Contest closed. Thanks to all who entered!
[I’m thrilled Josh has agreed to post again! Here he is:]
Looks like I got persuaded to write some more. As Jessie mentioned earlier in the week, we are doing sort of a contest today. I’ll let Jessie figure out the criteria, but we will randomly pick someone who comments on this post. [It’s meeee… see end of post for details!] The winner will receive a new, sealed copy of The Decemberist’s latest album The Hazards of Love. Jessie got it from her sister Emily for her birthday last month and we have both been enjoying it a lot and figured it might be a good way to get more people to comment on her blog and get exposed to some new music they might not ordinarily hear. Since I got carried away with my project, looks like my next few posts will be revealed in installments. Hope you enjoy. I know I’m a music geek, but bear with me. This has been sort of fun.
I’m not sure what age I was when I realized that I loved music. I can remember riding with my parents in our vehicles listening to Q102 on the radio from an early age. Q102 was the only station I even knew existed. It’s funny, I never listen to the radio these days but I can think of a dozen or more radio stations and what genre they play. But back then, oh man. Q102 was it. I loved sitting in the backseat (or in the way back of our van) waiting to hear what song would come on next. I don’t know why, but I can vividly remember specific moments of my childhood and what I was doing when a certain song came on. “Hungry Eyes” when we just got into Adel after coming home from my grandparents. “Every Breath You Take” laying down in the back of the van when we were on Hickman Road in Clive going someplace. The time we were going to one of my aunt and uncle’s and the DJ played that Michael Jackson song from Free Willy twice in a row. When “Bad” came on and my mom said it was written about me and my brother. (Michael Jackson was big in those days, remember?) Turning on the radio and listening while I lay in bed going to sleep and hearing “Paradise” by Phil Collins. “Love Shack” on the school bus. My friend Jeremiah and I lip syncing to “The River of Dreams” by Billy Joel. The list goes on and on. I didn’t remember them for any special reason, but I did. In fact, I don’t even really like any of those songs.
That is one of the reasons I love music so much. It is a time capsule. You can hear a song you haven’t heard of in a long while and some tiny synapses fire in your brain and bring back a crystal clear memory you would have never thought of yourself. I am going to attempt to make my own time capsule of sorts in the form of a list. I have ordered a list of 139 songs that are – as of May 2009 – my all-time favorite songs (100 was waaaay too hard). Of course this list is flawed. The list contains only songs that are on my iTunes, for starters. I know there are a lot of songs I love that I don’t have. The list (sort of) cuts out the cheesy songs I love. I will freely admit I thoroughly enjoy songs by Backstreet Boys, *Nsync, Britney Spears, the song from Full House by Jesse and the Rippers, “Forever” (which I DO have on iTunes) It would just be too hard to find places for these songs. Where would I put them? Between The Beatles and Radiohead? Couldn’t do it. Another flaw is that my current tastes sort of drive the list. If I made this five years ago, there would be a lot more Tool, Our Lady Peace, White Stripes, and Pink Floyd. I’m not as into those bands anymore, but wore them out back then. There are a lot of Okkervil River songs on my current list. I’ve only known this band for a year and a half. Right now they are probably in my top five favorite bands. Who knows what the future holds for them? There are five songs by Blur from the album 13 alone, because I have been listening to it a lot lately.
Okay, are we ready to start this adventure together? Although my taste in music is on the fringe of popular, I promise there will be some songs that everyone has heard of. I will write a short synopsis of every song and maybe write a little memory I have of something I was doing at one of the times I heard it. I am very happy to be sharing these songs with you. Without further ado, here we go with Number 139. Oh yeah, some of these songs do have some swear words in them. I will warn you beforehand what the severity is. None of them are too bad. You couldn’t give no curse show.
139 – “Someday” by The Strokes. I really like the guitar tone on this song. The Strokes were one of the most hyped bands in the early 2000’s along with other indie bands like The White Stripes and The Hives. The Strokes are the only one of the “The” bands I really listen to anymore. All three of their albums are pretty solid all the way through. The first time I heard this album I was in the backseat of my parents Concorde with Jessie driving back to Adel from my grandparents. It was our first Christmas together. Other great Strokes songs: Is This It, Last Night, 12:51, Reptillia.
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138- “Lullaby” by The Cure. I like the way the bass and drums sound too heavy for the guitar and violin parts. Robert Smith is a weird dude, but I like the way he sings this song. My knowledge of The Cure stops with the singles, but they have some great ones: Love Song, Just Like Heaven, Friday I’m In Love, Mint Car, The 13th
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137 – “The Frontier Index” by The Silver Jews. David Berman must be a fan of himself. In the song “Blue Arrangements” he says, “All my favorite singers couldn’t sing.” I have a lot of favorite singers that can’t sing either, but DB takes the cake. The reason this song is on the list is purely the lyrics. I always chuckle at the part he sings: “Boy wants a car from his dad/dad says, first you gotta cut that hair/boy says, hey dad/Jesus had long hair and dad says that’s right son/but Jesus walked everywhere”. More Silver Jews to come.
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136 – “The Bleeding Heart Show” by The New Pornographers. I love songs like this where they start out sort of boring and build up to a climax. Neko Case has one of the best voices ever. I bought this CD in Illinois with scratch ticket money while I was a training for my job. Can this really be the only New Porns/Neko Case song here? Oops. See also: Testament To Youth In Ver
se, Letter From An Occupant, Sing Me Spanish Techno, Challengers.
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135 – “Either Way” by Wilco. This song can always put a smile on my face. Jeff Tweedy (another favorite singer that can’t really sing) trying to sing sweetly, a nice straightforward drum beat, Bob Dylan-like organ and a elevator music guitar solo all wrap up in a nice little package to make this opening track from Wilco’s sixth album Sky Blue Sky. I’m going to rip off Pitchfork (music review website) and say, “Way to embrace dad-rock, guys!” More Wilco to come.
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134 – “Church On White” by Stephen Malkmus. Whenever Stephen Malkmus puts out a new album, I always wish Pavement would get back together. It’s not that I don’t like his solo stuff, but a lot of what was so appealing about Pavement was that is was so loose and unpolished. “Church on White” is neither of these, but that is not a bad thing. This song almost sounds like it was written and manufactured right in the studio, and sounds like nothing Pavement ever released. This album was almost called Sweedish Reggae instead of Stephen Malkmus. Good call.
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133 – “Fluorescent Adolescent” by The Arctic Monkeys. Favourite Worst Nightmare, The Arctic Monkeys second album wasn’t as hyped as their debut but it is really pretty good for a bunch of 14 year olds from England. I think the reason I like this song so much is the video. The part that goes, “Where did you go?” always grabs my attention. Other good songs by these dudes: Brianstorm, Fake Tales Of San Francisco. Fun Fact: I learned how to play the bass part of their song “A Certain Romance” all by myself. Go me!
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132 – “Gagging Order” by Radiohead. This song is a b-side from Hail to the Thief. One of the few Radiohead songs that are just acoustic guitar. I like it even though Thom Yorke’s voice kind of sounds weird. A LOT more Radiohead in store.
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131 – “All Over The World” by Pixies. Another odd song I’m not really sure why I like so much, but my favorite part is the guitar bit at :42. Pixies are one of those great bands that sort of brought attention to the indie rock scene in the late ‘80s and influenced a lot of bands that I really enjoy today. I also like that they don’t really have the tinny production sound that (help) make most of the songs from that decade so bad.
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130 – “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” by Sufjan Stevens. This is off of Sufjan’s album Illinois about… what was it about again? This is the only one of his songs on this list because I really think his stuff works better in the album format rather than just single songs. I gotta say though, this is probably the creepiest song on my list. It gives me the chills every time I hear it. Other songs to check out: Come On! Feel The Illinoise! Casimir Pulaski Day, The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us! (I’m not kidding)
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[Ok, here’s the deal. All you need to do to be eligible to win The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists, is comment to this post. In the comment, tell us about one memory that is tied to a particular song. Whenever you hear the song, you think of…. That’s easy, yes? I’ll start things off: The song “Cherish” by Madonna makes me think of riding the bus to school. Every time. Any memory, please share. It doesn’t have to be profound (but it could be); I’m sure you have hundreds of these associations, pick one!
Since we meant to have this post up early in the day Friday and epically failed doing so, we’ll extend the contest to Monday, May 18 at 6:00 pm CST. Oh, and then I’ll use random.org to come up with a winner and announce it at that time.
One comment only, please! Good luck!]
Whenever I hear the song “Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex, I think of sequence and spandex and little pom poms…..drill team ’95.
Man, I still hate that song.
Looking forward to checking out this music…..
“Don’t Take The Girl” by Tim McGraw reminds me working at the shop at dad’s work in Marshalltown. The song came out in 1994, which made me about 7 or 8 years old. But I have a vivid memory of calling KIX101 to request this very song from the shop phone one Saturday. I don’t know why I liked it so much. I think it was because I liked the names “Jimmy Johnson” and “Tommy Thompson”… well done McGraw.
It’s very important that you pick me to win.
First off, I think Grandma Ada would be proud of you Josh – way to carry on the writing tradition! And it sounds like your blog may be just as popular as the social column in the Kanawha Reporter. :)
So, I’m excited to see your continued list. When you mentioned Micheal Jackson I remember going to our playhouse with the tape recorder and listening to Magic 93 (the cool radio station in our neck of the woods). I’d wait until Micheal Jackson came on and then record it onto a cassette tape. I think my favorite Micheal Jackson song back then was Man in the Mirror.
Keep up the good writing – Billboard, Rolling Stone and Paste watch out – you have competition. :)
Do I get bonus entries for listening to every single song listed? (Slow day at work.)
As for my music memory, don’t hate me but I have to say New Kids On the Block “Hangin’ Tough”. Seriously. Takes me back. The year was 1989, the jeans were tight rolled, the hair was full of Aqua Net and I was in 6th grade. Friday nights were spent at slumber parties poring over the latest issue of Tiger Beat while blaring the New Kids cassette tape. After the Mountain Dew kicked in, we’d put down the magazines, pop in the New Kids VHS video and try to copy their every dance move to this song.
Those were the good ol’ days. Wait, who am I kidding? We all know I still do this on a regular basis. I heart NKOTB.
I have to admit though that I really really liked that Stephen Malkmus song. Maybe it was the title and the church reference, given that I’m a pastor’s daughter and all. Looking forward to the next 129 picks.
Whenever I hear the Bus Song by The Violent Femmes, I think of grade 8. I HATED having to ride the bus, especially because my older sister drove and wouldn’t let me ride with her. I used to sing this song to myself with a bit of anger…Come on, Mister Driver Man. Don’t be slow. I’ve got somewhere I gotta go.
Now I sing this song for Judah whenever we see a Cyride in town. Hopefully someday, he will learn to use lyrics from songs to express his anger.
“Tom’s Diner” by Susanne Vega. Yes, the one that goes du du da da du du da da du du da da du du da da. I remember in like 7th or 8th grade listening to that song for an english class with ms gersema. We had to pick it apart and analyze the poetry in the lyrics. It’s one of those songs that you can picture every scene in your head. And one of the first times I realized that a song doesn’t necessarily have to rhyme.
One of my earliest memories of beginning to enjoy music was in the early 70′s when I wanted a tape recorder for Christmas. I knew I was going to get one this particular year as Aunt Barb asked me before Christmas what kind of tapes I’d like to listen to – SURPRISE! I would take the recorder and tape favorite songs from the little radio I had received from Grandpa & Grandma Thompson. One song I listened to many times was “If” by Bread. On it you could hear my mom yelling up the stairs about something which got recorded along with the song!
The memory I chose to share is of the Presidents of the United States of America, the song would be “Lump” or “Peaches”. Back in 95 maybe they dominated 107.5. It reminds me of a time that life was very simple, and you could listen to good music on the radio w/o satellite radio, etc. Sophia John was the program director, she was awesome and ended up leaving to Omaha and shortly thereafter the station switched to their essential current format, Top 40 garbage. I used to listen to the countdown every night and Peaches was number one for like 40 straight days or something crazy like that. Thanks for spurring me to post, it brought back fun memories. And I just posted for the fun of it, I would prefer to be exempt from the Decemberists prize.
“Tequila” – Performed by The Champs. This song gets bonus points for me because I first remember it from the movie, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. My actual memory for the song, however, is my dad playing it on his guitar for my brother and I while we did our best to mimic Pee-wee’s dance in the bar scene. Thanks for the memories, Pat-Tech. You can also exclude me from the drawing as I already have a copy of the Decemberists’ album. I am enjoying reading your posts, Joshua. Keep it up! I hope you get your own blog started sometime soon, I would love to be a contributer from time to time! P.S. Bill Cosby and his wife, CAMILLE, would be ashamed! (:
It was mid summer 1976. I had my first job that wasn’t detassling or walking beans or all the other pre 16 year old stuff. I was working as a pizza cook in a brand new restarant named Di Giacomo’s. My bosses were a pair of brothers in their mid thirties by the names of Rich and Jim DiGiacomo. After the last coustomer had exited the place for the night, Rich would que up Bob Dylan highway 61 on the turntable and blast it out while clean up chores began. wow, this was different stuff. The alien vocal style, the way he breathed his phrases. That annoying higher arching organ. The unpolished guitar and the piercing harmonica. By the third listening i was convinced the man was a genius. The entire album i thought was just incredible. I became a fan. still think it was one of the best records ever made.
There are some great posts. I feel like mine wouldn’t be as good as any of the others. I can give you three off hand, one is “Yellow” by coldplay. I’ll never forget it just bc of how drastic a turn it took in my perspective. I loved it as a piece a music, but then I long term girlfriend and I decided to break up before I went to college. We had a final date and she wore this stunning yellow dress. Obviously the song was the only thing that made sense to associate with the occasion. So now, I hate that song.
Another is the song, its :five o’clock somewhere.” by Alan Jackson. I worked as a ranch hand as my first job. I got payed in fishing privileges. They played country music to calm the horses. The summer that I worked on the ranch, that song was on the radio at least 3 times a day. kid you not.
The last is the song “halellujah.” by jeff buckly. On my 18th birthday, I was hiking through the mountains as a sort of “coming of age” thing. I got up before everyone else on my birthday and decided it would be a great idea to dunk myself in a mountain stream as an adult initiation. The river was so cold that I started to hyperventilate when the water got up to my knees. The only way I could go through with it was by singing. All things were gone from my mind cause it was so cold, and the only song that would come to my head was halellujah. I sang it and went under and came up very cold and 18.
well, thats it off hand.
1985 Crazy For You by Madonna…
First date, first kiss during the movie Desperately Seeking Susan. Every time I hear the song I think of that awkward first kiss!
I realize I’m too late to be in the drawing. Shucks. I’m just getting up to speed for my blog reading today! I’ll still comment.
Vivid music memory: I wore a red dress to my junior prom and I remember so clearly the song “Lady in Red” by Chris de Burgh coming on and thinking…”this is soooo my moment.” It was. Yes. It was.
[...] songs in a series of articles we’re posting each Friday. If you missed the first one, here it is. And, we’re doing another give-away this week! Yay! This time the prize is a [...]