from Don't Leave Me to Don't Stop

Day 209, Session 71:
When/Where: Wednesday January 17th - Heading from the office to home.
First song: Don't Leave Me by Blink 182
Last full song: Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac
Progress: 988-998 of 4802
Total Songs Heard: 848

You may be asking yourself, "How many different versions of Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop could one person possibly need?"

Well if you are asking yourself that then first, yikes!, and second, thank goodness you stopped by! I can tell you with absolute certainty that you need 3 versions of Don't Stop.

1) From a Fleetwood Mac greatest hits cd that the wife brought to the marriage.
2) From the live reunion concert cd "The Dance," the reasons for owning we've already discussed.
3) And this is the one you didn't see coming: A cover of the song recorded by Elton John for a Fleetwood Mac tribute cd.

Now listen, I agree that we should all be alarmed by the fact that I have 3 different versions of Don't Stop but... can we all be relieved together that this represents the only appearance of Elton John in my entire musical library?

I was going to do a full breakdown here, but between 3 versions of Don't Stop, 2 songs titled Don't Leave Me, and the strikingly similar Don't Look Back and Don't Look Back (In Anger)... well, you get the idea of how that would have worked.

Sorry if you missed the party. It was a good time. We should be having another one soon, hopefully we'll see you there.

from Don't Fade to Don't Know What You've Got

Day 209, Session 70:
When/Where: Wednesday January 17th - Heading from home to the office.
First song: Don't Fade by Toad the Wet Sprocket
Last full song: Don't Know What You Got by Cinderella
Progress: 980-987 of 4802
Total Songs Heard: 837

8 more tracks telling me things I should not do:

Fade - When I ran track in 8th grade they put me in the distance events, where my lack of speed in the sprints was well hidden by my lack of endurance. I would routinely begin to fade with about a lap and a half to go.

Forget to breathe - This has, luckily, never been a problem. When I was younger I would often marvel at the things your body will unconsciously do for you. I would sometimes sit and think about how difficult it would be to live if you had to think "breathe" every time you wanted to draw a breath or "beat" every time you wanted your heart to pump. When I was really bored (often at church) I would try to see how long I could keep these two thoughts going. I would have died pretty quickly.

Give that girl a gun - I have never handed a gun to a girl.

Give up - I give up constantly. I think this goes hand in hand with being a Philadelphia sports fan. Knowing you're never ever going to win means sometimes it's just a lot easier to give up. There are a few things I will probably never give up: Smoking, since I never plan to start, and drinking, cause I loves me some beer.

Give up on me - I don't believe anyone has ever asked me to not give up on them.

Go - Oh, I've gone... and then she started crying, so I turned around and went back.

Go Away - I went away for college. That seemed to work out.

Know what you got - Cinderella. Man, who doesn't love Cinderella? (Seriously, I was very happy to hear this. Late one night I decided it would be a good idea to download "Metal Ballads." All 4 volumes! I gotta tell you, most of these metal ballads suck! I definitely should have gone with "Monster Ballads." But this song... this song is good.

On a completely unrelated note, if you're reading this blog, you should know that we're having people over tomorrow night for beer and burgers. You're invited.

from Dog Days of August to Don't Drink the Water

Day 196, Session 69:
When/Where: Thursday January 4th - At the desk for the first hour of the work day.
First song: Dog Days of August by Garrison Keillor
Last full song: Don't Drink the Water by Dave Matthews Band
Progress: 961-973 of 4785
Total Songs Heard: 829

Let's get right down to business shall we? Lots of advice coming from these song titles, telling me what not to do. Let's break them down:

Don't - Jewel: Yes, more Jewel. Just Don't? I need a little more clarification than that. Since it's Jewel I'm assuming she means one of two things: a) Don't listen to my music, or 2) Don't keep looking at my bewbs!

Don't Ask Me I'm Only The President - Badly Drawn Boy: Wouldn't be surprised if the current president actually used this answer under oath. I'm pretty sure I agree with BDB here. Let's hope this one is the last.

Don't Ask Me Why - Billy Joel: Ok, I won't ask, I'll just point out here that Christie Brinkley is still bringing it.

Don't be afraid of the dark - Y & T: Thanks guys, I'm not 6. This isn't really a problem anymore. I'm assuming if you're still afraid of the dark Y&T must stand for Young and Terrified.

Don't Be Afraid Of Your Anger - Clem Snide: This is good advice. I am not afraid of my anger. I embrace it. Revel in it even. My goal is to make other people afraid of my anger. I think it's working. You should also know that this song contains a fantastic line:

Don't be afraid of your anger. I'll eat it with mustard and wine.

I have no idea what it means, but it's fantastic.

Don't Change Your Plans - Ben Folds Five: This is advice I did not follow.
Don't Change Your Plans (live) - Ben Folds Five: Ok, technically maybe I did follow the advice of the song, since it specifically advises to not move to LA. Of course I was never really planning on moving to LA.

Don't close your eyes - Kix: I don't know how you guys sleep, but I'm an eye closer.

Don't Drink the Water - Dave Matthews Band: I believe in good hydration and generally drink 6-8 cups of water per day, so shut up DMB.
Don't Drink The Water - Dave Matthews Band: What's that you say? There's blood in the water? Ugh, I wish you had told me that 4 cups of AB-Negative ago.

from Dissing to Dog

Day 190, Session 68:
When/Where: Friday December 29th - On the beach, 100 feet from the ocean.
First song: Dissing Marilyn Manson by Barenaked Ladies
Last full song: Dog by Ben Folds
Progress: 943-960 of 4785 (3 podcasts skipped)
Total Songs Heard: 816

Dissing Marilyn Manson - Barenaked Ladies
Dit It All For Love - Phenomena II
DNA - Jonathan Coulton
Do As De La Does - De La Soul
Do Miss America - Ryan Adams
Do The Circulation - Joshie Armstead, Mary Sue Berry, & Maeretha Stewart
Do They Know It's Christmas? - Barenaked Ladies
Do What You Have To Do - Sarah McLachlan
Do You - Jewel
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans - Louis Armstrong
Do You Love Me? - Fiidler On The Roof (Original Broadway Cast)
Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips
Does anybody really fall in love anymore? - Kane Roberts
Does Cindy Lou Really Ruin Christmas? - James Horner
Dog - Ben Folds

First things first. Despite the fact that it sounds like it could have been a featured song on the "Revenge of the Nerds part 6 - Booger's Revenge (of the Nerds)" soundtrack, I must say goodbye to Dit It All For Love. I don't know why you dit what you dit, but you sure ditn't do it very well.

I'd be remiss if I didn't include the link to DNA. It's available here. Not only is it a catchy tune... you may even learn something.

I was listening to this set about 100 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. I love the ocean (this includes Billy Ocean, who I usually refer to as "The Ocean") and most of the time the ocean loves me (not talking about Billy this time, I don't think he's aware of my existence.) Except for this one time last summer...

The Wife and I were at the beach for a few days after my sister's wedding (where I performed the ceremony. That's right, I've been the Reverend Matt DiMarco for almost a year now. Seriously. I'll show you my ID card.) I usually spend my ocean time body surfing (I'm not nearly coordinated enough for real surfing) and this day was no exception. I had caught some really good waves and was having a great time until one big wave snuck up on me. I got caught in between trying to ride it and trying to duck under it. My feet ended up on top of the wave. The left side of my face and my left shoulder and collar bone ended planted on the ocean floor. Then it got bad.

As my face planted the wave crashed over top of me and my feet came with it. As far as I could tell, the next thing that happened was my feet touched the ocean floor right next to my head (which was still stuck on the ground) and I heard two loud cracking sounds. At this point I finally began to roll with the wave and I also began to wonder if I would be able to get up when the rolling was done. Luckily I was able stagger to my feet. I ended up a little (ok, a lot) woozy, but otherwise unharmed. I never did figure out what those cracking sounds were.

What does this have to do with the music of the day? Whenever I hear the song Do You Realize? I think about the fact that everyone I know some day will die... and the last time I thought I was going to die was during those ridiculous two seconds in the ocean.

from Diamonds to Disseminated

Day 190, Session 67:
When/Where: Friday December 29th - Lounging poolside in Miami at high noon.
First song: Diamonds On The Souls Of Her Shoes by Paul Simon
Last full song: Disseminated by Soul Coughing
Progress: 914-942 of 4785 (2 podcasts skipped)
Total Songs Heard: 801

800! Song 800 was Disillusion by Badly Drawn Boy. With another 100 songs past, it's time to do the math.

801 songs in 190 days = 4.22 songs per day
4785-942 = 3843 tracks to go
Of 942 tracks so far, 141 (942-801) have been skipped/podcasts/added later/whatever = 15% skipped
3843-(3843*15%) = approximately 3267 tracks to go accounting for skipped tracks
3267 tracks/4.22 songs a day = 774 days to go (2.1 years)
Estimated time of project completion = February 2009

Excellent! I've picked up 1 month between songs 700 and 800. {Spoiler Alert - That's not going to last!} I was listening to these songs while taking a few days between Christmas and New Years to hang out with my family in Miami. The Wife, my Mom and sisters were all having a "spa day" which left my Dad and I to fend for ourselves. We dealt with the situation the best way we knew how. We hung out by the pool (but didn't actually get in) and drank.

There are a lot of beautiful people in Miami. Needless to say, I didn't really fit in all that well. Something about not having any outfits where each piece cost more than a car payment. It was ok though. I had everything I really needed: a good pair of sunglasses ($15 from CVS) so that I could look at the beautiful people without being obviously about it and a bar at the ready.

In honor of all the beautiful people in Miami, I present one beautiful pop song. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub is all harmonies and awesome. This video doesn't quite do justice to the goodness of the song (the sound is a little muddled) but I think it conveys the general idea of how great the song is. I was going to link the actual song for you all (that's right, all 5 of you) to enjoy, but alas, I downloaded it from iTunes, and those guys hate sharing (unless you're willing to pay an extra 30 cents a song.)

Trust me, it sounds even better in your headphones by the pool with the Atlantic Ocean just over there.

from Depot to Diamonds

Day 180, Session 66:
When/Where: Tuesday December 19th - Evening. Heading home on the train.
First song: Depot Depot by Tom Waits
Last full song: Diamonds On My Windshield by Tom Waits
Progress: 873-883 of 4617
Total Songs Heard: 774

So this worked yesterday, and in my efforts to continue catching up, I'll lazy out again.

Songs from today's session:
Depot Depot - Tom Waits
Description - De La Soul
Desert Winds - John Williams
Desire - Toad The Wet Sprocket
Destination Moon - Dinah Washington
Destination Moon - They Might Be Giants
Devil Boy - Seven Mary Three
Devotion - Weezer
Diamonds and Gold - Tom Waits
Diamonds For Duke - The University of Dayton
Diamonds On My Windshield - Tom Waits

I'd like to include the "Songs Heard" section every day, but it kind of mucks up the look of things. What I really want to do is include it as a expandable list, but I can't for the life of me find an easy way to create something like that in Blogger. I have the feeling I'm out of luck unless I become a lot better at programming. If you have any (simple to implement for an idiot) suggestions let me know.

Let's see, we had two different songs called Destination Moon, so it must be time for another song breakdown!

Destination Moon by Dinah Washington vs. Destination Moon by They Might Be Giants:

What's it about?
Dinah Washington wants some time away with her man. Apparently the moon seemed like the most convenient place to get away. Sure, this doesn't seem practical now, but back when this song was released in 1962 I'm sure moon based honeymoons seemed like something that was just around the corner. I'm not quite sure what TMBG is talking about in this song. But they do give detailed instructions on how to get from your bed to the moon. Perhaps that's the point. Maybe they're saying if you can just get out of bed in the morning, anything is possible.

Representative lyric:
Dinah Washington - "So away we steal in a spacemobile. A supersonic honeymoon. Leave your cares below, pull the switch, let's go! Destination moon."
TMBG - "By rocket to the moon, By airplane to the rocket, By taxi to the airport, By front door to the taxi, By throwing back the blanket, Hanging down the legs"

The music:
Dinah Washington uses a lot more horns. TMBG uses a lot more electric guitar.

Verdict:
As cool as moon based honeymooning seems, it's just not practical, especially with gas prices being what they are these days (something Ms. Washington surely did not foresee in 1962.) Combine that with TMBG's can do attitude and electric guitar and it's as apparent as a full moon on a clear night... They Might Be Giants has the better version of Destination Moon.

from Deck the Stills to Dentist

Day 180, Session 65:
When/Where: Tuesday December 19th - Morning. Heading into the office on the train.
First song: Deck The Stills by Barenaked Ladies
Last full song: Dentist by Steve Martin (from the Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack)
Progress: 862-872 of 4617
Total Songs Heard: 763

Ok. Stumped. Bad times in the brain lately. So here. Here are the songs that were played in this group:

Deck The Stills - Barenaked Ladies
Dede Crough - Moxy Früvous
Deep In The West - Waylon Jennings
Deep Water - Jewel
Deeply Stupid Sushi, Deeply Whining Drummer - Barenaked Ladies
Deja Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Delicious - Sleeper
Demetrius - Sufjan Stevens
Demon John - Jeff Buckley
Denny's at 4AM* - Wally Pleasant
Dentist - Little Shop of Horrors

*Not actually Denny's at 4AM, but Alternateen by Wally Pleasant instead. I covered that earlier.

Here are some quick and dirty notes: That's right, more Jewel... I'm not sure where I picked up a Waylon Jennings song that's not the theme from the Dukes of Hazzard (obviously the tv show not the crap ass movie...) Much to my surprise, I like sushi now... The first time I remember experiencing deja vu was in 4th grade in the hallway outside of Ms. Foky's classroom. It had something to do with Tony Samartino recklessly swinging his crutch around...

We sang selection from the Little Shop of Horrors sound track when I was in chorus in 7th grade. I wasn't allowed to sing in the actual 7th grade chorus as there was only room in that group for guys who still sounded like girls. (Don't feel too bad for those pre-pubescent guys, boy:girl ratio in the 7th grade chorus 3:23.) So, I ended up singing with a bunch of 8th graders. It wasn't that bad though. I spent my entire pre-high school academic career taking classes with the kids a year ahead of me, so I already knew most of them. The only thing that never made sense about that group was its name. The 7th grade chorus group was called "7th Heaven" (clever I know.) The group I was in was called "HPO" which sounds more like a health care plan then a singing group.