This Song Rocks: Spirit Never Dies

Original video located here. Accessed 23rd September 2021

Song title: Spirit Never Dies

Artist: Masterplan

Year: 2003

Why I like this song:

I said I was a sucker for motivational anthems - so here we have the motivational anthem to end all motivational anthems.

This song has been a very important for me over the years: I have played when i have been feeling down. i have played it when I am facing a difficult task. I have played whenever I have considered giving up on whatever i was doing. I have played whenever I felt I have lost my way. And how can I not? This song has a rousing chorus, empowering lyrics and a guaranteed depression killer. Indeed, I feel you can't sing/shout along to this without uttering every word like you mean it. And there are very songs that can pull off such a trick.

Sure some people may think this cheesy but damn, that singer is doing his job with so much conviction that it is difficult to resist.

Whether it has been facing a challenge or conquering those inner demons this song has been there. And I am glad I never gave up (and I can imagine a lot of other people feel the same).

This Song Rocks: The Cedar Room

Original video located here. Accessed 22nd September 2021

Song title: The Cedar Room

Artist: Doves

Year: 2000

Why I like this song:

As has often been the case in this list, this is a matter of the right song coming along at the right time.

For me, this song will forever define the year 2000. For me it was a pivotal year: I was entering adulthood, I was off to University and a new millennium had arrived. A time for a fresh start if ever there was one.

I will concede this may be a break up song, but I will always associate with rebirth. If I left the nineties feeling like I needed a fresh start then this is the answer I found. I've heard people associate this song - and it's parent album - with midnight and hangovers but I felt it is best suited as a morning album.

And it indeed fitting that a song I associated with rebirth was done by a band who rose like phoenix after the studio they were working in burned down.

This Song Rocks: Beautiful Day

Original video located here. Accessed 19th September 2021

Song title: Beautiful Day

Artist: U2

Year: 2000

Why I like this song:

It's well documented that this song was a helpful thing to have around when i was going through my first break up. So can i say anything more about it?

I was interested in U2 during the late eighties and through the nineties so it was indeed a delight to hear them during my first year of adulthood and find they could still whip out a winner of a hit

Also, it is fitting that this song should be released in late 2000 when Australia was fast approaching the summer. As such, I have heard this every summer since and I can imagine i will continue to do so for many more summers to come.

Got it Covered: I Remember a Time When Once You Used to Love Me

Original video located here. Accessed 18th September 2021

Song title: I Remember a Time When Once You Used to Love Me

Artist: Dirty Three

Originally Done By: Arleta

Year: 1996

Why I like this song:

Oh boy, where do i start with this one?

First, I like instrumentals. Somehow, the act of silencing your lead singer has two effects: It prompts your audience to focus on the music & draw their own conclusions. And it also inspires the other people in the band to lift their game and deliver.

With that in mind, perhaps it is inevitable i come to the Dirty Three, a band who is known for playing like their lives depended on it.

Second, this is quite a challenging listen, running through a full gauntlet of emotions, from dispair to rage and back again. Which is quite a feat considering this is an instrumental.

Third, this song is genuinely frightening. It may be easy to imagine the violinist, Warren Ellis, having a mental breakdown as he is playing but the effect is nothing short of terrifying. In fact, whereas countless metal bands are trying to out do each other with freaking people out, I personally fell they are shown up with this.

Oh and did I mention it's a cover?

This Song Rocks: I Like You Such Better When You're Naked

Original video located here. Accessed 10th September 2021

Song title: I Like You Such Better When You're Naked

Artist: Ida Maria

Year: 2008

Why I like this song:

It's proof that enthusiasm can sell anything

Got it Covered: Hurt

Original video located here. Accessed 9th September 2021

Song title: Hurt

Artist: Johnny Cash

Originally Done By: Nine Inch Nails

Year: 2002

Why I like this song:

From one tear-jerker to another...

The best kind of cover is one that completely transforms the original and this song is a textbook example of it. Johnny Cash covering Nine Inch Nails may sound like a bizarre idea on paper but here it works better than anyone could've hoped.

It's not everyday you hear a song, and see a video, about a life lived....

This Song Rocks: Someone Like You

Original video located here. Accessed 8th September 2021

Song title: Someone Like You

Artist: Adele

Year: 2011

Why I like this song:

I could say that i was taken in by this song due to it's honesty, simplicity, it's relatability and the emotional rollercoaster it sends the listener but that's the same story for countless other people.

So what i will say is that a decade on, this song does indeed occupy a unique place in the pop canon. As long as pop music exists there will be people lashing out at ex-lovers but I doubt anyone will have the gall to write a song of the "You moved on, I haven't and now I'm the bad guy" variety.

In fact can I imagine those female pop stars who have made careers of attacking ex-boyfriends (ie Beyonce, Olivia Rodrigo) viewing this song with an eye of resentment? Yes I can. XD

Nineties Revisited: Come Undone

Original video located here. Accessed 6th September 2021

Song title: Come Undone

Artist: Duran Duran

Year: 1993

Why I like this song:

So I've been listening to some Duran Duran lately.

Upon listening to Duran Duran, I reached an interesting conclusion: Sure their pop hits are well and good but their post-success/experimental phase is quite fascinating.
Yes it may not have the immediacy of their big hits but I would argue it has aged better and has more substance. And certainly proves that Duran Duran were far from has-beens in a decade that should've made them so. 

This Song Rocks: Magic

Original video located here. Accessed 2nd September 2021

Song title: Magic

Artist: Ladyhawke

Year: 2008

Why I like this song:

This song was written and performed by a fellow Aspergian. Do I need any more reason?

Okay, so Pip Brown certainly has skill in pop craftsmanship. And I like the eighties vibe this song has with the synths and the bombastic production. And as a result I continue to have keen interest on what Pip does. After all, we are indeed part of a crazy world