creedence clearwater revival

Playlist #97: Songs About Songs

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For years, I’ve wanted to gather enough songs to put together a playlist of songs about writing/creating/singing songs. And finally, here we are.

  1. Wilco, “Someone Else’s Song”: Sometimes we sing covers. Sometimes our own songs. Who knows.
  2. Elton John, “Your Song”: “But the sun’s been quite nice while I wrote this song” is just a nice sentiment and one that I, at least, could do with more of.
  3. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Wrote A Song For Everyone”: The song this whole list was built around! I have long loved this particular song and I especially appreciate the sentiment of it.
  4. Ben Folds, “One Down”: He was apparently once a professional songwriter, and they expected you to write 3.6 songs per week.
  5. Jason Isbell, “Songs That she Sang In The Shower”: Don’t we all sing in the shower? Aren’t the acoustics in there great?
  6. John Fullbright, “Write A Song”: It’s good advice. You should write a song. All of you. Like, right now.
  7. Dan Auerbach, “Waiting On A Song”: Sometimes songs just sorta come to you, fully formed and ready to go. Other times, you have to sit around and wait for them to arrive. And damn, do they take their sweet time.
  8. Jackson Browne, “Sing My Songs To Me”: Is it possibly the greatest display of ego to want to hear other people sing your own songs? Maybe, but I also have to imagine it’s the greatest honor you can receive as a songwriter: hearing someone else give their interpretation of your words and music.
  9. Paul McCartney, “The Song We Were Singing”: “And it always came back to the song we were singing/At any particular time,” is just one of the best lines you could ever hope to write. It’s so simple, but so evocative.
  10. Panic! At The Disco, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”: Do I know much of anything about PATD? No. No, I do not. Do I care when the song title fits into the playlist theme this well? Again, no. No, I do not.

Playlist #90

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Happy Monday, folks! As per usual, here’s a new playlist for your listening pleasure.

  1. Harry Styles, “Two Ghosts”: I think I might actually like Harry Styles? Is there a doctor I should see about this?
  2. Spoon, “I Can’t Give Everything Away”: The elusive piano-led Spoon song. It’s more downbeat than a lot of their stuff, but I like it.
  3. Jay Farrar, “Feel Free”: I’ve probably mentioned this before, but for the longest time I thought NPR stood for “Non-Profit Radio.” It does not.
  4. Louis Armstrong, “Mack The Knife”: As I said on Twitter the other day, there is no more baller moment in music than when Louis tosses it to himself for the trumpet solo at the end.
  5. Better Than Ezra, “At The Stars”: Always kinda feel like Better Than Ezra should’ve been bigger than they were, even though they’re really just a solid alternative band.
  6. Calexico, “Cumbia De Donde”: I really dig the way this band combines traditional Hispanic music with indie rock. It works really well.
  7. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Someday Never Comes”: Literally the only good song on Mardi Gras. But damn, what a song.
  8. Supertramp, “Goodbye Stranger”: Sorry, lady, I can’t be tied down. Gotta move on to the next chick. Real classy, guys.
  9. Santana, “The Game Of Love (Featuring Michelle Branch)”: Fun fact: the name “Branch” in Portuguese is “Branco,” so my wife’s name came up a lot in the Portuguese music press when this song came out. Strange but true.
  10. The Offspring, “The Kids Aren’t Alright”: 90s kids remember when these dudes were all the rage. I think the lead singer has a PhD? It’s weird.

Playlist #84: Covers!

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Happy Monday! It’s December now, somehow, and as usual I have a new playlist for you. But this one is all cover songs!

  1. The National, “Ashamed Of The Story I Told”: They don’t even really change all that much about the song, except the drum pattern is completely different and it somehow manages to totally change the feel and nature of the song.
  2. Johnny Cash, “Hurt”: It’s downbeat, somber, and a little harrowing. It’s also one of those covers that I would argue is better than the original.
  3. Old 97s, “Mama Tried”: The original Merle Haggard version is damn good (as are most Merle Haggard songs), but this one has the slightest edge on it, I think.
  4. The Byrds, “My Back Pages”: The Byrds could have easily just been a Bob Dylan cover band and I’d have been happy with that. They manage to transform every single Dylan tune they cover into a jangly, poppy slice of ’60s joy.
  5. Pomplamoose, “Maneater”: Watch out, boys, she’ll break your heart, huh? I’m more concerned with being eaten, personally.
  6. Spoon, “Held”: I just love the grit and thump of this song. So good.
  7. The Dirty Knobs, “Rumble”: Mike Campbell (formerly of the Heartbreakers) and some buddies got together to form this band, and they covered Link Wray’s ode to distortion and fuzz here. I love everything about the story of how this song got created, from Wray punching holes in his amplifier’s speaker with a pencil to radio stations refusing to play it because they thought it might incite juvenile delinquency.
  8. Jesse Malin, “You Can Make Them Like You”: Malin has been using this Hold Steady track as his closer for years, usually just him and an acoustic guitar. It’s pretty great.
  9. Tom Waits, “The Return of Jackie And Judy”: The Ramones were pretty ballsy. Case in point: they reference the two main characters in this song going to a Ramones show in the song. The chutzpah.
  10. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “I Put A Spell On You”: Fogerty and Co. had a good ear for an excellent cover song, and this rendition of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic is no exception.

Playlist #64

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Another week, another playlist! Don’t forget to support me making music over on Patreon. I’m posting a mix of one of my songs done by my brother next Monday, so be sure to check it out!

  1. Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, “Mysterious Power”: This guy does a lot of the music for a tv show called Sex Education on Netflix. It’s a funny show, you should check it out. And the music is pretty solid, too.
  2. Jesse Malin, “Crawling Back To You”: Saw this song on a Jesse Malin album I downloaded over the weekend. “Oh, it has the same name as that Tom Petty song,” I thought to myself. Folks, it is that Tom Petty song, and it’s a pretty good cover of it.
  3. The Beatles, “You Really Got A Hold On Me”: You can’t go wrong with the Beatles covering a doo-wop number. You just can’t.
  4. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop The Rain”: There’s just something about CCR songs that always get me in a good mood.
  5. Tom Waits, “The Earth Died Screaming”: The Wife wants me to put together a playlist of weird songs. I told her it’d just be a Tom Waits playlist, then.
  6. The Gaslight Anthem, “Biloxi Parish”: I think The Gaslight Anthem may be one of my top five bands of the past fifteen or so years.
  7. Fleetwood Mac, “Rhiannon”: Just how common is the name Rhiannon, anyway? I can’t imagine there are too many of them wandering around.
  8. Jack Johnson, “Banana Pancakes”: I hate bananas.
  9. Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, “This Must Be The Place”: Features the line, “Sing into my mouth,” which is probably the grossest thing I’ve ever heard Sam Beam sing.
  10. Neil Young, “Down By The River”: Neil Young gives me hope that even my crappy guitar solos aren’t so bad. “Solo? You mean play the same note 32 times in a row, right?”

Playlist #49

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Whoops, it’s Thursday and I totally forgot to post this week’s playlist. My bad. In my defense, it’s been Spring Break all week, and I’ve been trying my damnedest to relax the whole time. Don’t forget to give me a follow on Patreon!

  1. Bon Iver, “Blood Bank”: I remember, many years ago, sitting down in my classroom with a coworker to record him doing a selection of songs. This was one of them, and it’s been one of my favorite Bon Iver songs since even before then.
  2. Cake, “Comfort Eagle”: “He is now accepting callers for these pendant keychains.”
  3. Camper Van Beethoven, “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”: Back at Accotink, I occasionally taught a Humanities class. We spent a quarter on art, a quarter on poetry, a quarter on theater, and the final quarter on the history of popular music. I’d put together short playlists for each genre of music we covered, and then I had the kids research a genre of their choice and put together a playlist for it. One of my coworkers put together a playlist that I can’t recall the genre for, and this song was on it.
  4. The Clash, “Train In Vain (Stand By Me)”: I do dig the album London Calling, and this is one of the best songs on their best album.
  5. Traveling Wilburys, “Heading For The Light”: I used to play this song on the guitar all the time. I should relearn the chords for it.
  6. Laurie & John Stirratt, “Juniper”: Someday, I’ll put together that list of songs by bands related to Wilco. These two will appear on that list, since John Stirratt is the bass player for Wilco (and one of the musicians in The Autumn Defense).
  7. Tom Waits, “Cold, Cold Ground”: “Lay down together in the cold, cold ground.” Beautiful and weird, Tom.
  8. Mark Knopfler, “The Trawlerman’s Song”: A song about a fisherman who has to keep going out and fishing because he owes money on his boat? Classic Knopfler.
  9. Counting Crows, “Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes To Hollywood)”: One of my favorite songs off of Hard Candy, which is otherwise a pretty great album as well.
  10. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop The Rain”: Still just one of the best CCR songs out there, which is saying a lot.

Playlist #44: Back in the Saddle

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Happy Monday! I’m actually back to work today, after a month away taking care of the Wife. She’s improving every day, slowly but surely, and she’s well enough I’m comfortable leaving her home alone while I come toil away in education mines. A reminder that, if you want to support me making my own music, I’ve got that Patreon you can contribute to! I actually drop February’s song today!

  1. Genesis, “Turn It On Again”: I recently downloaded the album this song came from, Duke, and while this is definitely my favorite song off the whole record, the rest of the songs ain’t too shabby, either.
  2. Steve Winwood, “Back In The High Life Again”: “All the doors I closed one time/Will open up again.” Yes, they will.
  3. Aerosmith, “Back In The Saddle”: A bit of my anthem this morning.
  4. Andrew Bird, “Orpheo Looks Back”: Every playlist could benefit from some Andrew Bird, and I love this song.
  5. Bob Dylan, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'”: “Beyond here lies nothin’/But the mountains of the past.” Maybe not Dylan’s most profound work ever, but I still dig the rhythm of this song and the guitar work.
  6. Gorillaz, “DARE”: I could dance this morning, I think.
  7. Glen Phillips, “Duck And Cover”: A more stripped-down version of a song that appeared on his Winter Pays For Summer album off of Tornillo.
  8. The Gaslight Anthem, “Stay Lucky”: Someday, I’ll put together a playlist of songs that I love to play on the guitar. This song will also appear on that list.
  9. Frank Turner, “The Way I Tend To Be”: I love this song for the mandolin mostly.
  10. CCR, “Midnight Special”: Another that I love to play on the guitar and howl along to at the top of my lungs, as one does with CCR songs.

Halloween Playlist

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Are you like me, and find yourself wanting to enjoy Halloween but struggling because of a dearth of decent songs associated with the holiday?  I mean, in terms of inspiring music, it’s not Christmas, that’s for sure.  I just find that I can’t stand listening to the Monster Mash and the Addams Family theme and the Munsters theme again and again on repeat this year.  I need some actual, non-novelty music.

And we’re in luck!  There are actually plenty of real, pretty awesome songs that have a stealth-Halloween theme to them.  Here’s a selection of some of my favorites.

1. The Eagles, “Witchy Woman”: Sure, it’s easy to rag on the Eagles as being the dad-est of Dad Rock, but they did some fun songs.  This one carries the witch metaphor throughout pretty strongly, and fits right in with our “real song but Halloween-y” theme.

2. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “I Put a Spell on You”: Yeah, I know, the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins version is probably better, and certainly more Halloween-y, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to include a CCR song on a playlist.

3. The Beatles, “Devil in Her Heart”: Not even a little bit of the right tone, barely even mentions anything Halloween-related (the titular devil in her heart, which is more metaphorical than actual), but it’s the Beatles, and it’s my playlist, so nyah.

4. Warren Zevon, “Werewolves of London”: There was a 0% chance I wasn’t going to include this.  An obvious but classic choice.

5. Tom Petty, “Zombie Zoo”: “Sometimes you’re so impulsive/You shaved off all your hair/You look like Boris Karloff/But you don’t even care” is probably the best line in any song ever, and I will fight you if you say otherwise.

6. Josh Ritter, “The Curse”: A love song about a mummy told as sincerely as this is proof this world is sometimes better than we deserve.

7. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “Red Right Hand”: Honestly, you could just put a Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album on for Halloween it’d be fine.  If I have to go with one song, though, this is the one.  The Pete Yorn version from the first Hellboy movie isn’t half-bad, either.

8. Jeremy Messersmith, “Ghost”: A haunting beautiful (get it?) song about disappearing out of someone’s life.

9. The Flaming Lips, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part 1”: War of the Worlds, if it was fought between a Japanese pop singer who knows karate and giant pink robots that want to eat people.

10. The White Stripes, “Walking with a Ghost”: I don’t have a whole lot to say about this one.  I just wanted another song about ghosts on here.

Happy Halloween, everyone!