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This is one of Sia's best songs. Definitely one of her most critically and fan acclaimed songs from before her emergence as a pop star. Just great vocals and instrumental arrangement. The music video gained some popularity in 2008 when it was featured on Apple's page, but this is still firmly before Sia was "discovered". The music video features Sia translating the lyrics into American Sign Language.
I've fallen way behind, but some of my favorites from the roaring 20's:
Royksopp & Alison Goldfrapp - The Night
Stranded - Rainbow
The Nutcracker - Tchaikovsky
Artists Only - Talking Heads
David Bowie - Stay
End Of The Line - Traveling Wilburys
Thin Lizzy - Got To Give It Up
Cheap Trick - Can't Stop Falling In Love
This song sounds like it should be a cover of a Ray Charles song - just seems like something Ray would have sang the crap out of and sounds like him. This song, along with Parlor, came off the EP "A Little Something More From" in 2016.
@simey@Uruk-Hai - the Charles reference was why I tagged you earlier - not sure if either of you were familiar with the song but curious your thoughts on it.
I almost forgot to mention that Colony of Birchmen has a couple of MAD31 tie ins. First from last time and @Yo Mama 's artist, the title is an homage to The Colony of Slippermen from Brann's all-time favorite album. The other was my hint being correct and @titusbramble's artist makes an appearance on my playlist. Josh Homme is singing back up on the song.
I will just add quick that when we started the playlist I thought the run from Oblivion --> Ember City was going to hit with the most poeple. Now we get a stretch that is a little bit more of a mix for about 9 songs. There's a couple that are harder like Birchmen. There is their 2nd longest song coming up soon, clocking in at over 13mins so that will push it for many. But I still there are a couple gems for the masses coming up. After that, we ramp up to a pretty damn heavy final 11 songs. My hope was by then I would recruit a few more ears from the first 20 and build up a little bit of endurance and tolerance to the vocals and music.
ETA: We are now at 4 songs from Emperor of Sand -
Sultan's Curse
Show Yourself
Precious Stones Steambreather ** (most days, this is my favorite track from the album)
This song sounds like it should be a cover of a Ray Charles song - just seems like something Ray would have sang the crap out of and sounds like him. This song, along with Parlor, came off the EP "A Little Something More From" in 2016.
@simey@Uruk-Hai - the Charles reference was why I tagged you earlier - not sure if either of you were familiar with the song but curious your thoughts on it.
I can definitely imagine Ray doing this song with The Raelettes in the background, and in place of the guitar part Ray is on piano. Nathaniel Ratliff & The Night Sweats have a lot of soul/blues/r&b in their music. They are one of the few artists/bands that are on the Stax/Concord label these days.
This song sounds like it should be a cover of a Ray Charles song - just seems like something Ray would have sang the crap out of and sounds like him. This song, along with Parlor, came off the EP "A Little Something More From" in 2016.
@simey@Uruk-Hai - the Charles reference was why I tagged you earlier - not sure if either of you were familiar with the song but curious your thoughts on it.
I can definitely imagine Ray doing this song with The Raelettes in the background, and in place of the guitar part Ray is on piano. Nathaniel Ratliff & The Night Sweats have a lot of soul/blues/r&b in their music. They are one of the few artists/bands that are on the Stax/Concord label these days.
Selected favorites from the #20s. . This time around I’m going in playlist order, mostly because I had to listen to it in several parts. A strong playlist throughout. Not necessarily the strongest so far, but still with several more songs that I enjoyed than I’m listing.
– Familiar songs:
Body Movin’ - Beastie Boys
Come Monday - Jimmy Buffett
Can’t Change Me - Chris Cornell
Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First) - John Mellencamp
Break It Down Again - Tears For Fears. I honestly tend to forget this song is by them. Which is too bad, considering how much I enjoy it.
New discoveries:
The Tigers Have Spoken - Neko Case
See-Line Woman - Nina Simone
What Else Is There? - Royksopp
Deep Inside - Incubus
Ghosts - The Jam
If you haven't picked up on it by now, lyrics almost more than just about anything else, drive my taste in music.
Perhaps that's why Nothing Like You is my #1 all-time favoriteist song by Frighted Rabbit.
This is a story and you are not in it, uh huh
F*** pages torn out
Here is a bedroom that you've never been in and
Here is your shovel, there's the ground
Download on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/royksopptheunderst Follow RoyksoppOfficial Site: http://royksopp.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoyksoppTwitte...
m.youtube.com
Year - 2005
Appears on - The Understanding
Vocalist - Karin Dreijer
Key Lyric - I've got a golden ear
I cut and I spear
What else is there?
Notes
1- Karin Dreijer is from the well regarded electronic duo The Knife. She makes a few appearances with Röyksopp. Karin then went on to perform as Fever Ray
Where to find
Melody A.M - 0
The Understanding - 1
Röyksopp’s Night Out - 1
Back to Mine Series - 1
Junior - 0
Senior - 1
Late Night Tales Series - 0
Do It Again EP - 2
The Inevitable End - 1
Profound Mysteries I - 0
Profound Mysteries II - 0
Profound Mysteries III - 3
Other/Non Album Songs - 2
Listen to more from Tears For Fears: https://TearsForFears.lnk.to/Essentials'Songs For A Nervous Planet' – out now: https://found.ee/SongsForANervousPlanetDi...
m.youtube.com
Appears - Elemental LP
Year - 1993
UK Highest Chart Position - 20
US Highest Chart Position - 25
Key Lyric - And all the love, and all the love in the world
Won't stop the rain from falling
Waste sleeping underground (break it down again)
Notes
1- We hope you like our new direction….this is the first single from the first album without Curt Smith. It charted well, but maybe that was on name recognition only. Its a good song, but hardly catchy pop.
2- Roland did a single Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) under the name Tears for Fears for a best of compilation after Curt left. This was his first proper album
3- This will be the only song we see from Elemental. Its a fine album, but Roland misses the ability of Curt to identify hooks and catchy pop. Curt, at this stage wasnt writing much, but had an influence on reigning Roland in on his serious side. Roland clearly gets carried away and over produces.
Where to find
The Hurting - 3
Songs from the Big Chair - 0
The Seeds of Love - 0
Elemental - 1
Raoul and the Kings of Spain - 0
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending - 4
Ready Boys and Girls - 0
The Tipping Point - 0
Greatest Hits only - 0
B- Sides - Other/Non Album Songs - 4
I’ve never really done a deep dive into John Prine, but I’m not sure why… “Lake Marie” made me double-back to listen to that one again. I was just googling it and see that it was Bob Dylan‘s favorite song by John Prine — I can see it.
Listen to more from Tears For Fears: https://TearsForFears.lnk.to/Essentials'Songs For A Nervous Planet' – out now: https://found.ee/SongsForANervousPlanetDi...
m.youtube.com
Appears - Elemental LP
Year - 1993
UK Highest Chart Position - 20
US Highest Chart Position - 25
Key Lyric - And all the love, and all the love in the world
Won't stop the rain from falling
Waste sleeping underground (break it down again)
Notes
1- We hope you like our new direction….this is the first single from the first album without Curt Smith. It charted well, but maybe that was on name recognition only. Its a good song, but hardly catchy pop.
2- Roland did a single Laid So Low (Tears Roll Down) under the name Tears for Fears for a best of compilation after Curt left. This was his first proper album
3- This will be the only song we see from Elemental. Its a fine album, but Roland misses the ability of Curt to identify hooks and catchy pop. Curt, at this stage wasnt writing much, but had an influence on reigning Roland in on his serious side. Roland clearly gets carried away and over produces.
Where to find
The Hurting - 3
Songs from the Big Chair - 0
The Seeds of Love - 0
Elemental - 1
Raoul and the Kings of Spain - 0
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending - 4
Ready Boys and Girls - 0
The Tipping Point - 0
Greatest Hits only - 0
B- Sides - Other/Non Album Songs - 4
I’ve never really done a deep dive into John Prine, but I’m not sure why… “Lake Marie” made me double-back to listen to that one again. I was just googling it and see that it was Bob Dylan‘s favorite song by John Prine — I can see it.
This one was a fan favorite in his live shows. There are a couple parts of the song where audience participation became a thing every time he did it live - the sausages "sizzlin" and the reference to blood looking like "shadows."
One of CSN's best. From the first album, it was written by Crosby, Stills and Paul Katner (from Jefferson Airplane, which is why they have a version too). They wrote it on the Mayan, and it's an anti-war protest song (I guess) - it's about the survivors of a nuclear war. Neil references it in his song Hippie Dream (And the wooden ships / Are a hippie dream / Capsized in excess / If you know what I mean.)
I’ve never really done a deep dive into John Prine, but I’m not sure why… “Lake Marie” made me double-back to listen to that one again. I was just googling it and see that it was Bob Dylan‘s favorite song by John Prine — I can see it.
I gravitated to his music after he passed and cursed myself I didn’t get into him when he was alive and I could have seen him and experienced some of his later stuff in real time. Oh well, I’m glad I eventually did at least. The guy is so good and always stayed under the radar really. Even his biggest song is better known for cover versions.
I was about 10 when this song was released, about the same time I started sleeping through the night with my cheap AM/FM radio playing. I awoke to this song a few times, and it's burned into my brain.
Provided to YouTube by Entertainment One Distribution USMean Mother Blues · Seldom SceneAct 3℗ Rebel Records LlcReleased on: 2005-04-19Auto-generated by YouT...
Provided to YouTube by RepriseRoots Remain · MastodonEmperor of Sand℗ 2017 Reprise RecordsGuitar: Bill KelliherUnknown: Billy Joe BowersEditing Engineer: Bi...
"I Think It's Going To Rain Today" by Nina SimoneFollow Nina Simone: https://NinaSimone.lnk.to/listenYDSubscribe to the official Nina Simone YouTube channel:...
We were there, you know…..'Unity' by Röyksopp ft. Karen Harding is taken from Profound Mysteries II - out now on Dog Triumph. https://royksopp.lnk.to/Profoun...
Video of song from "Tanglewood Numbers" album. Video directed by Michael Tully, shot in Jerusalem.iTunes:apple.co/Tanglewood-Numbers-iTApple Music:apple.co/T...
Golden years g-o-l-d(whop-whop-whop)Golden years g-o-l-d(whop-whop-whop)Golden years g-o-l-d(whop-whop-whop)Don't let me hear you say life' taking you nowher...
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupThat's How I Feel · The Pointer SistersThe Pointer Sisters℗ 1973 UMG Recordings, Inc.Released on: 1973-01-01Compo...
Track from Kim Mitchell's Rockland album, which was released in 1989.Moodstreettraffic's got mecaught in the middlei just gotta get off this mood streeti wan...
Bad Reputation by Thin Lizzy. Check out my channel for more thin lizzy.Lyrics:You got a bad reputationThats the word out on the townIt gives a certain fascin...
'Recorded Songs' EP out now: https://atlanti.cr/recordedsongs2017 tour dates on sale here: http://smarturl.it/FRShowsFollow Frightened Rabbit here: Twitter: ...
John Lee Hooker, Carlos Santana, The Santana Band · Song · 1989
open.spotify.com
Latter day John Lee, when he was working with Carlos Santana's band. The backing track shows this. But it's still the old man's gravelly voice in charge.
We were there, you know…..'Unity' by Röyksopp ft. Karen Harding is taken from Profound Mysteries II - out now on Dog Triumph. https://royksopp.lnk.to/Profoun...
m.youtube.com
Year - 2022
Appears on - Profound Mysteries II
Vocalist - Karen Harding
Key Lyric - Oh, baby, come with me
We've got this energy
Tonight, it's you and me
In total unity
Notes
1- Karen Harding is one of the more interesting collaborators Röyksopp use. She has a filipino mother and english father. Her powerful voice evokes that of a black r&b singer
2- Harding was on the controversial 10th season of the X Factor in the UK where after making the initial finalists cut a reality show stunt saw her replaced with a lesser act
Where to find
Melody A.M - 0
The Understanding - 1
Röyksopp’s Night Out - 1
Back to Mine Series - 1
Junior - 0
Senior - 1
Late Night Tales Series - 0
Do It Again EP - 2
The Inevitable End - 1
Profound Mysteries I - 0
Profound Mysteries II - 1
Profound Mysteries III - 3
Other/Non Album Songs - 2
I do my best
But I made a mistake
Yes there are things I'm still quite sure of
I love you this hour
This hour today
And heaven will smell like the airport
I do my best
But I made a mistake
Yes there are things I'm still quite sure of
I love you this hour
This hour today
And heaven will smell like the airport
Here I’ll pull some words from Clyne (via reporter Marshall Terrill) about this song. “I took it from the word paratroopers use when they make the leap from the plane — not the great Native American…” “It’s about taking another leap, finding the thing that’s bothering you and jumping and taking it head on.” It’s definitely another song with some opinion sewn into it, but I’ll quickly past that and move onto:
Why I Chose It:
This is a(nother) song that grips you early, the guitar work strong even before the lyrics get started. There’s a small harmonica solo, then things get moving again, with driving guitars and energetic vocals. The vibe here carries me more than the lyrics, as thoughtful as they may be. But I talked about that above. As a small bonus (if certainly far from the whole), this serves as a good tie-in between the previous song and the next. You’ll be able to judge that for yourselves in a few days, though.
The Truckers released two albums in 2020 The Unraveling and The New OK which gave the band a chance to show off more sides of themselves, from the R&B horns of those Memphis sessions to the old-school punk of their Ramones cover to the more post-punk sound of Hood's newly penned songs". Regarding the album's themes and lyrical content, the one review stated "rather than bemoan the new normal we've all been forced to accept, the Truckers celebrate our adaptability and our fortitude, subtly promising there will be better days and more rock shows ahead."
The Song, The Unraveling was not on The Unraveling but on the follow up, The New Ok.
Michael Praytor, Five Years Later - Ben Folds Five
Top 5 Songs "Known To Me"
Five Years - David Bowie
Come Monday - Jimmy Buffett
Body Movin' - Beastie Boys
What Are You Doin' In My Life - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Lake Marie - John Prine
Notes:
My favorite round of "known to me" songs. Five Years is just so freakin' good. Had to leave off a classic like Wooden Ships.
I'm obsessed with the Silver Jews and Neko Case, while also continuing to love new discoveries: Frightened Rabbit, The New Pornographers and Sufjan Stevens. I feel like I discovered some bands that will enter heavily into my rotation going forward.
I actually loved parts of the Incubus song "Deep Inside" and it would have made the Top 5, but it takes some sharp turns that lost me.
There are a handful of songs that will be helpful to be explained before a first listen as I assume you won’t be intently focused on the lyrics. This is the closer on Hellfire. Most of the songs on the album are stories about evil, death and hell but in a non-serious, fun way.
This song is about an old, has-been singer who stages a kind of musical funeral for himself including a final singing performance (this results in a song within the song). Most of the crowd only attends because it’s raining outside and admission is free. After this final performance the singer turns into some type of fireball and presumably dies. The narrator in the song and his companions who attended this event laugh at the fate of the old man.
I expected this exact comment from someone. I think this is a product of their immaturity as song writers. Older, wiser Incubus will still hit you with a left turn, but not one quite this violent. I am not finding it now, but I recall seeing a live version of this from the mid aughts (?) in which they did exactly that and it nailed what they were trying to accomplish with the original.
This is the fourth of six songs from the Act III album, and the only song on my list written by an original member of the band: Dr. Starling. I don't recall seeing them perform this one live, but they probably did. While not one of my favorites, it's definitely everything a bluegrass song should be: busy, bluesy and each instrument gets to feature. I don't know how many of you may have rolled your eyes when I compared bluegrass to jazz in my write-up towards the beginning, but I hope a song like this fleshes out a little better what I was driving at.
If you remember from Dr. Starling's spotlight, he later goes on to win a Grammy for best bluegrass album in 1992 as a solo act, so this is an early example of his handiwork, and more testimony to how the individual members of the band were able to check their egos at the door when they all played together and did it for the fun/love of playing together, which to me made this band that much more special.
ETA: Up next is a song that could never be made now.
Name Rockin'
Travis Bickie, Steve McQueen, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, Dirty Harry, a drunk called Otis, Houdini
Rhyme Squawkin' I said, I'm charming, I'm dashing, I'm rental car bashing
I'm phony paper-passing at Nix Check Cashing
Yo Mama Talkin'
Just another Classic from Paul’s Boutique (with plenty more to come). At this point, I forgot what order I put songs in and am pleasantly surprised when the songs are released.
I must have written the name of this song wrong in the form - it's Numb/Encore. This song is from the Collision Course EP mashup between Jay-Z and Linkin Park that was driven by MTV's Mash Ups show. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart and has sold more than 2 million copies.
More about the album:
The network allowed Jay-Z to choose a group or artist for the mash-up. Jay contacted Shinoda, who began experimenting with mixing the tracks before sending some examples to him. As a result, Jay-Z began working with Shinoda through email. The two decided that instead of combining the existing tracks for the live performance on MTV, they wanted to re-work and re-record parts of the songs to make them fit better. Shinoda explains, "Jay and I realized it's better to re-perform the rap vocals if you're gonna do it to a new beat because the vibe changes and you have to deliver your verse a little differently." Shinoda asked his bandmates to re-record instrumental and vocal tracks as well, and ultimately both parties decided they wanted to release the studio tracks. The entire album was put together within four days.
"I didn’t just want to say, ’Hell, yeah, let’s do it’ — I wanted to show him what it might sound like if we did it. And I think Jay was really excited by that. After that, he wanted to talk only by e-mail instead of in person because he thought that would save a little bit of the excitement for when we really got to meet."
"I think the songs are really strong, and it was totally exciting recording them. You can hear it on the tracks. There’s laughing going on and people telling jokes. We kept all those little things in there, so I think it’s something our fans would really enjoy."
"Jay can kill it over anything. It didn't take much to get things sounding good. The trick was to make sure everything we were doing sounded natural. There's a real trick and science to that, something a lot of people won't pick up on, but I know is there. Jay couldn't just scream along with Chester's parts, he had to perform it his way. It took us a few takes to get that right, but I made sure we got there."
As for the song itself, it is a mashup of Jay-Z's song Encore from his Black Album and the Linkin Park song Numb from their Meteora album. The song won the 2006 Grammy award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. In 2017, Billboard ranked the top 15 Linkin Park songs of all time and ranked Numb/Encore at #14.
At the 2006 Grammys, they actually performed another mashup version, incorporating the Beatles song Yesterday with Paul McCartney joining them to perform. Here is a video of that live performance. Who would have thought Jay-Z, Linkin Park, and Sir Paul would mash up!?!
Chester said about that performance:
Playing with McCartney was "the most surreal, awesome experience of my life and probably of everyone on stage with me."
"Most striking to me about this union is that it highlights the connection between these three songs, and, in fact, the interrelationship of all musical forms. And on a personal level, it was also incredibly fun. I'm compelled to report that Sir Paul is one of the most humble, gracious, affable people with whom we've had the privilege of collaborating."
Since I chose this mashup for my list, the regular version of Numb does not appear in my playlist. For those who don't like Jay-Z, here is a link to that video. It's an awesome song that really showcases Bennington's amazing voice. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video follows the domestic and social problems faced during a day in the life of an unpopular outcast young female student. It has been viewed more than 2 billion times.
For many fans, Numb represents vocalist Chester Bennington at his best, both vocally and lyrically. Despite being sick for five weeks during the recording sessions and having to record his vocals while the rest of the album was being mixed, it’s one of his most powerful performances. Having already talked at length about his own struggles with mental health, the song lays it all out on the slab. Following the heart-wrenching melancholy of the verses, you can hear his voice splinter under the weight of loneliness, self-loathing and disaffection when the chorus hits: “I'm tired of being what you want me to be. Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface... All I want to do, Is be more like me, And be less like you.”
Perhaps the most emotional performance of Numb would come after Chester’s death in 2017. On October 27 that year, the band and 17,500 fans packed into LA’s Hollywood Bowl for a tribute concert to honour his life and bright, fierce talent. And some of rock’s biggest stars signed up in their droves to pay their own respects. That night, Korn’s Jonathan Davis took the mic for One Step Closer and Blink 182 performed What I’ve Done, while Avenged Sevenfold’s M Shadows sung Faint and Burn It Down and BMTH’s Oli Skyes fronted Crawling.
However, as the intro to Numb played over the speakers, none of Chester’s metal contemporaries stepped forward. Instead, the stage was dark and empty, one spotlight illuminating a lone leaf-adorned mic stand while the crowd began to sing, tearfully carrying Chester’s lyrics all the way up to the rafters. It was a gut-punching reminder of Chester’s singular talent to put into words how it felt to be a disappointment, how it felt to feel invisible.
I must have written the name of this song wrong in the form - it's Numb/Encore. This song is from the Collision Course EP mashup between Jay-Z and Linkin Park that was driven by MTV's Mash Ups show. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart and has sold more than 2 million copies.
More about the album:
The network allowed Jay-Z to choose a group or artist for the mash-up. Jay contacted Shinoda, who began experimenting with mixing the tracks before sending some examples to him. As a result, Jay-Z began working with Shinoda through email. The two decided that instead of combining the existing tracks for the live performance on MTV, they wanted to re-work and re-record parts of the songs to make them fit better. Shinoda explains, "Jay and I realized it's better to re-perform the rap vocals if you're gonna do it to a new beat because the vibe changes and you have to deliver your verse a little differently." Shinoda asked his bandmates to re-record instrumental and vocal tracks as well, and ultimately both parties decided they wanted to release the studio tracks. The entire album was put together within four days.
"I didn’t just want to say, ’Hell, yeah, let’s do it’ — I wanted to show him what it might sound like if we did it. And I think Jay was really excited by that. After that, he wanted to talk only by e-mail instead of in person because he thought that would save a little bit of the excitement for when we really got to meet."
"I think the songs are really strong, and it was totally exciting recording them. You can hear it on the tracks. There’s laughing going on and people telling jokes. We kept all those little things in there, so I think it’s something our fans would really enjoy."
"Jay can kill it over anything. It didn't take much to get things sounding good. The trick was to make sure everything we were doing sounded natural. There's a real trick and science to that, something a lot of people won't pick up on, but I know is there. Jay couldn't just scream along with Chester's parts, he had to perform it his way. It took us a few takes to get that right, but I made sure we got there."
As for the song itself, it is a mashup of Jay-Z's song Encore from his Black Album and the Linkin Park song Numb from their Meteora album. The song won the 2006 Grammy award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. In 2017, Billboard ranked the top 15 Linkin Park songs of all time and ranked Numb/Encore at #14.
At the 2006 Grammys, they actually performed another mashup version, incorporating the Beatles song Yesterday with Paul McCartney joining them to perform. Here is a video of that live performance. Who would have thought Jay-Z, Linkin Park, and Sir Paul would mash up!?!
Chester said about that performance:
Playing with McCartney was "the most surreal, awesome experience of my life and probably of everyone on stage with me."
"Most striking to me about this union is that it highlights the connection between these three songs, and, in fact, the interrelationship of all musical forms. And on a personal level, it was also incredibly fun. I'm compelled to report that Sir Paul is one of the most humble, gracious, affable people with whom we've had the privilege of collaborating."
Since I chose this mashup for my list, the regular version of Numb does not appear in my playlist. For those who don't like Jay-Z, here is a link to that video. It's an awesome song that really showcases Bennington's amazing voice. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video follows the domestic and social problems faced during a day in the life of an unpopular outcast young female student. It has been viewed more than 2 billion times.
For many fans, Numb represents vocalist Chester Bennington at his best, both vocally and lyrically. Despite being sick for five weeks during the recording sessions and having to record his vocals while the rest of the album was being mixed, it’s one of his most powerful performances. Having already talked at length about his own struggles with mental health, the song lays it all out on the slab. Following the heart-wrenching melancholy of the verses, you can hear his voice splinter under the weight of loneliness, self-loathing and disaffection when the chorus hits: “I'm tired of being what you want me to be. Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface... All I want to do, Is be more like me, And be less like you.”
Perhaps the most emotional performance of Numb would come after Chester’s death in 2017. On October 27 that year, the band and 17,500 fans packed into LA’s Hollywood Bowl for a tribute concert to honour his life and bright, fierce talent. And some of rock’s biggest stars signed up in their droves to pay their own respects. That night, Korn’s Jonathan Davis took the mic for One Step Closer and Blink 182 performed What I’ve Done, while Avenged Sevenfold’s M Shadows sung Faint and Burn It Down and BMTH’s Oli Skyes fronted Crawling.
However, as the intro to Numb played over the speakers, none of Chester’s metal contemporaries stepped forward. Instead, the stage was dark and empty, one spotlight illuminating a lone leaf-adorned mic stand while the crowd began to sing, tearfully carrying Chester’s lyrics all the way up to the rafters. It was a gut-punching reminder of Chester’s singular talent to put into words how it felt to be a disappointment, how it felt to feel invisible.
19. Nina Simone, I Shall Be Released (From To Love Somebody, 1969) YouTubeSpotify
Bob Dylan and Nina Simone had deep mutual respect and admiration for the other. Both were leading figures of the 1960s counter-cultural revolution. Both were performing in Greenwich Village around the same time. Dylan said this of Nina Simone back in 2015:
Nina Simone. I used to cross paths with her in New York City in the Village Gate nightclub. She was an artist I definitely looked up to. She recorded some of my songs that she learned directly from me, sitting in a dressing room. She was an overwhelming artist, piano player, and singer. Very strong woman, very outspoken, and dynamite to see perform. That she was recording my songs validated everything that I was about. Nina was the kind of artist I loved and admired.
She has some other great covers of Dylan songs like The Ballad of Hollis Brown and Just Like a Woman, which she subverts a bit by switching from the third person to the first person.
But my favorite of her Dylan covers is “I Shall Be Released.” She gives it more of a soul/gospel feel than performed by either Dylan or The Band (on The Big Pink and in The Last Waltz) — enjoy The Band’s version, but this one just has a different feel, particularly when Simone hits that final “I Shall Be Reeeleeeeeased” at the end of the song.
I’ll be honest - looking back I think I overranked this song - it would still be in my top 31 but would be closer to 25 or so than 19 now. I like it a lot though.
22. "A" Bomb in Wardour Street
Album: All Mod Cons (1978)
Released as a single? Yes (UK #25; double A-side with David Watts)
All Mod Cons represented a major leap forward in The Jam's sound, and "A" Bomb in Wardour Street is one of its most forceful tracks. The bass-and-cowbell-dominated intro is slamming, and the song just builds in intensity from there, exploding into a chaotic ending as Paul Weller chants "A P O C A L Y P S E Apocalypse!" The lyrics, however, are far more driven by reason than the music would suggest. Weller is ranting against the violence associated with the seedier sides of the punk movement, best encapsulated in lines such as "I don't know what I'm doing here/'Cause it's not my scene at all" and "If this is freedom I don't understand/'Cause it seems like madness to me". The song was released on All Mod Cons' first single, as a double A-side with The Jam's cover of the Kinks' David Watts, but is probably its song with the most ties to the music of their first two albums.
All Mod Cons was a crucial album for The Jam, and it can be argued that their career might have fizzled out if it didn't succeed. British audiences are notoriously fickle and are quick to abandon last year's Next Big Thing if given reason to. The perception was that The Jam's second album was inferior to its first, and a third album that conveyed diminishing returns could have destroyed the band, or at least rendered it to a lower tier. And there was serious danger of that happening. After a disastrous US tour following the release of This Is the Modern World, Weller was feeling uninspired, and turned in a set of songs (which had to be augmented by some of Bruce Foxton's songs because Weller had written fewer than usual) that the band's producers rejected as inferior. Weller responded by retreating to his hometown of Woking and listening to a bunch of Kinks records. He emerged with a new set of songs that reflected Ray Davies' keen eye for social commentary and characterization, and which were more musically diverse than The Jam's output up to that point, with folk and Beatlesque elements added to the mix. To drive home the point, the album included an actual Kinks cover, David Watts. Yet, the album had no shortage of three-chord bangers, which enabled the band to keep their old fans while earning new ones. All Mod Cons was well-received at the time commercially and critically, and has been named one of Rolling Stone's 40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time and one of Paste's 50 Best New Wave Albums.
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Demo of unknown-to-me origin; first released on the Direction Reaction Creation box set (1997)
Writers: Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Original or most famous version: Ben E. King
This demo version of the venerated soul song never surfaced until the release of the Direction Reaction Creation box set in 1997, and it's easy to see why. The band is not very tight and the choice to feature the organ prominently isn't a good one. I don't care for most covers I've heard of this (John Lennon's excepted) and this is definitely in that pile.
At #21, a rare unambiguously happy song from Weller.
I’ll be honest - looking back I think I overranked this song - it would still be in my top 31 but would be closer to 25 or so than 19 now. I like it a lot though.
21. But I'm Different Now
Album: Sound Affects (1980)
Released as a single? No
This brief, supercharged track from The Jam's Sound Affects is 1 minute and 52 seconds of pure sugar rush. It's an exhilarating mix of post-punk crunch, power-pop catchiness and R&B swing -- Rick Buckler's performance on drums here is one of several of his on Sound Affects that was influenced by John Robinson's on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. The pure bliss of the music is matched by Weller's positive-for-him lyrics written from the perspective of a guy who blew his relationship but won his girl back: "Picked you up and let you down and/I never said a word/But I'm different now and I'm glad that you're my girl."
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Lead vocals: Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton
Album track, In the City (1977)
Writer: Neal Hefti
Original or most famous version: Neal Hefti with the Ron Hicklin Singers
Why was this on In the City? Was there an early Who connection? As a matter of fact, there was! The Who recorded a cover for the rare 1966 EP Ready Steady Who (it was later released on the deluxe edition of A Quick One). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNldFQGtfoY I have The Jam's version ranked down here not because of the performance, which is blistering, but because it sticks out like a sore thumb on In the City and messes up its flow. This would have worked better as a B-side, as many of their covers were.
At #20, a late-period ballad with some of Weller's best melodies and lyrics.
20. Ghosts
Album: The Gift (1982)
Released as a single? No
The Gift, The Jam's final album, doesn't get its just due in some quarters because it sounds little like the rest of the band's catalog and it is a pretty inconsistent record by their standards. But its standouts are amazing, and Ghosts is one of those. Paul Weller delivers one of his best vocals in front of a compelling, insistent, stately arrangement, which makes great use of trumpets and harmony vocals. The lyrics, about seeing your own potential and working through things to achieve it, are some of his best:
Why are you frightened - can't you see that it's you
That ain't no ghost - it's a reflection of you
Why do you turn away - an' keep it out of sight
Oh - don't live up to your given roles
There's more inside you that you won't show
But you keep it hidden just like everyone
You're scared to show you care - it'll make you vulnerable
So you wear that ghost around you for disguise
But there's no need just 'cos it's all we've known
There's more inside you that you haven't shown
So keep on moving, moving, moving your feet
Keep on shuf-shuf-shuffling to this ghost dance beat
Just keep on walking down never ending streets
One day you'll walk right out of this life
And then you'll wonder why you didn't try
To spread some loving all around
Old fashioned causes like that still stand
Gotta rid this prejudice that ties you down
How do you feel at the end of the day
Just like you've walked over your own grave
So why are you frightened - can't you see that it's you
At the moment there's nothing - so there's nothing to lose
Lift up your lonely heart and walk right on through
I have seen this performed live, by Ted Leo. A solo electric version appears on his 2003 EP with the Pharmacists, Tell Balgeary Balgury Is Dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLHp5dBzs0Y and when I saw them in Philadelphia a few months after its release, they ended the set with it. Weller, especially his later work with The Jam, has been such a massive influence on Leo's career that his first band, Chisel, had a song called "Rip off 'The Gift'." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gYCNbKXhI0
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupSlow Down (Remastered 2017) · The Jam1977℗ 2017 Polydor Ltd. (UK)Released on: 2017-10-20Producer: Vic Coppersmith...
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Album track, In the City (1977)
Writer: Larry Williams
Original version: Larry Williams
Most famous version: The Beatles
Larry Williams' version of Slow Down has been described by AllMusic as "raucous enough to be punk rock nearly a full two decades before the concept was even in existence," and the same could be said about The Beatles' famous cover, so it's not a surprise that The Jam willed a punk-rock version of the song into existence. Shoutier and more staccato than either of its predecessors, this version is a proof of concept, but like Batman Theme, it seems out of place on In the City.
At #19, another Weller song about the pointlessness of hate.
19. Scrape Away
Album: Sound Affects (1980)
Released as a single? No
The closer of The Jam's Sound Affects is a grabber from the opening bars, with Bruce Foxton's bass and Paul Weller's guitar slithering around each other menacingly. It's one of the best examples of how the band started to incorporate post-punk herky-jerkiness into their sound around this time without coming off as overly obscure or academic. As the song goes on, the arrangement gets more insistent and the overlapping vocals get downright chilling. Weller's vocal is one of several on this album that appears influenced by David Bowie. The song wraps up its message halfway through, and the closing 2 minutes are carried by Rick Buckler's drums and Weller's cries of "you, who is scraping away," growing more anguished with each measure. I believe the French being spoken in the outro is how they would say "you, who is scraping away."
The song is about people who embrace hate and demonize others instead of trying to make their lives better. Quite prescient, actually.
You're talking like some f#cking hardened MP
You're saying power's all!
And it's power you need!
Ooh - you need to get away
Ooh - you need a change of pace
Because you've given up on hope
You're emotionless
You've no need for love it's just hate, hate, hate.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupDead End Street (Remixed Version) · The JamDirection Reaction Creation℗ 1997 Polydor Ltd. (UK)Released on: 1997-0...
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Outtake from the Sound Affects sessions (1980); appears on the deluxe edition of that album
Writer: Ray Davies
Original or most famous version: The Kinks
It makes sense that The Jam would cover The Kinks, given that they were huge fans and the first major shift in the band's sound came when Paul Weller started incorporating Ray Davies' style into his own songs. But they weren't always successful when covering The Kinks. In this case, we have a pretty rough arrangement that would likely have been refined and tightened up if the band had wanted to. More of an issue is that Weller's vocal approach isn't really a good match for Davies'. They did have a way around this, which I'll get to later. One article I saw about Weller postulated that his worst output is covers because he doesn't seem to care as much about his performance of them as he does with his originals. I don't agree across the board, but I can see the point here.
Swamp
Come Monday -- arguably the best of Buffet's biggest "hits"
Wooden Ships
Five Years
Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)
Can't Change Me -- I am not extensively familiar with Cornell's non-Audioslave and Soundgarden work, but this may be my favorite of his solo songs
Break It Down Again
What Are You Doin' in My Life?
Backstairs -- my favorite New Pornographers song that's not on the first three albums
Known-to-me favorites from #19:
The Great Curve -- Side 1 of Remain in Light is one of my favorite album sides of all time
Woodstock -- one of my favorite covers
Golden Years
Be Yourself
Song for the Dumped
Even the Losers
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by me at some point
