With production time looming near for Necessary Targets and all the other work I am doing this week, all you guys are going to get is a list of songs that I think you would like. Really, they are just songs that are stuck in my head right now. Well, not stuck together all at once…
1. “The Seed” by Cody ChesnuTT – Hey, I told you he was good, and, well, he is on my computer right now as I type this. I love the songs: so funky, so gritty.
Best line: “I push it naked/ ’cause I’m taking the test.” Way to be safe, C.C. Way to be safe and make it funky.
2. “We Built This City” by Jefferson Starship – the girls in Necessary Targets like that song, for some reason. Probably because it is a really good song.
But the version I have in my head is the one the Simpsons do on spring break. Yeah, the one where Homer yells “We built this city… What kinda city… We built this city on…” to which Bart and Lisa respond oh-so-happily, “Rock and Roll.”
That is a moment in TV history, friends. It is a classic.
3. “Eternity” by Imperial Teen – From their amazing album Seasick, this song closes the album perfectly. The classic line is “Freeze the frosting on the girly magazines.”
And it has the classic opening banter from Will: “My over drive’s in overdrive, right? Maybe you should close the curtain.” So great; go check it out.
4. “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” – Hey, I am writing an essay on Joyce’s Dubliners and I am reading his The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I have a lot of Irish culture in my mind right now, especially this song.
5. “My Radio” by Bill Janovitz – The lead singer of the best mid-’90s alternative band Buffalo Tom has been doing some solo work and this song is one of his. The keyboard opening is a bit too much like The Get Up Kids, but it is still a killer song. He has one of the best voices in music today: him and that one tenor guy… Povaruti?
6. “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” by The Postal Service – With the music of Dntel and the voice of Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie). It’s a great breakup song with guy/girl singing. Great ending guitar line and great ending lines with “Seems so out of context/ in this gaudy apartment complex/ the stranger with your door key/ explaining that I am just visiting/ and I am finally seeing/ that I was the one worth leaving.”
7. “Mr. Participation Billy” by Joan of Arc – The best song they have done in awhile, maybe because it’s not their normal lineup.
Maybe it’s the fact that it is just piano and keyboards and great lyrics.
Finally Tim has written amazing lyrics. These morbid lyrics are about being beat up on the street.
8. “The Last Polka (live)” by Ben Folds – Yeah, maybe it’s because he is coming soon, or maybe it’s because it is an amazing song and I have listened to it for three days now.
Especially love the “Sha la la” part; so powerful: just him and his piano.
9. “A Cigarette is All You Get” by Crash Test Dummies – OK, why is this in my head?
Well, the original title of the article was “Eight is All You Get,” a play on the TV show “Eight is Enough.”
Well, I was walking around campus and remembered this weird song off of theirs Give Yourself a Hand. It’s good, but it ain’t the good old CTD that we grew up with.
Okay, that’s nine songs that you should go check out, either online or from a friend. That should tide you over for a bit, because I know you guys hang on my every word.