Wes Anderson is the best soundtrack director in the world, says I, so this list is essential. I will try not to make this Top 5 Songs from Rushmore.
Ryan's Top 5:
1. Here Comes My Baby - Cat Stevens - Rushmore - I am a sucker for bells in songs, and the reason for this might be this song, which I listened to about nine thousand times in high school. I used to listen to the Rushmore soundtrack in its entirety while doing homework, then start it over, repeat, etc. Yes. I love this song.
2. Life on Mars? - David Bowie - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - I still can't quite place The Life Aquatic in my top 5 Wes Anderson movies (another essential), but I have absolutely loved the scene with this song since I saw it in the theater. Bowie + Wes Anderson = Happy.
3. Making Time - Creation - Rushmore - Raw, excellent rock 'n roll.
4. This Time Tomorrow - The Kinks - Darjeeling Limited - I probably could've slotted "Oh Yoko!" by John Lennon in this list, but in the interest of representing more movies, this one works perfectly. On the other hand, now that I think about it, maybe I like this song more... It's a moot point--it's not like I'm ranking the two, right? Ah, right.
5. Zorro Is Back - Oliver Onions - Bottle Rocket - Some pretty great Joy Music. This was on my Graduation Joy mix, and followed me with extensive play through my first real job at ChryslerFinancial. It's tough to beat singing along to "Here's to being free la la la la la la la Zorro's back..."
Honorables, in no order - Over And Done With, by The Proclaimers; Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl, The Kinks; A Quick One While He's Away, The Who; Oh Yoko!, John Lennon; Ooh La La, The Faces; Needle in the Hay, Elliot Smith; Let Me Tell You About My Boat, Mark Mothersbaugh (I fucking love this song); Search and Destroy, Iggy Pop and the Stooges; Staralfur, Sigur Ros; Queen Bitch, David Bowie (great scene, as well); Powerman, The Kinks.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Ooh La La - The Faces - Rushmore - This, to me, is the best example of what Wes Anderson's soundtracks do - they find great music that you overlooked and make you wonder how the hell you ever missed it in the first place. Many know The Faces as Rod Stewart's band, if they know them at all. Now this otherwise unknown song has become a personal anthem with its main theme of the pain and confusion of trying to find love. Bonus points for the use of acoustic guitar and a honky-tonk piano.
2. Powerman - The Kinks - The Darjeeling Limited - This song might be rated a bit high, and it's really hard to single out one Kinks song from this movie. That said, 'Powerman" fits because it's a testament to The Kinks' abilities to create rocking music. Really, the main riff indicates that this is early hard rock in disguise.
3. Over and Done With - The Proclaimers - Bottle Rocket - Otherwise known as "the other Proclaimers song," this one I love exclusively for the first two chord changes, from the major first to the dominant-7th third, to the minor sixth. It's given me quite a bit of insight on how to write a poppy song.
4. Queen Bitch - David Bowie - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - In my opinion, the soundtrack of this movie outdoes the movie itself. I could not care for the movie that much, or more likely, I just like David Bowie songs that much. I give the edge to this song over the others, as I like Bowie's hard-rocking tone. A very raw sound.
5. Here Comes My Baby - Cat Stevens - Rushmore - This song made me like Cat Stevens. That's all I have to say.
Showing posts with label the kinks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the kinks. Show all posts
Saturday, September 6, 2008
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.
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