I’m going to apologize in advance, this is going to be long and boring, but It’s Saturday night and I haven’t really had any human interaction since Wednesday night, sure I have left the house … to go for a walk or buy cookie ingredients, but the last time I sat face to face with people was Wednesday, and I sit here at home now and feel like blogging. I have been walking, it fills the void, and I listen to my Ipod, specifically the “New Walking” playlist, it’s 31 songs long and lasts 2.2 hours… and on an average walk I hear it 1 1/2 times. I have just thrown songs into this playlist, to kill the time as I trek the valley floor looking for what used to be me… But that is not totally true, as white sneaker met dirty concrete I started to think, these songs are not as random as I originally thought. There is some meaning behind the choices, although it is not an organized walk through my psyche, these songs do have meaning and reason for their life in my 2nd generation, light blue ipod, that is near capacity. So I have decided to go through this list:
1. The Funeral by Band of Horses – This is an amazing track by an amazing band. It spoke to me from the moment I first heard it on the now gone Indie 103. Although it’s not a huge motivator to walk until your feet bleed, so it starts the journey off, getting started right after I lock the door (I always start my walks from home, driving somewhere to start walking seems counter-productive).
2. Show Me What I’m Looking For by Carolina Liar – Wouldn’t be great if we knew what we were looking for? Many of us think we have an idea, but I think we’re really clueless.
3. 21 Guns by Green Day – Green Day has become so much more than they were when they started and they continue to make great music. This one has a Beatles feel, and really who was more punk than the Beatles.
4. Last Parade by Matthew Good – Second only to this playlist is the Matthew Good playlist, it has 57 songs and lasts 4.2 hours. This was the first single off his latest album, Vancouver, and it was released before the full record on itunes, so it made it to the list first, but in all truth the full album could be here. I don’t think there is another artist that I feel as close a connection, without recapping our whole life, we both know pain and loss in very similar ways and have been in many of the same places.
5. You Found Me by The Fray – They have this knack of writing songs that make you feel emotions, that is a true gift… I cherish art that makes me feel, good or bad.
6. Long Day by Matchbox 20 – this really is the best Matchbox 20 song! The first line kills me, we all have those notes we have hidden, the ones we just can’t throw away.
7. Kids by MGMT – When techno/electronic music is bad it is bad… But when it is good, it’s great! This is a stellar track from an equally great album.
8. 18 Days by Saving Abel – Break up songs work because we’ve all been through them… we just can’t all put it too song. It’s not that I want to re-live the pain, but it is nice to know others relate… and that they are way better at articulating it.
9. Swing Life Away by Rise Against – One of those bands that gets better with every listen. I think I like this song for the same reason I like coming of age films, for the brief time of the work I get to relive those feelings of youth, confusion.
10. Take Back The City by Snow Patrol – Another band with an amazing catalog, but I picked this one because I know that feeling of being totally in love with the city you live in, and being able to regain a position you once had… There have been times I have felt I ruled this city, and others I thought it would crush me. Some times your paradise can be your prison, but there are times when it is just majestic.
11. Zero by The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs – This song always makes me pick up my pace a little bit. Great techno/rock hybrid with a female lead singer.
12. Water Landing by Third Eye Blind – 3EB’s latest is the other album that spoke to me this year, I really feel a connection to the songs, the last half of the album could have been the soundtrack to my life the past year and a half. ” if it’s a water landing, then it’s a water landing”
13. How Soon Is Now by Love Spit Love – Which is really the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs doing an amazing cover of The Smith’s classic.
14. Audience of One by Rise Against – A repeat band on the list, but another amazing track… I wish I had wrote this song.
15. Why Can’t You Be by Third Eye Blind – Bands are going to start making multiple appearances on my walk. Anyone rationalizing a break-up has thought “Why Can’t You Be…”
16. Feel Good Drag by Anberlin – sure it’s about cheating, but it rocks… It’s not always about the lyrics with guys.
17. Fireflies by Owl City – Another example of Techno/Electronic music working… It just makes you feel good.
18. 1901 by Phoenix – Hey, if it’s good enough for Cadillac car commercials, it’s good enough to urban hike around the valley too.
19. Medicated by AFI – They found a way to make goth/punk rock work for the mainstream, this song just makes you want to move faster.
20. Just Breathe by Pearl Jam – Not only is this a great song, but I have huge respect for PJ, they stuck to what they wanted to be and have succeeded doing it… If only we were all that brave, and lucky!
21. Crystal Baller by Third Eye Blind – Off one of their less successful albums, but a rocking, heartfelt song.
22. Propane Nightmares by Pendulum – A Depeche Mode inspired rocker that was overlooked by mainstream radio, but should have been a huge hit.
23. Giant by The Matthew Good Band – Matthew Good is one of those people that makes me feel bad about myself, he writes things that have so much meaning. I’m weird, in that things will effect me, sometimes it’s just a line or a few words. “When you blow out like a dead star, it reminds me how uniform your beautiful is. We carry on like it’s easy, like your all out and I’m your man.” I think about this chorus all the time.
24. Resolution by Jack’s Mannequin – a survivors song from a young man that survived leukemia. It’s just one of those songs that makes you feel better.
25. Undergound by Moist – From the Mercedes Five and Dime album, I know I have felt my life was “underground” and there have been times I wished it was. David Usher writes incredible songs both with Moist and as a Solo Artist.
26. Wheels by Foo Fighters – Another song with an airplane metaphor, maybe we are all kind of flying around out of control.
27. Just Breathe by Pearl Jam – I had forgotten that I added it to the list and re-added, it’s good enough to hear twice.
28. Audience by Cold War Kids – Great music, great voice. Some times we’re just performing for ourselves.
29. For What It’s Worth by Placebo – Not a cover, but an original by a band you should check out, they do a great cover of Kate Bush’s Climbing That Hill, but their original catalog is equally impressive.
30. Panic Switch by Silversun pickups – They are what Smashing Pumpkins should be today.
31. Substitution by Silversun Pickups – Maybe I’ll separate these tracks out… Screw it, they sound good together.
Thank you for indulging me, I could have written an individual blog on each of these artists. I hope your playlist gets you over all the curbs and potholes that block your path.
Rock On, Jack
