from Island In The Sun to Istanbul

Day 959, Session 154:
When/Where: Tuesday February 10th - At home after a nice long walk.
First song: Island In The Sun by Weezer
Last full song: Istanbul by They Might Be Giants
Progress: 2777-2781 of 6850
Total Songs Heard: 2000

Song 1996:
Island In The Sun - Weezer
This was the final song on the cd that played during our wedding dinner. I suppose it would have been more appropriate if we had been honeymooning on an actual island in the sun, instead of going to San Francisco like we did. We did go to Alcatraz, which is an island, while in San Fran but it was cloudy that day. I really like the song because of the awesome Spike Jonze video that goes with it. There are baby animals and chimps for goodness sake.

Weezer - Island In The Sun
by UniversalMusicGroup

Song 1997:
Isle Thing - "Weird Al" Yankovic
I love Weird Al. I enjoy Gilligan's Island. I did not enjoy Weird Al's parody of Tone Loc's Wild Thing that retells the story of Gilligan's Island. I feel like every Weird Al cd has two tracks that I just don't like, this is one of them from UHF.

Song 1998:
Isolation - Sponge
I've owned the John Lennon tribute cd "Working Class Hero" since it came out in 1995 and I can honestly say this is the first time I ever remember hearing this song.

Song 1999:
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
The song that introduced me to They Might Be Giants and I fell for them immediately. My favorite part of the song is actually the violin. Flood was in constant rotation in the cars of all of my high school friends and this was one of the songs on that made us all sing along at full volume. Added goodness includes the history lesson contained within. I'm pretty sure I got test questions about the original names of New York and Istanbul correct by singing this song in my head. And then of course there was this:


Song 2000:
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
The live version from "Severe Tire Damage." Somewhat disappointing due to the lack of violin. The yodeling "OH" section is more impressive live.

And well... that was kind of anticlimactic... what with only needing to listen to 5 songs and 2 of them being the same and me not even liking 2 others. Well, them's the breaks sometimes. The important thing is, I said I was going to do this today and I did. Now I'm going to reward myself with a night of trivia and beer.

from If I Never See Your Face Again to Impossible Germany

Day 881, Session 146:
When/Where: Monday November 24th - car/Target/car/Best Buy/home
First song: If I Never See Your Face Again by Maroon 5
Last full song: Impossible Germany by Wilco
Progress: 2172-2196 of 6108
Total Songs Heard: 1893

It was busy afternoon of choring. For the first time, the wife and I are hosting a major family holiday. Both of our immediate families (Us, 4 parents, 2 sisters, 1 brother, 1 brother-in-law, 1 sister's +1, and a nephew in a pear tree (plus 2 dogs)) are coming to town for Thanksgiving dinner at our house. We bought the turkey and most of the dinner supplies Sunday afternoon. Since we were shopping together, I went iPod-less, which saved the good folks at Jewel another shot at hearing me sing as I walked through the aisles.

The Wife's birthday is on Thanksgiving (She claims it's on Thursday and Thursday just happens to be Thanksgiving, but I know for a fact her birthday is on Thanksgiving every year,) so I had to go out shopping again Monday to do some birthday shopping as well as final family prep. What Jewel got to avoid became Target's cross to bear, and what a cross it was.

Not too far along into my Target search for a baby gate (in order to nephew proof our basement stairs) came one of those songs that stops me in my tracks every time I hear it. I think I've mentioned before, I don't have a very complicated romantic history. I've had enough serious long-term relationships to count on both hands... as long as you limit yourself to not using fingers and only counting the entire hand as one. I did some sporadic dating in between the two relationships (sporadic in this case being code for "not much") but other than the high school girlfriend and The Wife, nothing really progressed beyond 'dating.'

Since I've ended half my long term relationships by getting married, I don't have a lot of relationship related regret. That's the weird thing about If It's The Beaches by The Avett Brothers. The song is so good, that it makes me wish I could apply it to my life. The longing lyrics and plaintive music hit hard, even at the start where it's just one voice and a guitar. And the way it builds... voice and guitar, then violin/cello/second guitar, then finally at 2:35... piano. The piano isn't playing power chords either, but it fills the space in the song in such way that it sounds like Seth Avett has spent the whole song building up this alternate relationship history and if you, the other end of this lost relationship, could just hear it... Hear the words, hear the music, hear how the whole world will be full again if only you could go back.

Like I said, I can't really relate, and yet, apparently I can.

If It's The Beaches - The Avett Brothers (highly recommended as a headphone song, the build of the song through headphones fills my entire head.)

As an added bonus, here's a high quality video (you are watching all your youtube in high quality right?) from a show I went to in Newport, Kentucky earlier this year. I can't be seen in the video, I was slightly behind the throng on the left.



But wait there's more: I also don't understand working on a farm with my family and some migrant workers, but that doesn't change the fact that this song will be my official morning wake up once I do go back to work. I hate the morning, but I think if I'm waking up to the Sunparlour Players I won't hate it quite as much. (As long as the creeks don't actually rise.)

If The Creeks Don't Rise - Sunparlour Players (also headphone recommended)

Now for something I do understand: Swedish furniture. In my little section of the living I am surrounded by Ikea. My computer desk is Ikea and we have three Billy-the-bookcases ("Hello.") I was living in Philly when the first U.S.-based Ikea opened in New Jersey. I never understood why it was such a big deal until I needed to buy my own furniture (as opposed to stealing it from my parents basement.) Now I totally understand why New Jersey has a "God-damned Swedish parade." The only downside of this song is once you hear it a few times, you'll never be able to go to Ikea again without humming the song to yourself. Ah the genius of Coulton.

Ikea - Jonathan Coulton

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. If we manage to survive the family visit, I'll see you next week.

from I Love Rocky Road to I Saw Mommy...

Day 844, Session 141:
When/Where: Saturday October 11th - Driving back from the burbs after attending The Wife's school's homecoming game.
First song: I Love Rocky Road by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Last full song: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by Jimmy McGriff
Progress: 2121-2140 of 6137
Total Songs Heard: 1797

It's been a while, but a song had to be deleted. While I enjoy Sarah McLachlan I find I Love You to be over wrought in its emotionality. I don't hate the song, but what I do hate is techno music... and what I especially hate is a 9-minute techno remix of a song that I already found kind of grating to listen to. I Love You (Techno Remix) - deleted! (Sorry Kerstin, I know there was a very specific reason you included it in that mix cd you gave me that one time, but I was never going to listen to it again.)

For posterity's sake, I'm linking the song here. I couldn't even make it through the whole thing. Can you?

I Love You (Remix) - Sarah McLachlan

I just don't understand techno remixes, but as we drove back from the game my sister and I figured out where they must have come from. Here's our theory... club djs used to spin music much like radio djs. I mean sure they worked some transitions between songs, but otherwise every 2.5 to 4 minutes they had to change the record. Then one time, some dj was playing a song when the needle skipped right in the middle of an instrumental section. The dj was busy hitting on someone when the skipping started so it took him two minutes to even notice the song was skipping. When he did notice, he discovered that the people in the club simply didn't care that the same 8 second clip of music had been playing over and over again for the last 2 minutes, they were still dancing. Eureka! Why be forced to switch songs every 3 minutes when, with a few strategically applied record scratches, you can stretch that 3 minute song out to 10 minutes?

From that day forward bars that also feature dancing became awesome for people who like dancing but absolute hell for people who like music. And that, my friends, is why I will never go 'clubbing.' I don't like my dance music techno-y, I like my dance music funky. (The idea of me dancing to this song is actually terrifying, but the song is still great.)

I Need More Love - Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Finally, thanks a lot Robot Chicken. Now I can't hear I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus without thinking of this:

from Hero In Me to Hey Now Everybody

Day 646, Session 118:
When/Where: Thursday March 27th - Sitting around the house after an afternoon spent at Crate & Barrel (where we purchased neither a crate nor a barrel.)
First song: Hero In Me by Jeffrey Gaines
Last full song: Hey Now Everybody by They Might Be Giants
Progress: 1869-1880 of 5803
Total Songs Heard: 1516

Live blogging the way through some of the H's.

Hero In Me by Jeffrey Gaines is a remnant from high school. I found the cd during the process of moving into this house. There's nothing wrong with it, and I'm not going to delete it, but at the same time I probably would never have noticed if I hadn't found it.

Hero Of Canton (The Ballad of Jayne) by Adam Baldwin - My friend Ryno was the first one to tell me how awesome Firefly was. For some reason I didn't immediately run out and watch all I could. Before Firefly I would have considered myself a moderate Joss Whedon nerd. The Wife and I had watched Buffy, but never bothered to watch Angel. After Firefly, consuming more things Whedon has become more important. Angel is on the Netflix list... right after we finish Battlestar Galactica. Hero Of Canton is probably my favorite scene from all of Firefly.



Hesitating Beauty by Billy Bragg & Wilco - I gotta be honest, this song kinda washed over me without really gaining my attention. I do fully support the Mermaid Avenue releases.

Hey Everybody by Jonathan Coulton - Hey JoCo!

Hey Georgie by Wally Pleasant - I agree with pretty much all of the views expressed in this song. Unfortunately, the one-term president part didn't work out.

Hey Girl by O.A.R. - I used to like O.A.R., then I found out they all went to Ohio State. Now they can sit and spin as far as I'm concerned. I really dislike Ohio State. This causes some issues with The Wife because she grew up in C-bus cheering for OSU. In fact, she claims her dad graduated from there (although I'm not sure I believe her.) Columbus, Ohio is a nice enough town that is unfortunate in that the entire city's priorities are totally out of whack. If the president were to be shot during football season, there's a 98% chance the top story on the local news in Columbus that night would be about the battle for 3rd string quarterback, while the presidential shooting would be reduced to a footnote story they sneak in between the weather report and the going-to-commercial banter. To make matters worse, last night my beloved Dayton Flyers lost to the team from C-bus. That only makes me hate them more.

Hey Hey What Can I Do by Hootie & The Blowfish - Confession time... I like Hootie & The Blowfish. I know their first cd got overplayed to death, but with the distance of 10+ years I have to say I'm always pleased when they come up on the ole iPod.

Hey Jude by The Beatles - A few years ago my parents took us all to Vegas to see Paul McCartney play. I remember being absolutely amazed by the energy in the building and the energy he brought to the stage (he is over 60 after all. By the time I get to 60 I'll be lucky if I'm not using a rascal to get to the kitchen from the living room.) When I was in 3rd grade I bought one of the Truly Tasteless Jokes books... I think it was volume 3. I don't remember many of the 'jokes' but I remember this one:
Q: What will it take for The Beatles to reunite?
A: Another 3 bullets.
Truly tasteless indeed (not to mention out of date now.)

Hey Kind Friend by Indigo Girls - My friend Margaret saw the Indigo Girls walking around New Orleans once. She's right, you can tell it's them, even from the back.

Hey Ladies Night by djBC - Who doesn't like a well constructed mash-up? Actually I suppose plenty of people don't, but I'm not one of them.

Hey Man (Now You're Really Living) by Eels - Just Eels? Should I still call them the Eels even though the isn't part of the name? This song was on the soundtrack to some Judd Apatow project right? Also, am I the only one who in his head envisions Judd Apatow as looking just like Paul Rudd?

Hey Now Everybody by They Might Be Giants - A 5 second song's a good way to end the day.

from Hello Hello Hello to Here And Now

Day 631, Session 116:
When/Where: Wednesday March 12th - Running (not literally) around the neighborhood catching up on chores
First song: Hello Hello Hello by The XYZ Affair
Last full song: Here And Now by Del Amitri
Progress: 1862-1877 of 5814 (skipped one podcast)
Total Songs Heard: 1495

Sweet Jesus Beverly, I believe winter may finally be giving up its icy grip on Chicago. Yesterday, for the first time in forever, I was able to go outside for an extended period without wearing a coat. Man that was refreshing.

Musically the day started with The XYZ Affair. To the best of my knowledge, the musical version of The XYZ Affair has nothing to do with the late 18th-century diplomatic imbroglio between the U.S.A. and France. I found the XYZ Affair after watching this video on the You Tubes:

I like this particular song, All My Friends, quite a bit. I decided to investigate more XYZ Affair after seeing this video. If you grew up at the same time I did, you also loved Double Dare and Marc Summers. The idea of Marc Summers keeping green slime in his fridge at home immediately endeared this band to me. If you'd like to discover some XYZ Affair for yourself, check out their website.

Then there was Hello, Dolly!

It was April 3rd, 1992. It was a Friday. I was 16. It was the night of my first real date. Yes, I was 16 and it was my first date. Why, you may ask, did it take until I was 16 to have a first date? There are a few reasons: 1) Have you seen me? I look pretty much the same now as I did then, only without the beard (which is to say, like a dweeb. For some reason the girls didn't go for the dweeb look.) B) It would be much more effective for the rule of threes if I had a solid B in place here, but I'm having trouble thinking of one so I'll move directly onto... III) There was only one girl I wanted to date.

The problem with reason III is that while the girl and I were very close friends, she was consistently dating people who weren't me. In fact, I had just about given up on the girl. Around Christmas she had been boyfriend free and we started spending a lot of time together and I took the plunge and asked her out... and she said no. Then around my birthday I tried again... and she said no. At that point I had just enough pride to tell her that I wasn't going to ask her out again. Of course since I still wanted to go out with her, this made the relationship a little awkward over the next month until finally I told her that I needed to break up with her as a friend.

About a week later she asked me out. Her sister drove. Two other friends were there too. I spent the whole show trying to figure out exactly how I had ended up there and hoping my hand didn't start sweating too much while holding hers. It wasn't really just the two of us until after the show. "Mysteriously" after the show everyone else disappeared for a little. She was sitting on a window ledge. I was standing next to her. I remember thinking, "So, here we are," as she leaned over and we kissed for the first time. My first kiss. (did I mention I was 16?!?) I had been waiting for it for 4 years. It was totally worth it.

I don't remember a damn thing about the show itself, but when I heard Hello, Dolly!, all the rest came rushing back.

Turns out there is an advantage to having a severely limited dating history. All the important individual moments stay within reach in my swiss cheese brain.

Hello, Dolly! - Bobby Darin

Falling Slowly Oscar Update

The academy did the right thing. Falling Slowly won. We can call off the investigation. (It's been tough staying ahead of the innernecks censors who don't want this video to be available, this it the third version I've posted. If it says video not available, just head over to YouTube and do a search there, I'm sure someone will how found a way to keep this performance alive.)

The long version with Colin Farrell intro


Just the song from another site that hopefully won't back down to the Academy:

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Although I'm annoyed that they 1) cut the song by about a minute (in the second verse a line or two are cut and the outro was hacked,) 2) over-orchestrated it (the original recording doesn't add strings until the last 1/2 of the song,) and 3) then spent too much of the time focusing on the orchestra instead of, you know, the folks who were nominated and actually performing the song. Also, those 3 women in the front row who were didn't applaud at the end... punches in the nose all around.

Ok, I got a little obsessive here. This is probably why I should not break my own rules.

from Hard Headed to Haywire

Day 612, Session 113:
When/Where: Friday February 22th - In the living room, playing through Nottingham Forest's 1st Premier League season.
First song: Hard Headed Woman by Cat Stevens
Last full song: Haywire by The Jayhawks
Progress: 1803-1830 of 5784
Total Songs Heard: 1446

Ok, so I know I made up a set of rules for this project and one of those rules was no going backwards but...

The Oscars are this weekend. I know, I know, you probably don't really care. Honestly, for the most part I don't really care either. I've seen two of the best picture nominees, "Juno," which I liked it, but I hardly think of it as a Best Picture type of movie, and "No Country For Old Men," which I liked better, but again, didn't make me think best. movie. ever.

There is one category I care a lot about this year. Best song. The nominees include 3 songs from the movie "Enchanted" (which I'll probably never see,) 1 from the movie "August Rush" (which I certainly will never see,) and 1 from my favorite movie of last year, "Once."

So good is that song, that I'm breaking the rules and going back to highlight the Oscar nominated tune Falling Slowly. I'm not going to go into all the details of the movie, I know at least 4 of my 11 (this is a guess) loyal readers have already seen it. All you need to know is a guy and a girl (awesomely, their character names in the movie are Guy and Girl) meet and make beautiful music together. Falling Slowly is the first time they work together.



To make sure you understand how I feel, I'm going to use words that aren't normally part of my vocabulary. This song is lovely. It brings tears to my eyes every single time I hear it. The movie is charming and full of joy. Amazingly, "Once" was not nominated for Best Picture. The very least they can do is make sure this song is recognized.

I feel so strongly about this that I'm filing this entry on Saturday night even though I know practically no one will see it until Monday when it may be too late. So if you're reading this Monday, and Falling Slowly did not win the Oscar for Best Song please call your congressperson and demand a federal investigation.

Right after Arlen Specter finishes investigating the New England Patriots.

Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

from Freedom to Frenesi

Day 529, Session 100:
When/Where: Saturday December 1st - Driving back from Evanston
First song: Freedom by Blues Traveler
Last full song: Frenesi by Eydie Gormé
Progress: 1480-1485 of 5513
Total Songs Heard: 1187

One hundred times I've strapped the iPod to my head to listen to songs in alphabetical order. Well actually, that's a bit of a lie, sometimes I've plugged in an old cassette tape converter and listened in the car. This was one of those times.

Things kicked off with Freedom by Blues Traveler. The wife commented that she would have preferred if I had the song Freedom by George Michael. I explained to her that the song she was thinking of was actually titled Freedom! '90. You see, I was a big Wham! fan growing up and I knew that the song was titled Freedom! '90 to distinguish it from an earlier Wham! hit that was also titled Freedom. That's right, I knew that immediately and felt the need to share it. And now, apparently, I've felt the need to share it again. (For those of you reading this that are too young to remember, before being a solo artist, George Michael was one half of the group Wham!, thus the need to distinguish his newer solo song.) (For those of you reading this who are too young to remember George Michael as a musician... he was a punchline on late night talk shows for quite some time after being caught soliciting a male police officer in a public restroom.)

Sadly, despite the fact that I own "Make It Big" on record (that's right, actual record) I have not yet transferred it into my music collection. So you'll just have to take my word for it that Freedom by Blues Traveler, Freedom by Wham!, and Freedom '90 by George Michael are all different songs.



Freedom - Blues Traveler

from Fire to Flight Of The Passing Fancy

Day 460, Session 95:
When/Where: Tuesday September 25th - Sitting at my new desk at work. My third new desk this year.
First song: Fire by Josh Joplin
Last full song: Flight Of The Passing Fancy by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Progress: 1346-1369 of 5329 (1 skipped podcast)
Total Songs Heard: 1123

Way back in May I posted about the song First of May by Jonathan Coulton. Actually heard it in order today and it remains awesome. It also is one of those things that, when children eventually do come along, will lead to an awkward conversation. Instead of actually having that conversation, I plan on showing my future children this video.

(***WARNING*** this video contains scenes of animated debauchery and should definitely not be viewed by my parents.)



That way they'll also know more about World of Warcraft, a game their future father has spent way too much time playing.

I also heard Five Guys Named Moe today. If you ever have a chance to see the musical Five Guys Named Moe, I highly recommend it. The show features the music of Louis Jordan, who I happen to think is one of the great underappreciated figures in American music. I saw it at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. on a school trip. I remember thinking at the time how strange it was to be seeing a show at the same theater where President Lincoln had been assassinated (Abe and I were tight) but the music was so infectious that 10 minutes in I didn't give poor dead Linc another thought.

Hearing it again set me off thinking about how much I enjoy the sound of human voices in harmony. The moments in music of really good harmony are the moments that I tend to get goosebumpy. I'm sure there's some scientific explanation for why harmony is pleasing to the brain, but I'm probably not smart enough to understand it (feel free to try to explain it to me, I'll nod like I understand.) All I know is that if there had been harmonious singing in Our American Cousin instead of lines like "Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal—you sockdologizing old man-trap..." there's no way Booth could have stayed mad enough to go through with the shooting.

Five Guys Named Moe

ETA: Oh yeah, I'm also leaving my job. So if anyone was ever thinking about approaching me about sponsoring this blog, now would be a good time.

from Don't Stop Me Now to Double Huey Skit

Day 210, Session 72:
When/Where: Thursday January 18th - Going to work.
First song: Don't Stop Me Now by Queen
Last full song: Double Huey Skit by De La Soul
Progress: 999-1006 of 4802
Total Songs Heard: 856

Only 3 more "don't" songs... since it's the end of an era (4 posts now equals an era) let's look at them in no particular order:

Don't Wanna Be Your Fool - Quiet Riot: Don't want to hear you again. Deleted!

Don't Talk To Strangers - Jonathan Coulton: While I still find this to be reasonably good advice, I have now found that it somewhat limits my ability to make new friends as a 31-year old. When I was a kid, strangers were only the people that I didn't know at all. Now strangers are everyone that I don't already know well. It's hard to get to know more people well when you don't talk to anyone because you don't already know them well. Vicious cycle and all that.

Don't Stop Me Now - Queen: If you haven't seen "Shaun of the Dead" you really should. Who doesn't love zombie fights set to Queen?

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.

Tuesday November 14th - Evening

Day 145, Session 51:
Location: Heading to rehearsal, running lines as I go.
First song: Closer to the Bone by Louis Prima
Last full song: Cold Blooded Old Times by (Smog)
Progress: 673-681 of 4474
Total Songs Heard: 596

Code Monkey Video!


There are more things to say about more songs in this particular set, but man, do I love me some Code Monkey. You probably will not be surprised to learn that the music behind this video is another example of the excellent work of Jonathan Coulton. I love the video because of the girl's commitment to the bit.

Added 1/8:
I said there was a little more to say about this day...

Cocoon by Bjork was terrible. Deleted! (Sorry Kerstin.)

Closing Time by Tom Waits, I discovered Tom Waits almost completely by accident. This song is the title track from his first cd. (Which, when it came out was actually called an album.) Some time in 1999 the group Semisonic released a song by the same name. At the time I was closing a lot of bars so it was something of a theme song. For some reason I got it in my head to try out some Tom Waits and since I already liked the song Closing Time I thought it would be cool to hear Tom Waits' version. Uh, yeah, they're not the same song. Not even close. In case you're not familiar, the Tom Waits' version is an instrumental. Turns out I like the Tom Waits' version better. If you don't know Closing Time, you should.