Will you look at that? It’s only took me about 3 months, but I finished the 30 day song challenge. Way to go, Josh!
Anyway, I know this song was on my iTunes quite a bit at this time last year. Not only had I only discovered Laura a few months earlier, but it was a tune that seemed to encapsulate much of how I was feeling about my love life up until that point. I had too many ghosts following me around and I related. Still a great song, but thank God I’m no longer at that place.
Although I wouldn’t touch a Duran Duran album to save my life these days, they had quite an influence on young Josh. So with that…here’s Hungry Like The Wolf.
Duran Duran – Hungry Like The Wolf
I frankly thought today’s submission idea was really…odd…to say the least. I suppose it’s probably a good thing I can’t immediately think of a song that makes me feel guilty. So instead I threw the work guilty into thesaurus.com and regretful came up as a synonym. I then thought, “Hey, Regret from New Order is one of my favorite songs” so there you go, stream of consciousness, thanks for the help. Submission chosen.
New Order - Regret
As a general rule I feel this way about the Nick Drake catalog, as I love his composition and the sounds he was able to get via alternate/open tunings and the like. So the following is merely one of many but a tune I’ve specifically thought of in this way before.
Nick Drake – Three Hours
I can strum out the basic chords in the right order and everything for Creep from Radiohead. Yep.
The good boys from Monty Python will now take the stage…
I think that whenever I take a dirt nap I’ll want “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing” to play at my funeral. And I *do* mean the Sufjan Steven’s version, not just the traditional arrangement. In fact, if you can book Sufjan, that would be swell. Anyway, The Lord has been the fount of every blessing in my life, and the longer I live I see this evidenced so it only seems appropriate.
Sufjan Stevens – Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
I’m going to cheat a little bit on this one and pick two…because I can. Here you go.
Ben Folds – The Luckiest
Nick Drake – Northern Sky
I lost my mummy in 2007.
John Lennon – My Mummy’s Dead
Travis (the band) makes me happy often and this was the first tune that jumped into my brain when thinking about this day’s song so there you go.
Travis - Happy
I don’t have a “go to” song when I’m angry, but I *do* know that this tune has accompanied angry times during past fun post break-up periods for me so here you go.
Ben Folds Five – Song For The Dumped
Okay so in full disclosure, I don’t have a single favorite album. I mean, how could I? I have an obscene amount of music tucked away and I’d like to think that at least *some* of it is worth the CDs they’re on. Having said that, Neutral Milk Hotel’s second (and sadly, last) album, 1998’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, is one of my very favorite albums. Someday I hope Jeff Mangum gets things together to write a follow-up but until then, we have gems like this song.
Neutral Milk Hotel – Holland, 1945
So I suppose this is where I’m to come up with a song I wish were played on the radio I don’t listen to. Odd question although it feels wrong to give two days the pass so here goes nothing. Oh, how about the title track from Sufjan Steven’s last album, The Age of Adz? I mean, come on…it’s musically diverse, weaves the narrative of a paranoid schizophrenic man having hallucinations of a coming apocalypse, and clocks in at around 8 minutes. Sounds radio friendly to me. In related, I would be awesome at driving a radio station into the ground…but boy would we’d go down swinging. Here goes…
Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
I don't listen to the radio so nothing is my answer to this day's song. I honestly don’t even know how to begin with answering this one because all I listen to are songs from my collection. Never fear, I'll whip up an actual entry in a New York minute.
Over the arc of my musical life, New Order has been one of my perennial favorites. I love so much about what they contributed to music history, they have a fascinating story from having risen out of Joy Division after Ian Curtis’ tragic suicide in 1980, and have helped shape music today in ways many still don’t appreciate. But if I hear the drum part from Blue Monday one more time, I’m going to put a brick through a window. Thanks for all the memories, gang.
New Order – Blue Monday
At present, I’m a very thankful man on both the personal and professional fronts, so Thank You Lord seems very appropriate as describing me right now.
Bob Marley – Thank You Lord
Now I don’t know if I’d say that this particular song is one no one would expect me to like, but probably this general genre for sure. After all, I’m folky-acoustic-indie-and-sixties guy. This is not that…but this video rules.
Yeah, I know this is soooooooo 2010, but I really love the Double Rainbow song. That is all…
I have too many favorite bands although earlier this year I was asked to name my favorite band I went with the Beatles. I’ve always thought this to be one of their crowning achievements so here you go…
The Beatles – A Day in the Life
It’s funny…I listen to music all the time, but I usually don’t go out of my way to specifically listen to music to make me sleep so today’s is a little more difficult than some of the previous installments. Having said that, Nick’s a mellow fellow and this tune seemed to fit the bill.
Nick Drake – Day Is Done
Anyone that knows me is painfully aware I carry a few left feet in various pockets. Having said that, I won’t be shy in occasion; I just might need a little “help” to get things a cookin’. Anyway…Moby’s seminal 1999 album, Play, came out at the tail end of my college experience and this is one of those songs that always get me going.
Moby - Bodyrock
Okay 30 Day Song Challenge…I know all the words to a good healthy chunk of the music I listen to so I’m not entirely sure how to pick exactly…so in this case I went with a song that just popped into my head from one of my favorite albums. So here you go…
Camera Obscura – Honey In The Sun
Oh and by the by, it still is amazing to me that a band like Camera Obscura is still relatively obscure(a) when I’m pretty sure Tracyanne Campbell has written some of the best pop songs of the past 10 years but what do I know?
Hey gang. Sorry about skipping yesterday but this holiday celebrating the resurrection of the Lord came up. Anyway, today’s song is pretty much a bounce off of that holiday. I’m asked to come up with a song about a certain event. Does the Transfiguration count? If yes, then here’s my song for day 7…
Sufjan Stevens – The Transfiguration
And as a side note I’ve wanted my church to do this song for Transfiguration Sunday for years. One of these days I’ll ask…
This song reminds me of my first semester in the dorm room I shared with some fellows who turned into some wonderful friends after graduating at Concordia when many…MANY…nights started off with this song. It’s not a lifestyle I’m ever going to pick up again…but what a semester! This started off so many conversations, games, thoughts on life, sing-alongs, and the like.
Billy Joel – Piano Man
Oh and btw…LOOK AT THAT MUSTACHE!!!
It’s funny the things you remember about people, places, and times. In this instance I was struck with remembrances of days when I was at the tail end of college and first few years in the working world. One of the albums that I hold with me from those times was the second Ben Folds Five album, Whatever and Ever, Amen. Back then, one my roommates was my friends James and we used to sing along to a bunch of the songs from this album in our revelry and Kate was one of them. So I’m reminded of James and all the great times spent singing along to music.
Ben Folds Five - Kate
If I had to guess, I’d say that 99% of the submissions for day 4 of this challenge deal with love lost. Thank God I now have love found again, but for awhile this was one of those songs that just pierced my heart. But how can it not when you hear Brian sing “Break my heeeeaaarrrt…” and I’d say we’ve all been there at one point in life.
Caroline, No – The Beach Boys
Now I could pick any number of songs that make me happy but when I thought of this one, I was immediately reminded of the particular performance below. This gang of musicians is a free spirited and happy go-lucky lot anyway but this song and performance just brings home the happy.
Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes - Janglin
Okay so maybe this isn’t my least favorite song, but it is right now. I’m doing work for some friends right now on their dissertations and we usually do so at a local Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. They tend to run the same exact playlist…all the time…so we’re constantly being assaulted by the same songs over and over. Now I don’t know what it is about this tune, which I believe was Natalie Merchant’s first single as a solo artist, but I *do* know I want to punch Natalie in the face every time the drum part kicks the song off. In related news, I’m not a violent man. I can only take so much.
Natalie Merchant - Carnival
Hey everybody. So my friend Katie just started taking the “30 Day Song Challenge” on Facebook and it seemed so in my wheelhouse I felt I had no other choice but to partake. Here’s the quick breakdown. Basically for 30 days I am to find to a song that fits some criteria and share the video. It’s pretty simple, a good way to think about music, and I get to be ever *more* pushy about music I love. It’s a win freaking win!! Here goes…
Day #1: Your Favorite Song
Ok, I have too many songs to have a favorite but here’s what I did. I opened my iTunes library, saw what songs had the highest play count and selected the one that seemed the most “favorite-ish” to me. Here’s the winner:
Laura Marling – Cross Your Fingers / Crawled Out of Sea
I’ve listened to this song roughly 29,863 times in the past year. It’s ultimately about unexpected redemption and that’s hitting home to me right now so it seems appropriate.
