What I'm Listening Too...
I had someone ask me, recently, who my favorite band is. Really, I don't have one. I have a few I really don't like (looks at the XM Radio still playing a stupid Pearl Jam song...) but it's hard to pin down a favorite. So, instead, I'll provide yet another edition of...
Glith's Top Five Songs! (End of Summer Edition)
1. "Tower of Song" by Leonard Cohen and U2
So I bid you farewell.
I don't know when I'll be back.
They're moving us tomorrow to the Tower down the track.
But you'll be hearing from me Baby...
Long after I'm gone.
I'll be speaking to ya sweetly from my window in the Tower of Song.
Leonard Cohen is a man with a voice that's as soft and smooth as, say, a buzz-saw. He's probably better know as a songwriter than a singer. But - there are songs where his voice just works. Backed by U2, off the new soundtrack to the film 'I'm Your Man' - this version of Tower of Song is one of the best I've ever heard. You get the Edge with his operatic guitar riffs lifting you between the verses. You get Leonard feeling like he is pouring his very soul into his music. Like he's a man in love with the music, and enslaved by it. Like he has to get it out of him, else he'll simply go mad. And Bono's voice as a counter point as a backing vocalist, and in one a poignant bridge-verse.
It'll be on my list for quite a while.
2. "The Fly" by U2
It's no secret that the Stars are Falling from the Sky
It's no secret that our world is in Darkness Tonight.
They say the Sun is sometimes eclipsed by a Moon...
You know, I don't see you when She walks in the room.
It's no secret that a friend, is someone who lets you help.
It's no secret that a liar won't believe in anyone else.
They say a secret is something you tell one other person,
So I'm telling you... child...
This is, in my opinion, one of the best songs that U2 has put out. It was good when it was released in 1991 on Actung, Baby! It was great on the 1992 Zoo TV tour... it's still good now.
There are some songs I like for the music. Sometimes a measure will catch me, or even just a chord progression - and I'll have to listen to it over and over... There are some that I like for the Lyrics... This one seems to hit both marks for me.
3. "If I Can't Have You" by Zero 7
I even did the research...
Went to Work, Learned to Flirt...
Wore a Skirt, and Faced Dirt...
Still, you didn't notice. You never focused on me.
You never saw my face.
I traced your path each day.
You never lifted your eyes to me...
This is a track from the new Zero 7 album, 'The Garden'. Honestly, I'm disappointed in the album as a whole - but this song was a bright point for me. Sure, it's kinda stalker-ish... but the retro 50's guitar riffs are nice. On the iPod, I'd ofter play 'Tower of Song' and follow it up with this tune.
4. "Everybody Knows" by Rufus Wainwright
Everybody knows the dice are loaded...
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed.
Everybody knows the war is over;
Everybody knows the good guys lost.
Everybody knows the fight was fixed -
The poor stay poor, and the rich get rich.
That's how it goes,
And everybody knows.
Leonard Cohen strikes again... Who doesn't really know this song? So many people have done versions of it - Concrete Blonde, Don Henley... but this version by Rufus Wainwright just stands out. The style of the backing music is sooo different from what Concrete Blonde did, and has such a different mood, yet carries much the same emotional impact. Also from the soundtrack to 'I'm Your Man'.
5. "Machine Gun Ibiza" by PreFab Sprout
If you've never been nowhere, don't you pay that no mind
If you've never been nowhere, don't you pay that no mind
If you're part of no circle...
If you make no scene, well you've earned the right to hang out with...
Machine Gun Ibiza
Voodoo up, Romo Down.
Machine Gun Ibiza
Hanging Ten, with the hurricane sound...
This song just has that laid-back cool feeling too it. It's retro in the right places... part lounge, part ambient, part old Romo. You don' t think about a song like this - you just sit back with a drink and enjoy.
Rounding out the top 10...
6. "God (Part II) (The Hard Metal Dance Mix)" by U2
7. "She Blinded Me with Science (Extended Mix)" by Thomas Dolby
8. "Supermassive Blackhole" by Muse
9. "Pump Up the Volume" by MARRS
10. "Up on the Catwalk" by Simple Minds
Glith's Top Five Songs! (End of Summer Edition)
1. "Tower of Song" by Leonard Cohen and U2
So I bid you farewell.
I don't know when I'll be back.
They're moving us tomorrow to the Tower down the track.
But you'll be hearing from me Baby...
Long after I'm gone.
I'll be speaking to ya sweetly from my window in the Tower of Song.
Leonard Cohen is a man with a voice that's as soft and smooth as, say, a buzz-saw. He's probably better know as a songwriter than a singer. But - there are songs where his voice just works. Backed by U2, off the new soundtrack to the film 'I'm Your Man' - this version of Tower of Song is one of the best I've ever heard. You get the Edge with his operatic guitar riffs lifting you between the verses. You get Leonard feeling like he is pouring his very soul into his music. Like he's a man in love with the music, and enslaved by it. Like he has to get it out of him, else he'll simply go mad. And Bono's voice as a counter point as a backing vocalist, and in one a poignant bridge-verse.
It'll be on my list for quite a while.
2. "The Fly" by U2
It's no secret that the Stars are Falling from the Sky
It's no secret that our world is in Darkness Tonight.
They say the Sun is sometimes eclipsed by a Moon...
You know, I don't see you when She walks in the room.
It's no secret that a friend, is someone who lets you help.
It's no secret that a liar won't believe in anyone else.
They say a secret is something you tell one other person,
So I'm telling you... child...
This is, in my opinion, one of the best songs that U2 has put out. It was good when it was released in 1991 on Actung, Baby! It was great on the 1992 Zoo TV tour... it's still good now.
There are some songs I like for the music. Sometimes a measure will catch me, or even just a chord progression - and I'll have to listen to it over and over... There are some that I like for the Lyrics... This one seems to hit both marks for me.
3. "If I Can't Have You" by Zero 7
I even did the research...
Went to Work, Learned to Flirt...
Wore a Skirt, and Faced Dirt...
Still, you didn't notice. You never focused on me.
You never saw my face.
I traced your path each day.
You never lifted your eyes to me...
This is a track from the new Zero 7 album, 'The Garden'. Honestly, I'm disappointed in the album as a whole - but this song was a bright point for me. Sure, it's kinda stalker-ish... but the retro 50's guitar riffs are nice. On the iPod, I'd ofter play 'Tower of Song' and follow it up with this tune.
4. "Everybody Knows" by Rufus Wainwright
Everybody knows the dice are loaded...
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed.
Everybody knows the war is over;
Everybody knows the good guys lost.
Everybody knows the fight was fixed -
The poor stay poor, and the rich get rich.
That's how it goes,
And everybody knows.
Leonard Cohen strikes again... Who doesn't really know this song? So many people have done versions of it - Concrete Blonde, Don Henley... but this version by Rufus Wainwright just stands out. The style of the backing music is sooo different from what Concrete Blonde did, and has such a different mood, yet carries much the same emotional impact. Also from the soundtrack to 'I'm Your Man'.
5. "Machine Gun Ibiza" by PreFab Sprout
If you've never been nowhere, don't you pay that no mind
If you've never been nowhere, don't you pay that no mind
If you're part of no circle...
If you make no scene, well you've earned the right to hang out with...
Machine Gun Ibiza
Voodoo up, Romo Down.
Machine Gun Ibiza
Hanging Ten, with the hurricane sound...
This song just has that laid-back cool feeling too it. It's retro in the right places... part lounge, part ambient, part old Romo. You don' t think about a song like this - you just sit back with a drink and enjoy.
Rounding out the top 10...
6. "God (Part II) (The Hard Metal Dance Mix)" by U2
7. "She Blinded Me with Science (Extended Mix)" by Thomas Dolby
8. "Supermassive Blackhole" by Muse
9. "Pump Up the Volume" by MARRS
10. "Up on the Catwalk" by Simple Minds