"My Favorite Songs"
by Ron B.
2002.05.24
So I'm tired of hitting YeahDogg.com everyday and not finding much to read. Ted hasn't
written an episode of 'The Visitor' lately and John hasn't ranted in what seems like
forever. However, I feel that I'm partly to blame, for I don't often contribute to the
message board and have never written an article (I thought of posting a journal of
thoughts leading up to my wedding, but decided that those thoughts were too personal for
me to let go of). So I came up with this (actually, a friend here at I.U. said that he
and his friends tried it. So I stole the idea from him). This should generate some action.
What makes a song great? There are many reasons. It could be the way the
instruments come together, creating beautiful melodies. It could be an
innate connection with the lyrics. Or perhaps the reason isn't musical at
all. Songs can be like a vault, opening a flood of memories of times gone
by when heard. I can identify many times in my life, perhaps times I would
otherwise have forgotten, by hearing a song. Music is a powerful force,
and one that is not fully appreciated by all. To reach this appreciation,
I attempt to list my favorite 10 songs. This task is more challenging than
you think. We all have many favorite songs, they come and go often. But
I'm talking about the ones that have stood the test of time, not just
flavors of the week. The ones you can listen to over and over and not get
tired of them. Attempting to find those out can be a daunting task. Some
may have trouble narrowing the list, others may have difficulty finding
10. So here's what I come up with. I also present this challenge to you.
You may open some doors that were locked for a long while.
Note: These are in no particular order of significance
"Round Here" (live) - Counting Crows
This one is very powerful to me. It signifies the end of high
school. That wasn't a very good time for me. I thought it was the end of
me. I wasn't too keen on expanding my horizons. I actually thought the
world was leaving me behind. It seemed everyone was moving on to bigger
and better things, and I was not. Thankfully, I couldn't have been more
wrong. I never realized the joy college would bring me, especially once I
decided to stay on campus. I like the live version better than the studio
because of the emotion of Adam Duritz and the way he changes some of the
lyrics. And the first time I heard the song was on Saturday Night Live.
"Pictures of You" - The Cure
Another powerful ballad. You can't beat the longing of Robert
Smith. The song doesn't remind me of any particular point in my life, but
I can reflect back on many significant times when this song plays.
"One More Chance" (remix) - Notorious B.I.G.
In my opinion, the best rap song ever. Biggie's smooth flow over a
great beat. This one can't be found on
Ready to Die, but it was the
version for the video. The beat has renewed life in the form of Ashanti's
Foolish.
"Maybe Next Time" - Face to Face
This is off Ignorance is Bliss, a bit of a departure from the punk
formula that made Face to Face great. However, this CD is my favorite
offering from them. Quite frankly, if I died from a long illness, I would
want this song played at my funeral. The message is simple: I tried my
best, I failed, I'll try again another day.
"Woman in Chains" - Tears For Fears
Very melodic. Another great ballad. This one is more for the music
than the lyrics. This one was a close call with "Everybody Wants to
Rule the World," one of the top 5 songs from the 80s. But Woman in
Chains has the edge. I think it can be found on their greatest hits CD.
I'm not sure where it originally appeared.
"Better Man/Save It For Later" (live MSG 9/11/98) - Pearl Jam
The group you were all waiting for to show up on the list. It's
tough for me pick a favorite from the Pearl Jam catalogue. I like almost
everything they've ever done. But this performance sticks out. It's from
one of their best concerts ever (notice the date and location: pretty
weird). The story behind the concert is that a group of fans wanted to
hear "Breath," a song from the Singles Soundtrack that they
haven't played in years. So this group passed out signs to fans before
they entered the arena. And once the band came out for the encore,
thousands of signs were in the air requesting the song. They didn't play
it the first night they were in town, but unveiled it for the second.
However, the song that sticks out to me is Better Man. In this version,
they include a tag, like how they extend the ending to Daughter and go
into snippets of over songs. In this case, the tag is Save It For Later by
the English Beat (later covered by Harvy Danger for some soundtrack). They
include this tag in later concerts, but this one sticks out because they
do an entire verse. It was also the first time I heard this tag in Better
Man.
"Wishlist" - Pearl Jam
I better include this one, too. After all, it was the first song
that I danced to as a married man. There is also a story behind why we
chose this song as our wedding song. This is off of Yield, which came out
just before Valentine's Day in 1998. I heard it and liked the lyrics. So I
decided to write the lyrics inside the Valentine's card I gave to Missy.
However, I never told her where the lyrics were from, other than I didn't
write them. I had the CD playing that night on our way to dinner, but she
never made the connection. It turns out that six months later, when Pearl
Jam released it as a single, Missy was at home ironing and listening to
the radio when the song came on. She noticed a connection, and finally
found out the origin of my Valentine's Day poem. We were concerned that
this song may be too fast to dance to, but it turned out OK.
"Hidden Track" (Thank You?) - Good Charlotte
This one is found on the end of Good Charlotte's self titled CD.
It's an ode to the singer's parents. Very strong. I think about how much
my parents mean to me when I hear it. I should have danced with my Mom to
this song during the wedding.
"Cuyahoga" - R.E.M.
Another track from high school. The lyrics are about taking land
from the Indians, but I don't think of the song in those terms. The girl I
was dating turned me on to R.E.M. (and really influenced the type of music
that I still listen to) and this song reminds me of her and those days.
"Just Watch the Fireworks/For Me This is Heaven" - Jimmy Eat World
These are actually two separate songs, but they are back to back on
the CD and I think they fit together perfectly, so I'm counting them as
one. These are off Clarity, an earlier CD from Jimmy Eat World, before
they reached the masses on MTV. Like the rest of the songs on the list, I
think both of these are very powerful and emotional. Both are great songs
to contemplate your life and place in this world when you listen. Along
with the Good Charlotte track, these two are the newest additions to the
list (although the CD is from 1999).
Honorable Mentions:
"#41" - Dave Matthews Band
"June 92" - Catchpenny
"Regret" - New Order
"Here Right Here" - Sense Field
"Valentine" - The Get Up Kids
So there you have it: My favorite songs. Again, there are no right answers
to this exercise. These are not the best songs of all time. They are just
the ones that I like the most. Feel free to check out some of these and
tell me what you think. I also encourage you to write your own list and
post it. If anything, this topic should get the board going.
