It's summer and nothing says it quite like music. Whether in the garage, local community center or cruising the backroads songs embed themselves on our psyches. Here is a continuation of the my favorites, the stuff I'd need on a lonely desert island.
Like A Rock
Something evil happens when we age. But until that happens, we are 18. I recall working on my Uncle's farm shelling corn, baling hay and other hard labor. This song always reminds me of youth, and what we do when we think we are right. I was a crusading little shithead if I thought the morality was there and clear. Seger embodies that youthful integrity, past dreams and hopes in a single memorable classic. Forget the Chevy commercials, this is a priceless combination of perfect notes married to lyrics. It is one of my 'vert tunes.
Here Without You
Nothing terribly profound here (derivation of profundity, Justin). Just a another song with the key ingredients for emotional involvement: loss, yearning, slow ballad. Not a 'vert song, or alone-at-a-bar shit-faced song either, but one that made this list and will not be forgotten in 20 years.
Jeff Buckley
Push on: there may even be an ad with this one.
Jeff Buckley is an obscure writer who died a few years ago in a tragic drowning in memphis. What he left behind is fantastic stuff especially this well known song written by Leonard Cohen (but no one listens to him) that has been heard everywhere, even the animated movie Shrek by Rufus Wainwright. Many people have sung it and there are many beautiful versions. This is one of the best. Check out Justin Timberlake's Haiti Relief Concert version below for another twisty rendition. Biblical, waltzy with an undercurrent of loss, gain and other things in a jumble of questioning scenes like a montage in a dream. Lyrics just add to the mystery.
Another nice version of Hallelujah by leonard Cohen.
Reflections Of My Life
One of my oldest favorites, as well as perhaps the best of all of them, is Marmalade's "Reflection". Long forgotten amid lesser classics, this one-hit wonder rips with feeling throughout. From the opening blast of drums to the bellowing heartbreaking ending, this song has it all. Wistful longing, perfect backup singing, and organ that drips tears, this one starts perfect and never lets up. You can just feel the emptiness and it speaks to us all. Four kids got together and stumbled onto perfection. They never reached anything close to this one again.
The late great Dan Fogelberg makes his second appearance on the list. What would you dive to make a lasting tribute to your Dad that missions would hear and last forever? Dan did it for his music teacher father and can't be beat for a small simple eloquent song that is filled with love. Another one of those Hellish songs that won't leave your head. Play a your own risk.
Memorable for coming out just as Brendan was entering the Army, this song is a wrenching anti-war treatise that perfectly fit the times. The video that accompanies this song is a marvel of a story in 4 minutes. It is sad, wise, and unforgettable.
My Immortal
My, what a transcendent song this is. The haunting voice of Amy Lee imbues this classic with tender strength. The piano monologue with the violin background that gets this started gives us a peek of what we're in for. The lyrics talk of "a spirit that stays with you after its death and its haunting you till you wish it gone..." Perhaps the most spiritual and elegiac of them all on this list. I've always wanted to use the word elegiac.
It's a Heartache
Gravelly voiced and oozing sex, Bonnie Tyler was a favorite for a couple songs. This was one of them. A bit bouncier than others, her rendition of "It's a Heartache" is a universal anthem to anyone who had their hearts broken. I had my heart broken once in a rainy parking lot and this song's toe-tapping exquisiteness taps into that sad unforgettable night.
Sunshine
There is no denying John Denver could be goofy. At first blush much of his stuff seems a bit childish and awfully shallow. But give the guy his due, he did some great stuff. This popular song on the surface sounds like a quickie knockoff, but with a few listenings becomes a prayer. An elegy to nature, to life itself. The nuanced pause in mid song adds an almost meditative sigh of musical notage.
21 Cat Stevens
Father And Son
We lost the Cat Man to a religious conversion to Islam, but before that happened he graced us with a few classics. This small song is almost perfect in its elegance and structure. Simple, probably not more than 3 chords in the whole thing, it speaks volumes to anyone who was a kid or had a Dad. If I could I'd learn to play the guitar just to play this song alone. If I had to pare this list down to top 5 - this makes the cut.
That wraps it up for this week. Again, send your comments and I'll list them (if you want) on a post later. Again, this is desert island stuff so probably no more than a week left, maybe 2. Depends. Then we'll get back to Flashback Friday.
- Bob Seger
Like A Rock
Something evil happens when we age. But until that happens, we are 18. I recall working on my Uncle's farm shelling corn, baling hay and other hard labor. This song always reminds me of youth, and what we do when we think we are right. I was a crusading little shithead if I thought the morality was there and clear. Seger embodies that youthful integrity, past dreams and hopes in a single memorable classic. Forget the Chevy commercials, this is a priceless combination of perfect notes married to lyrics. It is one of my 'vert tunes.
- 3 Doors Down
Here Without You
Nothing terribly profound here (derivation of profundity, Justin). Just a another song with the key ingredients for emotional involvement: loss, yearning, slow ballad. Not a 'vert song, or alone-at-a-bar shit-faced song either, but one that made this list and will not be forgotten in 20 years.
- Halleleujah
Jeff Buckley
Push on: there may even be an ad with this one.
Jeff Buckley is an obscure writer who died a few years ago in a tragic drowning in memphis. What he left behind is fantastic stuff especially this well known song written by Leonard Cohen (but no one listens to him) that has been heard everywhere, even the animated movie Shrek by Rufus Wainwright. Many people have sung it and there are many beautiful versions. This is one of the best. Check out Justin Timberlake's Haiti Relief Concert version below for another twisty rendition. Biblical, waltzy with an undercurrent of loss, gain and other things in a jumble of questioning scenes like a montage in a dream. Lyrics just add to the mystery.
Another nice version of Hallelujah by leonard Cohen.
- Marmalade
Reflections Of My Life
One of my oldest favorites, as well as perhaps the best of all of them, is Marmalade's "Reflection". Long forgotten amid lesser classics, this one-hit wonder rips with feeling throughout. From the opening blast of drums to the bellowing heartbreaking ending, this song has it all. Wistful longing, perfect backup singing, and organ that drips tears, this one starts perfect and never lets up. You can just feel the emptiness and it speaks to us all. Four kids got together and stumbled onto perfection. They never reached anything close to this one again.
- Dan Fogelberg
The late great Dan Fogelberg makes his second appearance on the list. What would you dive to make a lasting tribute to your Dad that missions would hear and last forever? Dan did it for his music teacher father and can't be beat for a small simple eloquent song that is filled with love. Another one of those Hellish songs that won't leave your head. Play a your own risk.
- Green Day
Memorable for coming out just as Brendan was entering the Army, this song is a wrenching anti-war treatise that perfectly fit the times. The video that accompanies this song is a marvel of a story in 4 minutes. It is sad, wise, and unforgettable.
- Evanescence
My Immortal
My, what a transcendent song this is. The haunting voice of Amy Lee imbues this classic with tender strength. The piano monologue with the violin background that gets this started gives us a peek of what we're in for. The lyrics talk of "a spirit that stays with you after its death and its haunting you till you wish it gone..." Perhaps the most spiritual and elegiac of them all on this list. I've always wanted to use the word elegiac.
- Bonnie Tyler
It's a Heartache
Gravelly voiced and oozing sex, Bonnie Tyler was a favorite for a couple songs. This was one of them. A bit bouncier than others, her rendition of "It's a Heartache" is a universal anthem to anyone who had their hearts broken. I had my heart broken once in a rainy parking lot and this song's toe-tapping exquisiteness taps into that sad unforgettable night.
- John Denver
Sunshine
There is no denying John Denver could be goofy. At first blush much of his stuff seems a bit childish and awfully shallow. But give the guy his due, he did some great stuff. This popular song on the surface sounds like a quickie knockoff, but with a few listenings becomes a prayer. An elegy to nature, to life itself. The nuanced pause in mid song adds an almost meditative sigh of musical notage.
21 Cat Stevens
Father And Son
We lost the Cat Man to a religious conversion to Islam, but before that happened he graced us with a few classics. This small song is almost perfect in its elegance and structure. Simple, probably not more than 3 chords in the whole thing, it speaks volumes to anyone who was a kid or had a Dad. If I could I'd learn to play the guitar just to play this song alone. If I had to pare this list down to top 5 - this makes the cut.
That wraps it up for this week. Again, send your comments and I'll list them (if you want) on a post later. Again, this is desert island stuff so probably no more than a week left, maybe 2. Depends. Then we'll get back to Flashback Friday.
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