We’ve all got a special song that we love, yeah? That song that always gets you right in the feels, or makes your feet tap, or that you would shout to the world if you could. Let’s share a song, then! One of my Facebook friends posted this, and it struck me as completely awesome: Give me one song that means a lot to you, and I’ll listen to it. It can be anything. It can be serious or corny or musically complex or dead simple. It can be uplifting or despairing or anything in between. It can be absolutely any genre at all. It doesn’t even have to be your favorite song of all time (like that’s so easy to pick!). Just a song that you love.
So here’s mine:
There you go. Now you know a song that I love, the first that springs to mind when someone asks me for just one song. What’s yours?
Poison in my Pocket, from the recent Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. It’s even better when you can actually see the singing and the skating and the sawing, but unfortunately the show seems to be new enough that video footage is hard to come by.
Ballad of Serenity from the movie of the same name and the TV series titled Firefly
It’s impossible to pick just one, but I think I’ll go with Gary Moore’s “Still Got the Blues.”
I’m breaking your rules, cause I can’t pick one. I have songs for nearly every occasion.
My victory song is the Gungam Style/2 Legit 2 Quit mashup. I play it when I’m totally winning at something.
My driving song is Big Bang’s “Bang, Bang, Bang.”
My favorite song to pretend to sing is Within Temptation’s “The Howling” (or anything female led symphonic metal)
And the song to pick me up when I’m kinda down is Shinee’s “Ayo”.
Iron Maiden – Blood Brothers. Hell, that album (Brave New World) is possibly the only example I can think with not even a single song I didn’t like.
Walk Away by Franz Ferdinand.
The film clip complements the song perfectly, with a distinctly film noir/Hitchcockian vibe.
This is my Kabuki song, to surprise any Japanese companions – Although knowing the words in Japanese is perhaps a sly distraction from my awful singing. Nakajima Miyuki on the other hand has a brilliant voice.
Chijou no hoshi means “Stars of the Earth”. (not her most famous song, which is “Jidai”, but that one is even harder to sing!)
Given to Fly here :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF8bGYks-bk
Pretty much tied with this fusion of Midnight Oil and the Warumpi band touring the outback and telling truths here :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5ZsCGjUz0
Plus one of U2’s less well known but I think one of their most powerful – Van Dieman’s Land :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS2vffK_niI
Among so, so many other songs.
I love the Eartha Kitt version of “Lilac Wine”
Recently, it’s Vienna Teng’s Level Up.
Superb video, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4n_8R5lKnw
The rest of the Aims album is pretty great, too. The Hymn of Acxiom is something special.
So many…
When I’m feeling a bit lost, I usually listen to this. It makes me feel, um. Loster.
And, I also really love this:
Epica…impressive. Not at all what I was expecting.
Pretty much anything by Tom Waits.
movablebooklady – oh, that’s awesome.
One of my key songs to play repeatedly when I’m depressed is Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control,” which really captures some of the most important feelings about depressive episodes for me. It’s actually about epilepsy, which is the other Bad Thing that happens in my skull, but because the woman in the song is depicted as being fully conscious and articulate about what’s happening to her — and STILL UNABLE TO STOP IT — it feels more like what I go through with depression.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PtvIr2oiaE&w=420&h=315%5D
Something recent that I am enthralled by is: Playing for Change – Three Little Birds
But my all time favorite song is Sam Cooke’s Good Times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo8j2ameTS0
But to make me get to tapping my foot Pogues – Planxty Noel Hill
Pogues song Planxty Noel Hill link missing
Best way to kick off a road trip: Who’s “Goin’ Mobile”.
Keep. Me. Movin’…
This just makes me very happy.
Marcus Ranum @ 11:
Wasn’t familiar with this one, but hard to go wrong with Fred Eaglesmith.
I think I would go with D’Arcy’s Donkey by Gaelic Storm as one that never fails to get my toes tapping. There are many pieces from various soundtracks/scores I really enjoy, not to mention songs from the music I grew up with or have even played, though.
Oh, thank you! She’s just generally great. It was a tossup with Nina Simone’s “Pirate Jenny.”
Probably post one of at least two. Giving you all the bookmarks and then some:
Alessia Cara – Here;
Kwabs – Perfect Ruin;
Ingrid Olava – Back to Love;
Drake – Can I ft. Beyonce;
Regina Spektor – Us;
Loreena McKennitt – The Old Ways (also love her Stolen Child and a shitload of other songs).
TBC
The Music – Fight the Feeling;
The Stars – From the Night (also way up there by the Stars – Up In Our Bedroom After the War and Happy Ending);
I Am Kloot – Avenue of Hope;
Lou Reed – Perfect Day;
The Burning Hell – It Happens in Florida (but I swear I originally heard it by a different artist and now I can’t find who);
Indygo and Ilvars Jansons – Versiju Vulkāns.
TBC
Haralds Sīmanis – Mans Ezers;
Nina Simone – Who Knows Where the Time Goes;
Grace Slick and Linda Perry – Knock Me Out;
Ani Difranco – Not a Pretty Girl (32 Flavours runs a close second);
Pērkons – Neatvadīsimies;
Aleksandra Špicberga; Imants Kalniņš, Broņislava Martuževa – Rakstu rakstus;
Turaidas Roze – Buramdziesmiņa…
… And basically anything by Coheed and Cambria. Plus all the stuff that I skipped.
Oh, forgot this one: Stromae – Formidable.
Here’s a few more:
The Postal Service – Nothing Better;
Birdy – The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (a cover);
Kimbra – Withdraw (her Settle Down is good, too!);
Walk Off the Earth – Somebody That I Used To Know (the best cover of the Gotye song);
Prince – Nothing Compares To You (though the version with Rosie Gaines is best, this was all I could find on The Toob);
The Tiger and Me – I Left the Wolves Behind That Night (they have several other good songs)…
I have often said I’d like to have “One More Chorus” written on my tombstone, because it expresses how I feel about life and music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk1tPwAtpxQ
The song that always gets me in the feels is “Hanalei” by my bandmate Pat Mitchell, because our bass player Ray and I sang harmony and it was just beautiful. Ray’s alcoholism finally got him a few years ago, and we won’t ever get to do that again.
I should give them another shot (unfortunately, their take on atheism and enlightenment values generally in The Divine Conspiracy really turned me off >.>)
Rush – Red Barchetta (Moving Pictures, 1981)