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Top 75 favorite songs, part 5
Mar. 2nd, 2015 10:24 pm41. For those of you wondering when the Beatles would show, on my list... Here's one of the greatest songs ever written. "Here Comes the Sun".
42. The Doors - Break On Through
Another great debut album side-one, track-one.
This song is quite like no other. Densmore comes in with that Bossa Nova drumming (you know, the Brazilian elevator jazz?), then Manzarek with the keyboard bass. Krieger doubles it for a bit. He says he stole the riff from "Shake Your Money Maker," he just switched the beat around a little. Manzarek says he took his keyboard riffs from Ray Charles. And Morrison, singing right over the top of it. He sings clearly and forcefully. Then he lets it go a little, on the verge of screaming. The song never slows down, but it rests a bit in places before returning to its driving force. It rocks!
43. The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
Fun! Ba baa baa ba baa, Ba baa baa ba baa...
Q: Why this particular Ramones song?
A: Because it's the funnest! I think it's peppier than most of their songs. The tune appeals to me.
44. The Temptations - I Can't Get Next to You
Classic Motown. Get with the funk!
Bonus track: Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
45. Here's a last minute addition. This one came up in the rotation tonight, and it just struck me. The Bodeans, "Say About Love". It just chugs along at a fast tempo. I love the guitar drone and the vocal melody. It wants to take off!
Bonus track for you Bodeans fans... here's another great song, in a killer performance:
Feed The Fire
46. Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine
One of the best moments at a Pink Floyd concert was when they opened with this song. I was just grinning all through it (in the rain). It's an early tune from the art rock band, and a bit of a bash.
Here's an early film of the song, with its composer, Syd Barrett.
47. I'm a fan of songs that were remade in a style of music different from the original. So here's a bunch of alternametal tunes done as... polka! Weird Al Yankovic's "Angry White Boy Polka". Aside from the obvious humor in switching this stuff to some upbeat polka, the music is, well - fabulous! It's just so gosh darned happy! It really does have a lot of energy. "Upbeat" doesn't quite cover it.
Edited to clarify: My point for including Weird Al was that the music is surprisingly intense. You expect the humor of turning rock songs into polka. And you know that polka is upbeat and happy. But it takes a while to sink in, that it's really over the top. But not in a bad way. It's awesome!
48. What no love for Weird Al? Okay, so you don't care for intense music... how about something nice an mellow? Oops, I don't have any of that left. Wait... Ah, Van Morrison. Into the Mystic. According to Wikipedia, "the song has a soothing, calm, medium-paced tempo."
Van said: "That song is kind of funny because when it came time to send the lyrics into WB Music, I couldn't figure out what to send them. Because really, the song has two sets of lyrics. For example, there's 'I was born before the wind' and 'I was borne before the wind', and also 'Also younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was one' and 'All so younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was won' ... I guess the song is just about being part of the universe."
49. The house lights were up, and everyone was just standing around talking or whatever. Packed in, in the middle of the Arena floor. There's a certain energy, though people seem somewhat relaxed. And then... do I hear... a series of rising tones? Yes. Other people start to hear it. The energy turns to tension. The sound gets louder, more intense. The lights go out, the crowd is on the edge. The drums start - this is the first day, of my last days - The guitar attacks and the crowd explodes! A couple thousand people in one giant mass of mosh.
Nine Inch Nails - "Pinion" and "Wish"
Their second album, Broken (though technically and EP). It's rough, raw and it rocks hard. It's almost totally undanceable, like Pretty Hate machine, and much of their later work. And it doesn't approach the classic Downward Spiral, but I love it.
(This video is most of the album, but the two songs I'm talking about are the first two.)
50. Remember when alternative rock was still college rock? Back in the mid eighties, R.E.M. was starting to have mainstream success. "Begin the Begin" opened Lifes Rich Pageant. They hit hard and fast with this one. Thundering drums and guitars slashing through the layers of distortion, counterbalanced with Stipe's measured vocals. I love that little guitar riff that winds up between verses, and then the tension carries the song for a while. Midway through, the keyboards step down and the vocals step up, keeping up the tension.
Part 6
42. The Doors - Break On Through
Another great debut album side-one, track-one.
This song is quite like no other. Densmore comes in with that Bossa Nova drumming (you know, the Brazilian elevator jazz?), then Manzarek with the keyboard bass. Krieger doubles it for a bit. He says he stole the riff from "Shake Your Money Maker," he just switched the beat around a little. Manzarek says he took his keyboard riffs from Ray Charles. And Morrison, singing right over the top of it. He sings clearly and forcefully. Then he lets it go a little, on the verge of screaming. The song never slows down, but it rests a bit in places before returning to its driving force. It rocks!
43. The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
Fun! Ba baa baa ba baa, Ba baa baa ba baa...
Q: Why this particular Ramones song?
A: Because it's the funnest! I think it's peppier than most of their songs. The tune appeals to me.
44. The Temptations - I Can't Get Next to You
Classic Motown. Get with the funk!
Bonus track: Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
45. Here's a last minute addition. This one came up in the rotation tonight, and it just struck me. The Bodeans, "Say About Love". It just chugs along at a fast tempo. I love the guitar drone and the vocal melody. It wants to take off!
Bonus track for you Bodeans fans... here's another great song, in a killer performance:
Feed The Fire
46. Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine
One of the best moments at a Pink Floyd concert was when they opened with this song. I was just grinning all through it (in the rain). It's an early tune from the art rock band, and a bit of a bash.
Here's an early film of the song, with its composer, Syd Barrett.
47. I'm a fan of songs that were remade in a style of music different from the original. So here's a bunch of alternametal tunes done as... polka! Weird Al Yankovic's "Angry White Boy Polka". Aside from the obvious humor in switching this stuff to some upbeat polka, the music is, well - fabulous! It's just so gosh darned happy! It really does have a lot of energy. "Upbeat" doesn't quite cover it.
Edited to clarify: My point for including Weird Al was that the music is surprisingly intense. You expect the humor of turning rock songs into polka. And you know that polka is upbeat and happy. But it takes a while to sink in, that it's really over the top. But not in a bad way. It's awesome!
48. What no love for Weird Al? Okay, so you don't care for intense music... how about something nice an mellow? Oops, I don't have any of that left. Wait... Ah, Van Morrison. Into the Mystic. According to Wikipedia, "the song has a soothing, calm, medium-paced tempo."
Van said: "That song is kind of funny because when it came time to send the lyrics into WB Music, I couldn't figure out what to send them. Because really, the song has two sets of lyrics. For example, there's 'I was born before the wind' and 'I was borne before the wind', and also 'Also younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was one' and 'All so younger than the son, Ere the bonny boat was won' ... I guess the song is just about being part of the universe."
49. The house lights were up, and everyone was just standing around talking or whatever. Packed in, in the middle of the Arena floor. There's a certain energy, though people seem somewhat relaxed. And then... do I hear... a series of rising tones? Yes. Other people start to hear it. The energy turns to tension. The sound gets louder, more intense. The lights go out, the crowd is on the edge. The drums start - this is the first day, of my last days - The guitar attacks and the crowd explodes! A couple thousand people in one giant mass of mosh.
Nine Inch Nails - "Pinion" and "Wish"
Their second album, Broken (though technically and EP). It's rough, raw and it rocks hard. It's almost totally undanceable, like Pretty Hate machine, and much of their later work. And it doesn't approach the classic Downward Spiral, but I love it.
(This video is most of the album, but the two songs I'm talking about are the first two.)
50. Remember when alternative rock was still college rock? Back in the mid eighties, R.E.M. was starting to have mainstream success. "Begin the Begin" opened Lifes Rich Pageant. They hit hard and fast with this one. Thundering drums and guitars slashing through the layers of distortion, counterbalanced with Stipe's measured vocals. I love that little guitar riff that winds up between verses, and then the tension carries the song for a while. Midway through, the keyboards step down and the vocals step up, keeping up the tension.
Part 6
