Day 06 – A song by your favourite band/artist

I don't think that any band could ever knock Pink Floyd off as king of the mountain for me. Some songs from NIN have a very personal meaning to me, and that is one band I will drop pretty much anything for to go see in concert. Tons of emotion in Trent's words and singing makes the songs wonderful, but seeing it up close in person is absolutely amazing. Muse is another of my favorite bands, and probably has the best chance of anyone to overtake Pink Floyd sometime in my life....but they will have to do a hell of a lot, for an awful long time to have a chance. Floyd put out quality music from the late 60s through the mid 90s, so Muse has a couple of decades til they get to that same level. Believe me, I really hope they do. Muse is by far my favorite active band.

So how do I pick just one song from Pink Floyd, when I can hardly ever listen to just one at a time? If I listen to one, it's usually four or five. So many songs have so many lyrics that hit me hard in one way or another. It's no secret that I have quite a wall up between myself and other people. There are very few people who have ever found their way inside, and a lot of those never would have made it if it wasn't for the album The Wall. Reading everything I could about Roger Waters and his thoughts and feelings about The Wall gave me a lot of insight into what was really going on with me when I was younger, but never realized on my own. Not only was this album my real introduction to Pink Floyd, it's not a stretch to say that it had a huge impact on the person I have become, and I like who I am today a lot more than the person I was on my way to being about 20 years ago. So I will be choosing a song from this album.

At one point or another in everyone's life, you feel alone. No matter how many people you have around you, nor how good your life may be to everyone on the outside looking in. We all have our times of doubt, fear, and loneliness. This song seems to illustrate those times best for me. I may never be able to express them well, but I feel this song about the depressive side of rock stardom does a great job for me.

Nobody Home- Pink Floyd.

I've got a little black book with my poems in.
Got a bag, with a toothbrush and a comb,
When I'm a good dog, they sometimes throw me a bone.

I got elastic bands keepin my shoes on.
Got those swollen hand blues.
I Got thirteen channels of shit on the T.V. to choose from.
I've got electric light.
And I got second sight.
Got amazing powers of observation.
And that is how I know
When I try to get through
On the telephone to you
There'll be nobody home.

I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm.
And the inevitable pinhole burns
All down the front of my favorite satin shirt.
I got nicotine stains on my fingers.
I got a silver spoon on a chain.
Got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains.

I got wild staring eyes.
And I got a strong urge to fly.
But I got nowhere to fly to.
Ooooh, Babe when I pick up the phone

"Surprise, surprise, surprise..." (from Gomer Pyle show)
There's still nobody home.

I've got a pair of Gohills boots
and I got fading roots.

Day 05 – A song from your childhood

A few songs popped into my head when I read the day five directive. One of them was the Snoopy song I talked about in my Day 02 post. That would probably be the one I'd choose for this but since I already mentioned it in one post, I'll choose another today.

My first thought for this was simply, Happy Birthday. Lots of great memories from my childhood revolved around birthdays, and not just mine. I had a couple memorable birthdays as a kid, but a lot of memories I have with friends and family revolved around someone's birthday. But this song isn't just from my childhood, because I have plenty of recent memories involving birthdays too. So I am going to have to disqualify it right there.

Next I thought of the Christmas album that I had from Alvin and the Chipmunks because I know I listened to that plenty as a kid, but I don't have any memories really associated with it....so I moved on past that one too.

What I finally came up with wasn't a song that I listened to a lot when I was a kid, and when I did listen to it, it wasn't by choice. There is a small bar & grill in my town that has been a family hangout since before I was born. My father has a lot of siblings, and most of them lived within a mile or two of this bar when I was young, so it was a convenient meeting place...and the fact that they had cheap beer didn't hurt either. Well, the time I spent in there as a kid was occupied by the pinball machines, pool table, or the jukebox. As far as I remember, this song was the number one played song on that jukebox for YEARS.

Waiting on a Friend- The Rolling Stones.

A smile relieves a heart that grieves
Remember what I said
I'm not waiting on a lady
I'm just waiting on a friend

Don't need a whore
I don't need no booze
Don't need a virgin priest
But I need someone I can cry to
I need someone to protect
Making love and breaking hearts
It is a game for youth
But I'm not waiting on a lady
I'm just waiting on a friend

Day 04 – A song by the first band/artist you saw live

This one is by far the easiest one to answer so far. The first concert I ever went to was at Tiger Stadium, which could be why I like outdoor venues so much for concerts, and it was the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" tour in 1994. I wasn't a huge fan of the Eagles, but liked them well enough, so when I had some friends show interest in going, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

Now at the time of this concert, Melissa Etheridge was just starting to get really big as a main stream artist, and The Eagles had her open the show for them....but she played nearly two hours before vacating the stage for the headliner. About an hour into her set, we started to boo her. At first it wasn't much, and it was just funny to us....but it didn't take too long for the rest of the crowd around us to join in, and soon thereafter we had the entire section booing her offstage. I guess we weren't the only group there just to see the Eagles.

Going into the concert, I only had one song that I really wanted to hear them perform; Hotel California. It was the one song from them I knew and liked really well. Not only was it the one song I wanted to hear live, it was what they opened the concert with. Excluding that whole Etheridge thing, it ended up being the first song I heard performed live. I was very happy about that, but I seemed to be one of the few at the time. Most people, including myself, were puzzled as to why they would open the concert with their strongest and most popular song, and a lot of others were seriously mad about it. I, on the other hand, was happy with it because after hearing it, I was free to do whatever I wanted without worrying about when they'd play it, and if I might miss it.

"You can check out anytime you like....but you can never leave"

Day 03 – Your favourite album track

Going back to my Day 02 post, where I talked about how much I'd rather take a chance on an album than just buy a single, it should come as no surprise that I have a LOT of albums to choose from for this. There are a handful of bands that I put in my upper echelon, like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, NIN, and Muse, and at one point or another I owned every studio album from those four bands. Here and there over time, I have picked up hundreds of albums....and a good share of those have been stolen from me at one point or another, but that is a story I can tell some other time. Right now I have to choose some favorite albums and songs.

Now with this challenge, I could easily include EVERY album I have ever owned. The best album track may actually come from one of the worst albums I own....all it takes is one great song on the album. That being said, I weigh this one heavily in favor of my favorite albums....and therefore, more toward concept albums like Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall. Aside from those two albums, I'd also have to consider Led Zeppelin IV in the running for favorite album. Black Holes and Revelations from Muse would have to be up there too, considering that is by far the most listened to album for me since I've had an iPod. And Wish You Were Here is my favorite album from start to finish from my favorite band, Pink Floyd.

Other albums that really stick out to me are Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt, which is the only one on this list to have the designation of being stolen from me three times, and American Idiot by Green Day. Both have a couple strong candidates with songs like Don't Speak and Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Unfortunately, I just can't put them in the same category as the others.

Eminem has some great albums, and I'll always be very partial to Appetite for Destruction....but they can't contend either. Heather Nova's Oyster is definitely one of my favorite albums too, and probably comes the closest of the runners up so far....but it's still just a step behind the top front runners.

Seeing that I have named nine possible top albums, I might as well add one more to give me a de facto top ten. The Chronic by Dr. Dre was an amazing album all around, and introduced us to Snoop. There is no way I could leave that out....but again, it's not strong enough to me to be in the top 5.

So now, which of the top 5 do I choose? Or do I just choose which song I think is strongest out of them all, since they are so close in terms of being my favorite album? Alright....I am thinking way too hard about this. I'm just going to list my favorite songs from each, then compare them.

First, I have to mention Map of the Problematique off of Black Holes and Revelations. It is by FAR my most played song on iTunes, but just don't think this album will get the favorite track. Next, I'd have to bring up Dark Side of the Moon because I don't have just one favorite that sticks out. I rarely, if ever, listen to one song off of this album without listening to several of them. Because of that, I just can't give any of them the top spot.

The third album is The Wall. Just like Dark Side, I can't listen to just one song from this album....plus I can't help thinking about how neither of those albums is my favorite from the band. Which leads me to Wish You Were Here. This is my favorite album from start to finish, yet one that I often do listen to just one song at a time from. Have a Cigar and Wish You Were Here are both great songs individually and in the context of the album, but they still can't beat out my favorite album track.

Led Zeppelin IV is regarded by a lot of people as one of the best rock albums of all time, and I certainly agree. This is an album that I like and listen to as much as my mom did, if not more. One of the things that makes this album so good is the way it ends, leaving you on a really high note, and that high note is due to the orchestration and composition of Stairway to Heaven. The song is widely regarded as one of the best in rock, and for me it's easy to see why. The lyrics are great, and the way the song takes you from low and slow to high and mighty. I really can't say enough about this song and, in the end, I didn't really have to go through all of this to decide. With my first iPod I was offered free engraving for two lines on the back. My choice, after about this much debate, just happened to be lyrics from Stairway.

"Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven"

Day 02 – Your favourite single

When I first read this, I took it to simply mean my favorite song. After further review I believe that to be wrong, and in the context of this challenge I take it to mean my favorite single (cassette/CD/45 RPM) that I have owned.

This is a lot more difficult for me than the last song, because I am much more of the "buy the album" type when it comes to music. I've wasted a lot of money on stuff that I don't like on an album that has only a song or two that I actually did like....but more than once I have found songs that I liked and never would have heard had I not bought the album. In general, I think the weight of finding something I like outweighs the possibility of missing out on something I'd never discover enough to justify the price I have paid.

Some of my favorite recent albums would be just a couple singles in my collection had I not taken the chance and grabbed the entire album. I may have saved a few bucks, but I would have missed out on a lot from Vampire Weekend, Metric, and Kings of Leon. All three of these bands are in my upper echelon of artists today because of an album I took a chance on, and now love to listen to.

So now that my little dissertation on why buying albums is better than buying singles, I have to try and narrow down an answer for this question. Thinking about it for a few minutes now, I can only come up with four singles that I have ever bought in the non-digital download days....which is how I feel I should qualify this. Three of those singles were cassettes, and one was a 45 RPM. I know I had several 45s that I loved as a kid....but I can only remember actually buying one of those for myself. Now, owning the single was the only designation in the day 2 challenge, but I have put a lot more weight to actually going out and buying the single. Therefore I will mention my favorite single I had bought for me as a kid, then move on to working out which of the four I bought was my favorite.

Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron was by far my favorite 45 as a kid. I listened to it over and over again....and if I can remember listening to it a lot, I can just imagine how often I REALLY listened to it....and therefore made my parents listen to it. I shudder at the thought. Lol.

So now that I have revealed my favorite 45, I guess I can talk about the one that I bought for myself....because it's not going to be the answer to this question. My best friend when I was about 10 or so was into rock just as much as I was, and then some. Then one day he started talking about this song called Fernando. I had no idea who ABBA was at this point in my life, so I expected something completely different when I found the 45 in a thrift store shortly after hearing about it. I think I paid a quarter for it, and was excited to get home to listen to this cool song. I remember putting it on the stereo in my room, which I had just gotten some pretty large speakers for, and dropping the needle onto it. Less than halfway into the song I was on the phone with him laughing and questioning his orientation. It was only a few years later that I realized I had actually struck gold with that 45. Fernando was not, in fact, released as a single....it was the B-side to a little song called Dancing Queen, which will forever hold a place in my heart because of the embarrassment it holds for my current best friend. 25 cents for a good amount of best friend torment is a great value, but getting a two for one at that price is simply amazing.

Now for the cassette singles I can remember purchasing. One of the three was a Mariah Carey song when she first hit the scene. I don't remember which of her songs it was, but I absolutely loved her voice when I first heard it, and still think she has one of the great all time voices to this day. But the fact that I don't remember exactly which song it was takes this one out of the running.

In the late 80s early 90s, I really liked Latin Freestyle music. The beats and music of Freestyle progressed into popular dance/pop music in the 90s and early 2000s....and now into the crap on the radio that I loathe listening too. One night in 1990 I heard a new Freestyle song on the radio and dug it IMMEDIATELY. I thought the beat was great, and the lyrics were SO deep. Although I played the cassette single a lot for quite a while, Sending All My Love by Linear is definitely not my favorite single.

So if I thought that Sending All My Love was deep in 1990, I must have been blown away in 1991 by what is actually my favorite owned single. Like I said, I was into rock as a kid. Even though I liked a lot of other music genres, rock has always been number one for me. So it's no surprise that a rock band holds this title....but it is kind of surprising that it's not a traditional rock song, but what we now refer to as a power ballad. When I first heard To Be With You, I had no idea who Mr. Big was. I still couldn't tell you what other songs they have ever sung....but it's undeniable that the one song they had become popular was a great song at that time. Most anyone remotely near my age can still sing that song with great accuracy....although most of us have absolutely no idea what "waited on a line of greens and blues" means.

Build up your confidence
So you can be on top for once
Wake up who cares about
Little boys that talk too much

I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you

You can make my life worthwhile
And I can make you start to smile

50 Day Song Challenge, Day 1

I too will be taking on this challenge that some of you may have read about here. Of course everyone doing this will put their own spin on it, so I figure that I will treat it like any post where I put up a song and take the lyrics I like the best, for whatever reason, and post those along with the song and whatever explanation I have for choosing the song I did. So, without further ado....here is number one of fifty.

Day 01 - A song from the first album you ever bought

The first part of this, figuring out which album was the first I ever bought, is a no-brainer. At the age of six I bought two copies of Michael Jackson's Thriller with my own money after it came out in 1982. One copy on vinyl, one on cassette. I was a huge Michael fan, and saved every bit of money I had to buy them. It's amazing to think how simple that time of my life was that the only thing I had to worry about financially was the one thing I was fixated on buying.

So, now here is the hard part....what song do I want to list? Thriller is an obvious choice, just for the level of impact the song and video had on pop culture. Not to mention it's the title track of the album. But just look at all the other popular songs on this album. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', The Girl is Mine, Beat It, Billie Jean, Human Nature, and P.Y.T. There are only two on the entire album that I couldn't sing along with. This album was a monster compilation of songs.

Billie Jean and Thriller were by far my favorite videos from the album...but that doesn't really mean they were the best songs. And, to be honest....I don't even know if any of the other songs had a video. P.Y.T. and Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' are fun songs, but I don't have any memories that involve either song. Human Nature and The Girl is Mine both have some memories associated with them for me, but Human Nature never really appealed to me all that much as a kid. The Girl is Mine, however has plenty of good memories for me including the night I listened to it over and over to make sure I knew all the lyrics to the song and who sang them....this was in response to a disagreement my older cousin and I had about who sang one of the lyrics, and was just a glimpse at the tenacity I could show to prove I am right when incorrectly told I am wrong. This is still a top pet peeve for me to this day. The song also highlighted the great relationship between Michael and Paul McCartney, which led to Paul accidentally giving Michael some great advice about buying the Beatles catalog....which had a HUGE impact on music and advertising for decades. So for me personally, and for pop culture, I believe The Girl is Mine is easily the most important song on the album.

Every Night She Walks Right In My Dreams
Since I Met Her From The Start
I'm So Proud I Am The Only One
Who Is Special In Her Heart

Touchback!

Plenty of the buzz at the NFL owner's meeting this week has been about the possible rule changes, especially the proposed changes to kickoffs. In a "player safety" move, the owners wanted to have teams kick from the 35 yard line, and push touchbacks out to the 25 yard line. My initial reaction, and the biggest argument the coaches had against this rule, was that player safety wasn't going to be impacted at all, because teams were now going to kick high and directionally, like a punt, to try and pin teams deep. Not many teams would concede the touchback now, unless they were kicking to an elite returner.

Eventually the rule change that they settled on yesterday was to in fact move the kickoffs to the 35, but to keep the touchbacks coming out to the 20. Basically, we are going back to the kickoff rules that were in place until the mid 90s. Most players and coaches won't get too bent out of shape about this, but guys like Devin Hester and Joshua Cribbs have already voiced their displeasure. That's not surprising considering that they stand to lose a lot of money in all this. The NFL's top return men now have been pretty much neutered. Nowadays it's rather easy for kickers, or punters who handle kickoff duties, to bury a kick into the end zone from the 35. And the fact that the coverage teams have to cover 5 less yards means that taking a return out of the endzone is even riskier now. Teams don't like getting pinned at the 20, but every yard inside the 20 counts....and coaches are not going to want to risk those important yards

So this just made me wonder....is this really about player safety, as the owners maintain, or is it another financial move? It's no secret that money has been the root of all evil when it comes to the NFL lockout. I'm not even going to get into that right now. Are the owners really thinking of the players here, or their assets? For some this could be an easy way to save a few bucks off player salaries, and for others it'll be a great way to reallocate the limit dollars they can spend under the salary cap....the real irony here is that I am sure a couple teams will just take that extra money and spend it on a kicker or punter with a strong enough leg to put it through the endzone almost every time.

Replay is another thing the owners addressed again....and, in my eyes, still haven't gotten it right. They agreed to install a policy of reviewing every scoring play to make sure you take that burden away from the coaches, especially the away coaches who are at a HUGE disadvantage on questionable scoring plays. That is a step in the right direction, but for some reason they also wanted to take a step back and eliminate the 3rd coaches challenge. Currently, each team only gets two replay challenges, but they receive a third challenge if both of those first two are upheld. I don't see the logic in taking away the third challenge from a coach who is 2-0. In fact I think that if the coach is right, he should have unlimited challenges. Stay with the 2 challenges, but let them keep going as long as they are winning these challenges. In the rare event that coaches use 4 or 5 in a game, the games may be a few minutes longer (which I know is taboo as far as the owners are concerned) but isn't that trade off worth it once or twice a season to make sure the calls on the field are correct?

Another thing the owner's meeting is always good for is letting them get more free airtime to further whatever cause they have going on at the time. Right now, with the lockout front and center for all fans, the owners are already getting a lot of publicity....so I haven't paid too much attention, but I did hear Giants owner John Mara talking about the draft yesterday. Basically, he said that the lockout isn't going to change the draft strategy for his team and that he has always told his staff to go for the best player available no matter what. I know it's the standard answer when talking about who to draft, but it's still BS to me. No team with a superstar QB or RB would ever draft another high in the draft, no matter how much of a better player he was than the others available at that time. The Patriots aren't going to draft Cam Newton in the first round, even if he falls to them. Neither are the Colts, or even the Rams. Finances in the modern NFL just don't allow that, not to mention the media shitstorm that would follow. In the end though I was happy to hear Mara say that, and I really hope he sticks steadfastly to that draft strategy. I won't mind watching the Giants continue to get worse.

Something Old, Something New

Something Old: I suppose since my blog is actually older than Twitter, it can be considered old by social media standards....but what is really getting old is this stupid effing shift I have been stuck on for the last 2.5 weeks. I really can't wait for Saturday morning to get here, even though I might be on a quick turnaround, so my schedule can just go back to normal. Well, at least as normal as my schedule has been the last few months.

Something New: The Blogger App. I originally wrote this post two nights ago on the app that I had newly downloaded. Posted this same picture, used this same format, probably most of these same words....but I'll never know because my very first post from the app was lost somewhere in the blogosphere, somewhere between my phone and this here blog. If you see it, please help it find it's way over here....I'd really like to know how I originally finished this post. After a few tests with posts I have since uninstalled the app. I may give it a try again later if they fix the bugs, or if I feel fine posting a lot of pictureless blogs and risking my time and words when I hit the publish button.

I'm sure I origianlly mentioned that I set up a new Twitter account for my blog, and I plan to update that account anytime I put a post up here....since that was one of the main reasons I wanted to post in the first place. At my current pace there wouldn't be too many tweets, but I downloaded the app and setup the Twitter account to help make it easier for me to get posts up and tell people about it so I have someone actually read it....other than my usual stalkers that is. And even though I have said time and again this blog is for me, I have a hard time really putting anything down in these posts unless I feel someone is going to read it. I also write better when I know I am being read....just like I drive better when I know that I am being watched, by someone who could actually write me a ticket that is, or I watch my language just a bit more when I am hanging out with my mom.

So I've tried to make posting easier and getting my "hey look at me" fix a little easier as well, but so far it hasn't worked....or it's worked on a severe delay. Only time will tell if this is a good idea, or another one of the many ideas that I tout and get so excited for initially, but end up falling by the wayside after a while. One thing is certain, I've got one more post under my belt because of all this, and I'm pretty sure there will be another one up later in the day with a couple topics that I want to get out there.

So stay tuned blog followers, and go ahead an follow my blog's new Twitter account to....the better to stalk me with my dear. Muah ha ha.

Football Friday

Well when I thought to write this post I expected the news of the day to be primarily about football since the CBA extension for the NFL expires at 5PM today, but right now I am watching coverage of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan tonight and the ensuing tsunami waves which have been reported as high as ten meters in some places. It's very surreal watching cars and homes swept away by these waves.

One of the things I was going to talk about today is the fact that Southfield Freeway is going to be closed Monday morning through the morning rush and how stupid that decision was...but it really pales in comparison to what I am seeing on TV right now. I've got plenty to talk about, but for now I am just going to leave it at this and temper my attitude in light of what I am watching.