Favorite Songs: 35 - 31

So, little man let me get a lot of writing done Friday, so I got this post and the next two finished. Not posting them all at once, but at least I won't be taking a week and a half between updates.
No comments on the last post, so let's get right to it, shall we?

35. "Stand Inside Your Love" by Smashing Pumpkins (MACHINA/The Machines Of God)
I wasn't really a big fan of this album when it first came out, but I loved this song from the first time I heard it. Now, I do indeed like the rest of the album as well, and like this song even more than I did back then. Plus, it is a really fun song to sing at karaoke.
Line: "I feel as though I am reborn in my mind, recast as child and mystic sage."



34. "War On Drugs" by Barenaked Ladies (Everything To Everyone)
Very very very depressing song about fragile mental health and suicide and its aftermath. Definitely don't listen to it if you're in a bad mood.
Line: "And the very fear that makes you want to die, is just the same as what keeps you alive. It's way more trouble than some suicide is worth."

(This isn't a great version, but it's the only one I could find that included an actual member of BNL instead of just a cover version. Strongly recommend getting the album version from somewhere.)


33. "Nightswimming" by R.E.M. (Automatic For the People)
One of the simplest (musically) songs that R.E.M. has ever done, and one of the most beautiful. Just an amazing song.
Line: "I thought I knew you."



32. "Out To Get You" by James (Laid)
This song really should be in the top 10, which should tell you how much I love the next 31. Another song about loss and longing, but also one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. When I do the favorite albums list, this will be a top 5 album, and it's in large part to this song and one other, which we'll get to later.
Line: "So alone tonight, I miss you more than I will let you know. Miss the outline of your back, miss you breathing down my neck."

(There's kind of a false start, technical issues at the show. Pretty funny banter in between. This version's also on the Getting Away With It... Live CD, which was recorded at the last two shows of the farewell tour in '05. Funnier on the CD, because he, and several members of the band, apologize to his mom after he says 'fuck.' Pretty funny. So glad they got back together, though, a couple years after this tour. And yes, they are that big in Europe, able to fill arenas. Here? Can't even sell out Radio City Music Hall. Shame.)


31. "Running To Stand Still" by U2 (The Joshua Tree)
The Joshua Tree is still one of my all time favorite albums, without question, and this is my second favorite song off of it. It's a song about a heroin addict, basically, but it's not all preachy about drug use and shit. The album version is awesome. The version in the movie Rattle and Hum is even better. My favorite version, though, is on the ZooTV Live From Sydney video. (The version I'm including, by the way.) Goes out of "Bullet the Blue Sky" into "Running To Stand Still" flawlessly. Then at the end, they use a little organ for an outro, then a little harmonica, then a little more organ, then it blends into the organ intro for "Where the Streets Have No Name". There's actually a point where you can tell the audience just realized it switched from "Running" to "Streets", and you know that every pair of panties in the audience got wet at the same time.
Line: "You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice."

(This video cuts out about 2 seconds before the pantie creaming moment, so I'm linking a video for that too, because, well, let's face it... "Where the Streets Have No Name" is a bad ass song too. And because it's my blog, I can do what I want. Ha ha. Just hit play on both, pause them til they're fully loaded, then listen to them back-to-back. Worth it. The sound's a little bit worse on "Streets" unfortunately.)