Ok everyone, welcome back to the top 20 Hills and Mountain songs. In the last post, I mentioned that there would be six hills, and four mountains in the top ten, with six songs by Aussies, two Brits, and two Americans and one group appearing twice in the top ten. How did you go with guessing what they might be?
10 - Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain) – INXS
A great song to start off the top ten, this one starts with a simple three note strum and builds from there. Its typical INXS, with a bit of rock in there, but catchy enough to call it a pop song.
9 - Violet Hill – Coldplay
I talked about Violet Hill in the top 10 “V” songs, so I won’t go into this one again, other than to say I really enjoy this track.
8 - King of the Mountain – Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil were great at wrapping up some powerful rock music, with passionate vocal delivery, all in a few minutes of a song. This one is no exception. A great rock track.
7 - Kosciuszko – Midnight Oil
So there you go, Midnight Oil was the group that appears twice, and hey, Kosciuszko is a mountain, so whats wrong with including it on the list?? Another great rock song from the Oils.
6 - King of the Hill – Tim Rogers
One of the stand out tracks on Tim’s 2004 album Spit Polish, this is a great little song that just rolls along. Nice stuff.
5 - Lights on the Hill – Slim Dusty
I once heard this song described (possibly by Slim himself) as the happiest sad song ever written. And that is a pretty apt description for the track, penned by Slim’s wife joy. The song is about a nasty car accident, where a driver is blinded by the lights on the hill and ends up dying. But the music is totally upbeat and cheerful, almost at odds with the lyrical content. I really like the song, I hope that doesn’t say anything about me…
4 – The Fool on the Hill – Beatles
Given their extensive back catalogue, the Beatles seem to make regular appearances on my list. This is a nice little song, with Paul taking the lead vocals.
3 - Middle of the Hill – Josh Pyke
Josh Pyke has been getting a good run in my recent lists, probably more so that my like of his stuff would warrant, but he has had appropriate tracks for the recent themes. This one however, is a genuinely good track, and possibly my favourite Josh Pyke track. I really love the lyrics in this track. As a sample, check out this: “When i was a kid i grew up in a house, On a hill not the top not the bottom but the middle and i still remember where i cracked my head in the vacant lot theres a row of tiny houses there now and we used to light fires in the gutters and i could cool my head on the concrete steps but the girl down the street hit my sister on the head with a stick and we hid behind my father as he knocked on her parents door to tell them what she did but the parents were drunk so they really didn’t give a shit”. And so it goes on, great great stuff.
2- Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino
What a beautiful song, there is just no other way of describing it. Whenever I hear it, it always brings a smile to my face. Even yesterday, I flicked the TV on and there was an old Happy Days episode, and what song should be playing in the background…you guessed it, Blueberry Hill. Lovely lovely stuff.
1 - River Deep, Mountain High – Ike and Tina Turner
My top hills and mountain song goes to Tina Turner’s River Deep Mountain High. A classy rock song, I was first introduced to it via Jimmy Barnes cover, which is excellent, but you can’t beat Tina’s original. The accolades for this song are pretty high – producer Phil Spector claimed it to be his best work, and George Harrison described it as a perfect record from start to finish. Although the song is credited to Ike and Tina, Spector famously paid Ike to stay away from the studio, so that his controlling instincts would not interfere with the recording process, and its only Tina’s vocals that can be heard on the track. It has now become one of Tina’s signature tunes.
So there it is, my top twenty hills and mountain songs. All feedback welcome – what have I left off the list that should be there? And also, suggestions for future topics are also gratefully received.
Showing posts with label hills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hills. Show all posts
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Top 20 Hills and Mountain songs - PART ONE
Hi Everyone
This week’s theme is top 20 Hills and Mountain songs. I know that in the past, some have commented on my theme inspirations, and this one is no exception. I have just returned from a holiday with my wife, down to Tasmania. Amongst other things, we went to the Fed Cup tennis while we were there. Sitting in the tennis stadium, my seats faced the impressive looking mountains in that area. So that is the reason for the topic. And, you have to let me make one dodgy joke before we start – these are hill songs, not to be confused with Hillsong, the church movement!!!
Ok, onto the list. It’s a top twenty, and will be over two weeks. Here are 20-11.
20 - Big Rock Candy Mountain – Harry McClintock
An old, old song that came to my attention on the “O Brother Were Art Thou?” soundtrack. It is a country song about a hobo’s idea of paradise (eg. In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, The jails are made of tin. And you can walk right out again, As soon as you are in.)
19 - Hamilton Hill – Basement Birds
In earlier posts I have talked about enjoying the Basement Birds album, but this song is interesting because its an instrumental, the only instrumental on their album. When I went to see them live, before they started this song they introduced it by saying to the crowd “if you know the words to this next track, please sing along!”. Funny stuff.
18 - The Mountain – Hoodoo Gurus
This track comes from the Hoodoo Guru’s sixth studio album “Crank”, which contains the well known song “The Right Time”. The last track is a great song, “The Mountain”, which is pretty much exactly what you would expect from the Hoodoo Gurus…power rock, lovely stuff.
17 - Mountain – Chocolate Starfish
Does anyone remember Chocolate Starfish? They were huge for about five minutes in the nineties, having a hit with a cover of “You’re So Vain”, and also this song, “Mountain”, a great ballad. My wife recently picked up a 90’s compilation CD and we rediscovered this track. Great song.
16 - Its All Downhill from Here – Paul Kelly
From Kelly’s excellent “Comedy” album, I have often wondered if this song was autobiographical or not. The lyrics might indicate that its about struggling to adjust with being famous: “I was taught not to speak to strangers, But strangers always seemed to know my name, And they bought and sold my pleasure, my disgust and my shame.” But maybe I am on completely the wrong tram with that hypothesis.
15 - Lone Pine Hill – Justin Townes Earle
I was given Justin Townes Earle’s album “The Good Life” last year, and I really enjoy it. It’s a country album, containing a host of tracks that sound like they are old country standards, although most were actually written by Earle. This one is described by allmuisc.com as a “period gunman’s saga”.
14 - High on a Mountain Top – Loretta Lynn
I discussed Lynn’s “Van Lear Rose” in an earlier post, and this is another from that album, which was produced by Jack White from the White Stripes. This is probably a more traditional country sounding song than many others on the album, very enjoyable though.
13 - Misty Mountain Hop – Led Zeppelin
Some people may be shocked that this classic rock track is only #13 on my list, but the truth is, I actually don’t know the song very well. Led Zep IV has been on my must get albums list for some time, but I have just never got around to it. To be honest with you, I am not exactly sure where I have heard this song, probably on the radio, maybe at a friend’s place. Probably with more listens, it would shoot much higher up on the list.
12 - Mountain Dew – The Pogues
A traditional Irish folk song, this version was a bonus track on their album “If I should fall from grace with god”, the song is actually an ode to a drink (“But give me enough of the rare old stuff, That's made near Galway Bay, Come gougers all from Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim too, We'll give them the slip and we'll take a sip, Of the real old mountain dew.) For another piece of trivia, the classic Pogues song “Fairytale of New York” makes mention of this traditional Irish folk song (“And then he sang a song, The Rare Auld Mountain Dew, I turned my face away, And dreamed about you.”)
11 - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Jimmy Barnes
Ok, I know I have committed a big sin by including the Aussie rockers version on the list, and not the original Motown version, but the truth is that I am more familiar with Barnesy’s version, and he does a good enough job with it. The first concert I ever went to was Jimmy Barnes for his “Soul Deep” tour, which was where he covered all these great soul tracks.
So there is part one, the top ten is coming up next week. To give you a bit of a hint, there are six hills, and four mountains in the top ten. Six songs are by Aussies, two Brits, and two Americans. One group appears twice in the top ten.
As always, feel free to leave your questions, criticisms, comments, thoughts or suggestions…
This week’s theme is top 20 Hills and Mountain songs. I know that in the past, some have commented on my theme inspirations, and this one is no exception. I have just returned from a holiday with my wife, down to Tasmania. Amongst other things, we went to the Fed Cup tennis while we were there. Sitting in the tennis stadium, my seats faced the impressive looking mountains in that area. So that is the reason for the topic. And, you have to let me make one dodgy joke before we start – these are hill songs, not to be confused with Hillsong, the church movement!!!
Ok, onto the list. It’s a top twenty, and will be over two weeks. Here are 20-11.
20 - Big Rock Candy Mountain – Harry McClintock
An old, old song that came to my attention on the “O Brother Were Art Thou?” soundtrack. It is a country song about a hobo’s idea of paradise (eg. In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, The jails are made of tin. And you can walk right out again, As soon as you are in.)
19 - Hamilton Hill – Basement Birds
In earlier posts I have talked about enjoying the Basement Birds album, but this song is interesting because its an instrumental, the only instrumental on their album. When I went to see them live, before they started this song they introduced it by saying to the crowd “if you know the words to this next track, please sing along!”. Funny stuff.
18 - The Mountain – Hoodoo Gurus
This track comes from the Hoodoo Guru’s sixth studio album “Crank”, which contains the well known song “The Right Time”. The last track is a great song, “The Mountain”, which is pretty much exactly what you would expect from the Hoodoo Gurus…power rock, lovely stuff.
17 - Mountain – Chocolate Starfish
Does anyone remember Chocolate Starfish? They were huge for about five minutes in the nineties, having a hit with a cover of “You’re So Vain”, and also this song, “Mountain”, a great ballad. My wife recently picked up a 90’s compilation CD and we rediscovered this track. Great song.
16 - Its All Downhill from Here – Paul Kelly
From Kelly’s excellent “Comedy” album, I have often wondered if this song was autobiographical or not. The lyrics might indicate that its about struggling to adjust with being famous: “I was taught not to speak to strangers, But strangers always seemed to know my name, And they bought and sold my pleasure, my disgust and my shame.” But maybe I am on completely the wrong tram with that hypothesis.
15 - Lone Pine Hill – Justin Townes Earle
I was given Justin Townes Earle’s album “The Good Life” last year, and I really enjoy it. It’s a country album, containing a host of tracks that sound like they are old country standards, although most were actually written by Earle. This one is described by allmuisc.com as a “period gunman’s saga”.
14 - High on a Mountain Top – Loretta Lynn
I discussed Lynn’s “Van Lear Rose” in an earlier post, and this is another from that album, which was produced by Jack White from the White Stripes. This is probably a more traditional country sounding song than many others on the album, very enjoyable though.
13 - Misty Mountain Hop – Led Zeppelin
Some people may be shocked that this classic rock track is only #13 on my list, but the truth is, I actually don’t know the song very well. Led Zep IV has been on my must get albums list for some time, but I have just never got around to it. To be honest with you, I am not exactly sure where I have heard this song, probably on the radio, maybe at a friend’s place. Probably with more listens, it would shoot much higher up on the list.
12 - Mountain Dew – The Pogues
A traditional Irish folk song, this version was a bonus track on their album “If I should fall from grace with god”, the song is actually an ode to a drink (“But give me enough of the rare old stuff, That's made near Galway Bay, Come gougers all from Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim too, We'll give them the slip and we'll take a sip, Of the real old mountain dew.) For another piece of trivia, the classic Pogues song “Fairytale of New York” makes mention of this traditional Irish folk song (“And then he sang a song, The Rare Auld Mountain Dew, I turned my face away, And dreamed about you.”)
11 - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Jimmy Barnes
Ok, I know I have committed a big sin by including the Aussie rockers version on the list, and not the original Motown version, but the truth is that I am more familiar with Barnesy’s version, and he does a good enough job with it. The first concert I ever went to was Jimmy Barnes for his “Soul Deep” tour, which was where he covered all these great soul tracks.
So there is part one, the top ten is coming up next week. To give you a bit of a hint, there are six hills, and four mountains in the top ten. Six songs are by Aussies, two Brits, and two Americans. One group appears twice in the top ten.
As always, feel free to leave your questions, criticisms, comments, thoughts or suggestions…
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