People on this board seem to love making lists of songs they like. And that's great, really, go ahead with your list-making selves. But I always wonder, especially when a song comes up that I'm not real familiar, what is it about the song that you love?
F'rinstance.
Today I was thinking about how Moss Icon's "Locket" is like the bestest song ever because of the snappy percussion, rediculously simple but still awesome hook, weird lyrics, the spoken/shouted dynamic, and the very last line where he sorta warbles out "would you talk to me as if I were real to you?" And, yeah, because it makes me want to get up and dance. I wish everyone knew who they were. Or, well, no, I wish everyone cool knew who they were. Because they made punk into something new, something inventive and exciting and emotional.
And, yanno, I'd like to hear about the songs you all love, especially the ones that aren't as popular. But the popular ones, too. Anything. We love music, that's why we're here: we're passionate, we're vocal. So why is it that there's so many top 5s and so few reviews? Am I the only one who'd rather read a little snippet on why you think that song is Tower of Song material, rather than seeing a page full of lists?
List-free thread
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tokyo vogue
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List-free thread
if we can rock together, why can't we walk together?
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mood swung
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neat idea, t v. I never can think of a top 5 of anything when asked. all I can think of is 'uhhhhhh.
John Prine - Christmas in Prison. first, let me say that if my husband and I have 'a song', this is it. I love the whispery, brushy drums. I love the subdued dobro. I love the words--what woman (or man) wouldn't like to be compared to a 'chess game with someone I admire'?
the searchlight in the the big yard swings round with the gun
and spotlights the snowflakes like the dust in the sun
it's christmas in prison, there'll be music tonight
I'll probably get homesick, I love you, good night.
it's a simple song, and his voice is this gravelly creaky thing swinging over it--beautiful.
John Prine - Christmas in Prison. first, let me say that if my husband and I have 'a song', this is it. I love the whispery, brushy drums. I love the subdued dobro. I love the words--what woman (or man) wouldn't like to be compared to a 'chess game with someone I admire'?
the searchlight in the the big yard swings round with the gun
and spotlights the snowflakes like the dust in the sun
it's christmas in prison, there'll be music tonight
I'll probably get homesick, I love you, good night.
it's a simple song, and his voice is this gravelly creaky thing swinging over it--beautiful.
Like me, the "g" is silent.
"Beechwood Park" by The Zombies
Really, I could pick almost any track from The Zombies Oddysey And Oracle album. A lot of the people think of the Zombies of just being a British Invasion compilation oriented band, but for those of you who like 1960s British rock music, do yourself a favour and check it out. An extremely underrated album that stands up next to the other great albums that came out that year (1968)
The song kind of borrows from the same sort of inspiration that Paul McCartney used for "Penny Lane" and John Lennon used for "Strawberry Fields Forever", about a very specific place.
Just a dreamy and beautiful track with airy vocals and great lyrics, though again, simple. Echoes of Bach.
"And we would count the evening stars
As the day grew dark
In Beechwood Park..."
Really, I could pick almost any track from The Zombies Oddysey And Oracle album. A lot of the people think of the Zombies of just being a British Invasion compilation oriented band, but for those of you who like 1960s British rock music, do yourself a favour and check it out. An extremely underrated album that stands up next to the other great albums that came out that year (1968)
The song kind of borrows from the same sort of inspiration that Paul McCartney used for "Penny Lane" and John Lennon used for "Strawberry Fields Forever", about a very specific place.
Just a dreamy and beautiful track with airy vocals and great lyrics, though again, simple. Echoes of Bach.
"And we would count the evening stars
As the day grew dark
In Beechwood Park..."
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
Obviously songs are wrapped up in time and emotional space for all of us. Songs that hit me on a deep level might not do it for someone else. A song that gets me every time is Ellis Unit One by Steve Earle.
This song was included on the 'Dead Man Walking' soundtrack and is the story song of a death row prison guard. It discusses the death penalty frankly and with the type of detail only a master observer could conjure. The melody is plaintive; the final verse is devestating. Writing first person songs like this is very difficult, but when done correctly, the payoff is fantastic. The style is Springsteen, but the phrasing is all Steve Earle. Picture if "Let Him Dangle" was sad instead of angry.
This song was included on the 'Dead Man Walking' soundtrack and is the story song of a death row prison guard. It discusses the death penalty frankly and with the type of detail only a master observer could conjure. The melody is plaintive; the final verse is devestating. Writing first person songs like this is very difficult, but when done correctly, the payoff is fantastic. The style is Springsteen, but the phrasing is all Steve Earle. Picture if "Let Him Dangle" was sad instead of angry.
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wehitandrun
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A song that never gets old to me is a Glassjaw song called "Two Tabs Of Mescaline". I recently sent Blue a Glassjaw track, I don't know if he got around to listening to it. They are a really open minded and extremely talented band.
So yes, in "Two Tabs Of Mescaline", everything is priceless. The intro has sort of an oriental feel to it, and the vocal melodies are just perfect. Daryl Palumbo is top notch in this song, he does his murbly lifeless vocal, then pops out with a note held for like 12 beats. It gets really intense, the lyrics are great... it is such a layered song. There is so much music going on at once, it can be really hard to follow(much like this description).
It is beautiful.
So yes, in "Two Tabs Of Mescaline", everything is priceless. The intro has sort of an oriental feel to it, and the vocal melodies are just perfect. Daryl Palumbo is top notch in this song, he does his murbly lifeless vocal, then pops out with a note held for like 12 beats. It gets really intense, the lyrics are great... it is such a layered song. There is so much music going on at once, it can be really hard to follow(much like this description).
It is beautiful.
There's a great song by Randy Newman called My Daddy Knew Dixie Howell. It's off the "Johnny Cutler's Birthday" bonus disc to Good Old Boys. The heart is a big, tough and highly resiliant muscle but this song rips mine to shreds every time. Southern men tend to mythologize their fathers and grandfathers in a way that is different from how any other culture treats (and in some cases enshrines) their patriarchs. Both my father and my paternal grandfather cast a very long shadow over me and my everyday perception of what a man is supposed to be. Papaw, my paternal grandfather, died when I was only six and I have always felt cheated by that. My cousins were able to enjoy his presence until they were teenagers but since I was the baby of the family I had the least amount of time with him. He was a doting grandfather and the most special thing about our relationship was that I was the ONLY person he would tell war stories to. He wouldn't talk about his experiences in WWII to his wife, his children, his brothers, other grandkids or his poolhall buddies. Of course, I was only interested in his stories as a platform to tell some sort of outlandish whopper about how I singlehandedly defeated 1,000 Nazis in the belly of a whale.
My Daddy Knew Dixie Howell is about a man who is standing over his father's casket and silently eviscerating him. In some respects, this has been my dad's relationship with his father's legacy. My dad thinks of Papaw and wonders "Who the hell were you?" and I look at my father and think "Who the hell are you, really?" When I was growing up my dad did a lot to help solidify Papaw's place as a titan in my mind. I could never get enough stories about what it was like to grow up with him as a father. As I got older, the image darkened. Turns out my grandfather was profoundly ignorant, a racist, bit of a flim-flam guy and not the most attentive husband. Do I love him any less, of course not. What's permanently imbedded in my brain is an old man who was incredibly sweet to me and was always full of stories about machine guns and airplanes. Things have changed for my dad, though. When he talks about Papaw or I can tell he is thinking about him....there are times that I see the same resentment that Johnny Cutler must have had in his eyes when he stood over his dead father. This song is special to me because it brings all of this to the front of my thoughts every time I listen to it. It may not be the most pleasant association and I could have told this story better but I can't think of a single song that has had more of an emotional impact on me.
My Daddy Knew Dixie Howell is about a man who is standing over his father's casket and silently eviscerating him. In some respects, this has been my dad's relationship with his father's legacy. My dad thinks of Papaw and wonders "Who the hell were you?" and I look at my father and think "Who the hell are you, really?" When I was growing up my dad did a lot to help solidify Papaw's place as a titan in my mind. I could never get enough stories about what it was like to grow up with him as a father. As I got older, the image darkened. Turns out my grandfather was profoundly ignorant, a racist, bit of a flim-flam guy and not the most attentive husband. Do I love him any less, of course not. What's permanently imbedded in my brain is an old man who was incredibly sweet to me and was always full of stories about machine guns and airplanes. Things have changed for my dad, though. When he talks about Papaw or I can tell he is thinking about him....there are times that I see the same resentment that Johnny Cutler must have had in his eyes when he stood over his dead father. This song is special to me because it brings all of this to the front of my thoughts every time I listen to it. It may not be the most pleasant association and I could have told this story better but I can't think of a single song that has had more of an emotional impact on me.
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mood swung
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nice work, El V.
George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Who Do You Love?
say what you want about Lonesome George, but you cannot deny the boy can play gee-tar. I love how this song starts with just him playing those opening chords and then the drums come in and it's like a freaking locomotive pounding down the rock and roll track. I love those moments when he sort of throttles down his guitar (and I don't play guitar so I don't really know what to call it--there's something similar in My Mood Swings). I love the maracas--played by Uncle Meat Pennington, whoever he may be. I love the little whoohoohoos here and there. George has a badass voice that really suits this song, and as my friend Zeke would say, this song is just stronger than dirt.
George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Who Do You Love?
say what you want about Lonesome George, but you cannot deny the boy can play gee-tar. I love how this song starts with just him playing those opening chords and then the drums come in and it's like a freaking locomotive pounding down the rock and roll track. I love those moments when he sort of throttles down his guitar (and I don't play guitar so I don't really know what to call it--there's something similar in My Mood Swings). I love the maracas--played by Uncle Meat Pennington, whoever he may be. I love the little whoohoohoos here and there. George has a badass voice that really suits this song, and as my friend Zeke would say, this song is just stronger than dirt.
Like me, the "g" is silent.
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spooky girlfriend
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Lesley Ann by David Sanborn (Close Up)
Though only an instrumental song with Sanborn on sax, this music always gets me. Perhaps it's because DrS was playing that particular cd when he and I got back together, but it has great sentimental value to me. The music starts out soft, gets powerful, and slows back down again. I only have to hear it and I can visualize everything in my life that was going on when I first heard that song - how long DrS and I had been apart since we married other people, how amazing it was that we could actually find love again with each other, how crazy the whole thing seemed but how real it all was.
I know, I can be a real sap.
Though only an instrumental song with Sanborn on sax, this music always gets me. Perhaps it's because DrS was playing that particular cd when he and I got back together, but it has great sentimental value to me. The music starts out soft, gets powerful, and slows back down again. I only have to hear it and I can visualize everything in my life that was going on when I first heard that song - how long DrS and I had been apart since we married other people, how amazing it was that we could actually find love again with each other, how crazy the whole thing seemed but how real it all was.
I know, I can be a real sap.