Variations on a Meme
So when everyone ever does this kind of meme, it’s always asking what albums one could not live without. Being the meticulous and can’t-see-the-forest-for-the-trees kind of person that I am, I’ve decided to grace you all with my list of the Top 10 Songs I Really, Really Like. I don’t say “can’t live without” because I’m pretty sure I could live without them. My heart and lungs don’t run on music.
In no particular order…
1. “Rise” – Eddie Vedder I blame this one on the Deadliest Catch commercials. I could listen to this tune a couple times a day, every day and still not get tired of it. Thing is, I don’t like Pearl Jam. I really don’t. And it is pretty much because of Eddie Vedder’s voice. So why, you ask, do I like this song so much? I don’t know. It’s mournful, it’s hopeful, it’s evocative. And it has a mandolin.
2. “Samson” – Regina Spektor I almost went with “The Call,” but I like this one better. I actually only just got into Regina Spektor, but better late than never, right? Like the previous song, it’s very evocative. She’s not the most technically adept of singers, but this kind of music doesn’t require it. And it is perhaps better that she isn’t as I find that many technically-oriented singers lack emotion, which is something that she definitely does not lack. I also am a fan of simple piano music and, let’s face it, that’s exactly what this is (which is interesting, given her classical background). A rather simple collection of chords and a pretty, if not conventional, voice.
3. “Hope There’s Someone” – Antony and the Johnsons I love a lot of songs by Antony and the Johnsons (“For Today I Am A Buoy,” “My Lady Story,” and “Bird Gurhl” are some of them), but this one is my favorite of the lot. Antony’s voice is really interesting. Sometimes he sounds like he’s taken a hit of helium before recording a track. It’s a pretty depressing song, but I seem to like songs like that. There is a kind of weird hope behind it, although that perhaps makes it even more depressing. Though that could just be me. I don’t often find hope to be a very useful emotion (or outlook, however you want to put it).
4. “When You Were Young” – The Killers I actually did not like this record (Sam’s Town) when it came out. I was a big fan of Hot Fuss and this had a bit of a different sound. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t bail out on bands when they change directions, I just wasn’t sure about it to begin with. Once it grew on me though, this song stuck out as the best on the album – though “Uncle Jonny” and “This River is Wild” come in close behind it. And it may be just because of this string of lyrics: “He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young.” Your guess is as good as mine why I like that so much. The melody isn’t particularly catchy, it’s doesn’t really have a hook, the rhythm is pretty standard for this genre. So with all that taken into account, I’ve decided that it has to be the lyrics that make this song for me.
5. “Sodom, South Georgia” – Iron & Wine The songs that I like most are ones that put me in a particular time and place. This is one of those songs. It calls to mind the most vivid of memories. I lived in England for four months about three years ago and once when I was walking back home from town, this song came on just as I was passing the cemetery. I can see the leaves on the ground (it was in October), and even remember every house across the street. It isn’t a particularly exciting memory, but there all the same. It’s also Iron & Wine, so, really, how can you not like it?
6. “O Come O Come Emmanuel” – Atlanta Symphony Orchestra OK, yes, I know this is a weird one. Usually I don’t put holiday tunes on all-encompassing lists like this because, while I love every Christmas song on the planet (excepting “Mele Kalikamaka,” I’m really sorry, Bing), they usually aren’t songs that I will listen to all year round and hold up against everything else I listen to. This one, however, is the exception. I went to the ASO Christmas Concert last year and, if I remember correctly, this is the first song they played. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but when the full chorus finally kicks in, well, there really isn’t any way to describe it. This is the kind of song that you have to listen to on your headphones, full blast, eyes closed. If it doesn’t give you chills, I seriously question your taste in music.
7. “How Can I Tell You” – Cat Power Alright, here’s the thing. I know she never recorded a full version of this song, but if she had, I can tell you that it would be my favorite. You may remember it from one of the “Diamond is Forever” Christmas commercials that started airing a couple of years ago. As soon as it came out, Marshall’s record company was swamped with requests for the full song. It came out that she had only recorded the thirty seconds you hear in the commercial and that she had no plans to record the full song. Which is displeasing. At any rate, Chan has this uncanny ability to take someone else’s song and make it sound like it was hers all along. Her cover album (creatively titled The Covers Record) is filled with amazing covers and yet everything has a common style to them, they sound like Cat Power songs; not Velvet Underground or Bob Dylan or Rolling Stones. And this is another one. Though it doesn’t deviate much from Cat Stevens’ original composition, she brings a different mood to it that I never got out of his version. It’s solid stuff. And Chan, if you’re out there, please record the full song!
8. “Rock’n’Roll Suicide” – David Bowie This is Bowie’s best song. Hands down. I will hear nothing against it. I’ve heard a couple of people do good covers of this tune (Jenny Lewis and Seu Jorge, among them), but no one even approaches the ballpark of Bowie’s recording. It builds so perfectly and Bowie’s distinctive voice is the icing on the cake. It’s really the last half of the song that makes it so good. I just love it. To me, it’s a perfect song and one that I think would make an awesome ending to a movie. I haven’t a clue why, but it’s always struck me as a great closer.
9. “Transatlanticism” – Death Cab For Cutie Is it possible for me to pick a more depressing song? I mean, Ben Gibbard spends about four minutes repeating the phrase, “I need you so much closer.” I like pretty much all of Death Cab For Cutie’s discography, and I almost went with “What Sarah Said” (and as an album, I prefer Plans), but there’s something about this tune that makes me want to listen to it again and again. Hell, I do that even with Vitamin String Quartet’s cover of it. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes, a lot of people find it repetitive to the point of being annoying, but I find that the repetition underscores the sort of desperate longing you hear in the song.
10. “Delilah” – The Dresden Dolls Just like pretty much all of the other songs on here, I had a hard time nailing down which Dresden Dolls song stands out from all the rest. This is another one of those songs that builds really well – actually, I find that most songs I like have slow builds and big ends. As an album, Yes, Virginia shows a grasp of musical composition, and technique for that matter, that is miles ahead of their self-titled debut. Amanda’s voice and playing is where you see the biggest improvement (and even more so on her subsequent solo work), but you still get the cheeky, cabaret-style lyrics that drew me in to begin with. I singled out this song, in particular, because it is another one of those songs that I can listen to over and over again, as well as being one of the best examples of the Dolls’ improved writing and playing.
10+1 Bonus. “That Day Is Done” – The Fairfield Four & Elvis Costello
So I lied when I said it was ten songs. This had to be included. I just cannot get enough of this song. All it needs to have, really, is Elvis Costello’s voice, but this shows his voice as it is now at its best. It’s rough, it’s doesn’t always hold the tune perfectly, and I love it. And then you’ve got the Fairfield Four backing him up and it just makes for an amazing song.
Well, there you have it, my top ten favorite songs. Plus one. For the moment. This list changes a lot. And I do, of course, have a couple of honorable mentions: “Blue Orchid” by The White Stripes, “Days Like This” by Van Morrison, “Hello Sunshine” by Super Furry Animals, “Judas Sings (Jesus and Me)” by Robyn Hitchcock, “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel, everything Elvis Costello has ever recorded (I know that anyone who knows me is stunned that he sort of didn’t make it on the list, but I simply cannot narrow it down!), “Hallelujah” as covered by Rufus Wainwright, “In Noctem” by Nicholas Hooper (composed by, more like), most of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s catalog, and “Combinations” by Eisley. Oh yes, and the entire North & South soundtrack, which was composed by Martin Phipps. Oh, oh, and Amanda Palmer’s ukulele cover of “Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead. Oh, oh, oh, and a whole bunch of stuff by Soap&Skin. And Massive Attack. Of course, all of that doesn’t even touch the classical music I listen to.
OK, so I could have made a top twenty list and still not hit everything. Some were left out simply because I forgot about them (when you have almost 5,000 songs on your iPod, come talk to me about forgetting that you simply cannot live without this or that song) or because they don’t make my cut at this moment in time. If I do this list in a month, it’ll be totally different.
