30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 30

Day 30 – Your favorite song at this time last year

Luckily, I have a record of this.

Looking back, it was Big Star's Thirteen.



Above it the Eliot Smith cover of it.

Well, that's it. Thanks for reading, and listening, for these past thirty days.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 29

Day 29 – A song from your childhood



Steely Dan always makes me think of Indiana. I don't know why but it does.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 28

Day 28 – A song that makes you feel guilty

As in guilty pleasure? Or makes me feel ashamed for doing something wrong?

I am going to go with the first interpretation because there are no songs that make me feel like a creepy uncle gave me wine and then played "Let's keep a secret" in a basement. But looking back on the list, that would be day thirteen. (I picked Roam by the B-52's)

So....guilt? Really?

Guilt is a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realises or believes--accurately or not--that they have violated a moral standard, and bear sole responsibility for that violation. It is closely related to the concept of remorse.
(source)

Nothing makes me feel guilty...really...apart from one things, which I am not going to share here (Okay, I will...I have to REDACTED...wow...that was hard to get off my chest.)

Anyway, in honor that, I give you this song.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 27

Day 27 – A song that you wish you could play


Yo-Yo Ma's interpretation of Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major (Prelude)


While I can not find the piece on YouTube, I am sure you have heard it.


Edit: I was able to find it.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 26

Day 26 – A song that you can play on an instrument

I cannot play anything on any instrument.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 25

Day 25 – A song that makes you laugh

Easy.

And it is not a typically funny song but...it does make me laugh.

The Pixies with "Is She Weird" which is what I am often asked if I tell a friend that I am interested in someone.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 24

Day 24 – A song that you want to play at your funeral

Can I pick two?

I mean, I have cheated a little on this but I haven't asked for two songs yet.

It is my funeral though!

The first is "Keep Me in Your Heart"



The second...and you will have to deal with it...because it is my F***ing Funeral!

"Circles" by Bob Mould

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 23

Day 23 – A song that you want to play at your wedding


Really?


No, I will be happily unmarried forever.  (That is not true, I can see myself getting married again but the circumstances would have to be...unique.)


So what song would I want to play at an event that is never going to happen?





Yeah, it is depressing, and it is also U2, but...let's face it.  If I were to get remarried...

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 22

Day 22 – A song that you listen to when you’re sad

This one is actually difficult.

Because sometimes I choose between wallowing and embracing the reason that I am sad (see the bulk of the music that I listen to, not that I am miserable all the time, or even some of the time, but I do listen to "old sad bastard music") or listening to a song that will get me out of that mood.

For the last eighteen months or so, I have chosen to not wallow, but try to get myself out of the mood/funk/whatever.

This is the song that I have been using.



Yeah, it is in a Diet Coke commercial.

So f***ing what? I like Diet Coke.

And yes, it was also in (500) Days of Summer, which I have had issues with in the past, loved, and now I am in the having issues with again phase. Mostly because JGL's character is too old to believe that love is perfect, et cetera, and because Summer is a bit of a (REDACTED).

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 21

Day 21 – A song that you listen to when you’re happy

Another easy one.

If for nothing but the "How ya doing?" at the beginning of the song.

Dinosaur Jr' Greenmind.



Apparently it is a song about choosing between "herb" and one's partner. Luckily for me, not smoking makes the choice easy.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 20

Day 20 – A song that you listen to when you’re angry

I love this one. There is one song, and one song alone.

The Grudge by Tool.



It is nine minutes long and so full of rage that it makes it easy to process what you are angry about and let it go by the end of the song.

Luckily, I have been able to hear it live twice.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 19

Day 19 – A song from your favorite album

Easy.

Electioneering off of OK Computer by Radiohead



I would also make the argument that this is the best album of the best thirty years, if not all time. You can make intelligent arguments for others and I would love to hear them.

I will stop, I will stop at nothing.
Say the right things when electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote.

When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.
When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.
Ha ha ha

Riot shields, voodoo economics,
it's just business, cattle prods and the I.M.F.
I trust I can rely on your vote.

When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.
When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.

Lyrics via Green Plastic Radiohead

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 18

Day 18 – A song that you wish you heard on the radio

This is easy. Again, this presupposes that I actually listen to the radio, but it is still easy.

The Mountain Goats - See America Right



"Your love is like a cyclone in a swamp, and the weather is getting warmer."

Wouldn't this make drive time better?

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 17

Day 17 – A song that you hear often on the radio

What song do I hear on the radio?

I have not been a regular listener of commercial radio in more than a decade. When I listen to music, it is most often* from my collection (which is embarrassing and emarrassingly large) and when I have control of the radio, it will always go to NPR. (Yeah, that's the type of Superficial Douche** that I am.) But, on occassion, I am exposed to commercial radio, and what song do I hear most often? Interesting question. When I started thinking about this, I was going to choose something by The Who, who always seem to be on the radio, regardless of the genre that the station is programming.

But then when I was running around this morning, I heard the same song three different times, and realized that THIS song was the song that I hear most often. It is not a badness either, as it is a really great track.

The song is "Under Pressure" by Bowie and Queen.



* I am a compulsive juke box player. I will always play "Don't Stand So Close to Me" for Teacher Dave. Yes, I am that guy.

** I love the term Superficial Douche to describe me. It is awesome. Anonymous commenter from Baton Rouge, thank you for coining that. You have contributed so much to my life.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 16

Day 16 – A song that you used to love but now hate

A song that I loved but now hate? Nope. I don't think there is one. Not since childhood, or at least early teen years. There is a song that I liked but now I can't stand. Maybe because of the ubiquity of it or maybe because it is just so f***ing bad.

You can guess who it is. I will give you a minute.

Want a hint.

Superbowl Halftime Show.

Got it?

Yeah, Black Eyed Peas.

Now can you guess the song?

Need another hint?

It was Number One on the Hot 100 List for 14(!) weeks!

Yep, it is "I Gotta Feeling".

I hate this song with a passion that is surprising.

Anyway, here it is.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 15

Day 15 – A song that describes you

Oh Crap!

I cannot describe myself. I suck at it. My view of myself is so skewed, sometimes inflating some attributes but often doing the opposite.

This begs the question...what song to select?

I decided to go with funny.



It's the haircut. Yeah, that's it.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 14

Day 14 – A song that no one would expect you to love

This is another difficult one. My musical tastes are fairly catholic so...I don't know what people expect of me. (I know people do not expect me to like sports, but...eh.)

Thinking about it, the only artist that I can think of people being surprised about is...well...P!nk.

Anyway, Sober by P!nk!



(Or I could have gone with something by the Dixie Chicks, but I am going to stay with P!nk)

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 13

Day 13 – A song that is a guilty pleasure

Oh, I have a lot of these but...this one has to be the most guilty of pleasures.



The B-52s. I would have also accepted "Candy" by Iggy Pop.

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 12

Day 12 – A song from a band you hate

This may surprise some, and other already know this, but I fucking* hate the Eagles. HATE!

Thinking about them just made me have a hategasm of Diet Coke all over my keyboard.

Now, I know some of you are going to whine, "But why? They're great."

No. You're wrong. You are also an idiot.

Their laid back California infused country/roots rock was done much better by CCR (and Forgerty did not write nonsensical seven minute long songs about bad acid trips and then chalk them up to something "mystical" and spiritual) and they wallowed in their own self importance.

Now individually, some of their music is not bad. I have music by Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh on my iPod (and two songs by Don Henley, both off of "Building the Perfect Beast", because everything else he has done is insufferable) and I find them enjoyable.

With that above, I was not going to put a song up from the Eagles, but...I was willing to cheat and put up one from Glenn Frey.



I do love this song, and I have a montage in my head that appears in my soon to be made biopic set to it.

Yes, it is a cheat. I admit it and you know it. You also know in your heart of heart that the people who claim that "I love the Eagles" are even worse people than I am, and I own the fact that I am a superficial douche.

*Yes, I said "fuck". I also sprayed Diet Coke on my netbook because I was so angry. Yeah, I don't use hate often, but I have a fully rational hate of the Eagles and the majority of their "fans".

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 11

Day 11 – A song from your favorite band

My favorite band in the world is, easily, Radiohead.

Now, I could pick a song off of their new album (The King of Limbs), or one of my favorite album (OK Computer), or one that I have posted before ("There, There" which is my favorite song of theirs for one lyric) but I am not going to do any of those.

I am going to pick the song that really makes me think of Radiohead when I think of the band. Well, there are two, with Reckoner being the other one, but this song came along first and if someone has never heard the band before, this is always my first track for them.

For those of you who don't like Radiohead, this song was never one of their "hits" and it did not appear on a studio album. (Though it was a B-side and on one of the live albums.) Give up four minutes and give it a listen. Please. For me?



True Love Waits

I'll drown my beliefs
To have you be in peace
I'll dress like your niece
To wash your swollen feet

Just don't leave
Don't leave

I'm not living
I'm just killing time
Your tiny hands
Your crazy kitten smile

Just don't leave
Don't leave

And true love waits
In haunted attics
And true love lives
On lollipops and crisps

Just don't leave
Don't leave

Just don't leave
Don't leave