i want to rock your gypsy soul

a great song by van 'the man' morrison. 

donovan who?

well i'd say he's one of the quietest geniuses since harrison and certainly comparable to nick drake, a man far beyond his years (who didn't receive any resemblance of fame until posthumously), or perhaps even don mclean (check out 'empty chairs'). swept under the rug, overshadowed by other greats of their time and placed on the back burner. 

maybe i'm a fan of the underdog, but donovan doesn't even deserve that title. he's just as good as anyone, but you won't find his face on a t-shirt.  

you can just feel the tension. play nice bob. 

charlie rich

sick with the flu. 

it's time for some charlie rich. 

gypsy queen

treefingers

cosmic 

The thing about Counting Crows...

It's still a wonder to me why Counting Crows have such a bad rap. Most people only know them for 'Mr. Jones' or 'Accidentally in Love' (which I like!) but there is so much more to them than anyone cares to give them credit for. Adam Duritz, the lead singer, is a psychopath. The guy is nuts. It's fantastic. Everything he does...every gesture, every lyric, every crack in his voice just oozes soul and guilt and love and hate and it's the most beautiful feeling to listen to. He's not afraid to open up to his audience or spill his life for the world to see. Their first album 'August and Everything After' is by far my favorite album in the history of albums. I have played the damn thing so many times the disk is scratched and skips and I'm tempted to buy a new one (I have yet to get my hands on the LP). Their later albums had a few gems here and there but they set the bar too high for themselves to top their very first. Trust me, just give it a listen. Beginning to end. You might not get it the first time. Or the 20th time. But you will get it. 

So here's a list (yes, another list...I like lists) of some of my favorite songs by the Crows. It was hard narrowing it down to just five because like i said, the entire album is my favorite song.


5. Omaha

This is the perfect song to begin a long drive. My mom's from Omaha (Nebraska) and I've been there a few times myself. "I think you better turn your ticket in, and get your money back at the door." Perfect synopsis of the place.

4. Walkaways

A great song for those days when you feel like the only lonely person in the world. Take a long walk.

3. Round Here

The rule about Counting Crows is never fall in love with a girl named Maria. Many of his songs are about an obscure girl named Maria and if you end up finding yourself a fan of this band and in love with a Maria, be prepared to have many a beautiful tune forever ruined. For me, Adam's Maria could be anyone which makes this song so toxic. This song in particular is a perfect example of his dusty, ragged sense of poetry and lyrical genius and it tells more than just his story. It tells everyone's story.

2. The Ghost In You

This song is a cover of The Psychedelic Furs' 'Ghost In You' and I'm a big fan of it. Much like The National's cover of 'Pretty In Pink' also by the Furs, I like it much better. Depending on what you're feeling, this song will either take you up or down. It usually takes me down.

  

1. Anna Begins

Now for the big one. Anna begins. I don't really know where to start with this song...It's heavy. It definitely took a while before I considered it my favorite song. I think after seeing Adam perform it live I had my turnaround. There is a huge difference between the version he sings live and and the way it sounds in the studio. "Every time she sneezes I believe it's love."   

merlin

my baby died today.
little merlin the rat.
i've lost a friend.
and i'm sad.

?

while listening to beatle brunch on sunday i found out that george (my favorite) sang 'do you want to know a secret' and that it was his first time on lead vocals. ever. i had no idea. 

i love that damn song. 

anyway, i'll just mention that i'm in a george mood and that i really didn't care for this version of 'beware of darkness' until recently. now i can't get enough. despite the endless rut that is my life, this song makes sense and it brings me back down to earth. 

rabbit in your headlights - UNKLE ft. thom yorke

http://vimeo.com/9572603

the ending.
amazing.

tonight
you just close your eyes
and i just watch you 
slip away

múm

cormac mccarthy

"once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. you could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. they smelled of moss in your hand. polished and muscular and torsional. on their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. maps and mazes. of a thing which could not be put back. not be made right again. in the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."

- cormac mccarthy 

some of the greatest lines ever written. it feels so rich and beautiful to read and speak aloud. a masterwork. 

how strange, innocence

my personal list of the corny-but-essential guilty-pleasure love ballads that i hate myself for liking

5. waiting for a girl like you - foreigner 

i can't help but sing this song when it comes on in the car (actually it's more like yelling). it's so smooth. if my life were a movie, this song would  play in the background when the man of my dreams and i look into each others eyes. ahhhh....

4. she's like the wind - patrick swayze 

i'm actually not ashamed that i like this song. this song is awesome. it was either this song or "i've had the time of my life" which i think i like equally as much. i'll admit i'm definitely biased because of dirty dancing and i still can't decide if he can actually sing or not but it doesn't matter because patrick swayze is a god. 

3. how much i feel - ambrosia

this song almost placed first because i just can't get enough of it. david pack is such a dreamboat and that voice is so classic. 

2. i go crazy - paul davis  

i love this song. period. i also love the very beginning, "he looks like an allman brother" comment which is true. you don't expect a voice like that to come out of a guy with hair that long. but seriously, i'm a sucker for the 70's and this song is the perfect ode to the time period. 

1. have you ever really loved a woman? - bryan adams 

okay, this is the one i truly hate myself for loving. but if you've ever seen don juan demarco, then you know this song is actually really amazing. i hate that i think that, but it's true. aside from the line "when you can see your unborn children in her eyes, you know you really love a woman," (creepy) i can't help but place this song at number one.

hushpuppy

when it all goes quiet behind my eyes, 
i see everything that made me flying around in invisible pieces. 

HAL 9000: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.