Well, there have been no new answers for about a week, so for the edification of my readers:
3. This Charming Man - The Smiths
5. A Scale, A Mirror, and Those Indifferent Clocks - Bright Eyes [honestly, congratulations to everybody for not knowing this song]
7. Wandering Star - Portishead
9. The Background - Third Eye Blind [where was J-Verb on this one?!]
10. You Are The Everything - REM [readers will recognize this as one of the top 5 most underrated REM songs]
12. China Girl - David Bowie
14. Wet Sand - Red Hot Chili Peppers
19. Passing Afternoon - Iron & Wine
20. Sing for Absolution - Muse [as trendy as Muse is these days, I'm surprised this one went unanswered. I know at least six people that own this album.]
24. Anyone Can Play Guitar - Radiohead
25. She's Lost Control - Joy Division
26. Veronica - Elvis Costello
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
Note: A few people have reported being unable to post comments on this entry, and have sent their answers to me via email. (This especially seems to happen to people who sign their comments via AIM.) All comments are approved by me before they're published, but if it seems that a reasonable amount of time has passed and your comment isn't appearing, it's possible that it never got through the system to me. Feel free to use email as a solution to this problem.
Since the last lyrics game generated some attention, but not until it was already over, we're gonna try it again. First lines from 25 random songs (selected by my iTunes library on shuffle), eliminated when someone guesses correctly, with credit to that person. That's how they do it on Facebook. The title of this post will be a line from song #26.
1. now I don't hardly know her, but I think I could love her (Crimson and Clover - Tommy James & The Shondells, credit to Dad)
2. so I look in your direction, but you pay me no attention do you? (Shiver - Coldplay, credit to JZ)
3. punctured bicycle, on a hillside desolate
4. you know that it would be untrue (Light My Fire - The Doors, credit to JZ)
5. here is a scale, weight it out and you'll find easily...
6. hot august night (Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show - Neil Diamond, credit to Dad)
7. please could you stay awhile to share my grief?
8. rows and flows of angel hair (Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell, credit to JZ)
9. everything is quiet since you're not around
10. sometimes I feel like I can't even sing
11. I think I've already lost you (If You're Gone - Matchbox 20, credit to JZ)
12. I could escape this feeling
13. hey you creeps, punks and freaks (Virus - KMFDM, credit to Sean)
14. my shadow's side so amplified
15. and I'd give up forever to touch you (Iris - Goo Goo Dolls, credit to Alex)
16. estuans interius ira vehementi, estuans interius ira vehementi, Sephiroth! (A One-Winged Angel - Nobuo Uematsu, credit to Sean)
17. love, I get so lost sometimes (In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel, credit to Kinks)
18. city dweller, successful fella (Country House - Blur, credit to PK)
19. there are times that walk from you
20. lips are turning blue
21. all those bugs buzzing around your head (Buggin' - The Flaming Lips, credit to Alex)
22. I don't drink coffee, I take tea my dear (Englishman in New York - Sting, credit to Don)
23. we move like cagey tigers (The Lovecats - The Cure, credit to Sean)
24. destiny, destiny protect me from the world
25. confusion in her eyes that says it all
Obviously instrumentals and songs in languages other than the one this blog is written in (except for 16, which I couldn't resist) were skipped. I also skipped any song by an artist that had already been represented, or any song that was used in the previous game. As chance would have it, some of these are pretty damn obvious, so don't cheat.
Since the last lyrics game generated some attention, but not until it was already over, we're gonna try it again. First lines from 25 random songs (selected by my iTunes library on shuffle), eliminated when someone guesses correctly, with credit to that person. That's how they do it on Facebook. The title of this post will be a line from song #26.
1. now I don't hardly know her, but I think I could love her (Crimson and Clover - Tommy James & The Shondells, credit to Dad)
2. so I look in your direction, but you pay me no attention do you? (Shiver - Coldplay, credit to JZ)
3. punctured bicycle, on a hillside desolate
4. you know that it would be untrue (Light My Fire - The Doors, credit to JZ)
5. here is a scale, weight it out and you'll find easily...
6. hot august night (Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show - Neil Diamond, credit to Dad)
7. please could you stay awhile to share my grief?
8. rows and flows of angel hair (Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell, credit to JZ)
9. everything is quiet since you're not around
10. sometimes I feel like I can't even sing
11. I think I've already lost you (If You're Gone - Matchbox 20, credit to JZ)
12. I could escape this feeling
13. hey you creeps, punks and freaks (Virus - KMFDM, credit to Sean)
14. my shadow's side so amplified
15. and I'd give up forever to touch you (Iris - Goo Goo Dolls, credit to Alex)
16. estuans interius ira vehementi, estuans interius ira vehementi, Sephiroth! (A One-Winged Angel - Nobuo Uematsu, credit to Sean)
17. love, I get so lost sometimes (In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel, credit to Kinks)
18. city dweller, successful fella (Country House - Blur, credit to PK)
19. there are times that walk from you
20. lips are turning blue
21. all those bugs buzzing around your head (Buggin' - The Flaming Lips, credit to Alex)
22. I don't drink coffee, I take tea my dear (Englishman in New York - Sting, credit to Don)
23. we move like cagey tigers (The Lovecats - The Cure, credit to Sean)
24. destiny, destiny protect me from the world
25. confusion in her eyes that says it all
Obviously instrumentals and songs in languages other than the one this blog is written in (except for 16, which I couldn't resist) were skipped. I also skipped any song by an artist that had already been represented, or any song that was used in the previous game. As chance would have it, some of these are pretty damn obvious, so don't cheat.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
all their wars are merry
Top 5 Irish Songs (traditional):
5. The Wild Rover
Like most of the songs on this list, The Wild Rover stimulates the listener's sense of irony first and foremost. It's a popular pub song about a penitent guy who swears he's given up drinking and rambling, and then proceeds to carry on incoherently about all the good times he used to have in bars. As you will surmise, his sincerity is questionable.
only in jest
4. Finnegan's Wake
Again with the irony, which is at its most subtle (which isn't saying much) in the fact that Finnegan isn't even dead at the end, and at its most direct in the chorus line "lots of fun at Finnegan's Wake." Adapted by artists ranging from James Joyce to Dropkick Murphys for any number of diverse yet uniformly foul purposes, the song's continuing popularity is self evident.
a row and a ruction soon began
3. Whiskey You're The Devil
A song that combines two important traditions of Irish music, the ode to the drink, and the military march. Whiskey You're The Devil is known for its sing along chorus (I saw a play once that required it of the audience) that begins with the titular declaration, but ends "whiskey, you're me darling, drunk or sober," and is considered appropriate for the entire family in nearly any social situation.
sweeter, stronger, decenter
2. Eleanor Plunkett
A hauntingly beautiful harp-based tune by Ireland's revered composer Turlough O'Carolan, this song epitomizes, to me, the softer, more elegant side of Irish traditional music. Though sometimes more known for the drinking songs and comedic ditties, the true adherents of this music are often more interested in its more thoughtful, poetic traditions; its songs of mourning, and of longing.
1. The Irish Rover
And on that note I return to the raucous, and to the ironic: an upbeat and catchy tune about a glorious ship that sinks, killing everyone aboard (save the narrator). Despite that, it's an incredibly fun song, and one that has been appreciated by numerous modern bands.
fighting Bill Tracy from Dover
Part II: Top 5 Irish Songs (modern):
5. Theme from Harry's Game - Clannad
Mystical, ethereal, ponderous, yet also carrying very grounded political motivations. This is the essential Clannad track, and holds many of the virtues that have become popular in modern Irish music in general.
4. The Fields of Athenry - Pete St. John
A tale of crime and punishment with strong political undertones (listen, it's all politics from here on out), told with incredibly clear images and potent emotions. Despite its broad appeal and iconic status, this is an intimate song, a lament between lovers. It is this balance that makes the song a classic.
we had dreams and songs to sing
3. Dirty Old Town - Ewan MacColl
A charming song of earnest reminiscence, with lyrics that are part nostalgia, part rebellion and part imagist poetry. Though it has become ingrained in Irish culture, and associated with Irish music, I should confess that is not actually an Irish song, as its author is of Scottish decent, and it refers to a town in England. This should be the only one like that that slipped in; I was tempted to use Fairytale of New York (see my earlier entry on duets) again, but I figured that a song by a London based band about an American city would be going too far. Incidentally, that song's female vocalist Kirsty MacColl is the daughter of this song's author.
a big sharp axe
2. The Town I Loved So Well - Phil Coulter
Another bittersweet mixture of nostalgia and political outrage, Coulter places his good memories side by side with the bad, creating a movingly real experience for the listener. Rich detail, plainspoken and forthright emotion and palpable anger make this an epic of modern Irish music.
what's lost is lost and gone forever
1. Danny Boy - Fred Weatherly
Again, not actually written by an Irishman, but a song so pervasively associated with Irish identity that its assent to this space on the list is very nearly obligatory. It also helps that I like it a lot...
though soft you tread
By the way, does anybody else have an irrational hatred of Freezepop? I heard an interview with them on NPR the other day and was interested for the first few minutes, because quite frankly I hate so many bands that I had honestly forgotten that this was one of them, until those two brats started talking. I say it's an irrational hatred because it really has very little to do with their music per se, but I guess something about imitating artists I love and then intentionally marketing your music to people who have never heard of the real thing just ticks me off.
5. The Wild Rover
Like most of the songs on this list, The Wild Rover stimulates the listener's sense of irony first and foremost. It's a popular pub song about a penitent guy who swears he's given up drinking and rambling, and then proceeds to carry on incoherently about all the good times he used to have in bars. As you will surmise, his sincerity is questionable.
only in jest
4. Finnegan's Wake
Again with the irony, which is at its most subtle (which isn't saying much) in the fact that Finnegan isn't even dead at the end, and at its most direct in the chorus line "lots of fun at Finnegan's Wake." Adapted by artists ranging from James Joyce to Dropkick Murphys for any number of diverse yet uniformly foul purposes, the song's continuing popularity is self evident.
a row and a ruction soon began
3. Whiskey You're The Devil
A song that combines two important traditions of Irish music, the ode to the drink, and the military march. Whiskey You're The Devil is known for its sing along chorus (I saw a play once that required it of the audience) that begins with the titular declaration, but ends "whiskey, you're me darling, drunk or sober," and is considered appropriate for the entire family in nearly any social situation.
sweeter, stronger, decenter
2. Eleanor Plunkett
A hauntingly beautiful harp-based tune by Ireland's revered composer Turlough O'Carolan, this song epitomizes, to me, the softer, more elegant side of Irish traditional music. Though sometimes more known for the drinking songs and comedic ditties, the true adherents of this music are often more interested in its more thoughtful, poetic traditions; its songs of mourning, and of longing.
1. The Irish Rover
And on that note I return to the raucous, and to the ironic: an upbeat and catchy tune about a glorious ship that sinks, killing everyone aboard (save the narrator). Despite that, it's an incredibly fun song, and one that has been appreciated by numerous modern bands.
fighting Bill Tracy from Dover
Part II: Top 5 Irish Songs (modern):
5. Theme from Harry's Game - Clannad
Mystical, ethereal, ponderous, yet also carrying very grounded political motivations. This is the essential Clannad track, and holds many of the virtues that have become popular in modern Irish music in general.
4. The Fields of Athenry - Pete St. John
A tale of crime and punishment with strong political undertones (listen, it's all politics from here on out), told with incredibly clear images and potent emotions. Despite its broad appeal and iconic status, this is an intimate song, a lament between lovers. It is this balance that makes the song a classic.
we had dreams and songs to sing
3. Dirty Old Town - Ewan MacColl
A charming song of earnest reminiscence, with lyrics that are part nostalgia, part rebellion and part imagist poetry. Though it has become ingrained in Irish culture, and associated with Irish music, I should confess that is not actually an Irish song, as its author is of Scottish decent, and it refers to a town in England. This should be the only one like that that slipped in; I was tempted to use Fairytale of New York (see my earlier entry on duets) again, but I figured that a song by a London based band about an American city would be going too far. Incidentally, that song's female vocalist Kirsty MacColl is the daughter of this song's author.
a big sharp axe
2. The Town I Loved So Well - Phil Coulter
Another bittersweet mixture of nostalgia and political outrage, Coulter places his good memories side by side with the bad, creating a movingly real experience for the listener. Rich detail, plainspoken and forthright emotion and palpable anger make this an epic of modern Irish music.
what's lost is lost and gone forever
1. Danny Boy - Fred Weatherly
Again, not actually written by an Irishman, but a song so pervasively associated with Irish identity that its assent to this space on the list is very nearly obligatory. It also helps that I like it a lot...
though soft you tread
By the way, does anybody else have an irrational hatred of Freezepop? I heard an interview with them on NPR the other day and was interested for the first few minutes, because quite frankly I hate so many bands that I had honestly forgotten that this was one of them, until those two brats started talking. I say it's an irrational hatred because it really has very little to do with their music per se, but I guess something about imitating artists I love and then intentionally marketing your music to people who have never heard of the real thing just ticks me off.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
outside my window, the world has gone to war
out of sorrow, entire worlds have been built
out of longing, great wonders have been willed
In spite of their outward appearance of dereliction, new posts are in the works for both this and the other blog. Seriously.
out of longing, great wonders have been willed
In spite of their outward appearance of dereliction, new posts are in the works for both this and the other blog. Seriously.
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