Twenty Everything Songs
So this was the thing.
Pick twenty songs that mean something special.
Landmarks.
Songs that tug at the heartstrings.
Songs that make you smile at happy memories.
Songs that take you back.
Songs that are so vivid. Still.
Songs that take you forward.
Songs that will always be with you, no matter what.
It was difficult.
I left
out a huge bunch of songs, but these twenty rose to the top.
I've kept out most of the (auto) biographical details; maybe the music should speak for itself.
And you can sort of read between the lines anyway.
Better to leave things unsaid.
I've kept out most of the (auto) biographical details; maybe the music should speak for itself.
And you can sort of read between the lines anyway.
Better to leave things unsaid.
Maybe if I picked them tomorrow or next week, there'd be a completely different list.
But this is what it was at the end of 2015.
All of
them bring a tear to my eye and & lump to my throat. But isn’t that what
music is all about?
1. Smokey
Robinson & the Miracles-Tracks of my Tears
Just because of that voice..
2. Womack
& Womack-Teardrops
“Reminds
me baby of you...” And it does...
3. Elgar-Nimrod
Sometimes sad music doesn’t need words...
If it doesn’t move you, then you’ve a heart of stone.
Close
your eyes & lose yourself in this...wipe away a tear...
4. Shep
& The Limelites-Daddy’s Home
“...but
I made a promise...I made it back home to you...”
Isn’t
doo-wop the most heart-wrenching music?
5. Prefab
Sprout-Doo Wop In Harlem
“A
capella meets pure prayer...if there ain’t a heaven that holds you tonight...”
A real lump-in-the-throat song.
6. Blind
Willie McTell –Travelin Blues
Sometimes
songs that move you are not simply love songs
Sometimes
it’s more than that.
A voice that came from heaven.
“Poor
boy, you ain’t got no girl..”
7. The Flaming Lips -You Made Me Realize
I watched the Flips at Glasto in 2010 with my daughter, Amy, and it truly was one of the best moments of my life.
Something
I’ll never forget...
“It’s
hard to make the good things last...”
8. Al Green -Belle
And if
you thought I kicked this list off with a great voice!
This is
definitely a tear-jerker.
Just get
that voice at 3 min 50!
9. New Order-Thieves Like Us
“...it’s
called love...and belongs to us...”
If ever a song takes me back...
10. Johnny
& Joe- Over the Mountain, Across the Sea
“..all
the mountains in the world couldn’t block the love from my heart..”
11. American
Music Club-Johnny Mathis’ Feet
That
falling bassline, those soaring strings!
“...with
a wave of his jewel-encrusted hand...”
12. Nils
Frahm-Says
13. Courtney
Barnett-Scotty Says
Not all my 20 Everything songs are be sad!
A twangy
guitar and a grin is what’s needed!
And it just makes me...happy!!!!
14. The Tamlins -Baltimore
A Randy Newman song...
“Hard
times in the city...there ain’t nothing there for free...”
15. The
National-Vanderlye Crybaby Geeks
I can’t
get more than 30 seconds into it without it affecting me
deeply
It’s
that mixture of hope and love
We sat
in the blazing sun at Glastonbury in 2010 & saw this lot for the first
time.
I could
have picked many of their songs but this means a lot to Amy & me.
16. The Fall-Wings
The Fall mean so much to me that I couldn’t imagine not hearing their music
And it’s
still music that’s made with fierce intelligence and love
17. John Coltrane-
Acknowledgement/ A Love Supreme
18. Sparklehorse-Hundreds of Sparrows
Two
minutes, twenty six seconds of pure perfection...
Miss
this guy’s music so much...
Maybe
this is the last song I ever want to hear.
19. The
Everly Brothers-Lightning Express
I defy anyone to get through this.
I
usually can’t make it to the end of this song
Grimmer
than death metal.
“Why are
you playing this Dad, it’s too sad? Turn it off!”
“I
know...but...”
I end up in floods of tears.
20. The Delgados-Mr Blue Sky
Always
got to leave with a happy tune!
Special thanks to @girloon for the whole 20EverythingSongs concept!
There's a whole lot of songs in my book, "Totally Shuffled-A Year Of Listening to Music on a Broken iPod".
A lot of biographical stuff as well. A lot more than on here.
and "Totally Shuffled" is all about:
366 tracks out of a possible 9553.
From the obvious (The Rolling Stones), to the obscure (Karen Cooper Complex).
From the sublime (The Flaming Lips) to the risible (Muse).
From field recordings of Haitian Voodoo music to The Monkees.
From Heavy Metal to Rap by way of 1930’s blues, jazz, classical, punk, and every possible genre of music in between.
This is what I listened to and wrote about for a whole year, to the point of never wanting to hear any more music again.
Some songs I listened to I loved, and some I hated.
Some artists ended up getting praised to the skies and others received a bit of critical kicking.
There’s memories of spending too many hours in record shops, prevaricating over the next big thing and surprising myself over tracks that I’d completely forgotten about.
But with 40 years of listening to music, I realised that I’ll never get sick of it.
I may have fallen out of love with some of the songs in the book, but I’ll never fall out of love with music.
Get/read "Totally Shuffled" here
Kindle:
Special thanks to @girloon for the whole 20EverythingSongs concept!
There's a whole lot of songs in my book, "Totally Shuffled-A Year Of Listening to Music on a Broken iPod".
A lot of biographical stuff as well. A lot more than on here.
and "Totally Shuffled" is all about:
One track per
day for 366 days on a broken iPod.
366 tracks out of a possible 9553.
From the obvious (The Rolling Stones), to the obscure (Karen Cooper Complex).
From the sublime (The Flaming Lips) to the risible (Muse).
From field recordings of Haitian Voodoo music to The Monkees.
From Heavy Metal to Rap by way of 1930’s blues, jazz, classical, punk, and every possible genre of music in between.
This is what I listened to and wrote about for a whole year, to the point of never wanting to hear any more music again.
Some songs I listened to I loved, and some I hated.
Some artists ended up getting praised to the skies and others received a bit of critical kicking.
There’s memories of spending too many hours in record shops, prevaricating over the next big thing and surprising myself over tracks that I’d completely forgotten about.
But with 40 years of listening to music, I realised that I’ll never get sick of it.
I may have fallen out of love with some of the songs in the book, but I’ll never fall out of love with music.
Get/read "Totally Shuffled" here
Kindle:
