But it just might be a lunatic you're looking for.
I present to you a mix meant for nothing more than self-amusement that I made in the spring or summer of 2001 (I think), that I just found when cleaning up some stuff around my apartment.
Michael Jackson "Man in the Mirror" - once upon a time, before the mutations, Michael was the man. And this song is a prime example why. It's a guilty pleasure, to be sure, but what a pleasure!
A-ha "Take On Me" - An awesome song with an awesomer video. Who doesn't try (and fail) to hit that high note in the chorus?
Billy Joel "Miami 2017" - This song is the reason I can roughly peg the date this CD was made. Reason? It was after I had bought a new computer with a CD burner, but before September 11. This song is going to be forever linked to that day, and it kills me every time I hear it. A few choice lines that thoroughly destroy me:
I've seen the lights go out on Broadway-
I saw the ruins at my feet,
...
I've seen the lights go out on Broadway-
I watched the mighty skyline fall.
...
They said that Queens could stay,
They blew the Bronx away-
And sank Manhattan out to sea....
...
There are not many who remember-
They say a handful still survive...
To tell the world about...
The way the lights went out,
And keep the memory alive....
Six weeks after the attacks, at The Concert For New York, Billy actually dared to sing this song, and barely made it through.
Gin Blossoms "'Til I Hear it From You" - Bar none the band's best song, and was was just a single (featured on the Empire Records soundtrack) for years until their Greatest Hits album.
Neil Young "After the Goldrush" - I fell back in love with this song when I heard a version sung by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt (what a lineup!). In retrospect, I'd find that version to put on this album, but Neil's original is still amazing.
Barenaked Ladies "Brian Wilson" - What's overlooked with Barenaked Ladies are that these guys are genuinely talented songwriters and musicians. They're not just a catchy joke band. This song would be played as an introduction for anybody who has not listened to any BNL.
U2 "Pride (In the Name of Love)" - I don't know what to say to it. Great song. Period.
Bob Dylan "A Hard Rain's A-gonna Fall" - An odd inclusion, even considering how eclectic the CD is so far. I think I blame Sean Pridgeon for this one, since he was always ready to sing songs like this when I came around with a guitar, which I did relatively often at that point.
Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing" - I'm a sucker for one hit wonders. I knew when this song was all over the radio that it'd be a shot in the pan, but it's really a great track.
Live "Overcome" - It was making an effort on modern rock radio stations at the time I made the mix. Time's shown it to be a very weak effort in the face of half of Throwing Copper and any number of tracks from The Distance To Here, but it's still not bad. I'd probably put another Live track on in place of this one.
Five for Fighting "Superman" - I thought this would be a one hit wonder. In the years since, they've managed to make themselves a two-hit band (way to go) with "100 Years." Not a bad song, but I'm still burned out on how overplayed it was.
Frank Sinatra "Strangers in the Night" - I've never fully understood the rabid fascination some people hold for Sinatra. He wasn't the coolest Rat Packer (My vote there is Deano), and while he has the croon mastered, he doesn't seem all that talented vocally. That being said, this song and "My Way" are classics.
Matchbox 20 "Back 2 Good" - Excusing the pointless "2", this is a great song. Probably my favorite song the band (or Rob Thomas alone) ever released. The lyrics are surprisingly sophisticated, about deception and lust and shame and redemption.
Otis Redding "Dock of the Bay" - If I were to build a time capsule to preserve some 20th century's greatest music, I think this track would make the cut. What a lyric, and what style in pulling it off. (I'd probably remix it to not have the whooshing tide sound effects in the background...)
Radiohead "Karma Police" - I can't hear this song without thinking of the Beatles "Sexy Sadie" and I can't hear "Sexy Sadie" without thinking of this song. There's a chord progression, a chromatic digression of G-F#-F, unique to the two songs that takes balls to try, and it's chilling when it works.
Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated" - Thank god this hasn't appeared in a commercial hawking depression medication. Yet.
Ray Charles "Georgia On My Mind" - Whereas "Dock of the Bay" would make the 20th century's greatest, this song is on the all-time list. It's absolute perfection, and I hate that it doesn't appear on Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, since it was so obviously recorded at the same time as those tracks, with the full orchestra and the whitebread backup singers.
Simon and Garfunkle "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - I want to learn to play piano precisely for songs like this one. It's beautiful, no other words.
For a CD of very random songs that happened to entertain me in one way or another at the time I made it, it stands up pretty well. In retrospect, Dylan wouldn't make it on there, nor would Five for Fighting, and Live would get a different track. Otherwise, I can still listen to this puppy without regret.
---------------------------------------------
Nikki tagged me, so I'm it:
Ground Rules: The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a lj entry about their 5 queer habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "You are tagged" in their lj and tell them to read yours.
1. Though I stop for months, even years at a time, I eventually fall back into biting my fingernails. It's a comfort thing when I'm nervous.
2. I need something to read when going to the bathroom, eating alone, sitting on a train, and basically any other time I am alone and relatively unoccupied. Ideally I have books nearby, but I'll take anything, including shampoo bottles and my driver's license.
3. Every night, I set my alarm clock 15-30 minutes before I actually want to wake up, so that when it goes off in the morning, I can reset it by those 15-30 minutes and feel like I'm somehow cheating the system.
4. The first thing I do when I get home from work in the evening is strip off my suit clothes. I will not be in that tie one second longer than I need to.
5. I sleep in a pair of underwear or gym shorts, no matter the weather. In the winter, this means I'll pile three comforters on top of myself to stay warm, but I cannot stand wearing a shirt, because it always wraps itself uncomfortably and threatens to choke me.
Tagged: literaryartist, sailalias, lordmyrann, jcbfortytwo, madmunk (it's hard to come up with five good active users when you respond after others on your list have already filled the damn thing out).
Michael Jackson "Man in the Mirror" - once upon a time, before the mutations, Michael was the man. And this song is a prime example why. It's a guilty pleasure, to be sure, but what a pleasure!
A-ha "Take On Me" - An awesome song with an awesomer video. Who doesn't try (and fail) to hit that high note in the chorus?
Billy Joel "Miami 2017" - This song is the reason I can roughly peg the date this CD was made. Reason? It was after I had bought a new computer with a CD burner, but before September 11. This song is going to be forever linked to that day, and it kills me every time I hear it. A few choice lines that thoroughly destroy me:
I've seen the lights go out on Broadway-
I saw the ruins at my feet,
...
I've seen the lights go out on Broadway-
I watched the mighty skyline fall.
...
They said that Queens could stay,
They blew the Bronx away-
And sank Manhattan out to sea....
...
There are not many who remember-
They say a handful still survive...
To tell the world about...
The way the lights went out,
And keep the memory alive....
Six weeks after the attacks, at The Concert For New York, Billy actually dared to sing this song, and barely made it through.
Gin Blossoms "'Til I Hear it From You" - Bar none the band's best song, and was was just a single (featured on the Empire Records soundtrack) for years until their Greatest Hits album.
Neil Young "After the Goldrush" - I fell back in love with this song when I heard a version sung by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt (what a lineup!). In retrospect, I'd find that version to put on this album, but Neil's original is still amazing.
Barenaked Ladies "Brian Wilson" - What's overlooked with Barenaked Ladies are that these guys are genuinely talented songwriters and musicians. They're not just a catchy joke band. This song would be played as an introduction for anybody who has not listened to any BNL.
U2 "Pride (In the Name of Love)" - I don't know what to say to it. Great song. Period.
Bob Dylan "A Hard Rain's A-gonna Fall" - An odd inclusion, even considering how eclectic the CD is so far. I think I blame Sean Pridgeon for this one, since he was always ready to sing songs like this when I came around with a guitar, which I did relatively often at that point.
Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing" - I'm a sucker for one hit wonders. I knew when this song was all over the radio that it'd be a shot in the pan, but it's really a great track.
Live "Overcome" - It was making an effort on modern rock radio stations at the time I made the mix. Time's shown it to be a very weak effort in the face of half of Throwing Copper and any number of tracks from The Distance To Here, but it's still not bad. I'd probably put another Live track on in place of this one.
Five for Fighting "Superman" - I thought this would be a one hit wonder. In the years since, they've managed to make themselves a two-hit band (way to go) with "100 Years." Not a bad song, but I'm still burned out on how overplayed it was.
Frank Sinatra "Strangers in the Night" - I've never fully understood the rabid fascination some people hold for Sinatra. He wasn't the coolest Rat Packer (My vote there is Deano), and while he has the croon mastered, he doesn't seem all that talented vocally. That being said, this song and "My Way" are classics.
Matchbox 20 "Back 2 Good" - Excusing the pointless "2", this is a great song. Probably my favorite song the band (or Rob Thomas alone) ever released. The lyrics are surprisingly sophisticated, about deception and lust and shame and redemption.
Otis Redding "Dock of the Bay" - If I were to build a time capsule to preserve some 20th century's greatest music, I think this track would make the cut. What a lyric, and what style in pulling it off. (I'd probably remix it to not have the whooshing tide sound effects in the background...)
Radiohead "Karma Police" - I can't hear this song without thinking of the Beatles "Sexy Sadie" and I can't hear "Sexy Sadie" without thinking of this song. There's a chord progression, a chromatic digression of G-F#-F, unique to the two songs that takes balls to try, and it's chilling when it works.
Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated" - Thank god this hasn't appeared in a commercial hawking depression medication. Yet.
Ray Charles "Georgia On My Mind" - Whereas "Dock of the Bay" would make the 20th century's greatest, this song is on the all-time list. It's absolute perfection, and I hate that it doesn't appear on Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, since it was so obviously recorded at the same time as those tracks, with the full orchestra and the whitebread backup singers.
Simon and Garfunkle "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - I want to learn to play piano precisely for songs like this one. It's beautiful, no other words.
For a CD of very random songs that happened to entertain me in one way or another at the time I made it, it stands up pretty well. In retrospect, Dylan wouldn't make it on there, nor would Five for Fighting, and Live would get a different track. Otherwise, I can still listen to this puppy without regret.
---------------------------------------------
Nikki tagged me, so I'm it:
Ground Rules: The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a lj entry about their 5 queer habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "You are tagged" in their lj and tell them to read yours.
1. Though I stop for months, even years at a time, I eventually fall back into biting my fingernails. It's a comfort thing when I'm nervous.
2. I need something to read when going to the bathroom, eating alone, sitting on a train, and basically any other time I am alone and relatively unoccupied. Ideally I have books nearby, but I'll take anything, including shampoo bottles and my driver's license.
3. Every night, I set my alarm clock 15-30 minutes before I actually want to wake up, so that when it goes off in the morning, I can reset it by those 15-30 minutes and feel like I'm somehow cheating the system.
4. The first thing I do when I get home from work in the evening is strip off my suit clothes. I will not be in that tie one second longer than I need to.
5. I sleep in a pair of underwear or gym shorts, no matter the weather. In the winter, this means I'll pile three comforters on top of myself to stay warm, but I cannot stand wearing a shirt, because it always wraps itself uncomfortably and threatens to choke me.
Tagged: literaryartist, sailalias, lordmyrann, jcbfortytwo, madmunk (it's hard to come up with five good active users when you respond after others on your list have already filled the damn thing out).