You Don't Find Your Favorite Song...It Finds You.
You don't find your favorite song...it finds you.
I was watching “A Hard Day’s Pete” again recently. Its about young Pete walking to school and walking past a garage where there was a band practicing (the band is Polaris). Anyway, they play this song and Pete falls in love with it, but he can’t really remember how it goes…only part of it. So he forms this band (The Blowholes) with his friend Clem, Marshall Crenshaw, and his math teacher Miss Fingerwood (woah!) so that he can recreate the song. He hopes if he plays long enough he’ll remember how it goes. GREAT fucking episode and anyone who is a passionate music lover can relate to this. It got me thinking about all the songs I’ve heard once that I became obsessed with and tried to figure out what/who it was. Its easier to figure that kind of stuff now thanks to Google and Napster, but back in the day it posed a bit of a challenge. Here is a list of a few of those songs that “found me”.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” - Nirvana.
I’ll start off with the most obvious choice. And I actually knew who did the song because my friends Chris and Michael called me “three-way” (I’m totally dating myself) and told me to put my radio on the Georgia Tech station. This was well before they started playing this band on commercial radio. Michael said it best when he made the comment “This song makes me cream my pants”…indeed. It’s a shame I hated everything they did post-Nevermind. Oh well, Bleach rocked.
“Raspberry Beret” - Prince
I was already a Prince fan when I first heard this song. I’d asked for “Purple Rain” for my 6th birthday. I was pretty hip back then. Its this song that made me a die-hard Prince fan. Not only is he a sexxxy motherfucker, he’s a badass musician too. If you haven’t already, PLEASE get yourself a copy of “The Rainbow Children”. Great album, but Raspberry Beret isn’t on it.
“Stars of Track and Field” - Belle & Sebastian
I was home for Christmas break my second year in college and they did some sort of recap/songs of the year countdown on Album88 (as I now realize Album88 played a role in a few of these weird song obsessions). I’m not quite sure what it was about this song, but I fell in love and couldn’t get it out of my mind. I heard it a few more times, but it wasn’t until a month later that I figured out who it was. Trying to get any info from the djs at Album88 is nuts. Its all ums and ers…how hard is it to read a piece of paper? And how am I supposed to remember how many songs ago I heard the song…anyway, I digress…that’s a rant for another day.
“Meatstick” - Phish
I think they pulled this song out in 99…the year I saw no shows. And I didn’t actually hear them play it the first time I heard it. It was a Moonshine show in Milledgeville and they sort of went into it. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I kept singing it and singing it, but I didn’t actually know the words. Finally I asked them what it was. This is probably blasphemy, but I like the Moonshine version better than the Phish version. Flame away.
“Where Is My Mind” - The Pixies
Again, thank you Album88. This song still gives me chills. One of the greatest bands of our generation.
“Your Ghost” - Kristin Hersh
I can blame Album88 for this too. I was uber confused for a while because I assumed it was Throwing Muses and I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t find the CD with it on there. This was an obsession dating all the way back to like my freshman year in high school I think. I can play it on my guitar now. I still like it as much now as I did then.
“Carini” - Phish
I actually did hear Phish play this one the first time I heard it. Who the fuck would cover this anyway? This is BY FAR my favorite Phish song. It appeals to the dark, sinister, punk rock side of my musical tastes…which is the element of the band that first attracted me and what I feel was missing most of the post-hiatus incarnation of the band.
“The Waiting Room” - Fugazi
I think I heard this the first time hanging out at Amanda Nesbitt’s. I love this song and I love Fugazi. They’re a band that has gotten better and better and better as they’ve gotten older. That’s rare. I remember being at my first Umphrey’s McGee show at the Variety Playhouse and they played this song. I about shat myself.
“Knowledge” - Operation Ivy
I’m not exactly sure where I was or what the circumstances were that I first heard this song, but I’m pretty sure that Amanda Nesbitt was somehow involved in this too. I could be a little off base on that, but that’s not important. I was in love. They were a band that changed the way I listened to and processed music.
“Gravity of the Situation” - Vic Chesnutt.
Yep, Album88. Vic Chesnutt is a genius and his songs reflect a very dark southernism akin to Flannery O’Connor, imo. I adore him and his music makes me feel like I’m home when I’m traveling and feeling homesick.
The next few songs are songs I discovered when I was going through this phase where I’d stay up late on the weekends and watch (and videotape) 120 Minutes and Alternative Nation. I wanted to be Kennedy when I grew up.
“Here’s Where the Story Ends” - The Sundays
“No Rain” - Blind Melon (though it wasn’t the video I saw it was them performing live. Shannon Hoon was sitting barefoot Indian-style on a rug with long braids. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
“”Hit” - The Sugarcubes
“Step On” - The Happy Mondays
I was watching “A Hard Day’s Pete” again recently. Its about young Pete walking to school and walking past a garage where there was a band practicing (the band is Polaris). Anyway, they play this song and Pete falls in love with it, but he can’t really remember how it goes…only part of it. So he forms this band (The Blowholes) with his friend Clem, Marshall Crenshaw, and his math teacher Miss Fingerwood (woah!) so that he can recreate the song. He hopes if he plays long enough he’ll remember how it goes. GREAT fucking episode and anyone who is a passionate music lover can relate to this. It got me thinking about all the songs I’ve heard once that I became obsessed with and tried to figure out what/who it was. Its easier to figure that kind of stuff now thanks to Google and Napster, but back in the day it posed a bit of a challenge. Here is a list of a few of those songs that “found me”.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” - Nirvana.
I’ll start off with the most obvious choice. And I actually knew who did the song because my friends Chris and Michael called me “three-way” (I’m totally dating myself) and told me to put my radio on the Georgia Tech station. This was well before they started playing this band on commercial radio. Michael said it best when he made the comment “This song makes me cream my pants”…indeed. It’s a shame I hated everything they did post-Nevermind. Oh well, Bleach rocked.
“Raspberry Beret” - Prince
I was already a Prince fan when I first heard this song. I’d asked for “Purple Rain” for my 6th birthday. I was pretty hip back then. Its this song that made me a die-hard Prince fan. Not only is he a sexxxy motherfucker, he’s a badass musician too. If you haven’t already, PLEASE get yourself a copy of “The Rainbow Children”. Great album, but Raspberry Beret isn’t on it.
“Stars of Track and Field” - Belle & Sebastian
I was home for Christmas break my second year in college and they did some sort of recap/songs of the year countdown on Album88 (as I now realize Album88 played a role in a few of these weird song obsessions). I’m not quite sure what it was about this song, but I fell in love and couldn’t get it out of my mind. I heard it a few more times, but it wasn’t until a month later that I figured out who it was. Trying to get any info from the djs at Album88 is nuts. Its all ums and ers…how hard is it to read a piece of paper? And how am I supposed to remember how many songs ago I heard the song…anyway, I digress…that’s a rant for another day.
“Meatstick” - Phish
I think they pulled this song out in 99…the year I saw no shows. And I didn’t actually hear them play it the first time I heard it. It was a Moonshine show in Milledgeville and they sort of went into it. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I kept singing it and singing it, but I didn’t actually know the words. Finally I asked them what it was. This is probably blasphemy, but I like the Moonshine version better than the Phish version. Flame away.
“Where Is My Mind” - The Pixies
Again, thank you Album88. This song still gives me chills. One of the greatest bands of our generation.
“Your Ghost” - Kristin Hersh
I can blame Album88 for this too. I was uber confused for a while because I assumed it was Throwing Muses and I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t find the CD with it on there. This was an obsession dating all the way back to like my freshman year in high school I think. I can play it on my guitar now. I still like it as much now as I did then.
“Carini” - Phish
I actually did hear Phish play this one the first time I heard it. Who the fuck would cover this anyway? This is BY FAR my favorite Phish song. It appeals to the dark, sinister, punk rock side of my musical tastes…which is the element of the band that first attracted me and what I feel was missing most of the post-hiatus incarnation of the band.
“The Waiting Room” - Fugazi
I think I heard this the first time hanging out at Amanda Nesbitt’s. I love this song and I love Fugazi. They’re a band that has gotten better and better and better as they’ve gotten older. That’s rare. I remember being at my first Umphrey’s McGee show at the Variety Playhouse and they played this song. I about shat myself.
“Knowledge” - Operation Ivy
I’m not exactly sure where I was or what the circumstances were that I first heard this song, but I’m pretty sure that Amanda Nesbitt was somehow involved in this too. I could be a little off base on that, but that’s not important. I was in love. They were a band that changed the way I listened to and processed music.
“Gravity of the Situation” - Vic Chesnutt.
Yep, Album88. Vic Chesnutt is a genius and his songs reflect a very dark southernism akin to Flannery O’Connor, imo. I adore him and his music makes me feel like I’m home when I’m traveling and feeling homesick.
The next few songs are songs I discovered when I was going through this phase where I’d stay up late on the weekends and watch (and videotape) 120 Minutes and Alternative Nation. I wanted to be Kennedy when I grew up.
“Here’s Where the Story Ends” - The Sundays
“No Rain” - Blind Melon (though it wasn’t the video I saw it was them performing live. Shannon Hoon was sitting barefoot Indian-style on a rug with long braids. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
“”Hit” - The Sugarcubes
“Step On” - The Happy Mondays