Songs that I have listened to
Nov. 12th, 2005 04:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2Like you really want to read about all the stupid songs I've listened to lately. :p
1. "Mudd" by King's X. I dunno why, but this song has stuck in my head the last few days more than any other song on the new King's X cd. It seems like a sad song of some sort... "You said you were tired, then you went away... up into the sky." Doug sings that he "got the news at a party" and he was on tour so that he couldn't go home to say goodbye and to see everyone... my first impression is that the song is about a rather sad and inept goodbye at an airport... my second impression is that the person who got on the plane was never seen again... as in, they died, and Doug couldn't even make it to the funeral to say goodbye. And then, just because the band talks so much on religeous themes, I kind of relate the line "then you went away, up into the sky," to Jesus leaving the disciples after his ressurection. Only of course that begs the question, why would the last thing Jesus says to his disciples be, "I'm tired"? Anyway, as a song it seems to be telling a story that isn't completely explained or made clear. Maybe that's one of the reasons I like it so much.
2. "Stepping Out" by Steel Pulse. Recently I picked up "Earth Crisis" and "True Democracy" by Steel Pulse... two of their all-time best releases from the early to middle 1980's. I did this after hearing someone on NPR gush about what a great reggae band they are... and really, these are both very very good reggae cds. In particular this one song grabs me. They say in the cd liner notes that at the time Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" was a huge hit, and their label wanted them to do something like that. Let me tell you, there are few songs that I've loathed and despised as strongly and for as many years as I've loathed and despised the song "Electric Avenue". But Steel Pulse didn't want to sound like Eddie Grant, they wanted to sound like Steel Pulse, so they came up with the song "Stepping Out" which is certainly radio-friendly, but which is also about a BAZILLION times more listenable than "Electric Avenue". Come to think of it, was "Electric Avenue" ever considered radio friendly? I mean it got heavily overplayed, but I could never understand why...
3. "Galaxies" by Laura Vehrs. I've picked up several cds lately by women, based on reccomendations I heard on NPR. One of them is "Verde" by Badi Assad, a brilliant Brazillian guitarist/percussionist/singer/songwriter. She's incredibly good. Another is "I've Got My Own Hell To Raise" by Bettye LaVette, who is in some ways the female equivelant of Paul Pena... ie, Paul was an amazing blues/soul musician who made a record in the 70's that was never released until 2000 (hmmm, and I just realized that he died a month or so ago... very sad). Anyway Paul Pena's cd should have been a soul/blues classic, and is where the song "Jet Airliner" originally came from... but few people got to hear it until five years ago. In the same way, Bettye LaVette is a brilliant soul singer who should have been a major star, but her early 70's record also went unreleased until 2001, and as with Pena's cd, it turns out to be an undiscovered classic. Anyway "I've Got My Own Hell..." is a new 2005 release from her, all cover songs... she's pretty amazing. Then you toss in the Celtic cd I picked up recently from Connie Dover, and the reggae cd from Sinead O'Connor... and I have a very eclectic collection of cds by female artists. But Laura Vehrs (a local artist who I also heard about on NPR) is my favorite of the bunch. She writes strange songs... kinda like a guitarist version of Tori Amos, maybe. "When you sing, when you sing, stars fill my eyes... galaxies flow down my cheeks..." Great stuff!
4. "Rome" by Nickel Creek. My friend in Second Life has gotten me to listen to some interesting music, including an Innuit/Eskimo rock band called "Indigenous". Among other things, this jazzy bluegrass band from San Diego, made up of three childhood friends (well, two are a brother and sister, the third is their neighborhood best friend). They're pretty amazing too! ^_^
5. Well I could go on and on but ya know, I should stop typing and get some sleep. ^_^ But, okay, #5: "Wooden Pints" by Korpiklaani. This is a song about the Wee Free Folk! The Pictsies! No, seriously, it's a Finnish folk metal band, and the song lyrics are about little men who live underground and drink, party, and fight. That's all they like to do. Rob Anybody is in this song somewhere!
1. "Mudd" by King's X. I dunno why, but this song has stuck in my head the last few days more than any other song on the new King's X cd. It seems like a sad song of some sort... "You said you were tired, then you went away... up into the sky." Doug sings that he "got the news at a party" and he was on tour so that he couldn't go home to say goodbye and to see everyone... my first impression is that the song is about a rather sad and inept goodbye at an airport... my second impression is that the person who got on the plane was never seen again... as in, they died, and Doug couldn't even make it to the funeral to say goodbye. And then, just because the band talks so much on religeous themes, I kind of relate the line "then you went away, up into the sky," to Jesus leaving the disciples after his ressurection. Only of course that begs the question, why would the last thing Jesus says to his disciples be, "I'm tired"? Anyway, as a song it seems to be telling a story that isn't completely explained or made clear. Maybe that's one of the reasons I like it so much.
2. "Stepping Out" by Steel Pulse. Recently I picked up "Earth Crisis" and "True Democracy" by Steel Pulse... two of their all-time best releases from the early to middle 1980's. I did this after hearing someone on NPR gush about what a great reggae band they are... and really, these are both very very good reggae cds. In particular this one song grabs me. They say in the cd liner notes that at the time Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" was a huge hit, and their label wanted them to do something like that. Let me tell you, there are few songs that I've loathed and despised as strongly and for as many years as I've loathed and despised the song "Electric Avenue". But Steel Pulse didn't want to sound like Eddie Grant, they wanted to sound like Steel Pulse, so they came up with the song "Stepping Out" which is certainly radio-friendly, but which is also about a BAZILLION times more listenable than "Electric Avenue". Come to think of it, was "Electric Avenue" ever considered radio friendly? I mean it got heavily overplayed, but I could never understand why...
3. "Galaxies" by Laura Vehrs. I've picked up several cds lately by women, based on reccomendations I heard on NPR. One of them is "Verde" by Badi Assad, a brilliant Brazillian guitarist/percussionist/singer/songwriter. She's incredibly good. Another is "I've Got My Own Hell To Raise" by Bettye LaVette, who is in some ways the female equivelant of Paul Pena... ie, Paul was an amazing blues/soul musician who made a record in the 70's that was never released until 2000 (hmmm, and I just realized that he died a month or so ago... very sad). Anyway Paul Pena's cd should have been a soul/blues classic, and is where the song "Jet Airliner" originally came from... but few people got to hear it until five years ago. In the same way, Bettye LaVette is a brilliant soul singer who should have been a major star, but her early 70's record also went unreleased until 2001, and as with Pena's cd, it turns out to be an undiscovered classic. Anyway "I've Got My Own Hell..." is a new 2005 release from her, all cover songs... she's pretty amazing. Then you toss in the Celtic cd I picked up recently from Connie Dover, and the reggae cd from Sinead O'Connor... and I have a very eclectic collection of cds by female artists. But Laura Vehrs (a local artist who I also heard about on NPR) is my favorite of the bunch. She writes strange songs... kinda like a guitarist version of Tori Amos, maybe. "When you sing, when you sing, stars fill my eyes... galaxies flow down my cheeks..." Great stuff!
4. "Rome" by Nickel Creek. My friend in Second Life has gotten me to listen to some interesting music, including an Innuit/Eskimo rock band called "Indigenous". Among other things, this jazzy bluegrass band from San Diego, made up of three childhood friends (well, two are a brother and sister, the third is their neighborhood best friend). They're pretty amazing too! ^_^
5. Well I could go on and on but ya know, I should stop typing and get some sleep. ^_^ But, okay, #5: "Wooden Pints" by Korpiklaani. This is a song about the Wee Free Folk! The Pictsies! No, seriously, it's a Finnish folk metal band, and the song lyrics are about little men who live underground and drink, party, and fight. That's all they like to do. Rob Anybody is in this song somewhere!
