog

A song that breaks your heart.

Schmaltz. Pure, unadulterated schmaltz. If I had to choose 3 words to describe my pick, they would be the words. I really don’t know how else to categorize it.

On Day 10, I went with Gary Jules’ version of “Mad World” as a song that makes me sad. This one doesn’t make me sad, per se, and “Mad World” doesn’t break my heart, so this is in an interesting place.

With the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, you’d think I’d choose “Candle In The Wind,” but that doesn’t break my heart. It doesn’t even make me sad. I always felt manipulated by EJ trotting that song out for Diana – but then again, I’m not British, so I suppose it’s not meant for me anyway.
But back to my choice. Why this song? Well, as ridiculous as it sounds, at various inflection points in my life it’s come out from under its rock, played itself in the background of the soundtrack of my life and burrowed its way into my ear, quietly speaking to me.

So, don’t judge. Or if you do judge, you had best put up your own song.

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

“Time To Say Goodbye” Andrea Botcelli & Sarah Brightman

“Tears In Heaven” Eric Clapton

“Wildfire” Michael Martin Murphy

“One” Faith Hill

“One” Three Dog Night

“Only The Lonely” Roy Orbison

“Everybody Hurts” REM

“The Drugs Don’t Work” The Verve

“ AVE MARIA” Andrea Bocelli

“One” Metallica

“Turn! Turn! Turn!” The Byrds

“He Stopped Loving Her Today” George Jones

“Lips of An Angel” Hinder

A song that makes you want to fall in love.

This is a thing? A song…that makes you want to fall in love? A song does that? What does that even mean? “Goodness, this song is so mushy, it makes me want to fall in love so I can better enjoy it!”

I think I’d prefer to choose a song about being in love.

I remember being a small child in the back seat of my parents’ car with this coming over the old crackly AM radio when AM radio is where you would hear the contemporary hits of the day.

Especially pertinent as it references this past weekend.

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

“Unity” Shinedown

“Fortress Around Your Heart” Sting

“Welcome To The Jungle” Guns N Roses

“My baby you” Marc Anthony

“Like I’m Gonna Lose You ft. John Legend” Meghan Trainor

“A Song For You” The Carpenters

“Harvest Moon” Neil Young

“Could It Be Magic” Barry Manilow

“High On You” Survivor

“Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying ” Gerry & The Pacemakers

“You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)” Rod Stewart

“Truly Madly Deeply” Savage Garden

“Sweet Surrender” Sarah McLaughlin

 

A song by an artist no longer living.

I’ve thought a little about this and it comes down to two: Elvis and Prince.

Now I can think of a bunch of artists I want to point to, but when I first started thinking about this day’s theme it was these two that came to my mind first.

I talked a little about my rationale for Elvis in my Day 23 post, where I could remember as a 7-year old hearing the news Elvis had died when I can’t remember much of that age. I am a bit of an EP fan, although not huge; I have an album called “The Top 10 Hits” and that’s pretty much all I need. Maybe “Viva Las Vegas” tossed in for good measure, but otherwise, I’m good with it. It’s just that he has pretty much hung around the outskirts of my life my entire life. Kind of the familiar stranger you see on the bus every day on your commute or at the coffee store that one day just inexplicably stops showing up.

Prince is a different vibe. I was never a big fan, although I have always adored “Purple Rain” and some other assorted songs along the way. “1999” and it’s hit songs were about as deep into the catalog as I got with him – a few random songs here and there, but really just the early/mid-1980’s stuff. When he died, however, he was hailed as a musical genius. I’m still not convinced that genius is quite the word, but he was supremely talented and I know he had an oversized impact on a lot of the people in my generation and for that, I have to recognize a certain affinity.

So, Elvis, you’ve gotten the nod twice from me in three days, both for having died, yet not having your music chosen. I’m sorry for that. Sometimes a mile wide and an inch deep just doesn’t do it.

Now, with that as lead up, there’s a dirth of video versions of Prince’s “Delirious” which is the song I wanted to highlight, so I’m going to provide a link to the audio.

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

“Suspicious Minds” Elvis Presley

“Miss Misery” Elliot Smith

“Let’s Dance” David Bowie

“More than A Feeling” Boston

“The thrill is gone” BB King & Eric Clapton

“Lawyers, Guns and Money” Warren Zevon

“Imagine” John Lennon

“All Along The Watchtower” Jimi Hendrix

“Down in a Hole” Alice in Chains

“One More Light Live” Linkin Park

“Piece Of My Heart” Big Brother and the Holding Company

“Space Oddity” David Bowie

“Don’t Change” INXS

“Georgia On My Mind “ Ray Charles

“Ripple” Grateful Dead

“Greatest Love Of All” Whitney Houston

“At Last” Etta James

 

A song by a band you wish was still together.

I spent some time thinking about this. My first thought was “Blood and Roses” by The Smithereens…but they’re still together. So I guess I should be happy about that, but perhaps it just means that I really don’t care about them if they’re together as much as I did when I thought they had broken up. Which should cast doubt on anything I subsequently pick today: If I can pick a Smithereens song because I thought they were broken up, it means I wish they were still together, presumably because I miss their stuff…only to realize they’re still around, so I don’t really miss it as much as I thought.

So, I went back to a band I KNOW is long gone. The band I’m going with was essentially engineered into life, but unlike so many created bands, they changed everything. Malcolm McLaren, a visionary in his own right, saw the oncoming Punk scene, and harnessed it. Punk as a movement began as a rejection of the establishment at a time that (here in the US) the establishment represented involvement in Vietnam and Watergate. It was the rejection of the mainstream and glam rock. I suppose it was perfectly predictable that a band built on such anti-social principles would implode, but it would have been interesting to see just how the Sex Pistols would have evolved, how they would have behaved: would they continue to reject the establishment or would they become the establishment, like Green Day?

My pick is “Anarchy In The UK,” a song I to this day will blare while driving, only these days I’m driving a late model Swedish sedan…kind of a perfect exemplar of the reason you can’t remain anti-establishment for very long.

Wisdom of Crowds picks:

“Bohemian Rhapsody” Queen

“Love Ballad” LTD

“Voodoo Child” Stevie Ray Vaughn

“People of the Sun” Rage Against the Machine

“And I love her”  The Beatles

“In The Evening” Led Zeppelin

“ The Old Apartment” Barenaked Ladies

“Queen Of The Reich” Queensryche

“Brothers in Arms” Dire Straits

“Songbird” Fleetwood Mac

“Planetary (GO!)” My Chemical Romance

 

 

A song you think everybody should listen to.

There’s this one song by a band that no one has heard from again after this album was released that has always evoked meaning for me. Like I could see this magnetic traveling vagrant coming through town telling stories to kids on an early Autumn day. I remember it was a day like that in August 1977, when a then 7-year old learned from the radio news that Elvis Presley had died. I didn’t know who Elvis was, but it seemed like it was a big deal because it was all over the place that “the King of Rock and Roll” had died. I remember running outside where all the neighborhood kids were playing in the street to spread the news.

“A Salvation Army band played, and the children drunk lemonade, and the morning lasted all day…and through an open window came, like Sinatra in a younger day…”
That just says the start of Autumn to me. Crisp air, but not quite the first day of school – back when school didn’t start until after Labor Day. Kids out playing.

I can imagine going back to the winter of 1963 and just being so cold – perhaps it’s the Salvation Army being invoked in the opening verse, maybe just being a lifelong New Englander who knows what it feels like when it’s so cold that it feels like the world would freeze, or maybe the sound of the wind blowing through the air. Perhaps it’s just the thought of a cold winter, paired with the assassination of our young president – the world feeling so cold and dead, yet the promise of what’s to come with this little band out of Liverpool, England who would change rock music forever, like a little sapling growing out of the tundra. A promise that the world does go on.

“In winter 1963, it felt like the world would freeze, with John F Kennedy and the Beatles…”

Maybe it’s the music itself or the repetitive African chant “ah hey ma ma ma ma…” or just the feelings it evokes for me. I don’t know, I’ve just always loved this song.

Wisdom of Crowds picks:

“Always on Your Side” Sheryl Crow

“Let It Be” The Beatles

“The Sounds of Silence” Simon & Garfunkel

“L-O-V-E” Nat King Cole

“Beloved Wife” Natalie Merchant

“At This Point In My Life” Tracey Chapman

“Elderly Woman Behind The Counter in a small town” Pearl Jam

“The Greatest Love of All” Jane Olivor

A song that makes you move forward.

Back in the late 1990’s – early 2000’s both Mitsubishi and Mazda had some catchy tunes for their commercials: “Start the Commotion” in particular, but also “Zoom Zoom Zoom”

(As an aside, all you eclipse lovers will appreciate this one)

I have to say though, when I’m kind of in a trough while running, this song brings me back up. It’s literally 180 BPM, perfect cadence for running.

So, Metallica it is. (NSFW)

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

‘In my Life” The Beatles

“Let There Be Peace on Earth” Harlem Boys’ Choir

“God Bless the U.S.A.” Lee Greenwood

“Sunny Afternoon”  The Kinks

“Shut Up and Dance” Walk The Moon

“Silence In The Snow” Trivium

“Black Widow” Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora

“In A Big Country” Big Country

 

This is like the easiest one of the challenge thus far. This song is the reason my daughter Delaney is so named.

It’s a song about a father watching his little girl Delaney grow up…funny how that works out. Apparently there’s only so long you get to watch them grow up, before they’re grown up.

My advice to parents of young kids and teens? Stop worrying about where the time went and enjoy the time you have. It doesn’t last forever.

Wisdom of Crowds Picks:

“Jessica” The Allman Brothers Band

“Bette Davis Eyes” Kim Carnes

“Walk Away Renee” The Left Banke

“Hey Jane” Spiritualized

“Alison” Elvis Costello & The Attractions

“Layla” Derek & The Dominoes

“Sweet Caroline” Neil Diamond

“Sweet Melissa” The Allman Brothers Band

“Jane Says” Jane’s Addiction

“Gloria” U2

“Doncha Know (Sky is Blue)” Alicia Keys