Hoping to start an argument about something not politics
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:34 am
A friend pointed me to this link and asked me what I thought:
http://www.xpn.org/xpn-programs/885-countdown
Here is the response I sent him. Feel free to argue, snipe or whatever. KT, I even included an insult of Billy Joel just for you:
Anyhow:
1. (Vincent Black Lightning) – this is the cliché Richard Thompson song, I think, but it’s a pretty promising beginning.
2. (Babylon) – Is this the song with the video of him playing piano in a white room? I can take it or leave it.
3. (Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah) – I’ve never been as big a fan of Buckley as my friends, and I think his version of this song pales in comparison to John Cale’s.
4. (In These Shoes) – the only thing I know about Kirsty MacColl is that she is the other singer on the Pogues “Fairytale of New York”, which is a near-perfect song.
5. (Impossible Germany) – I like Wilco. I don’t love Wilco.
6. (Car Wheels On a Gravel Road) – All the critics say this is Lucinda’s “perfect” album. It bothers me a lot that I agree with them. That said, the best song on it is “Can’t Let Go” and she didn’t write it.
7. (Trouble) I don’t know this song. Same with 8, 9, 10
11. (Angel From Montgomery) This is a fantastic version of a fantastic song, and it’s got more star power than the one you put on your mix. That said, the Raitt/Prine version can’t hold a candle to the original. This is also the first song I ever learned to play on the guitar.
12. I don’t know 12 or 13
14. (Wagon Wheel) I bought this album recently, and I really like it. I don’t know which song this is, and I’m waiting for iTunes to open to listen to it. Oh, yeah, this is a really good song, though there are others on this album (Tame ‘Em Away, Hard to Tell) that I like better.
15. I don’t know this song (does Citizen Cope have anything to do with Julian Cope?) or #16
17. This song isn’t in my pathetically small Richard Thompson collection (I have Rumor and Sigh and Shoot Out the Lights)
18. (Chicago) This is a fantastic song. Sufjan Stevens is one of those things I force myself to remember when I start to think that all contemporary Christian music is necessarily awful.
19. (I Will Possess Your Heart) I have a lot of friends who are way, way into Death Cab. I like them, but not an awful lot. I really like “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”
20. (R. Wainwright’s Hallelujah) I don’t know much about Rufus beyond that I think his dad’s way better. I always resented the fact that Cale’s version of Hallelujah was in the movie, but this one is the one on the soundtrack.
21. (Falling Slowly) There are very few songs that I loved the first time I heard them, and that I continue to love to this day. This is one. I also know a lot of people who love the music from this movie but didn’t particularly like the movie. I loved the movie.
22. I don’t know this song
23. (Church) Lyle Lovett is one of the few artists I can think of where the songs everyone knows are in my opinion some of his best songs.
24. I don’t know this song
25. (Closer to Fine) Vomit.
26. (Tangled Up In Blue) This is probably in my top 50 songs of all time but not in the top in my top 5 songs from Blood on the Tracks
27. I don’t know this song
28. (When I Was a Boy) I had an annoying girlfriend once who worshipped Dar Williams, and so she’s always gotten on my nerves a bit. She sounds like everyone else at Lilith Fair to me, though maybe I’m not giving her a chance. I thought the same thing about Gillian Welch before I finally really listened to her.
29. I don’t know this song
30. (Solsbury Hill) This is a fantastic, fantastic song. But I think I could live my life happily never hearing it again.
31. I don’t know 31, 32 or 33. for 34, see my comment above. I don’t know 35
36. (Come Away With Me) I like this song fine but I’ve never thought there was anything special about Norah Jones. Maybe I still resent her for getting the grammy that The Rising deserved.
37. (Kathleen) I was going to say I didn’t know this song, but then I realized that “Kathleen” is the name of a fantastic Townes Van Zandt song. And that line of thinking sounded familiar. Turns out I got this song last year because it was free and legal. I discovered it wasn’t a TVZ cover and then I never got around to listening to it enough to have a real opinion. So I guess I was right – I don’t know it.
38. (Thunder Road) It took moving the hell out of Jersey for me to appreciate Springsteen. Every meathead I knew was all kinds of into him, so I wouldn’t give him a chance. Then, living in Chicago, I’d hear a song on the radio and think “well, THAT’s a pretty great song”. It happened enough times that I knew I had to seriously rethink him. Now I’m a huge, huge fan. And “Thunder Road” is one of my favorites.
39. I don’t know song 39 or (sadly) 40
41. (Galileo) I said Vomit when I saw Closer to Fine on this list. Compared to Galileo, Closer to Fine is Buckets of Rain.
42. (Into the Mystic) I appreciate, love and respect Van Morrison as much as everybody else. Into the Mystic always struck me as the favorite song of 17-year-old girls who had just discovered pot.
43. (Oxford Comma) I didn’t know this song until I got Claire’s CD the other month. I really like it.
44. I don’t know this song
45. (Central Reservation) My wife really likes Beth Orton. I tolerate her. I think of her as yet another generic Lilith Fair singer-songwriter
46. (Superman’s Song) I guess I like this song. I saw Crash Test Dummies open for Billy Bragg (and Michael Franti’s then-current band, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy) in 1992. Something about them annoyed me, and I don’t remember what.
47. (Girlfriend) I still love this song
48. I don’t know this one
49. (Silent All These Years) I forgot how much I like Tori Amos’ first couple albums.
50. (California Stars) This is a great song, but I still think it’s overrated
51. (Jesus etc) see my previous comment about wilco
52. (Changed the Locks) What a great, great song
53. I don’t know this song. I should listen to more Bruce Cockburn, since what I know, I like.
54. (Streets of Philadelphia) Meh. There are at least 100 Springsteen songs that are better. Probably more than that. Oh, this is a Philly station, isn’t it. I guess that makes sense.
55. I don’t know 55, 56 or 57 (I should listen to more Mark Knopfler)
58. (Blue) This is one of my favorite songs of all time
59. I don’t know 59 or 60
61. (Like a Rolling Stone) This is a great song. I totally get how accessible it is and why it’s one of the Bob Dylan songs that everybody knows. It was the first one I ever really listened to. It hasn’t been one of my favorite Dylan songs for more than 25 years.
62. (Heavy Metal Drummer) more Wilco
63. I don’t know 63 or 64
65. (Crash Into Me) Dave Matthews is down there just a tiny bit better than Billy Joel at the crappy end of my awful scale
66. I don’t know this song
67. (Hurt) It’s kind of a joke that this is the highest-rated Johnny Cash song, but it IS a great song.
68. (Yellow) I still don’t know this song
69. (Essence) I remember when Essence came out and all the reviews said it was nowhere near as good as Car Wheels. I actually love this album.
70. (Keep Me In Your Heart) This is a great song. I can see why it rates so highly. There are a lot of WZ songs I like a lot more.
71. (Murder or a Heart Attack) One of the reasons I like this CD club thing is that I gave up on the radio sometime in the 1990s. I haven’t looked back, but it’s harder to find new music. I don’t remember how I started listening to the Old 97s. They’re one of my favorite bands, but I’ve never had a sense of what their most popular songs are. I kind of like not having that filter to help me make up my mind. This isn’t the song of theirs that I would have expected to see on this list. Though I do like it a lot.
72. I don’t know this one
73. (Alice’s Restaurant) I got over this before I left my teens
74. I don’t know this one
75. (Pink Moon) I like Nick Drake, but I think if he was still alive he wouldn’t have this much cachet
76. (She Cries Your Name) This is the Beth Orton song I really like
77. I don’t know any of 77 through 86
87. (O Valencia) I have a similar reaction to the Decemberists that I have to the Old 97s, even though they’re nothing alike. I DO remember where I first listened to the them, it was one of these CD clubs. This song is solidly in the middle of their pack for me
88. I don’t know 88 or (and I know it’s hard to believe, but I really don’t know it) 89
90. (One of Us) This is such a terrible, terrible song. Truly horrible. The scary thing is that that I later found out there are enough other songs on that album that I like, I ended up buying the CD. For a while, people would see it on my shelf and make fun of me.
91. (Don’t You Evah) I have a bunch of Spoon songs, mostly from these CD club things, and they’re all very good, but I haven’t gotten around to listening to other stuff yet.
92. (Rehab) I didn’t hear this until Amy Winehouse had been all over the news, and so I can’t listen to it with a straight face.
93. (If I Had a Boat) What a great, great song. He did a “covers of mostly-unknown Texas songwriters” double album called “Step Inside This House” that is my wife’s favorite album of all time. I really like it, too, but my favorite is still Road to Ensenada
94. (I’m From New Jersey) I really like this song and “I Saw a Stranger From Your Hair”, but I’ve never been able to get really into John Gorka. I tried, because I’m from Colonia and, unknown though he may be, he’s got to be the most famous person ever to grow up in Colonia
95. I don’t know 95 or 96
97. (London Calling) If anything, despite all the acclaim it gets, I think London Calling, the album, is underrated. But the title track is not one of my favorite songs on it.
98. I don’t know 98, 99, 100
101.(The Underdog) I had never heard this before it was the first song on the first disc from this club, but it’s fantastic
Ok. I’m running out of time. I’m going to scan this list to see if I see anything especially comment-worthy.
103 – Boy, The Beatles are an outside-the-box choice, huh?
110 – Walking in Memphis? Why???
113 – St Teresa – see, this is the Joan Osborne song I really like.
117 – Your Lips – I thought that song was my and Margy’s little secret.
126 – Possession – am I the only person who thinks every single Sarah McLachlan song sounds exactly like every other Sarah McLachlan song?
129 – Anchorage – God I love Michelle Shocked
133 – Right In Time – I think this is a much better song than Car Wheels
134 – 32 Flavors – nothing reminds me so much of how susceptible to peer pressure I am that I actually once convinced myself I liked Ani Difranco. Thank god THAT’s over.
136 – Wrecking Ball – is this an Emmylou cover of my favorite Gillian Welch song? I have to check now to see and buy it immediately if it is… nope, it’s the Neil Young song, though there IS a cover of Orphan Girl on that album, in addition to Sweet Old World, Every Grain of Sand and May This Be Love. I’ll need to buy this at some point.
146 – I can’t believe their highest-rated Neil Young song is Harvest Moon
151 – On the other hand, I can’t believe Naïve Melody is their highest-rated Talking Heads song, and I’m very psyched to see it.
157 – I was wondering how far down the list I’d see Marquee Moon
http://www.xpn.org/xpn-programs/885-countdown
Here is the response I sent him. Feel free to argue, snipe or whatever. KT, I even included an insult of Billy Joel just for you:
Anyhow:
1. (Vincent Black Lightning) – this is the cliché Richard Thompson song, I think, but it’s a pretty promising beginning.
2. (Babylon) – Is this the song with the video of him playing piano in a white room? I can take it or leave it.
3. (Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah) – I’ve never been as big a fan of Buckley as my friends, and I think his version of this song pales in comparison to John Cale’s.
4. (In These Shoes) – the only thing I know about Kirsty MacColl is that she is the other singer on the Pogues “Fairytale of New York”, which is a near-perfect song.
5. (Impossible Germany) – I like Wilco. I don’t love Wilco.
6. (Car Wheels On a Gravel Road) – All the critics say this is Lucinda’s “perfect” album. It bothers me a lot that I agree with them. That said, the best song on it is “Can’t Let Go” and she didn’t write it.
7. (Trouble) I don’t know this song. Same with 8, 9, 10
11. (Angel From Montgomery) This is a fantastic version of a fantastic song, and it’s got more star power than the one you put on your mix. That said, the Raitt/Prine version can’t hold a candle to the original. This is also the first song I ever learned to play on the guitar.
12. I don’t know 12 or 13
14. (Wagon Wheel) I bought this album recently, and I really like it. I don’t know which song this is, and I’m waiting for iTunes to open to listen to it. Oh, yeah, this is a really good song, though there are others on this album (Tame ‘Em Away, Hard to Tell) that I like better.
15. I don’t know this song (does Citizen Cope have anything to do with Julian Cope?) or #16
17. This song isn’t in my pathetically small Richard Thompson collection (I have Rumor and Sigh and Shoot Out the Lights)
18. (Chicago) This is a fantastic song. Sufjan Stevens is one of those things I force myself to remember when I start to think that all contemporary Christian music is necessarily awful.
19. (I Will Possess Your Heart) I have a lot of friends who are way, way into Death Cab. I like them, but not an awful lot. I really like “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”
20. (R. Wainwright’s Hallelujah) I don’t know much about Rufus beyond that I think his dad’s way better. I always resented the fact that Cale’s version of Hallelujah was in the movie, but this one is the one on the soundtrack.
21. (Falling Slowly) There are very few songs that I loved the first time I heard them, and that I continue to love to this day. This is one. I also know a lot of people who love the music from this movie but didn’t particularly like the movie. I loved the movie.
22. I don’t know this song
23. (Church) Lyle Lovett is one of the few artists I can think of where the songs everyone knows are in my opinion some of his best songs.
24. I don’t know this song
25. (Closer to Fine) Vomit.
26. (Tangled Up In Blue) This is probably in my top 50 songs of all time but not in the top in my top 5 songs from Blood on the Tracks
27. I don’t know this song
28. (When I Was a Boy) I had an annoying girlfriend once who worshipped Dar Williams, and so she’s always gotten on my nerves a bit. She sounds like everyone else at Lilith Fair to me, though maybe I’m not giving her a chance. I thought the same thing about Gillian Welch before I finally really listened to her.
29. I don’t know this song
30. (Solsbury Hill) This is a fantastic, fantastic song. But I think I could live my life happily never hearing it again.
31. I don’t know 31, 32 or 33. for 34, see my comment above. I don’t know 35
36. (Come Away With Me) I like this song fine but I’ve never thought there was anything special about Norah Jones. Maybe I still resent her for getting the grammy that The Rising deserved.
37. (Kathleen) I was going to say I didn’t know this song, but then I realized that “Kathleen” is the name of a fantastic Townes Van Zandt song. And that line of thinking sounded familiar. Turns out I got this song last year because it was free and legal. I discovered it wasn’t a TVZ cover and then I never got around to listening to it enough to have a real opinion. So I guess I was right – I don’t know it.
38. (Thunder Road) It took moving the hell out of Jersey for me to appreciate Springsteen. Every meathead I knew was all kinds of into him, so I wouldn’t give him a chance. Then, living in Chicago, I’d hear a song on the radio and think “well, THAT’s a pretty great song”. It happened enough times that I knew I had to seriously rethink him. Now I’m a huge, huge fan. And “Thunder Road” is one of my favorites.
39. I don’t know song 39 or (sadly) 40
41. (Galileo) I said Vomit when I saw Closer to Fine on this list. Compared to Galileo, Closer to Fine is Buckets of Rain.
42. (Into the Mystic) I appreciate, love and respect Van Morrison as much as everybody else. Into the Mystic always struck me as the favorite song of 17-year-old girls who had just discovered pot.
43. (Oxford Comma) I didn’t know this song until I got Claire’s CD the other month. I really like it.
44. I don’t know this song
45. (Central Reservation) My wife really likes Beth Orton. I tolerate her. I think of her as yet another generic Lilith Fair singer-songwriter
46. (Superman’s Song) I guess I like this song. I saw Crash Test Dummies open for Billy Bragg (and Michael Franti’s then-current band, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy) in 1992. Something about them annoyed me, and I don’t remember what.
47. (Girlfriend) I still love this song
48. I don’t know this one
49. (Silent All These Years) I forgot how much I like Tori Amos’ first couple albums.
50. (California Stars) This is a great song, but I still think it’s overrated
51. (Jesus etc) see my previous comment about wilco
52. (Changed the Locks) What a great, great song
53. I don’t know this song. I should listen to more Bruce Cockburn, since what I know, I like.
54. (Streets of Philadelphia) Meh. There are at least 100 Springsteen songs that are better. Probably more than that. Oh, this is a Philly station, isn’t it. I guess that makes sense.
55. I don’t know 55, 56 or 57 (I should listen to more Mark Knopfler)
58. (Blue) This is one of my favorite songs of all time
59. I don’t know 59 or 60
61. (Like a Rolling Stone) This is a great song. I totally get how accessible it is and why it’s one of the Bob Dylan songs that everybody knows. It was the first one I ever really listened to. It hasn’t been one of my favorite Dylan songs for more than 25 years.
62. (Heavy Metal Drummer) more Wilco
63. I don’t know 63 or 64
65. (Crash Into Me) Dave Matthews is down there just a tiny bit better than Billy Joel at the crappy end of my awful scale
66. I don’t know this song
67. (Hurt) It’s kind of a joke that this is the highest-rated Johnny Cash song, but it IS a great song.
68. (Yellow) I still don’t know this song
69. (Essence) I remember when Essence came out and all the reviews said it was nowhere near as good as Car Wheels. I actually love this album.
70. (Keep Me In Your Heart) This is a great song. I can see why it rates so highly. There are a lot of WZ songs I like a lot more.
71. (Murder or a Heart Attack) One of the reasons I like this CD club thing is that I gave up on the radio sometime in the 1990s. I haven’t looked back, but it’s harder to find new music. I don’t remember how I started listening to the Old 97s. They’re one of my favorite bands, but I’ve never had a sense of what their most popular songs are. I kind of like not having that filter to help me make up my mind. This isn’t the song of theirs that I would have expected to see on this list. Though I do like it a lot.
72. I don’t know this one
73. (Alice’s Restaurant) I got over this before I left my teens
74. I don’t know this one
75. (Pink Moon) I like Nick Drake, but I think if he was still alive he wouldn’t have this much cachet
76. (She Cries Your Name) This is the Beth Orton song I really like
77. I don’t know any of 77 through 86
87. (O Valencia) I have a similar reaction to the Decemberists that I have to the Old 97s, even though they’re nothing alike. I DO remember where I first listened to the them, it was one of these CD clubs. This song is solidly in the middle of their pack for me
88. I don’t know 88 or (and I know it’s hard to believe, but I really don’t know it) 89
90. (One of Us) This is such a terrible, terrible song. Truly horrible. The scary thing is that that I later found out there are enough other songs on that album that I like, I ended up buying the CD. For a while, people would see it on my shelf and make fun of me.
91. (Don’t You Evah) I have a bunch of Spoon songs, mostly from these CD club things, and they’re all very good, but I haven’t gotten around to listening to other stuff yet.
92. (Rehab) I didn’t hear this until Amy Winehouse had been all over the news, and so I can’t listen to it with a straight face.
93. (If I Had a Boat) What a great, great song. He did a “covers of mostly-unknown Texas songwriters” double album called “Step Inside This House” that is my wife’s favorite album of all time. I really like it, too, but my favorite is still Road to Ensenada
94. (I’m From New Jersey) I really like this song and “I Saw a Stranger From Your Hair”, but I’ve never been able to get really into John Gorka. I tried, because I’m from Colonia and, unknown though he may be, he’s got to be the most famous person ever to grow up in Colonia
95. I don’t know 95 or 96
97. (London Calling) If anything, despite all the acclaim it gets, I think London Calling, the album, is underrated. But the title track is not one of my favorite songs on it.
98. I don’t know 98, 99, 100
101.(The Underdog) I had never heard this before it was the first song on the first disc from this club, but it’s fantastic
Ok. I’m running out of time. I’m going to scan this list to see if I see anything especially comment-worthy.
103 – Boy, The Beatles are an outside-the-box choice, huh?
110 – Walking in Memphis? Why???
113 – St Teresa – see, this is the Joan Osborne song I really like.
117 – Your Lips – I thought that song was my and Margy’s little secret.
126 – Possession – am I the only person who thinks every single Sarah McLachlan song sounds exactly like every other Sarah McLachlan song?
129 – Anchorage – God I love Michelle Shocked
133 – Right In Time – I think this is a much better song than Car Wheels
134 – 32 Flavors – nothing reminds me so much of how susceptible to peer pressure I am that I actually once convinced myself I liked Ani Difranco. Thank god THAT’s over.
136 – Wrecking Ball – is this an Emmylou cover of my favorite Gillian Welch song? I have to check now to see and buy it immediately if it is… nope, it’s the Neil Young song, though there IS a cover of Orphan Girl on that album, in addition to Sweet Old World, Every Grain of Sand and May This Be Love. I’ll need to buy this at some point.
146 – I can’t believe their highest-rated Neil Young song is Harvest Moon
151 – On the other hand, I can’t believe Naïve Melody is their highest-rated Talking Heads song, and I’m very psyched to see it.
157 – I was wondering how far down the list I’d see Marquee Moon
