The top five "god" songs

Hey everyone

I know, I kept you all hanging for so long, but life kinda got in the way. So here we are, back with the top five God songs. Hope you have enjoyed the list so far.

 

I am going to try and get back to posting on here a bit more often, but will just see how it goes. Finding time can be hard...

5 – There Goes God – Crowded House

I am a big Crowded House fan, and yet another appearance of a song with a connection to Neil Finn. This one is a nice track off the Woodface album, where god walks by wearing “sexy pants” and having a “sausage dog”.

4- God’s Little Bird – Vika and Linda

The Bull sisters have tremendously powerful voices and this song showcases their voices very well. A great toe-tapper of a song!

3 – God’s Gift to Women – Kate Miller-Heidke

Kate is a very hard artist to describe – classically trained, but sings quirky pop, a bit like a Kate Bush or Tori Amos, but then again, not really like them at all.  I do love the lyric from this song – “if your god’s gift to women, then god got it wrong”!!

2 – Thank God for the Pusherman – James Reyne

A bit of a different song for Reyne, a little bit heavier than he normally does. This comes from the “Speedboats for Breakfast” album.

1 – God Only Knows – Beach Boys

There was really no doubt as to what the top song would be. Possibly one of the most perfect pop songs, right from that introduction, to the beautiful lyrics, to the beautiful vocal performance. A wonderful track.

 

So there it is, my top “god” songs…what do people think? What have I left out?

Top 15 God Songs

Well, that was a long break between the last post and now, but life kind of got in the way of writing this list. So here it is, after the devil got his turn, its now god’s turn. Here is my top 15 “god” songs.

15 – Whenever God Shines His Light – Van Morrison with Cliff Richard

We kick off the list with a bit of a duet – an interesting pairing, but a nice little song.

14- God Protect Your Soul – Ed Harcourt

Ed Harcourt is an English singer-songwriter known for his atmospheric and diverse sounds. This track comes from his great debut album “Here Be Monsters.”

13 – God Bless This Mess – Sheryl Crow

For  the 13 spot, we go to Sheryl Crow’s protest song, “God Bless This Mess.” Simplistic in sound, this track has Sheryl expressing her strong criticisms of the US response to the 9/11 attacks. It’s a moving, yet very political track. Consider the following lyrics: “Heard about the day, that two skyscrapers came down. Firemen, policemen and people came from all around. The smoke covered the city, and the body count arise. The president spoke words of comfort, with tears in his eyes. Then he led us as a nation, into a war all based on lies, oh God bless this mess.”

12 – God Makes No Mistakes – Loretta Lynn

Some more from the “Van Lear Rose” album, with the passion of Loretta’s unique vocals coming to the fore in this country rock track.

11 – God Put a Smile Upon Your Face – Coldplay

You would most likely be familiar with this song, it was a huge hit and was all over the radio for a while, but I quite like it.  It is probably the sort of song that Coldplay fans would say is why they like them, yet at the same time, its also probably the type of song that those who hate Coldplay would say is a great example of why they don’t like Coldplay.

10 – God Told Me To – Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly has a lot of “god” songs (God’s Hotel, Surely God was a Lover, Glory Be to God, to name a few), but I have included this solid track from his “Stolen Apples” album. In this song, Kelly assumes the character of a religious extremist who has committed murder because he believes that god told him to. In the current times of terrorist attacks etc, it’s a thought provoking track.

9 – With God on Our Side – Bob Dylan

One of those early Dylan tracks, where Dylan has just an acoustic guitar, and a lot of lyrics to sing. A great track.

8 – All God’s Children – The Finn Brothers

From the excellent “Everyone is Here” album, Neil and Tim give us the sort of music that they have made a career out of. This song also addresses the god is a woman movement, with a line that I love:  “We're all God's children, And God is a woman. But we still don't know who the father is. I can't help thinking, there's a fortune riding, on the answer to that question.”

7 – If I Should Fall from Grace with God – The Pogues

The title track of an excellent Pogues album, this one is some more of that great celtic folk with attitude that you get from the Pogues.

6 – Secret God – Neil Finn

This time we get Neil Finn solo, from his brilliant “One Nil” album. This is a lush, atmospheric track that is almost a bit dreamy. Great piece of music.  And there may still be more Finn to come in this list!

I will post the top five next week. As I have previously said, any comments are most welcome, so please include them. As for some teasers about the top five - there is something Finn related, a quirky Aussie, a singer that is one of my favourites, some beautiful female harmonies, and a number one by a big name group which stands well clear at number one.

take care everone, and keep the comments coming.

Deano

Devil songs - the top five

Hi All Sorry about the delay with this post, but life kinda got in the way!! I know you were all waiting on the edge of your seats to see what the top five is, so here it is:

5 - The Devil’s been Busy – Travelling Wilburys What a band – this collaboration between Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty , Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne is the ultimate example of a supergroup. After the hugely successful and brilliant first album, unfortunately Roy passed away, so the follow up (called volume three, just to confuse us) was released without his vocals. Although still an enjoyable listen, it is not as brilliant as the first. The Devil’s Been Busy is the fourth track from this album, a good little pop track.

4 - You’re the Devil in Disguise – Elvis Presley A UK number one single for the King, this is classic Elvis, with a catchy pop ditty. Lovely stuff.

3 - The Devil Went Down to Georgia – Charlie Daniels Band A great country music song, this narrative tells the story of a guy named Johnny who is challenged by the devil to a fiddle playing contest (as you do!). If the devil wins, he gets to take Johnny’s soul, Johnny’s prize if he wins is a golden fiddle. (Is it just me, or does the devil’s instrumental possibly sound better than Johnny’s, despite the song awarding the win to Johnny?)

2- Devil Inside – INXS A great rock track from INXS, possibly one of their harder songs. It contains a great hook, that immediately gets you into the song. Hutchene’s vocals also work really well on this track, the chorus being delivered in a breathy fashion.

1 - Sympathy for the Devil – Rolling Stones The top spot goes to this epic track from the Stones. What I really love about this song is how the repetitive beat increases in intensity throughout the track, with Jagger putting down a great vocal performance. I wouldn’t call myself a huge Stones fan, but this is one of their best. So there it is. Some used to say that rock and roll was the devil's music, and this list certainly doesn't dispel that comment! As a treat for the next list, its time to give God the right of reply. Look forward to your company for the next list, and as always, comments are most appreciated.

Top 15 "Devil" songs

Back in February, my wife and I took a little break down to Tasmania, a beautiful part of the world. We did a whole heap of different activities whilst down there, but one of the more different things (for us anyway) was that we took a ride on the Devil Jet, a jet boat that goes through the white water rapids of the Derwent River. It was great one, and has inspired this week’s list, which is all about the devil.

15 - The Devil’s Workday - Modest Mouse
I remember hearing the Modest Mouse song “Float On” on the radio, and being quite impressed, it was nothing like anything I had heard before. In recent times, I borrowed from a friend the album that “Float On” is from, and that was how I heard of this track, “The Devil’s Workday”, which allmusic.com describe as having a theatrical jolt.

14 - That Old Devil Called Love – Billie Holiday
Time for a change of pace, so I thought it would be nice to throw in a nice track from the jazz singing pioneer herself, Billie Holiday.

13 - Better the Devil You Know – Kylie Minogue
Ok, so to some of you I would have just killed every ounce of musical credibility that I might have, but for some reason, I don’t mind a bit of Kylie’s music every now and then. A nice little dance pop track coming from the early 90’s.

12 - Whiskey, You’re the Devil – The Pogues
I included this track on my booze-o list, and this is what I wrote back then: “When it comes to songs about alcohol, there are some artists that you would expect to feature prominently, and the Pogues are certainly one of them. If you are not familiar with them, they were an Irish rock group that sort of combined traditional Irish folk with the punk movement, the end result being a unique sound that is brilliant. In this track, they even take some lyrics from the traditional folk song “Whiskey in the Jar” and blend it into this song. Great, great stuff.”

11 - Devils and Dust – Bruce Springsteen
The title track from Springsteen’s 2005 folk album. Its one of the better songs on the album, but I find that I have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy this album. When I am in the mood for it, I think its brilliant, when I am not in the right frame of mind, I find it sounds like an annoying mumble of an album.

10 - Devil in her Heart – The Beatles
A doo-wop cover version with George on lead vocals, from their second album “With the Beatles”, I quite like this track. Its simple, and its got a nice feel to it.

9 - Who Put the Devil in You? – You Am I
A blistering rock track from You Am I’s “Deliverance” album. Their last good album, in my humble opinion.

8 - The Devil You Know – Split Enz
A great track from the “Conflicting Emotions” album, this showcases Neil Finn’s talents, although is overshadowed by “Message to My Girl” as the great track from this album.

7 - Speak of the Devil – Chris Isaak
Some more of that moody music that Chris is famous for. Great stuff.

6 - The Devil’s Inside Your Head – Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Another track from the excellent “Rattlin Bones” album. This one is stripped down, mostly acoustic, and could almost be some long lost mountain song.

At this point, I am going to leave you hanging, and say come back next week when the top five is revealed, although its probably not a difficult one to guess this time around. Take care everyone, and keep those comments coming…hehehe…

Top 15 "Photography" songs

My beautiful wife has recently bought a new camera, and has been taking some photography lessons. I really admire her passion, and its great to see her really trying to develop her skills. It makes me look a bit silly in comparison, when my hobby of late seems to be writing meaningless music lists on the internet!!

Anyway, in honour of her, I thought this week’s theme would be photography. You might have to bear with me a bit here, because some of the songs might be a bit of a tenuous link to the theme, and many only have a fleeting reference, and are really about other things. It’s a top 15 this week. AND….I am really trying hard to get a list of songs that does not include Nickelback’s “Photograph”, which actually fits the theme well, and is probably Nickelback’s best song. But I don’t like Nickelback, so I don’t really want to have to include it….here’s hoping.

For each track on the list, I have picked a quote that shows you the photo/camera reference. Enjoy, and once again, feel free to comment and tell me what I have overlooked.

15 - Nightswimming – REM
(“The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago, turned around backwards so the windshield shows”)
I am not really a huge REM fan, I like their big hits, and hence the best of REM album that I have serves me fine. According to Wikipedia, Chris Martin from Coldplay called this the greatest song ever written. If that’s true, that is a massive call. It’s a nice enough ballad.

14 - A Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash
(“I knew that snake was my own sweet dad, from a worn-out picture that my mother'd had”)
A novelty song, about a boy with an unfortunate name who tracks down his father and has words with him for giving him that name. But, once he understands the reason for it, he forms a slightly different view. Check it out if you haven’t heard it before.

13 - Picture – Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock
(“I found your picture today”)
People that know me know that I am a big fan of Sheryl Crow, and I must admit when I first heard of her pairing with Kid Rock, I was a little surprised. But it actually works quite well, with Sheryl’s sweet voice contrasting well with the rougher voice of Kid Rock. The song is well written, and tells the story of a troubled relationship. There is a great part in the song where they talk about how their respective characters are dealing with the breakup. Crow sings “I was heading to church”, whereas Rock sings “I was off to drink you away.”. For some reason, I have always liked that, it shows the contrast really well I think.

12 – Turning Japanese – The Vapours
(“I’ve Got Your Picture, I’ve got your picture”)
Time to throw in some great 80’s pop music. Although I am not really sure how to tackle the description for this one, as this song contains some downright filthy lyrics. Should I even mention that he “wants a doctor to take a picture” so he can ”look at you from inside as well”….hmmmmm….

11 - Send a Picture of Mother – Johnny Cash
(“and send a picture of mother if you can”)
The Man in Black makes his second appearance on this list. This song tells the story of two brothers who are in prison, one is due for release, but the other has to stay due to some poor behaviour whilst in prison. He laments the fact that he has to stay, and asks his brother to pass on his regards to his family, and then requests that he sends a picture of his mother. A moving song.

10 - I Only Understand Her in the Rain – Tim Rogers
(“I hate your old photos and the smiles that they contain, Yeh your old damn boyfriends, think I’ll leave ‘em out in the rain”)
When You am I released their album “Dress Me Slowly”, some editions had a bonus album of Tim Rogers, their lead singer, performing stripped back, acoustic songs with a collaboration called the Temperence Union. This collaboration contained a track called “Dreamin”. The song talked about feeling jealous after seeing photos of his partner with her ex. Fast forward a few years, and Tim’s solo album Spit Polish pops up with a track called “I Only Understand Her in the Rain”. The lyrics of this track sound mighty familiar. That is because it is the same song, but reworked to new music.

9 - Penny Lane – Beatles
(“In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs, Of every head he's had the pleasure to know. And all the people that come and go, Stop and say hello.”)
Now either that barber doesn’t have many customers, or else he has a lot of photographs! Paul’s little ode to where he grew up is a lovely little song. Sometimes I feel, like with a lot of Beatles songs, it doesn’t get the credit it deserves, as it is overshadowed by many other better Beatles songs, but it just has a nice feelgood flavour to it.

8 - Bad Day – REM
(“It's been a bad day. Please don't take a picture”)
Another REM song on the list. For those that don’t know this song, its very similar in structure to “It’s the end of the world as we know it”. In fact, Bad Day came first, but was left unfinished for many years, and kind of morphed into “…end of the world…” Years later, when the best of was released, this song was finished and added to that tracklisting.

7 - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) – Green Day
(“So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind”)
Perhaps the most misinterpreted song of all time, it actually about a break up, but seems to be used all the time in a good way, and I would hazard a guess that it would probably be one of the most popular wedding songs since its release. It is a great song though, a simple acoustic track, and a big departure from Green Day’s other songs.

6 - Picture This – Blondie
(“All I want is a photo in my wallet. A small remembrance of something more solid. All I want is a picture of you.”)
Blondie are a great band, I liked “Heart of Glass” before I even knew who it was by. From the excellent album “Parallel Lines” comes “Picture This”, which perhaps you could call Blondie-by-numbers, but I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s a great track, but quintessentially Blondie.

5 - Girls on Film – Duran Duran –
(“There's a camera rolling on her back, on her back”)
This was one of the first songs that came to mind when I thought of this topic, mainly due to the camera noises that occur at the start. I know the song is quite famous for its film clip, considered quite risqué at the time, but to be honest with you, I don’t watch many film clips and I can’t even recall if I have seen it. Nevertheless, it’s a great piece of 80’s pop.

4 - There Goes the Neighbourhood – Sheryl Crow
(“Get out the camera, take a picture, the drag queens and the freaks, are all out on the town”)
I am a big Sheryl Crow fan, and this is one of her best. From her brilliant “Globe Sessions” album, allmusic.com describes this as a “Stonesy rocker”. I can understand the comparison, but it doesn’t do this song credit to dismiss this as just another rock track.

3 - Take a Picture – Filter
(“Could You Take My Picture, Cause I won’t remember”)
A great piece of pop/rock from the late 90’s early 00’s. One of the things I like about making these lists is that sometimes I like to look up the songs and find out a bit more about them. I have always enjoyed the dreamlike melody of this song, but not taken too much notice of the lyrics, other than the chorus. Anyway, it turns out that it is about the lead singer getting drunk on an aeroplane and taking off his clothes (as you do!)…which now helps the opening line “Awake on my airplane, awake on my airplane...my skin is bare, my skin is theirs” to make a lot of sense.

2- Hey Ya! – Outkast
(“Shake it like a Polaroid Picture”)
New Zealand. 2001. I travel to New Zealand and whilst I am over there, I catch up with an Aunt/uncle and cousin, a teenage schoolgirl at the time. Her taste in music was a fair bit different to mine, and so she was playing a lot of hip/hop type music that didn’t do a lot for me. Except for one song which stood out, featuring a very catchy chorus: “I’m sorry Ms Jackson, I am for reeeealll”. I couldn’t get that out of my head for the rest of the trip. I then try and find out who it is from, and discover it is a group called Outkast.

Fast forward several years, and another catchy track, with the Polaroid picture line seems to be everywhere, on radio, in TV, in shops. Despite the massive exposure though, it doesn’t seem to outstay its welcome, and again stands out as being a great song from a genre that doesn’t normally appeal to me. It comes as some surprise when I learn it is from Outkast as well…and brings back memories to my New Zealand trip.

I still haven’t purchased an Outkast album (although did buy the download of this song from itunes), but perhaps I should give them a shot.

1- Kodachrome – Paul Simon
(I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, So mama don't take my Kodachrome away)
The top photography song by a long margin, how could you not give it to a song that has a type of film as its title, as well as namedropping a camera brand!! Away from the the photo thing, it also contains one of the best opening song lines there is: “when I look back on all the crap I learned at high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all.” That’s damn fine songwriting right there.



So there it is, my photography list. In my introduction, I mentioned that this was in honour of my wife, but having gone back to look at the list, and realized that it contained songs about skinny dipping, fighting with your father, being in jail, masturbation, being jealous, having a bad day, breaking up with your partner, dodgy neighbourhoods, and getting drunk and stripping on a plane, perhaps it wasn’t my finest choice of dedications!!!....sorry bout that wifey!!

Top 15 "Year" songs

Hi All

With a new year now upon us, this week’s musical list theme is years. We know that Bryan Adams sung about the Summer of 69, Prince about 1999, the Smashing Pumpkins about 1979, the Whitlams about 1995 and Queen about ’39, but rather than focusing on specific years, I thought I would focus on songs with “year” or “years” in the title.

Its only a top 15 this week, and I will do the whole lot in one post so as to not clog up everyone’s facebook feeds. I hope you enjoy!

As always, comments, criticisms and topic suggestions are most welcome.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

15 – 99 Years – Vika and Linda.
A Paul Kelly penned track, performed by the Bull sisters. Seems like a pretty good combination to me, and a solid song to start the list with.

14 – Years May Come, Years May Go – Herman’s Hermits
I picked up a cheap best of from Herman’s Hermits several months ago, primarily for the songs “I’m into Something Good” and “No Milk Today”, great little pop songs from the sixties. I was surprised to discover some other gems on the best of, like this song. On the surface, it’s a simple song with pretty lyrics, but I got to say, when you dig a bit below the surface, the lyrics get you thinking.

13 – Anthem for the Year 2000 – Silverchair
From jingly sixties pop to some hard rock, the 13th position is taken by Silverchair’s hard rock. I like some of Silverchair’s stuff, but I have never really got into them in a big way, and certainly don’t rave over their music like some music critics. It’s a good track though. At the start I said I wasn’t including songs that mention specific years, but this one slips through the eligibility criteria because it contains the word “year” in the title.

12 – Golden Years – David Bowie
A good Bowie song, that almost has a bit of a funk/soul feel to it.

11 – Still Crazy After All these Years – Paul Simon
A sweet little song from Paul Simon.

10 – One More Year – Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson.
From their excellent collaboration album “Rattlin Bones”, this is a quiet slow tune. There are better on the album, but nonetheless, a solid track.

9 – Forgotten Years – Midnight Oil.
Some Aussie rock from our country’s cabinet minister. I like Midnight Oil, but wouldn’t consider myself a huge fan, its almost like there songs have been around, on the radio or whatever, but I have never taken the next step and got into them in a huge way.

8 – A Couple More Years – Jerry Lee Lewis (with Willie Nelson)
A few years ago I picked up a killer album (pardon the pun) where Jerry Lee Lewis, who I am guessing is probably in his seventies now, duets with a whole lot of musicians – John Fogerty, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, etc. However, Jerry Lee shines through, dominating on the duets, in this very good album. From this album is a reflective song, A Couple More Years. Great stuff.

7 – Living Years – Mike and the Mechanics
Some might call this song daggy, but it is quite poignant I think. I remember it being a huge hit in the late eighties, the sort of song that was appealing to the chart followers as well as the blue rinse set. No doubt it probably gets played on golden oldies radio stations today.

6 – 50 Years – Uncanny X Men
If you thought Mike and the Mechanics was a bit daggy, then you will probably think the same about this sentimental track from this Aussie rock group. If you don’t know the song, here is a sample of the lyrics:
“Its nearly time we were leaving, well have one more for the road/It don’t mean nothing, it don’t mean nothing/So we gather around the table, raise our champagne in the air/It dont mean nothing, it don’t mean nothing/Cause we’ve got this night together well have here now forever/Don’t tell me now you can write me a letter, where will we be in Fifty years”. Its corny, but its great corny!!

5 – It Was a Very Good Year – Frank Sinatra
It would be wrong to leave the Chairman of the Board off the list, although I must say, this is not one of my favourite Sinatra tracks. I think I like the ones that swing a bit more. But it’s a nice song, and will always be memorable to me for the Simpsons parody, where Homer sings about drinking a very good beer!

4 – Good Year for the Roses – Elvis Costello
When I think of Elvis Costello, I normally associate him with the catchy pop of songs like Oliver’s Army or Whats So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding. I don’t normally think of ballads, which is strange, because he has some amazing slow songs, like Indoor Fireworks, and this one, Good Year for the Roses.

3 – Another Year Gone – Bob Evans
I think I downloaded this track from I-tunes, as a B-side, because I can’t remember which of Bob’s albums it is from, but it’s a lovely little song.

2 – Young Years – Dragon
A pop rock anthem, it’s catchy and a most enjoyable listen.

1 – New Years Day – U2
From one anthem to another, the number one spot given the time of year it is, must go to U2’s New Years Day. It’s a great song, featuring Clayton’s bassline, and Edge’s keyboard playing. I love the intro to this song, the keys, and then the scream from Bono. Its just great. According to the trusted source that is Wikipedia, the song’s lyrics started as love song from Bono to his wife, but somehow ended up being about the Polish solidarity movement.

So there you have it, my top “years” songs. Hope you enjoyed.

Happy New Year to all.