Original video located here. Accessed 27th September 2010
Song title: (It's Not War) Just the End of Love
Artist: Manic Street Preachers
Year: 2010
Why I like this song:
Damn, what a way to open an album.
Its an exhilarating listen, showing the Manics still have gas left in the tank.
Favourite line: 'You weathered the storm but sheltered the loss'
Original video located here. Accessed 21st December 2016
Song title: Imagine
Artist: John Lennon
Year: 1971
Why I like this song:
What's there left to say about this one? I know it, you know it. And it may well be John's masterpiece.
Is it naïve? Maybe. But somehow this song transcends such criticism and keeps on being magnificent.
Last year, this song was playing on the radio whilst Kathleen and myself were sitting down to dinner. And then, without any cue whatsoever, we both started singing this song.
It's that powerful.
Original video located here. Accessed 15th September 2010
Song title: Everybody Hurts
Artist: R.E.M.
Year: 1992
Why I like this song:
Sometimes a song along that hits you like a truck. Then it becomes overused to the point of parody. But this song has somehow, against the odds, managed to escape such a fate. It still resonates nearly two decades later.
What makes it stand out for me is that this is a song built around an emotion that is hardly ever addressed in pop music: empathy. Can anyone name a song that reaches out to the listener that may be going through some tough times in such a manner? It may be easy to lash out at some former former partner but to take an empathetic approach is indeed a feat in itself.
I can only wonder how many lives this song has saved over the years....
Original video located here. Accessed 30th October 2015
Song title: A Day in the Life
Artist: The Beatles
Year: 1967
Why I like this song:
Is this the best Beatles song? A tough call considering their monumental output.
But, even with the passage of time, it still sounds like nothing else.
Original video located here. Accessed 10th September 2010
Song title: Bohemian Rhapsody
Artist: Queen
Year: 1975
Why I like this song:
This will never get old, no matter the passage of time nor how many times I play it.
It's also fun to headbang to in the car
Original video located here. Accessed 8th September 2010
Song title: Crackin' Up
Artist: Hoodoo Gurus
Year: 2010
Why I like this song:
I recently got my claws on the Hoodoo Gurus' new album Purity of Essence.
This is the opening track and pretty sets the tone straight out: A veteran act determined to not only prove there's plenty of gas in the tank but to show the young pups how it's done.
And Gurus pull it off with style.
Top stuff all the way.
Original video located here. Accessed 13th March 2021
Song title: Overwhelmed
Artist: Mental As Anything
Year: 1989
Why I like this song:
I recently got a hold of the Mental As Anything album Cyclone Raymond.
This album has an interesting placement in the Mentals' history: It's their seventh and came at the end of a decade where they racked hit after hit. As such, one would think that the Mentals would be running out of puff. It is this reason, I believe, that Cyclone Raymond tends to get overlooked.
Don't know why though: I found Cyclone Raymond to be a fantastic album and easily among the Mentals' best. And the above song is one of Greedy's highpoints in his songwriting career (which is indeed saying a lot). Indeed, I recall hearing this when I was seven and thinking it leaving quite the impression on me.
Seems I was right all along.
Original video located here. Accessed 6th September 2010
Song title: Blood
Artist: The Middle East
Year: 2010
Why I like this song:
I love a song with a build up and this one delivers. That it sounds unique from what else is out there doesn't hurt either.