Another blogger friend of mine posted her top twenty songs that "meant something to her"and why.... and suggested I do the same. Hmm.. tough one.
I mean, over my lifetime? Wow. That's forty years of songs, dude.
So I had to think on it a bit.
Here goes:
1) American Pie by Don McLean : When I was a child and we went on trips in the car, we used to sing this song (among many others) and I thought I was so cool cause I knew all the words. And it's long enough to practically make it to Kittanning (10 miles) by the time the song ends.
2) Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks: Getting ready for school when I was a kid meant listening to KDKA Pittsburgh radio station. This song was a gold standard, and when I hear it, I think of my mom packing my lunch and hurrying me out the door.
3) California Dreaming by The Mamas & the Papas: When I was like, 11 I think, the Pittsburgh Steelers played the LA Rams in the Super Bowl. On the radio stations here in the Burgh and the surrounding areas where I live, they played California Dreaming over and over. It still sticks in my head. I used to have a tape recorder, and I taped all the Steeler fight songs so I could listen to them again and again and sing along. (Hey, I've been a fan for a really long time, ok?) California Dreaming still reminds me of Super Bowl XIV...
4) The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot: My mom introduced me to Gord waaaay back in the early 70's. I love all his stuff. I just may have his entire musical catalog in my iPod. This particular song just gets me. It's a long, depressing walk through a moment in time. Don't know the story? Go
here and/or
here. Sad. Great musical remembrance though.
5) Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer: We've hit the high school era now. A song from my senior year (1986 for all you curious folks) that still hits a nerve. It is one of the best songs ever, with a crashing good beat and a great hook. Love it in the movie 'Cocktail' too...
6) Bad Company by (none other than) Bad Company: I went through a major Bad Co. stage in my last few years of high school and several years after. I had every album (yes, vinyl!) and knew every song off by heart. This song is just the 'I-Ching' of Bad Co. songs for me.
7) Kashmir by Led Zeppelin: No way I wouldn't have a Zep song on this list. This song makes me want to get drunk. Enough said. No, really.
8) Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult: This song would always make a top five list for me. I find it difficult to say, 'Oh that's my favorite song ever'... but this would no doubt be right up there. Have always liked it because its lyrics are dark and the music is fanastic. Then they used it in my favorite horror flick, Halloween (in 1978) and there you go.... a favorite song was born.
9) Billie Jean by Michael Jackson: I could have picked a million and one eighties songs, as this was my high school era and the time when I was most influenced to pretty much forget everything else that mattered and just rock out. Billie Jean is one fan-freakin'-tastic hit. And when you combine it with the video (on the brand-new MTV!!) with Michael's smooth moves, it's one killer tune.
10) Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne: I have always listened to Ozzy, (and Black Sabbath for that matter) - but no song means more than this one. First, I danced like a nutjob at all the school dances where my friend Tracy and I spun the records.... Then, when I got married, Todd and I didn't do the whole church thing or reception stuff.... my grandfather married us in their living room. So when we got in the car to leave, we decided whatever song came on the radio when we started the car would be "our song".... So you can see where this is going - Yes, Crazy Train was just coming on. So it's our song. True story.
11) One Love by Bob Marley: I really can't recall exactly when I heard my first Bob Marley song. He's my favorite singer. I think Three Little Birds was actually my first Marley experience, but One Love is my anchor in a sea of reggae. It's just perfect. No other song puts me in an immediately blissful mood any quicker.
12) Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen: Funny enough, I used to literally despise this song. I mean, hate - enough to instantly flip the radio station if I heard those first few keyboard riffs at the beginning. Sometime during the 90's, I had a complete turn-around in regards to this song, and it is now in my top ten ultimate tunes. Really weird.
13) The Dance by Garth Brooks: Yes, believe it or not, I went through a semi-country stage. It didn't last long, and it didn't preclude me from still rocking out. But as far as country goes, Garth had it all going on. He was a god. And while many others tout Friends in Low Places and The Thunder Rolls (both also fab) - I choose The Dance. Because it's lovely.
14) Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden: While others were still grunging out to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit (still a good tune, true).. I was more infatuated with Chris Cornell's vocals on this bizarre five minute tune. The video was even more eccentric and peculiar... But something just really got me, and I still love it today. Long live grunge.
15) How Soon is Now? by Love Spit Love: Originally recorded by The Smiths in 1985, this version is a more alternative nineties rendition. It was used in the soundtrack for a favorite movie of mine, The Craft, and later as the theme song for the tv show, Charmed. I like pretty much everything about it. It used to be I didn't go many days without listening to it. The cover band is rather obscure - they were a spin off of the Psychedelic Furs, and split in 2000.
16) Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie: For a man who can't really sing, I freakin' love this dude. While I relish alot of Zombie's stuff (including his off-beat horror flicks), LDG is just simply put, my fave. The beat is just a head-slammin', straight forward, kick ass, metal-ish horror-rock tune. And I dig it.
17) If You Could Only See by Tonic: A song from around 1997 I believe... Just a random musical expression of relationships in general. For some unknown reason, everyone seems to find songs in their lifetime that encapsulate a period in their life.. For me, I don't really know what period this is. Suffice it to say, I just freakin' like this song. No particular reason. I just like when it comes on the radio or pops up on shuffle on my iPod, okay?
18) The Reason by Hoobastank: A song from 2004, it just typifies modern rock today. There are a ton of other songs by other bands that you might push ahead of this one, but for me, it is a superior song, with meaningful lyrics and a great hook/melody. I could hear it over and over and not tire of it.
19) Down With the Sickness by Disturbed: A nasty song that includes some powerful spoken lyrics near the end of the song which are edited out of both the video and the radio-edited version. It is straight-forward, fierce rock and roll with some furious percussion and seemingly meancing vocals. It is certified gold, nonetheless, and was used in both 'Queen of the Damned' and 'Dawn of the Dead '04 - horror movies than deserve this kind of...mayhem.
Did I mention I
like this song?
Richard Cheese does an absolutely fabulous lounge-singer type cover of this song. Really outstanding.
20) Bad Things by Jace Everett: Anyone who has ridden in a car with me in the last eighteen months has heard this song - and not because of radio airplay. You see, I do not play the radio in my Jeep.... I only listen to CD's, and usually ones I have burned off. The last seventeen to twenty mix-CD's I've made have this song on it. Originally I first heard it when my uncle Shawn advised me it was a really cool, bluesy-type tune that was the theme for a new show on HBO called True Blood. The rest is history. Love it.
So there you go. It isn't easy to think of a life list of songs. Seriously. I have tons and tons more that I love that didn't make the cut, and I few of these on this list I don't even listen to much anymore - but they are still on my iPod and mean a little more than the average tune.
* Ten more songs that didn't quite make the extended cut *
Dancing Queen by Abba
Rocky Mountain High by John Denver
Dust in the Wind by Kansas
Ah Leah by Donnie Iris
Back in Black by AC/DC
Hey You by Pink Floyd
Let's Go Crazy by Prince
Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright
My Immortal by Evanescence
Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional
My friend also did lists of fifteen favorite books, tv shows, and movies....
I may tackle that at a later date. God... books would be like a nightmare.
E-gads.
*What are your favorite songs and for what reason???
