music

40 Songs I Will Always Love, Cool or Not (Pt. 2)

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headphones

This is part 2 of a two-part post. The first half is here.

Let’s continue, shall we? Things may get a bit rowdier here in the second half. But as before, there’s something for everyone.

“Need You Tonight” – INXS

Looking back to the decade that produced me, there was a point when all the ridiculous fluff of the mid-80s gave way to some really timeless, inspired tunes. I figure it was about the time Kick came out. Still one of the grooviest guitar riffs I know, this song was ultra-cool on arrival and still is. It makes non-dancers want to dance.

If you like it: The rest of Kick is worth a listen. Consult an INXS die-hard for further instruction.

“Jolene” – Dolly Parton

A heartbreaking song about a girl watching her man drift away to a woman she can’t compete with. There is something so refreshing and honest about a song that looks unflinchingly at personal powerlessness, without dolling it up by babbling about hope. We’ve all been devastated by a Jolene of some kind, in one way or another. Utter defeat is human too, and Dolly saw something meaningful in it.

If you like it: The White Stripes do a fantastic cover of this song, mercifully ignoring the obnoxious custom of changing the gender when a male sings it. Check it out.   Read More

by David on March 8, 2010
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40 Songs I Will Always Love, Cool or Not

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guitar and dandelion

One of my earliest (and to date most successful) posts was Six Songs that Illustrate What it Means to Be Human. Many readers said they hadn’t heard some of these tunes before, and really liked them. I’ve since received a number of requests to post a list of my favorite songs.

So here it is. But first a few quick things:

Choosing my forty outright favorite songs is not really possible. I can’t recall every song I love at any given time, so I can never be sure I’m not omitting something. Therefore this is a list of forty of my favorite songs. Some songs are very well known. Most aren’t, but I didn’t take the indie-snob route and give you forty small-time artists you’ve never heard of and won’t “get” because you aren’t cool enough. I happily included songs and artists that are decidedly uncool. (You’ll see.) You’ll find this list to be a bit 90s-heavy, which just reflects my age and tastes. But there’s something for everyone.

Each song links to a place where you can listen to it. Most point to Youtube, and some are on Mp3Raid.com. On the latter site you just have to enter the code they show, no need for signing up or anything. Let me know if any links are broken.

This is part one of a two-part post. Part two will be posted on Monday.

Enjoy.

“Grandma’s Hands” – Bill Withers

An unbelievably catchy tune. Members of my generation might think they’re listening to Blackstreet for the first few bars. It will get stuck in your head, beware! You’ll be snapping, clapping, head-bobbing or shoulder-dipping to Billy’s vivid memories of his sweet old grandma.

If you like it: go find Bill Withers’ version of Use Me, probably better known as an Aaron Neville song. I think Bill did it best.

“The Seeker” – The Who

The taking-life-back anthem of Lester Burnham, the pot-smoking, career-ditching mid-life revolutionary from American Beauty. It’s a straight-laced rock tune, with a comedic take on the biggest of all human themes. It characterizes the search for life’s meaning as a mocking, hopeless conundrum, through the eyes of a regular joe who sees no reason why it shouldn’t make perfect sense. And with a guitar riff like that, it’s hard to see it any other way.

If you like it: I’m no Who expert, but you could do worse than giving My Generation (the album) a good listen. Read More

by David on March 4, 2010
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Things We Said Today

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Post image for Things We Said Today

There was a moment last week when I found myself standing on a beach I never could have imagined. Bookended by two cliffs was a great, smooth expanse of the most otherworldly sand. It was like a Neapolitan ice cream of fine golden sand, exotic black obsidian grains, and clear, saltlike crystals.

In the distance, perhaps a hundred metres away, a ferocious surf pounded, sending the occasional sheet of water sliding halfway up the beach and back into the sea, leaving different artwork in the sand each time.  Read More

by David on November 30, 2009
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A Short Wildlife Film

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Life is still upside down at the moment.  Everything is packed up and ready to go, my apartment is just a computer surrounded by cardboard boxes.  My inbox is overflowing, as is my brain.  A million things to do.  Raptitude posts will be short and sweet until probably July 6.

***

I’m sure some of you haven’t seen this video yet.  It will definitely make you smile, but it did much more than that for me.  If you have seen it, it’s worth another viewing.  I saw it late at night a few weeks ago, forgot it, and then rediscovered it on a blog called Sublime Goodness.  It illustrates one of the dynamics of human society: it’s easy to join a bandwagon, but takes real courage to start one.

(Video removed temporarily because I think it was causing problems for readers using Internet Explorer. You can view it on Sublime Goodness)

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a clearer illustration of the formation of a movement.  It begins with an individual expressing himself without regard for convention or appearances.  People snicker and point.  But he continues, because he’s not afraid to be himself.  Soon others see the truth and honesty in what he is doing, and want to be a part of it.

Courage, however it manifests, is irresistible to human beings.  We all wish we had it, and we revere it in whomever we find it.  It takes much less courage to be the second one in, and half that again to be the third, and no courage at all to throw yourself into a mob.

By the time there are fifty souls in the mix, people are tripping over each other to be a part of it.  No doubt some of them had been laughing at the guy minutes before.

This is social proof at work.  Most of the people who end up dancing were only in there because there were dozens of others showed them that it was okay first.  I don’t want to read too much into an eccentric dancer at a music festival, but I think it’s clear that most of the people in the mob would not have had the courage or the initiative to be the first one dancing.

It’s scary to do something before the people around you say it’s okay.  The truth is most people will always wait for some kind of permission to do what they feel like.  Doing what everyone else is doing is always safe.  You can see this follower syndrome everywhere: in conversation, in business, in music, decor, dress, hobbies, habits, lifestyles and even aspirations.

I’m learning to identify the sensation of feeling socially ‘safe,’ and to mistrust it.  It can only lead a person down beaten paths.  I want to go somewhere else.

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by David on June 25, 2009
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7 Profound Insights From the Beatles

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Fab four

I used to roll my eyes when people talked about the Beatles.  Maybe you rolled your eyes when you saw this article’s headline.  Thank you for bearing with me anyway.  I’ll make it worth your while.

I had always pictured the Beatles as a tired novelty from my parents’ past.  All I knew was that they played lot of teenagey love songs in their early years, and some weird drug songs in their later years, and that they seemed to have written virtually every famous song that I didn’t want to listen to.

Gradually I came around, and began to recognize that they really were something special.  I harbored an understated respect for them for many years, but two summers ago I spent a few incredible weeks devouring all twelve proper Beatles albums, in chronological order.  It was magical.  I was struck by how beautifully and organically their sound evolved, growing more sophisticated and mature every album.

By the final phrases of of Abbey Road, I had grown too.  And not insignificantly.  I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what moved me, but it definitely had something to do with the beautiful metamorphosis I witnessed.  Read More

by David on April 24, 2009
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Six Amazing Songs That Illustrate What it Means to Be Human

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Dylan and friends

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. ~Confucius

I just took a look at CNN’s site and it was, as usual, boasting its favorite palette of troublesome nouns and verbs. Terror, death, murder, destruction, Bush. People do bad things sometimes; it’s not really news, I know. But contrary to popular notions, I think war, exploitation and violence are not the results of our differences. Rather, they are the result of our most pervasive similarity: that we all suffer, and none of us want to.

No, these ‘news’ items aren’t new. They are the same patterns of anguish that have recurred continually throughout all cultures, across all generations: lost love, fear, alienation, self-loathing and jealousy. Being human just hurts sometimes. Despite our surface differences, we’re all in the same boat. We all want the same two things: to fulfill our desires and to avoid suffering. These two motivations, and the behavior they inspire, comprise the human condition. There is nobody on this earth with whom you don’t have at least those two things in common. Read More

by David on March 28, 2009
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