Category: King Crimson

Songs That Move Me, 50-41

50. Indiscipline – King Crimson.
“I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress…” Tom, my boss at FantaCo, described this song as his description of the store. Last song on the first side of the Discipline LP.
Feeling: feeling: feeling: feeling:

49. Would I Lie To You – Eurythmics.
There’s the insistent beat, the horns, the vocals, the guitar line, specially on the bridge.
Feeling: truthful.
It’s HERE.

48. High School- MC5.
A decade before the Ramones, the MC5 from Detroit, a three-chord band. This live version doesn’t exude the sheer raw energy of the original.
Feeling: you better get out of the way.

47. Tell Me Something Good – Rufus.
Chaka Khan! Has that wonderful descending chromatic scale. Stevie Wonder-penned funk. Love the Bob Hope intro.
Feeling: good.

46. Logical Song – Supertramp.
I love the way the sound gets fuller on the verse before the break, the doubling of the vocal on “a vegetable” and the sax solo.
Feeling: paranoid.

A better video but lesser sound here.

45. Uptight – Stevie Wonder.
My first all-time favorite Motown song. First that bass line with drums, then the horns. I’m also fond of the background vocals, and that machine gun-like drunm fills. So good that Bill Cosby, long before Weird Al, copped it for “Little Old Man”.
Feeling- joy.

44. Tomorrow Never Knows – the Beatles.
Insistent bottom, weird tape loop sounds, odd vocal, strange bridge. Oh, I love it.
Feeling: floating.
It’s here.

43. Our Prayer – Beach Boys.
About 68 seconds of stunning vocalese.
Feeling: reflective.
A snippet here.

42. Satisfaction – Rolling Stones.
Anthemic, copped by lots of other bands.
Feeling: as though I tried and I tried.

41. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding?-Elvis Costello.
I STILL hear this both as the driving anthem it is and as an a cappella doowop. From a greatest hits CD.
Feeling: like begging for peace.

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Music That Moves Me, 60-51

60. Day Tripper-Beatles
In some ways, quite anthemic. That hook is swiped often. Love the build on the bridge. I also have a great Wilson Pickett version.

59. All Day and All of the Night – the Kinks.
This was probably the loudest song I remember as a kid. I love how the chords modulate. And the delicious guitar on the bridge! The theme was so compelling that Ray Davies ripped himself off on Destroyer.
Feeling: alive.

58. Dimming of the Day – Bonnie Raitt.
The verse is fine, but it’s the harmony of the chorus that makes me play it over again.
Feeling: melancholy.

57. Something in 4/4 Time-Daryl Hall.
From the underrated Fripp-produced Sacred Songs album. Starts off with the keyboard, it rocks in 4/4 time until the bridge. Those triplets are clearly NOT in march time.
Something In 4/4 Time-Daryl Hall. Robert Fripp produced an album called Sacred Songs in 1977, but the label didn’t release it until 1980, fearing that it was “uncommercial.” 4/4 Time is the great hit single that wasn’t. Though the verse and chorus were in regular rhythm, the bridge had interesting triplets an odd time signatures.
Feeling: happy.
You can hear 30 seconds of it here (second cut), but it doesn’t express the fulness of this tune.

56. Staples Singers – Respect Yourself
I love the fact that Pops starts the piece, so when Mavis takes over the vocal, it’s even more resounding. BTW, the YouTuber misspells Staples as Staple.
Feeling: if you don’t respect yourself…

55. Elephant Talk – King Crimson. Not only great beat – I own the dance remix – but fun lyrics.
Feeling: shut up already!

54. Think for Yourself – the Beatles.
It’s the Macca fuzz bass. The verse and chorus don’t exactly flow together, and that’s a good thing.
Feeling: title says it.

53. A Simple Desultory Phillipic – Simon & Garfunkel.
I think I like it because it was one of the those rare S&G songs that really rock. Also the first song I knew that namechecked, in this case, he Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Lenny Bruce, and of course, Bob Dylan, among others.
Feeling: fun.
A snippet here (track 9).

52. A Ballata Of Francesco Landini (ca. 1335-1397) Lasso! Di Donna – Judy Collins.
Some Italian ballad from about eight centuries ago. Beautiful last song on the first side of the Wildflowers LP. A bit of a cheat, using 14th Century music, but it did appear on a folk/pop album in the pop era.
Feeling: it’s a beautiful world.
A little snippet here.

51. I’m Shakin’ – the Blasters.
Great rockabilly from 1981. Only have on vinyl.
Feeling: I’m so jittery.


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Songs That Move Me, 80-71

80. The Ostrich – Steppenwolf.
I discussed this song here.
Feeling: ticked off.
It’s HERE.

79. (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone – Aretha Franklin.
One of the things I hated about AM radio when I was growing up is the fact that disc jockeys would talk over the instrumental opening. I swear that this intro was designed specifically to avoid that. Highlight musically is the sweet crescendo of the horns.
Feeling: joyful.

78. 21st Century Schizoid Man – King Crimson.
An intriguing song. Starts of like a loud dirge, then breaks into an almost jazzy center. Quite odd.
Feeling: a little schizo.
OR HERE.

77. Face the Face – Pete Townsend.
Those big drums almost always surprise me, not in this live version, but in the video below.
Feeling: like dancing.

Miami Vice!

76. I’m So Glad – Cream.
It has to be the live version from the Goodbye Cream album; no other version excites me like that one. It’s the Jack Bruce vocals and especially the instrumental breaks.
Feeling: well, glad.

75. Fame – David Bowie.
Besides the hook, I most appreciate the descending line of the vocal near the end.
Feeling: like dancing.

74. King Harvest – The Band.
From “the brown album”, the second album, it’s the last song on the LP. It’s the vocals and the lyrics: “My horse Jethro, well he went mad.” A song of my high school days.
Feeling: like having a piece of grass between my teeth.

73. I’m Free – the Who.
The beginning of this song is out of sync with the rest. There’s a drum fill before the first time you hear “And freedom tastes of reality.” The live versions never compare to this because they’re usually played correctly. I like the descending line vocal at the end and the instrumentation in the middle. BTW, I have no idea what this video is.
Feeling: Tension until it gets back on track musically.

72. Celtic Rock – Donovan.
The druids are coming. Last song, first side of the Open Road LP.
Feeling: spooky.

71. Twist and Shout – the Beatles

It’s John shredding his voice and those ascending thirds.
Feeling: Joyous.
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