This needs no explanation, but it is good to know that Ryan and I can still come up with list ideas while he's on the phone driving cross-country. (It's also good to know where his priorities lie.)
Dan's Top 5:
1. "Golden Brown" - The Stranglers - The Stranglers released their first album in 1977 and were originally considered a punk group. I mean, just listen to "Peaches" and you'll wonder how they ever came up with a song this chill and... acoustic. On the other hand, the song is about heroin. To quote Wikipedia: "Many buyers were seemingly unaware of the meaning of the lyrics, which contain metaphorical references to heroin. This may have been further confused by different band members claiming that the song was about desertification, imperialism and as said in a recent interview, 'toast'."
2. "Little Red Corvette" - Prince - I don't know how you guys feel about Prince. Actually, let me rephrase that. I don't care how you guys feel about Prince. To me, this is probably the song that epitomizes the 80's. Any imagery that this song elicits has to take place at night, preferably in a big, extra-materialistic city.
3. "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" - Grandmaster Flash and Mellie Mel - This is probably the only song in the history of ever that is both (a) blatantly advocating against drug use and (b) cool as all hell.
4. "Yellow Submarine" - The Beatles - "In the TOOOOOOOWWWWWN..." You hear those words emanating from master vocalist Ringo Starr, and you know it's time to grab hands and sit Indian-style on the floor and sing along. It's by far the best children's song for that's also listenable for adults. Also evidence that the Beatles were taking drugs. Not because of the lyrics, but because they let Ringo sing.*
5. "Black Bugs" - Regurgitator - I'm guessing that everyone who's reading this hasn't heard this song before. So here's a Youtube video link. Though it was made in 1997 and the band is an obscure Aussie alternative group, it kicks ass. It's very New Wave, or so it seems to me, with the synthesizer and punchy bass line. Or maybe I can't get over the last list we did. Anyway, the song is about wasting your life playing video games. I can both relate, as I do play video games on occasion, and rejoice, as I don't devote my life to them.
Honorable mention: "Yellow" - Coldplay, "O Green World" - Gorillaz, "Back In Black" - AC/DC, "Black Magic Woman" - Santana, "Red Dust" - Zero 7 (I really, really wanted to put this on the list), "Red House" - Jimi Hendrix, "Red Rain" - Peter Gabriel, "Orange Crush" - R.E.M., "White Light/White Heat" - The Velvet Underground (Already on one of Rob's Top 5's), "Behind Blue Eyes" - The Who, "Blue" - Yoko Kanno, "Mr. Blue Sky" - Electric Light Orchestra
* - joke stolen from Bill Hicks.
Ryan's Top 5:
"Golden Brown" and "White Lines"...well played sir. I'll go with five different ones, but these would probably make my list.
1. "The Village Green Preservation Society" - The Kinks - If there was a better poem crafted last century, I haven't heard of it. "We are the Sherlock Holmes English-speaking vernacular / Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula!" You try rhyming 'vernacular,' gun-slinger. This could be the song that inspired 1,000 fantasy baseball team names...if any of them fit the length. Believe me, I've tried.
2. "Mr. Blue Sky" - ELO - This for me is an ultimate Happy Song, as evidenced by the fact that I put it on my renowned "Graduation Joy" CD. Brilliance.
3. "White Light/White Heat" - The Velvet Underground - This is also one of the best Side A Track 1's, along with "Radiation Ruling the Nation" by Massive Attack. Cough. Ironically, I may be the only person who prefers "Who loves the Sun?" (one of my all-time favorite songs), which was also a Side A Track 1--and in "High Fidelity."
4. "White Riot" - The Clash - This would have been a pretty cool concert.
5. "Paint It, Black" - The Rolling Stones - In retrospect, seeing songs 3-5 behind song #2 seems a bit odd... Fortunately for ELO I am a lazy, lazy man. Anyway, this song deserves all the accolades it can get, but I'll add one: it's the only song on "Singstar Rocks!" that I am good at. (Actually, is that an accolade?)
Honorables: "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers, "White Lines (Don't Do It)," "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse, "White Room" by Cream, "Golden Years" by David Bowie, "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix Experience, and any number of songs I am probably forgetting.
Tim's Top 5:
I had initially had five different colors in my list. Screw that.
1. Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue - It's one of my favorite songs ever, I've discussed it before, I have little to add except that the word blue definitely fits this category.
2. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole - Yeah, I love this song too much for words. It's one of the few songs I have to blare. The music is fantastic and begs to be played at supermassive volumes and the lyrics also demand to be belted in the car.
3. Rolling Stones - Paint It, Black - It's one of my favorite tracks on Guitar Hero III, it's a song that has a title involving a comma, it's a perfect track for the Full Metal Jacket soundtrack, and aside from possibly the electric version of Layla, I can think of no song that more accurately defines and somehow personifies classic rock.
4. CCR - Green River - This is one of the songs that defines CCR, and frankly, it defines CCR as amazing. It's no "Fortunate Son", but that's about the only problem I have with it. It masters that down-home country feel that made CCR so readily accessible to people who aren't generally into rock.
5. The Cyrkle - Red Rubber Ball - It's one of my favorite 60s pop songs ever, even though it's embarrassingly simple and pretty juvenile. This wards "Pink Moon" off the list only because Red Rubber Ball is at least a bit semi-respectable because it's co-written by Paul Simon.
Honorable mention: Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter - a non-album track that somehow still became a recognized song for alternative radio. I think it's better than anything that made the Ten album and I have a hard time believing it came from the same era of Pearl Jam; The Jayhawks - Blue, if I hadn't adopted the different color thing, this is #4 on the list.; Nick Drake - Pink Moon, George Baker Selection - Little Green Bag, R.E.M. - Orange Crush, Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze, The Who - Behind Blue Eyes; Fountains of Wayne - Red Dragon Tattoo
Showing posts with label by title. Show all posts
Showing posts with label by title. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Top 5 Songs With Animal References in the Title
In continuation with our ongoing theme of musical titles... songs with references to animals in the title. Must actually be the name of a general animal, and not a proper name (e.g. if someone were to write a song called "Free Willy," it would not be accepted. Thank god no one has, though.)
Dan's Top 5:
1. The Beatles - Blackbird - Probably one of the best acoustic ditties ever.
2. Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf - The best pop song I've ever heard, hands down.
3. Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey - One of my other favorite pop songs ever, it gets more and more points because Peter says "monkey" so many times.
4. The Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven - I don't know why, but I really like this one. It also pays to show you like something by the Pixies besides "Where is My Mind?"
5. Cake - Sheep Go To Heaven, Goats Go To Hell - I like the metaphor in this one, as it's effective, yet straightforward enough that any idiot can work it out.
Ryan's Top Five
Some prefacing is in order. You really could do a Top 5 with only Beatles songs and be pretty fine. That said, that would be a bit boring, and there's loads of other worthy songs. Once again, the "honorable mentions" for this list are aptly named.
1. Badly Drawn Boy - Year of the Rat - I don't want to oversell Badly Drawn Boy, but I'll do so anyway: he is a musical genius. This is one of his best; he re-energizes a definitively tired theme--this is, basically, a peace-is-the-answer song that even features a children's chorus. And yet, this song still kicks ass, and manages to sound completely original. His instrumentation is amazing.
2. The Beatles - I Am The Walrus - Even in a list that avoids a lot of Beatles classics, this one deserves special mention. One of those "epic" songs that The Beatles excelled at (A Day In The Life comes to mind). Earns bonus points because Lennon wrote some lyrics intentionally to mess with the minds of English teachers, which is the musical equivalent of Edgerrin James telling a reporter, "You know, I had to score that last touchdown, for the fantasy players."
3. Harry Nilsson - The Puppy Song - A lovely pop song that not everyone has heard. Comes with standard feel-good lyrics, but not too-feel-good--basically, the lyrical attitude that characterized most of Nilsson's masterful career. "I'd take my puppy anywhere / La la la la, I wouldn't care / And we would stay away from crowds / And signs that said 'No Dogs Allowed.'" He repeats this first verse in the second and subs 'friend' for 'puppy.' Did I mention I love Harry Nilsson?
4. The Who - Boris the Spider - One of my favorite The Who songs. Try listening to it and not having "Creeepy, craaawly, creepy, crawly, creepy-creepy crawly-crawly creepy-creepy crawly-crawly..." in your head for the rest of the week.
5. Cake - Sheep Go To Heaven - "Goats go to hell." What can I say, I love Cake, and this is one of their best, maybe their best.
Honorable mentions: The Beatles - Hey Bulldog, Octopus's Garden, Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, Blue Jay Way, And Your Bird Can Sing (almost made it), Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf (also almost made it), John Lennon - Cold Turkey (the guitar in this is awesome), Led Zeppelin - Black Dog, Rage Against The Machine - Bulls on Parade.
Tim's Top 5:
A very underrepresented animal tops my list...
1. Cobra Starship - Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) - When I hear this song, I remember the sheer mania that surrounded SoaP in my own mind and apparently in the minds of only a handful of other people when it came to actually seeing the movie. It's the ideal soundtrack song, it's memorable enough to be played on the radio, but it also is so ridiculously transparent that you can't help but think of the movie it's associated with. The rest of Cobra Starship's work is pretty middling to poor, but for one brief moment they got it right...and it'll never be August 18, 2006 anywhere else but in my heart.
2. I Am a Walrus - The Beatles - For many years, this was my favorite song. Now, it's at best my third favorite Beatles song (Rain and It's All Too Much are both superior to me now), but it's still a great one. I've still yet to see Magical Mystery Tour, and I'm not sure how I ever reached such a fate.
3. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley - Don't get me wrong, my reggae phase began and ended in the era of Big Mountain (real reggae band) and Inner Circle (not a real reggae band), but Bob Marley is an intriguing musician if you can get into him for reasons other than your frat brother's poster/your interest in smoking pot and needing to find a kindred spirit in this oh-so-rare desire and are unable to meet any living human beings.
4. Blackbird - The Beatles - For some reason, I keep buying Paul McCartney live albums, as if he was in some way getting better as a musician. Most of the songs sound mediocre at best, but Blackbird is still a masterpiece. It is extremely simple, but it's flawless.
5. Bulldog Skin - Guided by Voices - This spot was handed to Norwegian Wood, but I think the Beatles need to be displaced here. Bulldog Skin was one of the closest things Guided by Voices ever had to a hit, since it had a video that was played on MTV during 120 minutes -- the one time I saw it, it was immediately followed by Paranoid Android. But it was from their greatest album, one that's instantly overlooked because it bridged a period between the lo-fi they're really known for and the move to TVT records with Do the Collapse that offered the world Teenage FBI and little else.
Honorable mention: Hey Bulldog, And Your Bird Can Sing, Everybody’s Got Something to Hide But Me and My Monkey - The Beatles; Bird in a Cage – Old 97’s
Slow Cheetah – Red Hot Chili Peppers; Red Dragon Tattoo – Fountains of Wayne; Eagle Eye – Heatmiser; Red Mosquito – Pearl Jam; Sheep Go to Heaven - Cake
Tory's Top Five
1. Beatles - Rocky Raccoon - This makes the number one as it is by the beatles so it is deserved, as well as being my overall favorite song by the beatles. Yet it is one song that we do not have on our iTunes.
2. Elvis - Hound Dog - I don't know why this wasn't even honorably mentioned by anyone. It is definitely a trademark song of Elvis' and may be his most famous. It's at least also in the top 5 Elvis songs in addition to this list.
3. Flight of the Conchords - Albi the Racist Dragon - A dragon is an animal, let's not forget.
4. Pink Floyd - Sheep - This song is so bad ass. It goes through so many tempo changes and singing styles. When it hits "Did you hear, the dogs are dead" it is so utterly sweet.
5. Culture Club - Karma Chameleon - How did you guys miss this awesome eighties staple.
Honorable Mentions: Once again there are a lot of these. Ben Folds - Rock this Bitch (not necissarily a reference to the animal;) Bright Eyes - Down in a Rabbit Hole and Stray Dog Freedom, they didn't make it as they are not my favorite of Bright Eyes, despite his spot as favorite artist; Primus - Tommy the Cat and Fish On, Sailing the Seas of Cheese was an incredibly album; Damien Rice - Elephant, as with Bright Eyes its not one of my favorite songs by Rice; Pink Floyd - When The Tigers Broke Free, this also isn't a reference to the animal, but to tanks, but the name of the tanks are a reference to the animal, so it could've worked; Samuel L. Jackson - Black Snake Moan, amazing but not his original song and its from a movie and so on; Blink 182 - Mutt (see Ryan's upcoming guilty pleasure list.)
Dan's Top 5:
1. The Beatles - Blackbird - Probably one of the best acoustic ditties ever.
2. Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf - The best pop song I've ever heard, hands down.
3. Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey - One of my other favorite pop songs ever, it gets more and more points because Peter says "monkey" so many times.
4. The Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven - I don't know why, but I really like this one. It also pays to show you like something by the Pixies besides "Where is My Mind?"
5. Cake - Sheep Go To Heaven, Goats Go To Hell - I like the metaphor in this one, as it's effective, yet straightforward enough that any idiot can work it out.
Ryan's Top Five
Some prefacing is in order. You really could do a Top 5 with only Beatles songs and be pretty fine. That said, that would be a bit boring, and there's loads of other worthy songs. Once again, the "honorable mentions" for this list are aptly named.
1. Badly Drawn Boy - Year of the Rat - I don't want to oversell Badly Drawn Boy, but I'll do so anyway: he is a musical genius. This is one of his best; he re-energizes a definitively tired theme--this is, basically, a peace-is-the-answer song that even features a children's chorus. And yet, this song still kicks ass, and manages to sound completely original. His instrumentation is amazing.
2. The Beatles - I Am The Walrus - Even in a list that avoids a lot of Beatles classics, this one deserves special mention. One of those "epic" songs that The Beatles excelled at (A Day In The Life comes to mind). Earns bonus points because Lennon wrote some lyrics intentionally to mess with the minds of English teachers, which is the musical equivalent of Edgerrin James telling a reporter, "You know, I had to score that last touchdown, for the fantasy players."
3. Harry Nilsson - The Puppy Song - A lovely pop song that not everyone has heard. Comes with standard feel-good lyrics, but not too-feel-good--basically, the lyrical attitude that characterized most of Nilsson's masterful career. "I'd take my puppy anywhere / La la la la, I wouldn't care / And we would stay away from crowds / And signs that said 'No Dogs Allowed.'" He repeats this first verse in the second and subs 'friend' for 'puppy.' Did I mention I love Harry Nilsson?
4. The Who - Boris the Spider - One of my favorite The Who songs. Try listening to it and not having "Creeepy, craaawly, creepy, crawly, creepy-creepy crawly-crawly creepy-creepy crawly-crawly..." in your head for the rest of the week.
5. Cake - Sheep Go To Heaven - "Goats go to hell." What can I say, I love Cake, and this is one of their best, maybe their best.
Honorable mentions: The Beatles - Hey Bulldog, Octopus's Garden, Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, Blue Jay Way, And Your Bird Can Sing (almost made it), Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf (also almost made it), John Lennon - Cold Turkey (the guitar in this is awesome), Led Zeppelin - Black Dog, Rage Against The Machine - Bulls on Parade.
Tim's Top 5:
A very underrepresented animal tops my list...
1. Cobra Starship - Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) - When I hear this song, I remember the sheer mania that surrounded SoaP in my own mind and apparently in the minds of only a handful of other people when it came to actually seeing the movie. It's the ideal soundtrack song, it's memorable enough to be played on the radio, but it also is so ridiculously transparent that you can't help but think of the movie it's associated with. The rest of Cobra Starship's work is pretty middling to poor, but for one brief moment they got it right...and it'll never be August 18, 2006 anywhere else but in my heart.
2. I Am a Walrus - The Beatles - For many years, this was my favorite song. Now, it's at best my third favorite Beatles song (Rain and It's All Too Much are both superior to me now), but it's still a great one. I've still yet to see Magical Mystery Tour, and I'm not sure how I ever reached such a fate.
3. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley - Don't get me wrong, my reggae phase began and ended in the era of Big Mountain (real reggae band) and Inner Circle (not a real reggae band), but Bob Marley is an intriguing musician if you can get into him for reasons other than your frat brother's poster/your interest in smoking pot and needing to find a kindred spirit in this oh-so-rare desire and are unable to meet any living human beings.
4. Blackbird - The Beatles - For some reason, I keep buying Paul McCartney live albums, as if he was in some way getting better as a musician. Most of the songs sound mediocre at best, but Blackbird is still a masterpiece. It is extremely simple, but it's flawless.
5. Bulldog Skin - Guided by Voices - This spot was handed to Norwegian Wood, but I think the Beatles need to be displaced here. Bulldog Skin was one of the closest things Guided by Voices ever had to a hit, since it had a video that was played on MTV during 120 minutes -- the one time I saw it, it was immediately followed by Paranoid Android. But it was from their greatest album, one that's instantly overlooked because it bridged a period between the lo-fi they're really known for and the move to TVT records with Do the Collapse that offered the world Teenage FBI and little else.
Honorable mention: Hey Bulldog, And Your Bird Can Sing, Everybody’s Got Something to Hide But Me and My Monkey - The Beatles; Bird in a Cage – Old 97’s
Slow Cheetah – Red Hot Chili Peppers; Red Dragon Tattoo – Fountains of Wayne; Eagle Eye – Heatmiser; Red Mosquito – Pearl Jam; Sheep Go to Heaven - Cake
Tory's Top Five
1. Beatles - Rocky Raccoon - This makes the number one as it is by the beatles so it is deserved, as well as being my overall favorite song by the beatles. Yet it is one song that we do not have on our iTunes.
2. Elvis - Hound Dog - I don't know why this wasn't even honorably mentioned by anyone. It is definitely a trademark song of Elvis' and may be his most famous. It's at least also in the top 5 Elvis songs in addition to this list.
3. Flight of the Conchords - Albi the Racist Dragon - A dragon is an animal, let's not forget.
4. Pink Floyd - Sheep - This song is so bad ass. It goes through so many tempo changes and singing styles. When it hits "Did you hear, the dogs are dead" it is so utterly sweet.
5. Culture Club - Karma Chameleon - How did you guys miss this awesome eighties staple.
Honorable Mentions: Once again there are a lot of these. Ben Folds - Rock this Bitch (not necissarily a reference to the animal;) Bright Eyes - Down in a Rabbit Hole and Stray Dog Freedom, they didn't make it as they are not my favorite of Bright Eyes, despite his spot as favorite artist; Primus - Tommy the Cat and Fish On, Sailing the Seas of Cheese was an incredibly album; Damien Rice - Elephant, as with Bright Eyes its not one of my favorite songs by Rice; Pink Floyd - When The Tigers Broke Free, this also isn't a reference to the animal, but to tanks, but the name of the tanks are a reference to the animal, so it could've worked; Samuel L. Jackson - Black Snake Moan, amazing but not his original song and its from a movie and so on; Blink 182 - Mutt (see Ryan's upcoming guilty pleasure list.)
Monday, July 30, 2007
Top 5 Songs Containing the Word "World" in the Title
This is an even better idea than the "Sun" list, as there is an abundance of songs for consideration, and they're all usually good. Behold.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Duran Duran - Ordinary World - The most-liked Duran Duran song, apparently. I prefer to listen to most anything off Rio, but this is an amazing song. Probably the first song the group ever did that had some real meaning behind it, too.
2. Oasis - All Around The World - Probably the most infectious pop rock song I know, i would blast this at high volume when driving around, singing along with the "la la la's." Loses it's #1 spot, though, because of AT&T commercials.
3. Peter Gabriel - Secret World - Gradually becoming one of my favorite Peter Gabriel songs ever, it's fairly minimalist but still pretty powerful. Also appeals to me as a bass player. I can't really explain it, just listen to it.
4. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World - Our band almost covered this song. I love it's mix of a good guitar track with an awesome bass line.
5. Weezer - The World Has Turned and Left Me Here - For a while, this was my favorite track off the Blue Album. Of course, that's gradually fallen down a few notches, but really an oft-overlooked song.
Very honorable mentions: Cat Stevens - Wild World, R.E.M. - It's the End of the World As We Know It, Tears For Fears - Mad World, Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The World, Van Halen - Top of the World
Ryan's Top 5
Like Dan, the honorable mentions for this Top 5 will be VERY honorable. Namely "Ordinary World," which in the end I had to bump for The Old 97's (safe in my knowledge that Dan would include it)...If I'm being honest I really prefer "Come Undone" to "Ordinary World." In any event...
1. Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World - I gave some thought to putting this at a spot other than #1, but this has been one of my favorite songs for almost a decade now, so I'd be lying if I slotted it anywhere but here. Anyone else notice that this Listing Things leads to run-on sentences?
2. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World - I almost put this third, but, again, I'd be lying. It's easy to forget how awesome this song is, but as soon as you play it, you hear the guitar, and you're reminded.
3. The Kinks - Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worrin' Bout That Girl - Another song from the excellent Rushmore soundtrack. The Kinks are a band I need to devote more attention to.
4. Cat Stevens - Wild World - I also need to devote more attention to Cat Stevens, because I love this song, Into White, Tea for the Tillerman, Here Comes My Baby (another Rushmore great).
5. The Old 97's - King Of All The World - Yet another band that deserves more of my attention, as I've heard roughly ten of their songs, and I've loved them all. This song is good enough to supplant Ordinary World for the five-spot.
Insanely honorable mentions: Duran Duran - Ordinary World, Tears for Fears - Mad World, Gary Jules - Mad World (TFF cover), Mark Mothersbaugh - Hardest Geometry Problem In The World (this would be cheating, I figured), Weezer - The World Has Turned And Left Me Here, Oasis - All Around The World, Daft Punk - Around the World, REM - It's The End Of The World As We Know It, Collective Soul - The World I Know, Paul Simon - All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints.
Tim's Top 5:
1. Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World - The true test of any song's intrinsic greatness is how well it stands up to covers, particularly by lesser artists. In this case, the lesser artist was Will Ferrell in the movie Stranger Than Fiction...and it was still stunning. It's a deceptively simple song, but it has a real duality to it, starting very quietly and growing into a late 70s' Undertones-esque pop-punk masterpiece.
2. Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World - The true test of any song's intrinsic greatness...sounds familiar. Anyway, Pearl Jam is not a lesser artist, but their versions of Rockin' in the Free World can't match Neil's own. It's revolutionary that he can put together this track and Harvest Moon in the span of a few years, but it speaks volumes about Neil Young's ability to play into any number of musical camps. The lyrics of this song are among the best I've ever encountered, and it has a real revolutionary ethos that appeals to me.
3. Old 97's - King of All the World - My recent period of listening to nothing but the Old 97's has indicated to me that I could easily go the rest of my life listening to nothing else, and I wouldn't feel my life was particularly empty because of it. This song is pure pop, more so than even most of the tracks on Satellite Rides, but it's a simple joy. It's a great kickoff to one of the best albums I own. What is it about the Old 97's that makes the first track on every album a masterpiece? Victoria, Time Bomb, Jagged, King of All the World, and Won't Be Home would be the best tracks 99.9% of all bands would ever put out...but they're just the first tracks on the five albums I've got.
4. Paul Simon - All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints - The fact that this song would fall fourth on nearly any list seems absurd to me, given that there was an entire month where it was the song set as my wakeup song on my alarm clock -- although given my insomnia, that means I likely woke up to it 10 times. It's my favorite track off Graceland, which is one of my favorite albums through and through, so it pains me to put it fourth...but honesty must prevail -- and it doesn't even come close to third.
5. Cat Stevens - Wild World - Another frequent appearance in my alarm clock, it's one of Cat Stevens' best, as proven by the Mr. Big cover that's not even bad (compare with Rod Stewart ruining The First Cut Is the Deepest and Sheryl Crow giving its ashes a golden shower).
Honorable mention - R.E.M. - World Leader Pretend -- an embarrassingly underappreciated song from Green; Sam Cooke - (What a) Wonderful World -- this was soiled by its association with Urkel; Pearl Jam - World Wide Suicide -- a song I didn't even care for until I actually figured out what the lyrics were...and instantly loved; Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' Bout That Girl - an understated classic from the Kinks that singlehandedly makes Rushmore a great movie. Ok...the line "O.R. they?" did that...but the song is awesome.; The World Is Not Enough - Garbage -- a song I enjoy more than I should because of its association with a James Bond movie (albeit a poor one), that just missed the female singer list.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Duran Duran - Ordinary World - The most-liked Duran Duran song, apparently. I prefer to listen to most anything off Rio, but this is an amazing song. Probably the first song the group ever did that had some real meaning behind it, too.
2. Oasis - All Around The World - Probably the most infectious pop rock song I know, i would blast this at high volume when driving around, singing along with the "la la la's." Loses it's #1 spot, though, because of AT&T commercials.
3. Peter Gabriel - Secret World - Gradually becoming one of my favorite Peter Gabriel songs ever, it's fairly minimalist but still pretty powerful. Also appeals to me as a bass player. I can't really explain it, just listen to it.
4. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World - Our band almost covered this song. I love it's mix of a good guitar track with an awesome bass line.
5. Weezer - The World Has Turned and Left Me Here - For a while, this was my favorite track off the Blue Album. Of course, that's gradually fallen down a few notches, but really an oft-overlooked song.
Very honorable mentions: Cat Stevens - Wild World, R.E.M. - It's the End of the World As We Know It, Tears For Fears - Mad World, Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The World, Van Halen - Top of the World
Ryan's Top 5
Like Dan, the honorable mentions for this Top 5 will be VERY honorable. Namely "Ordinary World," which in the end I had to bump for The Old 97's (safe in my knowledge that Dan would include it)...If I'm being honest I really prefer "Come Undone" to "Ordinary World." In any event...
1. Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World - I gave some thought to putting this at a spot other than #1, but this has been one of my favorite songs for almost a decade now, so I'd be lying if I slotted it anywhere but here. Anyone else notice that this Listing Things leads to run-on sentences?
2. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World - I almost put this third, but, again, I'd be lying. It's easy to forget how awesome this song is, but as soon as you play it, you hear the guitar, and you're reminded.
3. The Kinks - Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worrin' Bout That Girl - Another song from the excellent Rushmore soundtrack. The Kinks are a band I need to devote more attention to.
4. Cat Stevens - Wild World - I also need to devote more attention to Cat Stevens, because I love this song, Into White, Tea for the Tillerman, Here Comes My Baby (another Rushmore great).
5. The Old 97's - King Of All The World - Yet another band that deserves more of my attention, as I've heard roughly ten of their songs, and I've loved them all. This song is good enough to supplant Ordinary World for the five-spot.
Insanely honorable mentions: Duran Duran - Ordinary World, Tears for Fears - Mad World, Gary Jules - Mad World (TFF cover), Mark Mothersbaugh - Hardest Geometry Problem In The World (this would be cheating, I figured), Weezer - The World Has Turned And Left Me Here, Oasis - All Around The World, Daft Punk - Around the World, REM - It's The End Of The World As We Know It, Collective Soul - The World I Know, Paul Simon - All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints.
Tim's Top 5:
1. Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World - The true test of any song's intrinsic greatness is how well it stands up to covers, particularly by lesser artists. In this case, the lesser artist was Will Ferrell in the movie Stranger Than Fiction...and it was still stunning. It's a deceptively simple song, but it has a real duality to it, starting very quietly and growing into a late 70s' Undertones-esque pop-punk masterpiece.
2. Neil Young - Rockin' in the Free World - The true test of any song's intrinsic greatness...sounds familiar. Anyway, Pearl Jam is not a lesser artist, but their versions of Rockin' in the Free World can't match Neil's own. It's revolutionary that he can put together this track and Harvest Moon in the span of a few years, but it speaks volumes about Neil Young's ability to play into any number of musical camps. The lyrics of this song are among the best I've ever encountered, and it has a real revolutionary ethos that appeals to me.
3. Old 97's - King of All the World - My recent period of listening to nothing but the Old 97's has indicated to me that I could easily go the rest of my life listening to nothing else, and I wouldn't feel my life was particularly empty because of it. This song is pure pop, more so than even most of the tracks on Satellite Rides, but it's a simple joy. It's a great kickoff to one of the best albums I own. What is it about the Old 97's that makes the first track on every album a masterpiece? Victoria, Time Bomb, Jagged, King of All the World, and Won't Be Home would be the best tracks 99.9% of all bands would ever put out...but they're just the first tracks on the five albums I've got.
4. Paul Simon - All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints - The fact that this song would fall fourth on nearly any list seems absurd to me, given that there was an entire month where it was the song set as my wakeup song on my alarm clock -- although given my insomnia, that means I likely woke up to it 10 times. It's my favorite track off Graceland, which is one of my favorite albums through and through, so it pains me to put it fourth...but honesty must prevail -- and it doesn't even come close to third.
5. Cat Stevens - Wild World - Another frequent appearance in my alarm clock, it's one of Cat Stevens' best, as proven by the Mr. Big cover that's not even bad (compare with Rod Stewart ruining The First Cut Is the Deepest and Sheryl Crow giving its ashes a golden shower).
Honorable mention - R.E.M. - World Leader Pretend -- an embarrassingly underappreciated song from Green; Sam Cooke - (What a) Wonderful World -- this was soiled by its association with Urkel; Pearl Jam - World Wide Suicide -- a song I didn't even care for until I actually figured out what the lyrics were...and instantly loved; Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' Bout That Girl - an understated classic from the Kinks that singlehandedly makes Rushmore a great movie. Ok...the line "O.R. they?" did that...but the song is awesome.; The World Is Not Enough - Garbage -- a song I enjoy more than I should because of its association with a James Bond movie (albeit a poor one), that just missed the female singer list.
Top 5 Songs Containing the Word "Sun" in the Title
I figure, pop songs with a female singer, political pundits..."sun" songs is the next logical step, right? Anyway, this was an idea I thought of on the drive to Virginia, but I didn't have my iTunes handy when I got there. In the end there wasn't as much to choose from as I had hoped, so I resorted to lyrics websites.
Unnecessarily strict rule: it has to be "sun"--not sunshine, sunday, sunny, etc. Without further ado...
Ryan's Top 5
1. "Who Loves the Sun" - Velvet Underground - I really think this is one of the best pop songs of all-time. And, frankly, it was the impetus for this top 5.
2. "Here Comes the Sun" - The Beatles - The fact that this used to be my favorite song illustrates how much I've come to love song #1. That being said, this is definitely one of my favorite songs, still, so it's a close second on this list. This was George Harrison's best.
3. "House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals - I'd be remiss not to include this track. I'll admit it's not one of my all-time favorites, but it is damn good, and I wouldn't switch away from it on the radio. I'm also a sucker for the British Invasion.
4. "Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes - This narrowly defeats "Black Hole Sun" for the 4-spot.
5. "Black Hole Sun" - Soundgarden - I really could never get into Soundgarden past this song. This song, however, is great.
Honorable mentions: The Beatles - Sun King, Jimi Hendrix - Third Stone from the Sun, The Polyphonic Spree - It's the Sun, The Beatles - I'll Follow the Sun.
OK people, blow me away, show me the fantastic songs I'm forgetting.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - One of Pink Floyd's first songs that was truly "out there." In my opinion, it paved the way for stuff like "Echoes," which would come right before the released Dark Side of the Moon. Still a good listen, and one of my favorites.
2. The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun - I have an automatic affinity for Harrison songs, and this was arguably his best song.
3. The Animals - House of the Rising Sun - A classic, it's got an instantly recognizable chord progression and I don't know of anyone who doesn't like it. Catchy, yet haunting. You'd probably get a very good response if your band decided to do a live cover of this one.
4. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun - Listen to this in the morning and I challenge you to keep it out of your head the rest of the day. It was one of those songs I had heard before countless times but never figured out what it was until I stumbled across the album. Most Beatles hits have the same story.
5. Elton John - Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - OK, honestly not the best I Could have come up with, since it's one of Elton John's weaker hits. I mean, the verse is forgettable, so the only notable part of the song is the chorus. Still, I haven't expressed my appreciation for Elton John much, so here's his first shout-out.
Tim's Top 5:
1. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles - There simply is no comparison here, it's the second best individual song on the best album of all time (the first greatest is a song most people barely recall, but I think Polythene Pam is amazing). Fact. It's a song that's totally cool-free, listening to it will get you no street cred whatsoever, but it's still a great song and one of the best expressions of optimism in music.
2. Holidays in the Sun - The Sex Pistols - Then again, as good as Abbey Road is, Never Mind the Bollocks isn't exactly a Matchbox 20 album either. This song was all it took to hook me on the idea that I could indeed become a punk music fan, no matter how many people wearing Operation Ivy patches on their clothes I hated. The whole band is in rare form for this, the guitar and bass are flawless, the drumming is exciting, and Johnny Rotten is sufficiently unintelligible to fit the frantic pace and relatively thin lyrics that never really get much beyond the fact that the Berlin Wall is somehow involved.
3. Turn Up the Sun - Oasis - This list is pretty poor, I can tell you flat out. This song is really good, but the main reason it's the most listened to "sun" song on ITunes is that it's the first track on Don't Believe The Truth, falling within three tracks of "Love Like A Bomb". But it's a good opener for the album,
4. The Sun - Maroon 5 - That's right, I'm a defender. Had "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved" never made it onto the radio, people could still speak with praise about this album as being an inspiring turn towards old-school pseudo-funk Stevie Wonder. Instead, now every 14 year old girl has grown out of Maroon 5, leaving aesthetes like myself the job of defending our taste in blogs that no one besides the four of us will ever read. It's a tough life. The stairstep vocals where Adam Levine is almost just putting scales to lyrics are a great hook for me, and this song was spared the radio play that ruined so much of this album for me.
5. Walk in the Sun - Bruce Hornsby - Have I somehow managed to conceal that I'm a total pussy thus far? Because I think that if Maroon 5 had not yet done so, this blows my cover entirely. I really enjoy Bruce Hornsby, and can't even pretend it's his association with The Grateful Dead that does it for me. I will point out that this list is pretty skimpy on sufficient songs and that's certainly the only reason that this makes the list, since it's not among my favorites -- it's no "Set Me In Motion", let alone "The Valley Road", but the fact is that I do like it. I'm so adult contemporary somedays that I want to kick my own ass. If only John Tesh had some intelligence for my life...
Honorable mention: Walking in the Sun - Travis -- seriously, this is all I can muster; Blame It on the Sun - Stevie Wonder. I have another dozen "sun" songs on my Ipod, but none of them warrant mention. Except in retrospect, the songs on both Dan and Ryan's lists really ought to be slotted into #5's spot...but since I went through the emotional trauma of admitting that I like Bruce Hornsby, I'll just leave it at that and pretend I've never heard of The Violent Femmes or Eric Burdon, because I was too busy buying albums from Windham Hill artists.
Unnecessarily strict rule: it has to be "sun"--not sunshine, sunday, sunny, etc. Without further ado...
Ryan's Top 5
1. "Who Loves the Sun" - Velvet Underground - I really think this is one of the best pop songs of all-time. And, frankly, it was the impetus for this top 5.
2. "Here Comes the Sun" - The Beatles - The fact that this used to be my favorite song illustrates how much I've come to love song #1. That being said, this is definitely one of my favorite songs, still, so it's a close second on this list. This was George Harrison's best.
3. "House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals - I'd be remiss not to include this track. I'll admit it's not one of my all-time favorites, but it is damn good, and I wouldn't switch away from it on the radio. I'm also a sucker for the British Invasion.
4. "Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes - This narrowly defeats "Black Hole Sun" for the 4-spot.
5. "Black Hole Sun" - Soundgarden - I really could never get into Soundgarden past this song. This song, however, is great.
Honorable mentions: The Beatles - Sun King, Jimi Hendrix - Third Stone from the Sun, The Polyphonic Spree - It's the Sun, The Beatles - I'll Follow the Sun.
OK people, blow me away, show me the fantastic songs I'm forgetting.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - One of Pink Floyd's first songs that was truly "out there." In my opinion, it paved the way for stuff like "Echoes," which would come right before the released Dark Side of the Moon. Still a good listen, and one of my favorites.
2. The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun - I have an automatic affinity for Harrison songs, and this was arguably his best song.
3. The Animals - House of the Rising Sun - A classic, it's got an instantly recognizable chord progression and I don't know of anyone who doesn't like it. Catchy, yet haunting. You'd probably get a very good response if your band decided to do a live cover of this one.
4. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun - Listen to this in the morning and I challenge you to keep it out of your head the rest of the day. It was one of those songs I had heard before countless times but never figured out what it was until I stumbled across the album. Most Beatles hits have the same story.
5. Elton John - Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - OK, honestly not the best I Could have come up with, since it's one of Elton John's weaker hits. I mean, the verse is forgettable, so the only notable part of the song is the chorus. Still, I haven't expressed my appreciation for Elton John much, so here's his first shout-out.
Tim's Top 5:
1. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles - There simply is no comparison here, it's the second best individual song on the best album of all time (the first greatest is a song most people barely recall, but I think Polythene Pam is amazing). Fact. It's a song that's totally cool-free, listening to it will get you no street cred whatsoever, but it's still a great song and one of the best expressions of optimism in music.
2. Holidays in the Sun - The Sex Pistols - Then again, as good as Abbey Road is, Never Mind the Bollocks isn't exactly a Matchbox 20 album either. This song was all it took to hook me on the idea that I could indeed become a punk music fan, no matter how many people wearing Operation Ivy patches on their clothes I hated. The whole band is in rare form for this, the guitar and bass are flawless, the drumming is exciting, and Johnny Rotten is sufficiently unintelligible to fit the frantic pace and relatively thin lyrics that never really get much beyond the fact that the Berlin Wall is somehow involved.
3. Turn Up the Sun - Oasis - This list is pretty poor, I can tell you flat out. This song is really good, but the main reason it's the most listened to "sun" song on ITunes is that it's the first track on Don't Believe The Truth, falling within three tracks of "Love Like A Bomb". But it's a good opener for the album,
4. The Sun - Maroon 5 - That's right, I'm a defender. Had "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved" never made it onto the radio, people could still speak with praise about this album as being an inspiring turn towards old-school pseudo-funk Stevie Wonder. Instead, now every 14 year old girl has grown out of Maroon 5, leaving aesthetes like myself the job of defending our taste in blogs that no one besides the four of us will ever read. It's a tough life. The stairstep vocals where Adam Levine is almost just putting scales to lyrics are a great hook for me, and this song was spared the radio play that ruined so much of this album for me.
5. Walk in the Sun - Bruce Hornsby - Have I somehow managed to conceal that I'm a total pussy thus far? Because I think that if Maroon 5 had not yet done so, this blows my cover entirely. I really enjoy Bruce Hornsby, and can't even pretend it's his association with The Grateful Dead that does it for me. I will point out that this list is pretty skimpy on sufficient songs and that's certainly the only reason that this makes the list, since it's not among my favorites -- it's no "Set Me In Motion", let alone "The Valley Road", but the fact is that I do like it. I'm so adult contemporary somedays that I want to kick my own ass. If only John Tesh had some intelligence for my life...
Honorable mention: Walking in the Sun - Travis -- seriously, this is all I can muster; Blame It on the Sun - Stevie Wonder. I have another dozen "sun" songs on my Ipod, but none of them warrant mention. Except in retrospect, the songs on both Dan and Ryan's lists really ought to be slotted into #5's spot...but since I went through the emotional trauma of admitting that I like Bruce Hornsby, I'll just leave it at that and pretend I've never heard of The Violent Femmes or Eric Burdon, because I was too busy buying albums from Windham Hill artists.
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