the call

Playlist #173 – Back to School Edition!

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Happy Monday, folks! Once more, a new school year has rolled around, and once more I woke up having not won the lottery, so I’m back in the classroom for my twentieth year of teaching. Which is more than a little horrifying. How can I be old enough to have done anything for twenty years? Except make playlists, of course. I’ve been doing that since I was born, essentially.

  1. The Call, “Let the Day Begin”: As I said last year when I featured this song on my start of the year playlist, this song always played on the classic rock station we listened to in my hometown first thing in the morning, usually around the time I was on my way to school. So I kind of associate it with the school day staring.
  2. Matchbox 20, “Stop”: Are these guys the most middle-of-the-road pop rock from the last twenty-some years? I think they might be.
  3. John Bonamasa, “Driving Towards the Daylight”: I had certain preconceived notions about what a John Bonamasa song would sound like and who he was as an artist, and boy was I wrong. It’s pretty good stuff.
  4. Billy Idol, “Bitter Taste”: Speaking of songs from artists I didn’t expect, this latter-day Billy Idol song is actually pretty damn good.
  5. Post Malone, “Have the Heart (feat. Dolly Parton)”: I didn’t have “Post Malone releases an actual country album” on my 2024 bingo card, let alone a duet with Dolly Parton that features the classic country like “I didn’t have the heart to break yours,” but here we are.
  6. Rufus Wainwright, “Going to a Town”: Melancholy and downbeat, but a lovely and beautiful song.
  7. Bruce Springsteen, “Stolen Car”: Speaking of downbeat, this is probably the most subtle song Springsteen has ever recorded, and I’m including Nebraska in that tally. I’m sure it was totally by accident.
  8. Young Dubliners, “Last House on the Street”: A simple love song, but the best love songs are simple.
  9. Van Morrison, “Into the Mystic”: “It’s too late to stop now.”
  10. Bob Dylan, “Born in Time”: Every so often, latter-day Dylan pops up with an absolute gem that he, for reasons I can’t explain, he relegates to the Bootleg Series rather than releasing on an album proper. This is one of ’em.

Playlist #121: Back To School

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Happy Monday and welcome to the new school year, everyone! Today is the official first day of school here in Northern Virginia, and I’ve got a new playlist bursting with new school year vibes for ya.

  1. The Call, “Let The Day Start”: As I think I mentioned the first time I featured this song on a playlist, this song was played on KRXO (the classic rock station in OKC) every morning as I was going to school. I equate it with the beginning of the day and with the beginning of a school day in particular. And so here it is, to inaugurate my 19th year of teaching.
  2. OK Go, “Here It Goes Again”: As I just mentioned, this will be my 19th year teaching. It’s all pretty old hat at this point. For the first time in nearly two decades, I actually slept really well the night before the first day of school this year. I know! I’m surprised, too. Anyway, this song just reminds me that we’re on this merry-go-round again.
  3. The Mountain Goats, “The College Try”: No, I don’t teach college. But I’m also pretty sure he’s not singing about college spirit at a football game in this song, either.
  4. T. Rex, “20th Century Boy”: I just need this riff injected straight into my veins, man.
  5. Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero”: I aspire to be like Taylor Swift: not just part of the problem, but the whole problem.
  6. Tom Waits, “Get Behind The Mule”: Teaching is a lot like walking along behind a mule: there’s the smell, and occasionally you have to shovel some shit out of your path.
  7. Wreckless Eric, “Whole Wide World”: It’s garage rock at its finest and sloppiest, and I love it.
  8. The Raconteurs featuring Pete Townsend, “The Seeker”: If I had the chance to play a song with Pete Townsend, this one would probably be pretty high up on the list. And “Squeeze Box.”
  9. Sex Bob-Omb, “Threshold”: Did you see they’re doing a Scott Pilgrim animated series with the voice cast being the cast from the movie? I am super stoked.
  10. Adeem the Artist, “My America”: There’ve been a couple of country songs lately that espouse a very conservative, reactionary ethos that have rubbed me the wrong way. And I’ve thought about writing a response song to them. But Adeem the Artist beat me to the punch, penning this song that digs into the heart of what these newer songs that I don’t care for are trying to say: “The America I love seems to be disappearing and no one seems to care, and that makes me feel afraid.” Adeem is a self-described “cast iron pansexual,” so I don’t think they’re doing this as a “this is how I really feel about things” sort of song. That’s not the way they’ve described it, at any rate. But it does make me feel a little empathy for these white men who are so afraid and so angry that all they can do is lash out.

Playlist #17

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It’s back to school for good ol’ me! Here’s a list of ten songs to get you back into the learning mood. Here’s the playlist on Spotify, for those so inclined (I’ve added all of the playlists there so far, so feel free to go back and listen to ’em).

  1. The Call, “Let The Day Begin”: Back when I was in high school, we listened to 107.7 FM, KRXO, out of Oklahoma City. And the morning show always played this song. Every morning. It was a ritual. A call to action. And so it is now.
  2. Genesis, “Just A Job To Do”: Sure, this song isn’t about teaching. It’s about a hitman hunting down his next target. But isn’t that what teaching is, really? (No, it isn’t)
  3. The Good, The Bad, and the Queen, “History Song”: Look, there aren’t nearly as many songs about teaching and the subject of history out there as you’d think there are, but this one has history in the title, so…
  4. Pink Floyd, “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2”: Yeah, I was gonna do a playlist about returning to school and not include this song. “We don’t need no education!”
  5. Sting, “History Will Teach Us Nothing”: The old adage “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” comes to mind here.
  6. The Hollies, “Teach Your Children”: The Hollies covering the CS&N classic. I’m starting to think the Hollies were just a really well-liked cover band, for the most part.
  7. Paul Simon, “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard”: Has absolutely nothing to do with school other than the title. But I think Julio is up to no good and you should probably avoid him, Paul.
  8. John Legend, “History Has Its Eyes On You”: John Legend takes the Hamilton tune and turns it into a glorious Gospel number. I dig it.
  9. Chuck Berry, “School Days”: “Hail, hail, rock and roll!”
  10. The Mountain Goats, “Fall Of The Star High School Running Back”: If you were thinking, “Gee, I wonder if this Mountain Goats song will be about a star high school football player who suffers a career-ending injury and turns to selling drugs and then gets caught,” well, have I got news for you. And the news is you are 100% correct and it’s as awesome as you think.