Favorite Songs: 60 - 56

Good snowy morning, all! Since I decided to take the day off work, I figured I'd at least be somewhat productive, so here are the next 5 songs. I'm sure more will follow either today or tomorrow.

60. "I Can See For Miles" by The Who (The Who Sell Out)
So, this spot was supposed to be occupied by "Poles Apart" by Pink Floyd off The Division Bell. But yeah, the more I thought about it the more I realized this song really needed to be included on this list, otherwise it would have just been a sham.
Line: "I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise. I know that you have 'cause there's magic in my eyes."



59. "Got You (Where I Want You)" by The Flys (Holiday Man)
It's easy to love this song, really. Yeah the video's cheesy and kinda lame, but the song itself is what we care about here, people. And the song? Not too cheesy or lame at all, I think. Well, ok, some of the lyrics are a tiny bit cheesy, but it's ok because the rest of the song rocks out with its cock out.
Line: "Hey, maybe just a smile. Oh hey, did you know that I can't dance? Could we talk for a while?"



58. "Blue Savannah" by Erasure. (Wild!)
Yes, in case it's not blatantly obvious, the lead singer's a tad bit gay. The keyboardist isn't at all though. Just throwing that out there. You'll understand why when you watch the video. Anyway, this has been one of my top 5 Erasure songs since the first time I heard it, back in the deep dark high school days. This whole album, in fact, has passed The Innocents (Which has "Chains Of Love" and "A Little Respect" on it) as my favorite Erasure album. Very solid from start to finish. Even though the lyrics in this song are kind of simplistic, it's still just a really fun song.
Line: "My home is where the heart is, sweet to surrender to you only."



57. "The Blood Of Eden" by Peter Gabriel (Us)
Easily one of the most beautiful songs Peter Gabriel has ever written. On the album, the back up vocals are by Sinead O'Connor, in concert they were usually done by Paula Cole or, on the last tour, his daughter. The only time I ever saw Peter Gabriel live was at the WOMAD Festival in Columbus in like '94, and it was Sinead singing with him. Unbelievable. Us is another of my favorite albums ever, in large part because of this song. Gabriel can slip seamlessly into and out of a nice high falsetto like few other male singers. I can only imagine that, had he stayed with Genesis, this song would've never seen the light of day, which would have been a damned shame. Luckily, no need to worry about that.
Line: "Is that a dagger or a crucifix I see, you hold so tightly in your hand?"

No idea what the piano is all about for the first 15 seconds. Kinda loud, too...


56. "Nothing To Hold Me" by Jesus Jones (Doubt)
I am so pissed there's no video on YouTube for this song. Any other good video sites out there? GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Ok. Sorry.
After this, my Jesus Jones fix is done, I promise... People who bout Doubt only to hear "Right Here, Right Now" are retarded if they didn't listen to the next song (this), or any of the others on that album. This one, though, is the best. It's another song about loss and longing, but not in a bitching and whining kind of way.
Line: "I changed my name and you changed your mind. The only thing you left was me."

Favorite Songs: 75 - 71

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas, and here's to a MUCH better 2010.

75. "I Don't Want That Kind Of Love" by Jesus Jones (Liquidizer)
Yet another fun little post-break up song. Basically a nice way of calling your ex a heart-crushing soul-stealing shit. Man, I love these kinds of songs!
Line: "Well, you're not very nice. You made me feel small."

Video note: There's an actual video for this song out there, but the only video I could find is a mix of 4 Jesus Jones videos - "Info Freako" "Never Enough" "Bring It On Down" and "I Don't Want That Kind Of Love" which starts at the 4:25 mark. All 4 songs are pretty good, all from the debut album, Liquidizer.



74. "Nights In White Satin" by Moody Blues (Days Of Future Passed)
Back in the day, groups would make what were known as concept albums, and Moody Blues were no exception. But where some bands succeeded (Pink Floyd's The Wall, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genesis, Tommy by The Who), Days Of Future Passed was quite... umm... pathetic, really. Until you get to the final song, anyway. Fade from previous song, with a little orchestration... quick fade in with the classic and instantly recognizable guitar and drum beat... dum... bang... dum dum dum... bang... dum dum... bang... dum dum dum... bang... dum dum... "Nights in white satin... never reaching the end..." What a fucking song! Makes me want to go eat steak and screw like 50 women! Or... ya know... just sit here, thinkin about the wifey.
Line: "Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before."



73. "By My Side" by INXS (X)
Just a great song about love and devotion, but with a little obsessiveness thrown in for good measure. Michael Hutchence could deliver a song with more soul than damn near anybody else. Such a shame. And how amazing would it be to play in front of almost 90,000 people at Wembley? Yeah, that would be a nice little feeling.
Line: "The room's full of strangers, some call me 'friend', but I wish you were so close to me."



72. "Soma" by Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream)
Easily one of the most beautiful songs of the '90s, on one of the best albums of the '90s. The slow (and I mean slow) build up to the crashing crescendo is pretty much perfect. Just some amazing atmospheric guitars, sparse drums, soft vocals, all building for, oh, 3 and a half minutes or so, then just exploding. Awesome. This is also another of my all-time favorite lines from any song...
Line: "Wrapped my hurt in you, and took my shelter in that pain."



71. "Come Undone" by Duran Duran (Duran Duran)
Duran Duran had pretty much fallen off the face of the Earth for about 6 years. Then, with no warning at all, they unleash this monster upon the unsuspecting masses. Oh yeah, they were back. But... well... then they pretty much disappeared again a couple years later.
Line: "Who do you need? Who do you love when you come undone?"

(Hunt the actual video down. It's pretty good.)


Comments? Questions?

Favorite Songs: 134-130

134. "Suedehead" by Morrissey (Viva Hate)The lyrics to this song are pretty evil, when you really think about it. Basically it's about an ex lover feeling jilted and still hanging around. The "I'm so sorry" apology is supposed to be sarcastic, I think. Especially when you look at the last, oh, third of the song or so, just saying "it was a good lay" over and over. I dunno. Could be wrong.
Line: "You had to sneak into my room just to read my diary. It was just to see just to see all the things you knew I'd written about you."




133. "I'm Burning" by Jesus Jones (Doubt)
Sandwiched on Jesus Jones' most popular album, between their two most popular songs ("International Bright Young Thing" and "Right Here, Right Now") is one of their best songs. Another jilted lover song, to an extent, but not anywhere near as bitter and sarcastic as "Suedehead." Just a really pretty song.
Line: "So when I cried, where were you? You knw I cried. I saw you."



132. "Numb" by U2 (Zooropa)
Zooropa is probably one of the 2 most underrated U2 albums ever, along with Pop. God forbid a band tries to change its sound and do something different! Coming off the heels of Achtung Baby, well, they really only had 2 choices. Make the same album again, or go down a completely different path. I'm glad they chose the latter. This is one of the few songs in general, and the only single that I can think of, that The Edge sings instead of Bono. Good beat, and the monotone delivery of the lyrics is very fitting to the theme of being numb to everything around.
Line: "Don't move don't talk out of time don't think don't worry everything's just fine. Just fine."



131. "Stigmata" by Ministry (The Land Of Rape and Honey)
When I was talking about Front 242 having the second most aggressive song on this list, this is the song I was referring to as being the most aggressive. From the openeing (synthesized) cymbal beats to the closing grating guitars, it's just a song about pure hate. Love it when I'm in a bad mood.
Line: "Cutting my face, and walking on splinters. I lost my soul to the look in your eyes."



130. "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles (Revolver)
And we'll go to the opposite end of the spectrum now. Obviously there had to be a couple Beatles songs on here. (Actually I think there may only be 1 more. Not sure.) Another quick song clocking in right around 2 minutes, this is by far one of my top 3 Beatles songs. Probably always will be. The video I chose to use for this is someone's claymation art. Doesn't go with the song at all, I just thought it was really cool.
Line: "All the lonely people. Where do they all come from?"

Favorite Songs: 156-154

Well, I'm officially a stay-at-home dad for the time being, so I guess it's time to start this silly little list that nobody's even going to read. Oh well. It'll keep me occupied.
For each song, I will follow the same format:
"song title" by artist (album it's from)
Short little blurb (in most cases. Some of them may be a tad longer)
Line: from the song that I think is the best line of the song.
Hopefully people actually read this. If not, oh well. But if you do read it, drop me a line on facebook or leave a comment here and let me know what you think.
And away we go...

156. "Don't Believe It" by Jesus Jones (Perverse)
I'm still a fan of Jesus Jones. Had they come out about 6 years earlier than they did, they probably would have been huge, but they really had horrible timing, with their one big song, "Right Here, Right Now" coming out right before "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. This song was on their 3rd album, Perverse, which is overall a pretty solid album.
Line: "You came at the right time, filled the right space, and ever since then I've never seen your true face."
(No video available)

155. "Under Pressure" by Queen with David Bowie (Hot Space)
Not the greatest Queen song, sure. But it's still one of my favorites by them, Vanilla Ice rip offs and all. Great hook, good lyrics, and, oh yeah, David Bowie.
Line: "Why can't we give love one more chance?"


154. "What A Good Boy" by Barenaked Ladies (Gordon)
While BNL are mostly known for the sillier songs, like "If I Had $1,000,000" or "Pinch Me," it's on the more serious songs where they really shine, I think. This is one of the better examples of such, off their debut album.
Line: "I wake up scared, I wake up strange, I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever gonna change."