This Song Rocks: Open Your Eyes

Original video located here. Accessed 31st July 2021

Song title: Open Your Eyes

Artist: Snow Patrol

Year: 2006

Why I like this song:

Chasing Cars may have been a big hit but I always thought this was better. And that's it for My Unpopular and Controversial Opinions. Tune in next week when we discuss the superiority of Smash Mouth's Walking on the Sun over All Star.

Seriously though, I said I have a liking for songs that just build and this one has it in spades. Indeed, that climax is a thing of beauty.

This Song Rocks: Heart Failed in the Back of a Taxi

Original video located here. Accessed 30th July 2021

Song title: Heart Failed in the Back of a Taxi

Artist: Saint Etienne

Year: 2000

Why I like this song:

Some songs remind you of a particular time and place and this is one of them. In this case, it reminds me of my first year of University and numerous sunny mornings at the Sandy Bay campus

This Song Rocks: Boom!

Original video located here. Accessed 27th July 2021

Song title: Boom!

Artist: System of a Down

Year: 2002

Why I like this song:

System of a Down has always been a puzzlement to me. Twenty years ago, when Chop Suey! descended from up on high, i could not, for the life of me, understand why people where losing their minds over it. Mind you, I'm the guy who couldn't understand why people were losing their minds of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit (and still don't) so what would I know?

Still, I do single this song out as my favorite from System of Down. It's angry, it's a rant and half and, as an anti-war song, it's damn effective.

Having said that though, i am well aware I championing System of a Down's most direct lyrical statement. In which case, the point isn't lost on me.

This Song Rocks: Sleep

Original video located here. Accessed 25th July 2023

Song title: Sleep

Artist: The Dandy Warhols

Year: 2000

Why I like this song:

The Dandy Warhols are an oddity to me. At their best, they can churn out great pop songs with plenty of hooks and tons of snark. At their worst, they produce songs that come across as either meandering or not being fully realised beyond the first draft.

But, as this song demonstrates, they can do atmospheric really well. It is indeed a simple song but the effects and the hypnotic nature utilized here works wonders. It's dreamy and haunting both at the same time which is not an easy trick to pull off in a pop song

Nineties Revisited: In the Meantime

Original video located here. Accessed 24th July 2021

Song title: In the Meantime

Artist: Spacehog

Year: 1996

Why I like this song:

Another entrant in the clutch of brand new material i discovered in my fourteenth year.

It can't be underestimated just how much of a lightning bolt this was. Somehow, the rubbish i had previously listened to (read: had forced upon me) on commercial radio seemed very old news.

I loved the bass line. I loved the guitars. I loved the strange pitches in the singer's voice.

That this song got an unearthing for Rock Band 3 makes me even more happy

This Song Rocks: Amaranth

Original video located here. Accessed 23rd July 2021

Song title: Amaranth

Artist: Nightwish

Year: 2007

Why I like this song:

In 2009, i was involved in working on Amaranth: a ball that was tied to the anime convention Manifest (RIP). And at one point, it was asked, in regards to the music selection, whether this song will be included (thereby maintaining an Amaranth tradition).

Not knowing the song, I managed to track it down and, for a time, i couldn't stop playing it

Nineties Revisited: Santa Monica

Original video located here. Accessed 22nd July 2021

Song title: Santa Monica

Artist: Everclear

Year: 1996

Why I like this song:

As previously established in this series, 1996 was the year that I stepped out of the bubble and made the effort to be acquainted music that I was previously unaware of. And this song was prominent amongst this new frontier.

As such, i still love this song: Snappy riffs, a great build up, a summer vibe and great for a good shout-along.

Furthermore, as I have gotten older and my tastes in music have grown in sophistication, there is still some satisfaction that there is still a part of me that is fourteen years old and is still dreaming of your.....FACE!!!!

This Song Rocks: Hearts A Mess

Original video located here. Accessed 21st July 2021

Song title: Heart's a Mess

Artist: Gotye

Year: 2006

Why I like this song:

Somebody I Used to Know may have given Gotye a worldwide hit but I always thought this earlier effort was the better of the two.

This works for me as being a case of: Right Place, Right Time. For much of 2006, I was in a bad way mentally. And this song is indeed emblematic of that time: That string sample, the ghoulish mocking keyboard noise and a chorus that contains the line: "You can't live like this!!!"

Still, if this song is about facing your problems and addressing them, then the good news is that i did just that. And it was indeed a turning point in the decade that was my twenties

This Song Rocks: Dry Your Eyes

Original video located here. Accessed 20th July 2021

Song title: Dry Your Eyes

Artist: The Streets

Year: 2004

Why I like this song:

It's the precursor to the Dean Lewis' Be Alright.

Seriously though, as long as popular music continue to exists, there will be break up songs. And break up songs come in two flavors: Sad or spiteful. And whilst this may be well and truly in the former category, it still has a degree of relatability that few break songs can match. I mean can anyone make the oft-use phrase 'there's plenty more fish in the sea' weighed down with both resignation and sadness?

Personally, i have been through a few break ups in my lifetime so this song has been helpful during such instances.

This Song Rocks: Getting Away With It

Original video located here. Accessed 19th July 2021

Song title: Getting Away With It

Artist: James

Year: 2001

Why I like this song:

As established previously, i really like songs that build up. And this is one of them. But what particularly strikes me is just how desperate this song comes across. I have never heard a song that evokes such a desperate situation and that's what makes it so compelling

A lot songs in the history of popular music tend to play up the whole image of 'unrepentant outlaw' (see: AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell') but this song, i feel, presents an antithesis to such an image.

This Song Rocks: Must be Dreaming

Original video located here. Accessed 18th July 2021

Song title: Must Be Dreaming

Artist: Frou Frou

Year: 2002

Why I like this song:

Again, this is an oddity: The music is all over the place and the lyrics are both nonsensical and contradictory. Still, there are nuggets of interest: I like the harp sample throughout the chorus, the "don't stop" before the second chorus, and how the lyrics seems to illustrate conflicting emotions.

So yes, in the end, this song does it's job and it does it well.

This Song Rocks: Armies Against Me

Original video located here. Accessed 17th July 2021

Song title: Armies Against Me

Artist: Epicure

Year: 2003

Why I like this song:

If yesterday's song represented me at the end of my last year at Uni, then this song is me at the beginning of my last year at Uni.

So whenever I hear this song, I reminded of twenty-year old me, who had his back against the wall, who had taken a few hits and was determined to give his all to complete his bachelor. It's the sound to rising to a challenge and taking it head on.

That and the slide guitar is pretty sweet.

This Song Rocks: Timothy

Original video located here. Accessed 6th July 2024

Song title: Timothy

Artist: Jet

Year: 2003

Why I like this song:

An unusual choice as it would appear that history has not been kind to this band. What was once a big deal now has words attached like 'derivative' and 'annoying'. Thus it seems that, much like many times before, the rose-tinted glasses have been replaced with Geez-what-was-I-thinking-tinted glasses.

But I included this song in this series in that it came out in 2003 - the same year I did my last year of University. And this it has resonance as my 'End of Uni' theme. The four year journey had now ended and now the question arises: Where do we go from here?

This Song Rocks: Your Arms Around Me

Original video located here. Accessed 15th July 2021

Song title: Your Arms Around Me

Artist: Jens Lekman

Year: 2006

Why I like this song:

This is indeed a bizarre song: The only instrument is a ukulele. It is delivered in a deadpan tone. And the lyrics spin a narrative that starts off romantic but then takes a sudden turn for the humorous. Naturally, such a combination would make an immediate appeal to my sense of humour.

It should be noted that this particular recording is an early version of the song. The following year, Jens released an album with a different version of this song where he changed the best line (an act I have never really forgiven him for)

Nineties Revisited: Political Prisoners

Original video located here. Accessed 5th July 2024

Song title: Political Prisoners

Artist: iNsuRge

Year: 1995

Why I like this song:

They say that your tastes in music will forever be defined by what you listened to at age 14. And I certainly agree with that notion. And thus, we have a song from that period of time, me at age 13-14, when i realised there was indeed a world outside the bubble that was commercial radio.

At the time, there were two things that struck me about this song. Firstly it was proof that heavy guitars and electronics can indeed work together. And secondly, just how angry the song is.

In fact I wonder how this song will fare if it was released today. I mean rallying against corporate greed is a surefire way to guarantee an immediate audience, right?

The Asian Connection: Jane Doe

Original video located here. Accessed 9th July 2021

Song title: Misako Aoki and Merry Merly

Artist: Jane Doe

Year: 2017

Why I like this song:

Given that this is a meeting of lolita minds, this is truly elegant.
It must be that piano.

This Song Rocks: Pursuit of Happiness

Original video located here. Accessed 8th July 2021

Song title: Pursuit of Happiness

Artist: Kid Cudi with Ratatat and MGMT

Year: 2009

Why I like this song:

This is a strange song: Taken on a surface level, it talks up doing what you want with no regrets and knowing it will eventually turn out to be the right decision - which was appeal enough for me.

But on closer examination, this outlook is being applied by a protagonist in an unhappy situation. And that's what makes it even better.

A pro-hedonistic song with depth? Who would've thunk it?

This Song Rocks: Park Benches

Original video located here. Accessed 7th July 2021

Song title: Park Benches

Artist: Belles Will Ring

Year: 2007

Why I like this song:

Well someone's been listening to their Go-Betweens records.

But that's not a bad thing: After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Or something. I love the opening chords, the harmonica solo and the vibe this song gives off. It's kind of like the thing one would listening to when going around Battery Point.

Plus the line "Judi Dench is on the phone and she wants to talk to you" never fails to get a smile out of me.

This Song Rocks: Hotel Yorba

Original video located here. Accessed 5th July 2021

Song title: Hotel Yorba

Artist: The White Stripes

Year: 2001

Why I like this song:

Seven Nation Army may have been the bigger hit but I doubt it would've got noticed if this song blazed the trial.

For me there are two points of interest here: Firstly how this song finds glory in it's own amateurishness.

And secondly, how the whole thing comes across like being from the soundtrack to an unmade Tim Burton/Addams Family movie.

This Song Rocks: Cataract

Original video located here. Accessed 4th June 2021

Song title: Cataract

Artist: Elephant Gun

Year: 2000

Why I like this song:

Call this a no-hit wonder. It went overlooked in it's day and is pretty much forgotten now - but I haven't. I thought it was awesome back in the day, what with the arresting guitar riff and the somewhat bitter lyrics.

It may be easy to write these guys off as a Powderfinger wannabe (perhaps to this singer sounding similar to Bernard Fanning) but that doesn't take way from the fact that this song does indeed rock hard

This Song Rocks: The Good News

Original video located here. Accessed 3rd July 2021

Song title: The Good News

Artist: Philadelphia Grand Jury

Year: 2009

Why I like this song:

Some songs remind you of a particular time and place. In this case, it was 2009, where I had left home and was living in a flat in Clifton Hill, Melbourne,