Songs That Move Me, 10-2

10. Neil Young – Harvest Moon
A beautiful song, with specific recollections of a romance that burned brightly, then ended.
Feeling: autumnal.

9. Crying- Roy Orbison And k.d lang.
As good as Roy’s original is, this one is better. It’s the harmonica. And when lang gets to sing, by herself, the chorus, it is stunning.
Feeling: there’s something in my eye.

8. Biko – Peter Gabriel.
The story of the slain South African is penetrating, but the vocals, the rhythm, and that ending!
Feeling: ticked off.

7. John Hiatt – Have a Little Faith in Me
How does this rate so high? It’s just a guy on the piano. Well, it’s the quality of both. Hiatt remade this song with more orchestration for a greatest hits album; it was not improved, and in fact was somehow diminished. Not so incidentally, a key song on a mixed tape I made for my now-wife.

6. When Love Comes To Town – U2/B.B. King.
From the opening drumming to King’s guitar lines, to King’s and Bono’s vocals, I almost always platy this song twice.
Feeling: struggling with the power.

chops off 1st notes and then too soon.

5. Billy Joel-Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)
As beautiful as it is, the piano on the bridge just lifts it higher. I heard an a cappella version of this, which was lovely.
Feeling: melancholy.
HERE.

4. Roberta Flack – Gone Away.
I was watching the Grammys in the last couple years and discovered someone has sampled this. This song, part of the group of songs I used to play when love went south, really builds after the 1:30 mark, with instruments (a painful guitar line, and is that a tuba?) plus mournful vocals that feature the late Donny Hathaway.
Feeling: brokenhearted.

3. I Only Have Eyes For You – the Flamingoes.
I hear those first three or four chords and I am always surprised how it leads to such a lush tune. My first favorite song, probably for 30 years.
Feeling: loving.

2. Let’s Go Crazy – Prince.
Unfortunate that the video overlays the preach part with the musical beginning, for it’s both elements that I love. The danceability, plus my favorite guitar solo possibly ever. I have a 7-minute version that’s even more fun.
Feeling: let’s get nuts!

So, here are
the rules.
100-91.
90-81.
80-71.
70-61.
60-51.
50-41.
40-31.
30-21.
20-11.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to #1?

(Confidential to T&C, who started before I did, but somehow will finish after: it’s from my top 10 with which one or more of your Top 40 will converge, I’m guessing.)
ROG

Woman to Woman

Two from Johnny B..

1.IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
“I Kissed a Girl” by Jill Sobule

2.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
“Graceland” by Willie Nelson

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
“Meadowlands” by Nancy Jacobs and Sisters

4.HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
“It” by Prince

5.WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
“Tell It Like It Is” by Aaron Neville & the Neville Brothers

6.WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
“In the Bleak Midwinter” by James Taylor

7.WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
“Hey Diddle” by Paul McCartney

8.WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
“Detention” from Cry Freedom

9.WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
“Long May You Run” by Neil Young

10.WHAT IS 2 + 2?
“Torn & Frayed” by the Rolling Stones

11.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR EX?
“Dreaming” by Cream

12.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
“Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel

13.WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
“Fire” by the Pointer Sisters

14.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
“Is this Love” by Bob Marley & the Wailers

15.WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
“Live Good” by Burning Spear

16.WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
“Oh, Me” by Nirvana

17.WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
“Whenever You’re Ready” by James Taylor

18.WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
“I Don’t Wanna Talk About It” by Indigo Girls

19.WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
“Friday Dance Promenade” by k.d. lang

20.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
“Hey Joe” by the Yardbirds

Directions:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, iPod etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
Now press Next one more time and use it as your title.

The title tune is by Shirley Brown, a Stax hit. Some of the answers work well (#18 in particular), while I wish #11 and #12 were switched.
***

You are the Sense of Sight

You are a very observant, detail oriented person.

You are able to take in a lot of information at once.

You often see things that other people never notice.

You have a good eye for design and aesthetics.

You love to be surrounded by beauty – natural or not.

When you imagine how something should look, you see it clearly in your mind.

***
Isaac Hayes, whose Theme from Shaft ended up on my Top 20 Songs That Move Me, died this past weekend. I don’t have much more to say about the singer/keyboardist/songwriter other than what I wrote last year on his 65th birthday.
***
Fred Hembeck on Bernie Mac (August 10).

ROG

Songs That Move Me, 20-11

20. Strawberry Letter #23 – Brothers Johnson
Starts off with circus music, then kicks a groove. That swirling sound at the bridge is extraordinary.
Feeling: loving.

19. Eleanore – the Turtles.
The story goes that their record company wanted another “Happy Together”, so the group gave them one. It has the same minor to major transition, very similar – though lovely – harmonies, and the like. So why is this song, rather than “Happy Together” on the list? Two reasons, really. One: HT was really overplayed. Two: the line “you’re my pride and joy, et cet’ra,” a throwaway line if ever I heard one. (It rhymes with “better” or more correctly, “betta”.) Love singing along.
Feeling: swell.

18. Drive My Car – Beatles.
I read once the intricacy of the chord structure. It’s the minor key feel of the verse and major chord feel of the chorus that grabbed me from first hearing. First song that Paul McCartney played in some 23008 concerts.
Feeling: ironic.

17. Isaac Hayes – Shaft
Even before the great vocal comes up, an orchestral delight, as the melody shifts from section to section.
Feeling: damn right.

16. Can We Still Be Friends – Todd Rundgren
The changing meter in the bridge makes it.
feeling: You know the answer is no.

15. Sly & The Family Stone – Hot Fun In The Summertime
Harmonies, shared vocals and an “ooo-Lord” worth waiting for.
Feeling: sweaty.

14. Jerks on the Loose – the Roches.
The album Keep On Doing was produced by Robert Fripp, so there are odd sonic twists and turns throughout. this song has one of my favorite (and used) couplets:
“You work too ard to take this abuse
Be on your guard jerks on the loose.
This 30-second taste (Track 11) hardly gives the full sense of how great this song is.
Feeling: on my guard.

13. (Just Like) Starting Over – John Lennon.
In the fall of 1980, when the single was released, there was a lot of anticipation about it and the forthcoming Double Fantasy album. I didn’t think it was a great song, but it was sort of fun, with that faux Elvis vocal in the beginning of the verse. Then John died, and the irony of the title – we waited five years and THAT had to happen? – made me tear up for months, if not years.
Feeling: still makes me very sad.

12. River – Joni Mitchell.
There’s a lot of Joni I could have picked, but this one, based on Jingle Bells, is just so beautiful. The piano variations at the end seal the deal.
Feeling: longing.

11. In My Room – the Beach Boys.
I liked being in my room when I was a kid. I could entertain myself for hours, reading, looking at my baseball cards and listening to the radio. Yet I was somehow supposed to feel guilty for doing so. Anyway, lives on the vocals, in this case – single voice, then two-part harmony, then full harmony; very effective.
Feeling: cloistered.

ROG

Songs That Move Me, 30-21

30. Sixty Years On- Elton John
Just great use of strings. Too bad Elton’s vocal’s mixed too low, but the instrumentation is a fair representation of the recording.
Feeling: old.

29. The Mercy Seat- Johnny Cash
This is a nice little Nick Cave song about an upcoming execution of the protagonist, for a crime he did not commit (maybe). It is the Benmont Tench keyboards on this song, like his keyboards on Johnny’s version of Hurt, that really stand out for me. I particularly appreciates how it builds sonically. From the third American Recordings CD.
Feeling: a-feared.

28. How Cruel – Joan Armatrading.
“I heard somebody say once I was way too black
And someone answers she’s not black enough for me”
Just for that couplet there. And the piano.
Feeling: a tad ticked off.

27. A Salty Dog – Procol Harum
The sound effects, the building of the sound.
Feeling: adrift.

26. Tempted-Squeeze
Near-perfect pop song, with great background singing and that classic Paul Carrack groan.
Feeling: inappropriate.
HERE.

25. I Saw Her Again- Mamas and the Papas
This is enhanced by an accident of technology. On a greatest hits LP I had growing up, the lead vocal all but drops out, revealing the intricacy of the harmonies.
Feeling: inappropriate.

24. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow – Carole King
It’s the Mitchell-Taylor Boy and Girl Chorus that really makes this. This arrangement practically begs for a cappella singing. From Tapestry, which I played so much, I wore out the LP.

23. Rain – the Beatles.
Not sure i really liked this song on first listen. It was, “What the heck is THAT?” But later, the tape loops and steady beat won me over.
Feeling: wet.

22. Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter
Not only great guitar playing, but the Merry Clayton vocal really shreds it.
Feeling: alone.

21. Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) – Melanie
I had a friend inn the music business mock me when a mutual acquaintance, a radio DJ, let her know I had requested a Melanie song from him. I protested, “But it’s Lay Down!” the clash between her sometimes homely voice and the Edwin Hawkins Singers creates such wonderful music tension.
Feeling: too tired to sleep.
or HERE.
ROG

July Ramblin’

There is this guy I see on the bus; saw him yesterday. He is what one would call in the vernacular unbalanced. Sometimes he talks to other people, but usually it’s to himself, running down a bizarre checklist. In my professional building, I saw this woman walking towards me yesterday, also engaged in conversation. Initially, I thought she was talking to me, but then I surmised she was talking on one of those tiny communications devices.
Or was she?
***
There were only two TV shows on my summer schedule. No, The Greatest American Dog (or whatever it’s called) is not one of them. The one running currently is the return of The Closer, so recent that when I saw my DVR trecording last night, I didn’t remember why initially.
The other, I’ll admit, was Million Dollar Password, now on hiatus. I loved the show with Allen Ludden, and still like it, but its real flaw is that no one in his or her right mind would ever go for the million dollars. To do that, one would have to have succeeded at the $250,000 level, which no one has done yet, then risk all but $25,000 of that to get five passwords out of five, with no errors, offering no more than three clues each.
***
If-Then Contingencies and the Differential Effects of the Availability of an Attractive Alternative on Relationship Maintenance for Men and Women (PDF)
Yes, this is heterocentric, but I SO love the title.
“Temptation may be everywhere, but it’s how the different sexes react to flirtation that determines the effect it will have on their relationships. In a new study, psychologists determined men tend to look at their partners in a more negative light after meeting a single, attractive woman. On the other hand, women are likelier to work to strengthen their current relationships after meeting an available, attractive man.”
***
I love adjectival forms of place names. a person from Albania is an Albanian. A person from Albany is also an Albanian. Make of that what you will.
***
Another canard foiled:
Evidence Shows That Tax Cuts Lose Revenue from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
“The claim that tax cuts ‘pay for themselves’ — i.e., cause so much economic growth that revenues rise faster than they would have without the tax cut — has been made repeatedly in recent years and is one of the many tax policy issues that is likely to receive renewed attention in light of the upcoming election. As explained, this claim is false. The evidence shows clearly that tax cuts lose revenue.”
***
Interesting Scientific Experiment
***
I’ll probably see The Dark Knight at some point. It’s only playing at least 12 screens in the county. My wife wants to see it, mostly because her high school kids will likely have seen it and she wants to keep up on their influences. Question: Do I need to, or ought I, see Batman Begins before seeing The Dark Knight? Lots of positive reviews, so I’m more interested in the negative ones, such as this one and this one, the latter with 300+ comments, most of them not appreciative of the reviewer’s POV. There’s also this mixed review in Salon; of particular note to me is the first starred comment.
***
I saw this a couple months ago: Wedding Album [IMPORT] by Yoko Ono and John Lennon.
I own this on vinyl, that is the first two, album-side-long cuts. #1 is Yoko saying “John!” then John replying “Yoko!” sometimes talking, sometimes yelling, for about 25 minutes. #2 is an interview and is at least interesting.
Add-ons #3, #4 and #5 are B-sides of Instant Karma, Merry Xmas, and Cold Turkey, respectively, performed by Yoko. Heck, why not add Remember Love and Sisters O Sisters, other Lennon B-sides done by Ono?
1. John & Yoko
2. Amsterdam
3. Who Has Seen the Wind? [*] – John Lennon & Yoko Ono, John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band, Yoko Ono
4. Listen, the Snow Is Falling [*]
5. Don’t Worry, Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow) [*]
In any case, at $76, no way in heck do I buy this.

ROG

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