Monday, July 21, 2003
Chokers
Here's a list of 20 songs that get me choked up when I listen to them.
1. Abba, "One of Us" – Despite the glittering production and cut-glass harmonies Abba’s songs always sound one hundred percent sincere to me. They understand that a song can be upbeat and poppy and at the same time unbearably sad.
2. Abba, "Winner Takes All" – Same as above. She sounds lost in resignation and sadness. "Now I understand / you've come to shake my hand". Nuff said.
3. Patsy Cline, "Darling You're Stronger than Me" – I'll probably get strung up for comparing Patsy Cline to Abba, but this song has a similar tone to "Winner Takes All". I like how Patsy Cline's songs seem very domestic, very close to home. And the way she sings it's always like you're hearing the story for the first time. The songs don't seem weighed down by the cliches of country music, even though she's singing about heartache and lost love.
4. Glen Campbell, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" - That voice! So sad. This is my favorite song to do at Karaoke.
5. Nick Drake, "Road" (called "Radio" on some records) - I have a flashbulb memory of hearing this for the first time and becoming aware how devastatingly sad it was. This song was inexplicably left off of the most recent Nick Drake compilation, but can be found on the earlier one called “Heaven in a Wild Flower”, or on the album “Pink Moon”.
6. The Shangri Las, "The Train from Kansas City" – The singer has got word that her old love is on his way to see her. But now she's in love and married to someone new. The ex-love's train rolls on relentless and there's nothing she can do except meet him at the station and show him the ring. Desperately poignant.
7. Dusty Springfield - "24 Hours from Tulsa" - Has to be Dusty's version. Same kind of vibe as 6, but whereas the girl in "The Train from Kansas City" is merely faced with an unpleasant task, the girl in this song CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN. This was a big theme in a lot of those sixties ballads, but I think this song captures it best.
8. Joni Mitchell, "The Last Time I Saw Richard" - This one is still my favorite off of Blue, an album on which every song chokes me up.
9. Leonard Cohen, "Bird on a Wire" - The bit about the beggar and the prostitute does me in every time. Leonard Cohen knows how to get right into your soul.
10. Billy Bragg , "Tank Park Salute" – “I closed my eyes and when I looked / Your name was in the memorial book”. Billy’s tribute to his late father. The beautifully concise lyrics describe the confusion of a young boy coming to terms with mortality, and the simplest of piano lines seals the mood.
11. Randy Newman, "Old Man" - Another song about the death (or impending death) of the singer's father. This song is shockingly cruel. Each line bangs another nail in. This is probably the darkest, most sadistic song I’ve ever heard.
12. Diana Ross and the Supremes, "I’m Living in Shame" – Devastating, guilt-ridden ode to late Mama. “Got a telegram / Mama passed away while making home made jam”.
13. Billy Holliday, "In My Solitude" – “Yooooouuuu haunt me…” Ironically, it's Billy Holliday who sounds like a ghost.
14. Bob Dylan, "Every Grain of Sand" - The version I know is from the Bootleg Series. Somehow this seems like something close to a perfect melody. It's so simple it's hard to believe no one else found it first. This version has a beautiful female harmony (Emmy Lou perhaps?) and a dog barks poignantly right in the middle.
15. Vic Chesnutt (also covered by Kristin Hersh), "Panic Pure" - Either version will do it. All round intense song, but there's that line about the sparkler... Gives me the shivers every time.
16. Billy Holliday, "Strange Fruit" - Gives me the cold sweats. I just saw the documentary about the song. Did you know the guy who wrote Strange Fruit was the adoptive parent of the two sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? He was a schoolteacher, just like Rob Pollard.
17. Johnny Cash, "The Baron" – Sentimental story-song. The ending always gets me teary.
18. The Shangri Las, "Out in the Street" – Shangri La’s songs fall into two categories, the “How can I go on living?” songs and the “How can I live with myself?” songs. This song is from the latter category. It’s all there: guilt, shame and uncontrollable sorrow. Her boy has straightened out just for her, but he’s lost his radiant wild side as a result. She’s ruined him, and her own sadness is too much to bear.
19. Missy Elliot, "Can you hear me?" – Most of those tribute songs to dead rappers leave me cold, but this one brings tears to my eyes every time. In terms of the melody or structure it’s not the greatest song, but it’s so sincere and heartfelt that it’s hard not to be moved.
20. Iron and Wine, "Muddy Hymnals" / "Up Over the Mountain" – I could have picked a number of songs from this record (“And the Creek Drank the Cradle”). “Muddy Hymnals” is the story of the patriarch who abandons his job and his children and is eventually found laying across his dead lovers grave. In “Up Over the Mountain” the singer consoles, reassures and asks forgiveness of his mother. The song ends with the heartbreaking image of the mother weeping at the birth of a litter of pups on the pantry floor. I think the line, “Mother forgive me, I sold your car for the shoes that I gave you” is incredibly touching.
Here's a list of 20 songs that get me choked up when I listen to them.
1. Abba, "One of Us" – Despite the glittering production and cut-glass harmonies Abba’s songs always sound one hundred percent sincere to me. They understand that a song can be upbeat and poppy and at the same time unbearably sad.
2. Abba, "Winner Takes All" – Same as above. She sounds lost in resignation and sadness. "Now I understand / you've come to shake my hand". Nuff said.
3. Patsy Cline, "Darling You're Stronger than Me" – I'll probably get strung up for comparing Patsy Cline to Abba, but this song has a similar tone to "Winner Takes All". I like how Patsy Cline's songs seem very domestic, very close to home. And the way she sings it's always like you're hearing the story for the first time. The songs don't seem weighed down by the cliches of country music, even though she's singing about heartache and lost love.
4. Glen Campbell, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" - That voice! So sad. This is my favorite song to do at Karaoke.
5. Nick Drake, "Road" (called "Radio" on some records) - I have a flashbulb memory of hearing this for the first time and becoming aware how devastatingly sad it was. This song was inexplicably left off of the most recent Nick Drake compilation, but can be found on the earlier one called “Heaven in a Wild Flower”, or on the album “Pink Moon”.
6. The Shangri Las, "The Train from Kansas City" – The singer has got word that her old love is on his way to see her. But now she's in love and married to someone new. The ex-love's train rolls on relentless and there's nothing she can do except meet him at the station and show him the ring. Desperately poignant.
7. Dusty Springfield - "24 Hours from Tulsa" - Has to be Dusty's version. Same kind of vibe as 6, but whereas the girl in "The Train from Kansas City" is merely faced with an unpleasant task, the girl in this song CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN. This was a big theme in a lot of those sixties ballads, but I think this song captures it best.
8. Joni Mitchell, "The Last Time I Saw Richard" - This one is still my favorite off of Blue, an album on which every song chokes me up.
9. Leonard Cohen, "Bird on a Wire" - The bit about the beggar and the prostitute does me in every time. Leonard Cohen knows how to get right into your soul.
10. Billy Bragg , "Tank Park Salute" – “I closed my eyes and when I looked / Your name was in the memorial book”. Billy’s tribute to his late father. The beautifully concise lyrics describe the confusion of a young boy coming to terms with mortality, and the simplest of piano lines seals the mood.
11. Randy Newman, "Old Man" - Another song about the death (or impending death) of the singer's father. This song is shockingly cruel. Each line bangs another nail in. This is probably the darkest, most sadistic song I’ve ever heard.
12. Diana Ross and the Supremes, "I’m Living in Shame" – Devastating, guilt-ridden ode to late Mama. “Got a telegram / Mama passed away while making home made jam”.
13. Billy Holliday, "In My Solitude" – “Yooooouuuu haunt me…” Ironically, it's Billy Holliday who sounds like a ghost.
14. Bob Dylan, "Every Grain of Sand" - The version I know is from the Bootleg Series. Somehow this seems like something close to a perfect melody. It's so simple it's hard to believe no one else found it first. This version has a beautiful female harmony (Emmy Lou perhaps?) and a dog barks poignantly right in the middle.
15. Vic Chesnutt (also covered by Kristin Hersh), "Panic Pure" - Either version will do it. All round intense song, but there's that line about the sparkler... Gives me the shivers every time.
16. Billy Holliday, "Strange Fruit" - Gives me the cold sweats. I just saw the documentary about the song. Did you know the guy who wrote Strange Fruit was the adoptive parent of the two sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? He was a schoolteacher, just like Rob Pollard.
17. Johnny Cash, "The Baron" – Sentimental story-song. The ending always gets me teary.
18. The Shangri Las, "Out in the Street" – Shangri La’s songs fall into two categories, the “How can I go on living?” songs and the “How can I live with myself?” songs. This song is from the latter category. It’s all there: guilt, shame and uncontrollable sorrow. Her boy has straightened out just for her, but he’s lost his radiant wild side as a result. She’s ruined him, and her own sadness is too much to bear.
19. Missy Elliot, "Can you hear me?" – Most of those tribute songs to dead rappers leave me cold, but this one brings tears to my eyes every time. In terms of the melody or structure it’s not the greatest song, but it’s so sincere and heartfelt that it’s hard not to be moved.
20. Iron and Wine, "Muddy Hymnals" / "Up Over the Mountain" – I could have picked a number of songs from this record (“And the Creek Drank the Cradle”). “Muddy Hymnals” is the story of the patriarch who abandons his job and his children and is eventually found laying across his dead lovers grave. In “Up Over the Mountain” the singer consoles, reassures and asks forgiveness of his mother. The song ends with the heartbreaking image of the mother weeping at the birth of a litter of pups on the pantry floor. I think the line, “Mother forgive me, I sold your car for the shoes that I gave you” is incredibly touching.
