sinead o'connor

Playlist #203: The Wearin’ o’ the Green

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Wear some green, run some snakes outta your island, and listen to this Irish-themed playlist all while doing so!

  1. Van Morrison, “(Straight To Your Heart) Like a Cannonball”: Is there any more Irish singer than Van? The guy oozes Irishness. Or maybe just surliness. He’s a pretty surly dude.
  2. U2, “Hawkmoon 269”: This song is always fun to sing and play on the guitar. I also apparently made up a whole outro thing that the backing vocalists are in no way actually singing in the song, but that fits with the song and that I love and that I may have to actually end up putting in a song of my own someday.
  3. Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: Yes, it’s cliche and the obvious choice, but it’s the obvious choice for a reason: it’s a damn good song.
  4. The Cranberries, “Zombie”: Again, an obvious choice, but it was this or “Linger,” and I prefer this song.
  5. Hozier, “Take Me To Church”: Okay, yeah, I know, take me task for going the easy route on so many of these. But there are songs that we like to think of as standards, and they are the standard for a reason: their approach to the song or to the concept is so perfect that it’s hard to imagine topping it, and those songs become rather iconic.
  6. Christy Moore, “Beeswing”: A Richard Thompson cover. I do love me Richard Thompson covers and wish there were more of them out there. Christy Moore is also apparently one of the most beloved singers in all of Ireland? I dunno, but I dig him.
  7. Thin Lizzy, “The Boys Are Back in Town”: I wasn’t really aware these guys were Irish, but they do kick a considerable amount of ass for a ’70s rock band.
  8. The Dubliners, “Raglan Road”: We ate at an Irish restaurant in Disney Village this summer called Raglan Road. That’s how famous this song (and, I guess, the actual road) are. It’s a beautiful song, to be sure.
  9. The Chieftains, “The Long Black Veil”: I’m more familiar with the Johnny Cash version of this song, but this version (with Mick Jagger providing vocals) is suitably gloomy and dark.
  10. Dropkick Murphys, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”: Is it Irish? About as much so as the green river in Chicago. Does it still feel Irish? Hell, yes.

Playlist #92: Lilith Fair

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Happy Monday morning, folks. This week’s playlist is dedicated to bands and musicians who played the old Lilith Fair tour back in the late 90s. Get ready for some strummy acoustics and some incisive social commentary!

  1. Patty Griffin, “Stolen Car”: A Bruce Springsteen cover, because why not? I love her take on this song. It’s beautiful.
  2. Sarah McLauchlan, “Adia”: Be grateful. I could’ve chosen that song that plays during the ASPCA commercials, and then you’d have all felt obligated to adopt puppies or something. But I am a benevolent god.
  3. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, “Stay (I Missed You)”: “So I/Turned the radio on, I turned the radio up/And a singer was singing my song.” You must listen to different stations than I do, Lisa Loeb. No radio station around here is ever playing my song. Hell, most of them aren’t playing songs I even know.
  4. Indigo Girls, “Closer To Fine”: Try not to sing along with this song. I dare you.
  5. Luscious Jackson, “Why Do I Lie?”: I don’t know, singer for the band Luscious Jackson. Why do you lie?
  6. Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”: Man, we should all be so lucky as to have our biggest single written by Prince.
  7. Melissa Ethridge, “Come To My Window”: Strummy acoustic for the win!
  8. Ani DiFranco, “Napoleon”: Angrily-played electric and the phrase “Everyone is a fucking Napoleon.” This song spoke to 19 year old Chuck in some way that bypassed the ears and hotwired my brain.
  9. Tori Amos, “Crucify”: Still the only Tori Amos song I know.
  10. PJ Harvey, “Good Fortune”: Is there a better PJ Harvey album than Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea? Seriously, I ask because I want to hear it if there is, because this album is amazing and I want more of it.