christina aguilera - fighter

So... this is the second anthem I was mentioning in the Robbie Williams post. I absolutely love this song, though maybe you wouldn't consider Xtina as one of my obvious choices. Interesting video too. Reminds me of Silence of the Lambs for some reason. Well, not for some, but a very specific one - the creepy butterfly/moth thing. Insects freak me out but the whole coming out of the cocoon thing is a good metaphor for the song I find (though Christina looks better as a brunette, but don't take my word for it). Anyway, this song rocks. And, oh, that chorus fit so well.

So I wanna say thank you
'Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

robbie williams - feel

I guess this is going to raise eyebrows. I was a Take That fan back in the sunny days of my youth :), but interestingly enough, I never was one for Robbie. I think he is one of the precious few who emerged to a successful solo career after being part of a boy band and looking back I think Take That was indeed holding him back in his development as an artist. I think this guy is born to be an entertainer and it's both his blessing and his curse, as it is definitely taking a heavy toll on him. But I absolutely love some of the stuff he's done. And many of his lyrics are very truth-stating and touching and inspiring and, as I find, absolutely easy to identify with. I loved this song the instant I heard it. I just closed my eyes and cried. It really hit home at a time and at some point became my anthem along with the one in the next entry. Well... enjoy.

Come on hold my hand,
I wanna contact the living.
Not sure I understand,
This role I’ve been given.
I sit and talk to god
And he just laughs at my plans,
My head speaks a language I don’t understand.

I just wanna feel real love,
Feel the home that I live in.
’cause I got too much life,
Running through my veins, going to waste.

I don’t wanna die,
But I ain’t keen on living either.
Before I fall in love,
I’m preparing to leave her.
I scare myself to death,
That’s why I keep on running.
Before I’ve arrived, I can see myself coming.

I just wanna feel real love,
Feel the home that I live in.
’cause I got too much life,
Running through my veins, going to waste.
And I need to feel, real love
And a life ever after.
I cannot get enough.

animals - house of the rising sun

Geesh, the things you find out on wikipedia :) Apparently this is a folk song, origins unknown and recorded by artists starting in the 1920's. I've only ever heard the animals version and I guess it is the widest known one. Eric Burdon has a really deep, powerful voice, making the song's message all the piercing. That, and a hypnotic psycho glance, but I didn't see the video until much later after starting to like the song and it makes me laugh every time. I remember seeing 'Behind the Music' on VH-1 with Travis and I distinctly recall Fran Healy mentioning that this song was recorded in half an hour studio time, in a couple of takes, pick the best one and that's it. Amazing sound, amazing endurance. Enjoy.

cargo - batacanda

This is local pride kicking in :) And i mean local, not national. Cargo is one of the most appreciated Romanian rock bands, active for over two decades. It is the band that made guys like my brother want to be in a rock band; it is the band whose concerts i don't miss; it is the band that doesn't even have to sing when they come to play home gigs, because the public would do it for them with all their heart and all their lungs; it is the band that headlines festivals in my hometown, no matter what other band is playing the same day; it is the band that still draws fans in spite of changes of line-ups and attitude problems (oh, yeah, they sometimes have them :D ). This is one of my favourites among their songs, though it is so hard to pick just one. Makes me just wanna undulate my hips ;)
For Romanian speaking people... here is a short documentary on the band. And for them and all the rest... here is Batacanda.

marla glen - believer

Now, I've mentioned my early years of intense radio listening before, and the morning weekend show I was addicted to. There was one dude who once (and several times thereafter) requested this song. I had no idea what it was, I had never heard of it until then... or so I thought until the song started. Then I recognized it as a song I loved and never identified. It had been used in a commercial, am not sure, but it might have been United Colours of Benetton. It featured various kids on a train (and I mean on, as in on top of the wagons), breaking out of a tunnel into the light to this uplifting song. So I was really thankful to finally find out what the song was and who was singing it. And... oh, yeah: distinctive female voice. Very distinctive :)

radiohead - just

I know someone who'll be happy to see this entry. :)

If you'd wake me in the middle of the night and asked me to name the best music video ever made, in my humble opinion, anyway, there is a strong chance that this will be the first one that comes to my mind. Also, I love the lyrics to this one. I've used it on several occasions as a release song and every time the truth of the chorus lines just hit me "you do it to yourself and that's what really hurts, you do it to yourself, you and no one else". But before we proceed... duuuuude... what wrong?!?!?!?!?! It's driving me crazy...

zager & evans - in the year 2525

This is another song the mentioning of which is due to last winter's youtube sessions, same as Horse with No Name. Written in the mid-sixties and charting in 1969, the song depicts a somewhat gloomy and slow apocalypse of mankind, brought about by evolution in technology. It notes the inventions and changes from the year 2525, 3535, 4545 and so on, predicting what the future will look like, provided "man is still alive" and "woman can survive". Impressive foresight except for the date, I'd say, for many things already happened and we haven't even started the first stanza.

catatonia - road rage

Have I mentioned the phrase "distinct female voice" before? Well... I'll use it again. This time for Cerys Matthews of Catatonia, a Welsh band. Not to be mistaken for the Sweds of Katatonia. This is probably their biggest hit, a song full of energy as I consider it. I also like the lyrics. They're the 'with a twist' type. So if all you've got to do today is find peace of mind, come round, you can have a piece of mine:

the music - freedom fighters

This song... I've become aware of it about the same time as the Still's one. I fell in love instantly. Don't ask why, I couldn't tell you if I wanted. I had nearly forgotten both the band and the song until a couple of weeks ago, when I was looking for a song to illustrate a picture I took. I googled for tracks having to do with fighting and freedom and there it was. Afterwards, I've come across several other tracks by The Music (Cool name, eh? So onvious. How come no one thought of this before?) and I think the band is seriously underrated. Or seriously underexposed. Or maybe my eyes and ears are just not open enough :)
Anyways... let's dance for freedom, fighters of the world.

lake of tears - to blossom blue

One of the songs that should've made the list loooong ago, only I couldn't find a video. Since I was in no mood to yet again settle for another one, I've... errrrm... well, made one. A slideshow, I mean. Just so I can upload it on youtube and post it here. Knowing that I am a pretty lazy person and that I've spent an entire day doing this, you go figure. This is a dedication by a friend to my blue dragon, who grazes on clouds on full moon nights :). Oh, nevermind my silly talk. Just press play.

hara - nuro shavo

I've decided to also promote some Romanian bands around here. Romanian music industry is far from great quality-wise, in my opinion. With far too many people listening to 'manele' and an overcrowding of the market with cheap ten a dime bubble-gum pop sings and some wannabe hip hoppers mainly. However, I do find that there are some notable exceptions. One of them is Hara, a band from Cluj, unless I am much mistaken. They've enjoyed some success with a couple of songs. My favourite is "Nu-mi pasa" ("I Don't Care"), but haven't found a vid. Instead, I went for Nuro Shavo, featuring Tamango. Enjoy ;)

the stills - still in love song

This song is the only one I've ever heard of the band, but I've done some digging right now as I am writing this and... I promise I'll look into it. The (first, I think) album of this dudes is called Logic Will Break Your Heart and this is a single thereof. New album out now, entitled Without Feathers. They are based in Montreal, Canada, their site informs me. Interesting design, take a look at http://www.thestills.net/ - I'm to the new album as I write now.

Anyways... the song I am talking about... I've first noticed it while I was en passant through the room while MTV was on, the song was coming up and the band/title combo caught my eye. I watched and listened and like. What I like to this day is the double meaning you can read into the chorus lyrics. Though they are clearly stated as "I'm still in love and I'm still in love" they might well be heard/interpreted as "I'm still in love and I'm stealin' love" or "I'm stealin' love and I'm still in love". You go figure out the different meanings the thing taks on according to that change. I'm going to give the new album a listen now and you watch the vid (finally a genuine one):

janis joplin - mercedes benz

And now we're talking legends. Unfortunately, legends lived and died before my time. I see this song as a humourous-bitter comment and I can't say it doesn't still ring true after 30-something years. Some things never change.

Lyrics of this were in the forum signature of an online-acquaintance of mine, which recently re-brought the song to my attention. I've looked for a clip with actual Janis footage in it, but all those were rather twisted (am refraining hard from saying 'tormented' and 'slaughtered') versions of the songs or covers. I'd rather put up with a good song and a poor slideshow. Nice try though and thanks for using the original. Here is the commentary of one youtube user on the song:

This was recorded on October 1, 1970. If Joplin had lived, they may have added instruments to it before releasing it, but Joplin died 3 days later.
Joplin wrote this with a poet named Michael McClure. It is a social commentary on how many people relate happiness and self-worth with money and material possessions.
In the '90s, Mercedes used this in commercials for their cars. It was one of the great misappropriations of a song in a commercial, as Joplin's song was meant to convey the message that owning a luxury automobile does not make you a better person. Joplin's step-sister owned the rights to the song and allowed Mercedes to use it.
Janis Joplin never got a Mercedes Benz, but she did have a 1965 Porsche that was painted to become a piece of hippie art.

travis - side

Travis... oh, sweet memories :). Loved them ever since Writing to Reach You. Then a friend (cheers there!) made a copy of The Man Who (1999) for me. That convinced me. Afterwards I got the by then other two albums as well, Good Feeling (1997) and The Invisible Band (2001). Have I ever mentioned I love Scottish accent? Well, I do.

Anyways, another hard time picking up just one song from this, I find, awesome band. I thought I'd go with something more cheerful today... so I picked Side. It sounds rather upbeat. Once again, I'd like to draw your attention to the lyrics. They're the universal-truth-stating type ones.

That the grass is always greener on the other side, the neighbours got a new car that you wanna drive and when time is running out you wanna stay alive... We all live under the same sky, we all will live, we all will die; there is no wrong, there is no right, the circle only has one side

placebo - sleeping with ghosts

Well... a Placebo songs should've been listed here long ago (not that this blog is very old), since they are undisputed rulers of my last.fm charts. One of the main reasons it didn't, was because it was damn hard to choose. They are likely to be featured far mode than once.

However, this is definitely one of my favourites ever since I heard it. It has an outspoken political statement in it while at the same time dealing with relationships in the present society, all in Brian Molko's distinctive voice. I think it has everything Placebo. It's bitter, it's cynic, it's ironic, and at the same time it's somehow both fragile and protective. I love the tender chorus and the almost desperate (self)reassurance... soulmates never die. what better entry for valentine's day?

maroon 5 - woman

Another one from the series "un-famous songs of famous bands". This time another fave band of mine, namely Maroon 5. This track featured on the soundtrack of Spiderman 2. I haven't seen the film, but I have reasons to presume it was the best thing about it, lol.

Once again, skip the video. The only clip I could find far and wide across youtube (ok, I didn't look that hard, admittedly) is a tribute to Emma Watson who's playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies.

I find this to be a very sultry love song, both lyric and tune wise and I think Adam Levine's voice is really fitting for the atmosphere of the song.. I'd recommend this one as a soundtrack for hot moments.

anouk - mood indigo

OK, nevermind the crappy video now (the other option was something performed on a TV show, you didn't want to see that). Best press play and minimize your browser window. Close your eyes and listen.

This is yet another distinctive female voice, I find and along with K's Choice some of the finest the Dutch gave to the music industry (I don't really know what else they gave, though, lol). I discovered Anouk by accident. Like pretty much everybody else at that time, I only knew of the single Nobody's Wife, which rocked. I liked it and that was that. Until one day, at a radio show contest, I won a tape (yes, a tape!) with the album Together Alone (1997). They even apologized that the case was broken, it was the last they had to give away. Well, 'nuff said that the tape landed periodically in my walkman in the coming years.

Apparently, Anouk is a well selling artist in the BeNeLux countries, with now six albums under her belt. I have only heard one other, but off the first, there are several songs that have stuck with me. This one is the first single off it. As said... 1997. Nevermind the video.

PS: Later edit: Apparently the video has been taken off the site. So has been the crappy one. I'll leave it here as it is and will replace it should another one appear. Do listen to the song, though :)

PS: Edit no. two. Found the crappy one again. Forgiver her, she was young and inexperienced back then. :)

america - horse with no name

I am too young to have known America for anything other than the band that sang The Last Unicorn. Sadly and shamefully for me, I still don't know much else. But there is one other song I know and love.

The first time I ever heard this was on an interactive show at a local radio station. The DJ had the habit of asking people to call in with their top ten songs on a certain topic, or with specific words in the title. He'd make a final top of those and air them the next day. One of the given topics was 'songs with animals in their title'. Among black dogs, cats in the cradle and eagles from abba, there was this. I fell in love with the song in an instant and never ever heard it anywhere else. Several years later I remembered it, asked someone to download it, lost it again and re-downloaded it myself after a couple of years.

This winter I was with a friend, we wanted to listen to some music, we've already had some share of the 70's and I said let's listen to this. Here is what the dude said who uploaded it on youtube:

A Horse With No Name, originally entitled "Desert Song", the song was renamed at Samwell's suggestion. It was written on a rainy day in England and was intended to capture the feel of the hot, dry desert Bunnell remembered from his childhood at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Enjoy.

darren hayes - unlovable

Savage Garden are one of the bands whose birth I witnessed, so to say. There are bands I love that I have discovered, but with Savage... it's different. I have known them from their first single I Want You, I have bought their albums and awaited others. Then they broke up. Apparently lead singer Darren Hayes wanted to go on as is, while guitarist Daniel Jones wanted to shift the sound of the group more towards rock. I wouldn't have minded either, perhaps I would have welcomed a bit of both, but it did not come to pass.

I do not know what become of Daniel musically (he is running a label), but Darren has released a couple of solo albums, Spin (2002) and Tension and the Spark (2004) to moderate success, I'd say, though singles of the first one were quite some hits (namely Instatiable and Strange Relationship). Apparently a third album is in work. Tension and the Spark sounds more electronic, still there are tracks there that... well, what I've particularly loved about Savage Garden songs were the lyrics. There were twists of words and sense and direction, and metaphors and phrasings that I loved; there were feelings I could well retrace; and there was blunt and painful honesty. And I found all that again.

This song here is one of my favourites and lyric wise one of the most moving songs I know. It's just pretty much a straightforward cry of desperation put in song, but judge for yourselves. Oh, and I heartily recommend Darkness as well. I find it very... soothing, in an odd way.

garbage - only happy when it rains

"I'm only happy when it rains, I'm only when it's complicated...". Shirley Manson is in my opinion one of the best female voices / frontwomen of the new generations, up there with the likes of Sharleen Spiteri of Texas and Gwen Stefani of No Doubt. She has a very recognizable voice and at the time Garbage emerged as a band, I thought they sounded really fresh. Their older songs are still my favourites, with this particular one standing out. Apparently it is about the way we like to complicate our own lives. Enjoy.

willie nelson - he was a friend of mine

I think the original of this was the Byrds version, followed by Bob Dylan's, but I wouldn't bet on that. However, this is the version that always gets to me. Whenever I listen to this intently, I start crying. First time I heard it was in the soundtrack of Brokeback Mountain, perhaps this is the reason to it - the connection I immediately make with the film. Again, no video made, but there is a youtube-video with images from the movie. If you take offense at (the suggestion of; nothing really explicit in there) gay relationships (which you shouldn't, but there are weird people out there), don't watch it, but listen to the song nevertheless. It's worth it.

matchbox twenty - cold

From the series "un-famous songs of famous bands" now... The band in question is Matchbox Twenty and they are among my favourite artists, though they are famous in the US rather than in Europe. More fame has acquired here the lead singer and main songwriter of the band, Rob Thomas with his solo album Someone to Be and the singles thereof, Lonely No More and This Is How a Heart Breaks, as well as with the duet Smooth with Santana (yeah, he's the dude).

Anyways, with Matchbox, as with many other bands, I find that some of the best songs (or the ones I like best) remain well hidden on the albums. So, this song is not a single, but a track of the most recent MB20 album, More Than You Think You Are. Since it's not a single, there is no video for it, but I found a compilation of some TV series moments, I think, that features the song as a soundtrack.

melissa etheridge - come to my window

I really like Melissa's voice, though I only know a couple of songs of hers. She is on my "to check out" list, though. The video has a strong emotional message as well. The song kind of passed out of my memory until a couple of days ago when I was writing an entry for my personal blog and I found myself humming this song, so I looked it up and listened to it again.