Category: Music

What I’m listening to, and why I’m listening to it.

Happy First Day of Summer!

Summer is my favorite season. I like being warm.

I also like songs about summer.

Here are some of my favorite summer songs, in no particular order:

  • “Summer in the City” (Lovin’ Spoonful)
  • “Boys of Summer” (Don Henley)
  • “Summertime” (Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong)
  • “Summertime Blues” (Eddie Cochran)
  • “In the Summertime” (Mungo Jerry)
  • “Under the Boardwalk” (The Drifters)
  • “Popsicle Man” (Jan & Dean)
  • “See You in September” (The Happenings)
  • “School’s Out” (Alice Cooper)
  • “California Gurls” (Katy Perry)

What are some of your favorite summer songs?

Favorite Love Song

Valentine’s Day is coming up in a few days.

I was going to make a list of my Top 10 Favorite Love Songs, but I don’t have ten. Or maybe I can’t limit it to ten.

However, I do have a favorite. I consider it the best rock & roll love song ever written/recorded.

The Moody Blues, “Nights in White Satin”.

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9BCpIm_P9Y

Ten Musical Genres, Ten Songs

Music is very important to me, and I’m thankful I have it in my life.  I like some songs in just about every genre. Here are some of my favorites:

  1. Rock – Nights in White Satin (Moody Blues)

2. Folk – Love Over and Over (Kate & Anna McGarrigle)

3. Opera – Addio (La Traviatta)

4. Classical –  Vivaldi’s Flute Concerto

5. Rap – Hear Me Now (Hollywood Undead)

6. Country – Dreamwalking (Toby Keith)

7. New Age –  Hymne (Vangelis)

8. Show Tune – It’s Hard to Be the Bard (Something Rotten)

9. Latin – Energia (Fido & Alexis)

10. Reggae –  Redemption Song (Bob Marley)

What are some of your favorite songs?

A Tribute to His Bob-Ness

If you know anything at all about me, you know I am a Bob Dylan fan.

I have been a Bob Dylan fan since there was such a thing to be.

When I was a teenager, I wanted to be Bob Dylan. I wrote a term paper comparing His Bob-ness’s lyrics to those of Paul Simon.

I have actually read–multiple times–Tarantula. I still quote it regularly. And yes, it’s well-loved. (See the red electrical tape on the spine?)

tarantula-cover

Yes, I still have the Milton Glaser poster, although it it battered from being hung in so many apartments. Unframed. With thumbtacks. Shoot me now.

On one of our early dates, TV Stevie asked me what my favorite Dylan album was. “Blood on the Tracks,” I replied. “Mine, too,” he said. Turns out the man had every single Dylan album, plus a lot of bootleg stuff. (Remember, music wasn’t as accessible back then as it is now. The bootleg stuff? Was really bootlegged.) I’ve been joking for over 25 years that I married TV Stevie for his Dylan collection.

The first concert to which we took the chromos was Bob Dylan (and Willie Nelson) at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY.  X-Chromo does a fabulous Dylan imitation.

A current co-worker once said, “Everyone back then was a Beatles or Rolling Stone fan.” “Hello?” I said. “Not me. His Bob-ness was my musical mecca.” Co-worker laughed and conceded the point.

I have a mix of songs I call “Dylan Says It Best” that I listen to when I’m angry or upset. If the situation is right, I sing along as loud as I can. I don’t have to worry about being on key.

Imagine my utter delight when I learned His Bob-ness won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I have been saying for years that he is a lyrical genius. Guess I’m not the only one who thinks that.

So, just for fun, I’m resurrecting a post from April 2014.

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions.  Try not to repeat a song title. It’s a lot harder than you think!
Pick your Artist: Bob Dylan
Are you a Male or a Female: JUST LIKE A WOMAN
Describe Yourself: ONLY A PAWN IN THEIR GAME
How do you feel: FOREVER YOUNG
Describe where you currently live: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: BLACK DIAMOND BAY
Your Favorite form of Transportation: BLOWING IN THE WIND or LIKE A ROLLING STONE
Your Best Friend is: ABSOLUTELY SWEET MARIE
You and your best friends are: RAINY DAY WOMEN
What’s the weather like: A HARD RAIN’S GONNA FALL or HURRICANE
Favorite Time of Day: MEET ME IN THE MORNING
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: WHEN I PAINT MY MASTERPIECE
What is life to you: I SHALL BE FREE
Your last relationship: MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
Your fear: MONEY BLUES
What is the best advice you have to give: DON’T THINK TWICE, IT’S ALL RIGHT
Thought for the day: ONE MORE CUP OF COFFEE
How I would like to die: KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR
My soul’s present condition: BEYOND THE HORIZON
My motto: THE TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGING