Month: March 2018

A new Female Friday Feature at lyriquediscorde – Artist/Band Spotlight – starts this Month, and will repeat the last Friday of each Month moving forward.

Starting us off is Shirley Manson, Lead Singer of Garbage, and all-around Queen of Alternative Rock. The picture featured in this post is original Art by my oldest daughter Julia Lynch. You can follow her on Instagram to see other incredible pieces. She’s doing a Women in Music Series so you’ll want to follow her to check that out. Shirley Manson is the first of her Series and the first of this new Female Friday Feature.

Keep Art Alive – Shirley Manson by Julia Lynch

Shirley Manson is a Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer and Actress. She is the lead vocalist of Garbage. For much of her international career, Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh and the United States to record with Garbage; she now lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

She is one of my Favorite Women in Music. She’s talented, rebellious, outspoken, strong, stylish, an advocate and activist, and just overall fantastic.

Shirley Manson’s musical career began in her teens when she was approached to perform backing vocals and keyboards for the band Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. Quickly she developed into a prominent member of the group and developed a formidable stage presence.

“Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie” by Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie

Shirley was then approached by the Band’s Record Label with an idea to launch her as a Solo Artist. She recorded an Album with her Band as Angelfish.

“Suffocate Me” by Angelfish

After seeing Shirley in an Angelfish Video that only broadcasted once on MTV’s “120 Minutes” (wow – what are the chances?), Garbage invited her to audition and Record Vocals on a couple of unfinished Songs. She eventually Co-Wrote and Co-Produced an entire Album with Garbage.

The resulting self-titled debut, Garbage, was a critically acclaimed, worldwide hit, and was followed by four studio albums, including the multiple Grammy Award-nominated Version 2.0, and a greatest hits album. Garbage toured worldwide and sold 12 million records over ten years. (from Wikipedia)

“Only Happy When It Rains” by Garbage

Shirley Manson has long been speaking out for what’s right throughout her career, be it supporting LGBTQ people and causes, being a feminist icon, or working with individual charities like the MAC AIDS Fund, PETA, and The Pablove Foundation. Last year, Forbes recognized her unwavering efforts by naming her “Activist Of The Year” – something that couldn’t have been more deserved. (from NME)

Shirley Manson – Artist Spotlight
A Female Friday Playlist

Listen on Spotify and YouTube

“#1 Crush” by Garbage
“Queen of the Bored” Brian Reitzell, featuring Shirley Manson
“Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go)” by Garbage
“I Think I’m Paranoid” by Garbage
“Special” by Garbage
“The Trick Is to Keep Breathing” by Garbage
“Medication” by Garbage
“Girls Talk” by Garbage, featuring Brody Dalle
“Cup of Coffee” by Garbage
“Vow” by Garbage
“Supervixen” by Garbage
“Androgyny” by Garbage
“Sex Is Not the Enemy” by Garbage
“Push It” by Garbage
“Queer” by Garbage
“Milk” by Garbage
“Sometimes” by Garbage
“Because the Night” by Garbage and Screaming Females
“Butterfly Collector” by Garbage
“It’s All Over But the Crying” by Garbage
“Magnetized” by Garbage
“You Can Love Her” by Angelfish
“Only Happy When It Rains” by Garbage
“Bleed Like Me” by Garbage
“Automatic Systematic Habit” by Garbage
“Suffocate” by Angelfish
“No Horses” by Garbage
“When I Grow Up” by Garbage
“Breaking Up the Girl” by Garbage
“Even Though Our Love Is Doomed” by Garbage

Shirley Manson – Artist Spotlight

 

Friday! Friday! Let’s hear it for Friday! It was a long time coming this week as each day was full of many challenges and projects, for me. There were little successes along the way to celebrate, which made some of the roadblocks and challenges more bearable. And, of course, there was Music to Obsess over.

It’s the last day of 2018’s March, too.

Since Today is Female Friday Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions will feature 5 fantastic Women in Music.

A new discovery, “Daydreaming” by Dark Dark Dark, is up first. I heard this Song on this Week’s episode of “Good Girls”. They’ve had some keen Music on the Show so far. Almost every episode has me at Tunefind checking out who was Playing.

Up next is “Cruel World” by Phantogram. This one needs to be TURNED UP LOUD, especially if you are playing it in your car. This Track is so addicting!

Song 3 is “Sister” by Angel Olsen. Every Song I hear from Angel I love. I need to dive deeper into her Albums and Music.

“The Way Things Are” by Fiona Apple follows so perfectly, don’t you think?

Last, but not least, is “Smother” by Daughter. Every time I think I’ve chosen a Favorite Song by Daughter another one comes along and steals my Music Obsessive heart. This is the latest to steal my devotion.

You can hear these 5 Songs below, or you can stream via Spotify and YouTube where each day’s 5 will be added.

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day – March 30, 2018

1. “Daydreaming” by Dark Dark Dark

2. “Cruel World” by Phantogram

3. “Sister” by Angel Olsen

4. “The Way Things Are” by Fiona Apple

5. “Smother” by Daughter

Yay for Friday! Hope you enjoyed Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions, Female Friday Version, featuring Dark Dark Dark, Phantogram, Angel Olsen, Fiona Apple, and Daughter.

Got something you’d like to see featured in a Top 5? Share the Song Title and Artist/Band in the Comments, or email lyriquediscordesubmissions@gmail.com.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Week of 3/26/18

 

“Misguided Angel” by Cowboy Junkies is my Favorite Track off of 1988’s The Trinity Sessions Album. My Cassette of The Trinity Sessions lived in my first car, and “Misguided Angel” found its way into multiple Mix Tapes.

The Trinity Sessions is Cowboy Junkies second Album. It was recorded at Toronto’s Church of the Holy Trinity on November 27, 1987, with the band circled around a single microphone. (from Wikipedia)

It is one of my all-time Favorite Songs ever, ever slaying me on a deep soul level. It cuts through all my surfaces and masks right into the core of who I am. “Misguided Angel” feels like so much of my life, often falling for someone(s) who everyone thinks is the wrong one, and making choices that others shake their heads at. Falling on my face but still getting back up again. Still believing in love.

“Misguided Angel” by Cowboy Junkies
from the Album, The Trinity Sessions (1988)

I’ve been both loved and broken by those who are, and were, both devils and angels. ITs made me the person I am today, for the better and the worse of it all. I have no regrets on those I’ve loved, not a single one. The decisions I made out of love and from my gut instincts, even if they ended up being the wrong roads to travel on, still matter to me. I wouldn’t change a single thing.

I’ve taken slings and arrows from those who’ve judged me for love. I’ve kept going on. I’ve kept loving. Holding my head up high and keeping my heart on course. I always will. It’s who I am.

In 2007, album and a film by the Cowboy Junkies, released on October 8, 2007. It is a remake of the Junkies’ most famous album, The Trinity Session. The new album was recorded in the fall of 2006 at Toronto’s Church of the Holy Trinity, the same venue where the original album was recorded.

The Band invited multiple Artists to play and sing on the revisited Albums, including Ryan Adams, Natalie Merchant, and Vic Chestnutt. It is truly incredible.

I stumbled on it accidentally one night on cable and was amazed by it. It is worth getting your hands (and ears) on the Album, and Film Versions.

“Misguided Angel” (live, 2007 – Trinity Sessions Revisited) by Cowboy Junkies, featuring Natalie Merchant

The Music Listography refresh is back with the 3rd List that I labeled “You Are Home” the first time around. Lists are fun, especially Music ones, and they tend to evolve over time. Some Favorites change, and others stick around forever, so every time I refresh this list it’s a little bit different. And, it is always blissful to revisit my Favorite Music.

These are tough though. As a Music Obsessive, I always have more than 20 Favorites. But, these are the rules, and these Lists can always be revisited.

If you decide to play too and make your own let me know in the comments where to find them. I’d love to see your answers to these lists, too.

I will include Playlist links for both Spotify and YouTube, as well as an in-post YouTube Playlist (see below) so you can press take a listen to each of My Top 20 Favorite Songs.

courtesy of Music Listography : Your Life In (Play)Lists

List Your Top Twenty Songs
“You Are Home”

1. “Famous Blue Raincoat” by Leonard Cohen

“Famous Blue Raincoat” is without a doubt my all-time favorite song. The way I feel about it is almost indescribable. Every time I listen to it I hear something new in the sounds, the lyrics, the story, the subtext, and within my own history with the song.

I still remember – vividly – the first time I heard it, and how I kept playing it, over and over again.

This Song reads in some ways like a goodbye, like a “Dear John” letter, or in this case, a “Dear Jane”. What do you think Jane’s letter would say if she wrote one? What is her side of the story? I’ve always wanted to know what regards Jane would actually send.

2. “Heroes” by David Bowie

The first time I heard this Song I fell in love with it. It stuck with me from that first listen and is still in me today. My first car had a stereo with a tape player in it. I carried many Albums on Cassette and many Mixtapes. One mix, in particular, I vividly remember. It had this Song as its “Headliner”.

I would drive around with “Heroes” turned up high and craft a mini-movie in my head to the Song. A story grew out of these imaginings, one I wish I’d gotten around to writing down.

This Song always reminds me of every unrequited or impossible love I’ve ever had in my life.

3. “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” by Elton John

I grew up loving Elton John’s Music. It was one of my go-to’s out of my Mother’s Record collection. I didn’t know my Father, but I remembered overhearing that he loved Elton John, so somewhere in my young heart I thought that listening to Elton connected me somehow to my absent Father.

Eventually, I met my Father and the illusion of who he was, and who he could be, was shattered. But, I still loved Elton’s Music. “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” was always my favorite, ever since those childhood days with borrowed Albums. As an adult I still love it. It reminds me of realizing the love you have in your life, and the gratitude you feel about them.

4. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” by The Beatles

“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” reminds me of being small, and of how the world seemed so vast and enormous back then, so full of mystery. Some afternoons I would sit cross-legged on the floor with those over-sized headphones on. The twisted and looping cord was too short to allow much space so I would move in close to the stereo, nearly leaning into the left speaker. My eyes would close and my mind drifts off, my Mother’s perfume lingering in the air. I can picture her cooking in the kitchen, her hair long and straight and tight back tightly, her voice lilting with song and laughter.

This Song also reminds me of love. In those early moments when you first fall for another person, when you hear their stories for the first time, the ones they carefully select to share. The first time they let you into their home, how everything around you – from the emanating smells of coffee beans and bath soaps blending together, to the choices of what hangs on their walls, to the books on their shelves, or stacked up haphazardly in the corner of the front room – becomes part of how you will define them. You are invited to stay and your hands shake at your side in nervous anticipation, and imaginative wonder.

5. “Strange Condition” by Pete Yorn

“Coffee and cigarettes”, and the conversations that come in-between the exhale and the inhale. The flicks of ash into a Thrift Store ashtray and your slightly crooked smile flashing as our eyes look quickly away. These are the moments that imprint themselves deep beneath the skin.

These are the things of memories, and part of why I love “Strange Condition” so much.

My very first post on this Blog, in 2011, was about this Song.

6. “Northern Lad” by Tori Amos

There are break-up songs, and then there are songs that fit in that space of “you know it’s time to break-up but you’re not sure how to”, and “Northern Lad” fits into that latter category perfectly.

It’s a tough place to be in, that overwhelming sense of unhappiness and restlessness, mixed up with the guilt and fear of actually going. This is a song that has been so hard for me to hear at certain times in my life, but also a song that’s saved me, inspired me, and given me strength.

7. “Back On the Chain Gang” by Pretenders

This one is so full of memories.

“Back On the Chain Gang”. My first Favorite Pretenders Song back when I was in High School. I taped it off the Radio and memorized the Lyrics, then I taped the Video off of MTV. I loved that Chrissie had a deep female Voice too, like mine.

Years later it would be a catalyst to a Love Story, one that was ill-fated, but beautiful nonetheless.

8. “Lua” by Bright Eyes

Sometimes I think that this Song was taken from pages of my journals, the ones I kept when I was 20 years old.

The first time I heard “Lua” took me apart. I remember having to pull the car over to the side of the road and remind myself to breathe. Years before, in my first step into my twenties, I had been so much like this song, so much so that tears were streaming down my face on that side of the road, while Conor Oberst’s fragile voice trilled out over the strum of his acoustic guitar.

There is so much beauty in this Song and so much desperation. There’s a particular kind of loneliness that you only recognize when you have spent nights out far too late in smoke-filled clubs, pressing up against strangers in stairwells and dance floors, and making excuses to disappear into the bathroom with chemicals tucked in your purse.

It has been years past since I was that girl, but I still recognize her. I will always recognize her. I still have her heavy heart beating inside my chest.

9. “Gold Dust Woman” by Fleetwood Mac

“Gold Dust Woman” became my Favorite Song from Rumours around my twenties and has remained so through the years.

It is my go-to Fleetwood Mac song for whenever I am feeling emotionally raw or need that kind of electrical current boost that only music gives to me.

There are moments in our lives, crossroads in our path, that when we reach them we know we need to cross, to change, and sometimes leave. Other times, the road ahead is twisted and full of blind curves. Every step we take we feel blindfolded and spun in circles dizzy. We grasp at things to tether us to our reality. We hold tight to those we’ve chosen to be in our lives. We anchor ourselves to love.

We build an illusion. We create our own kingdom. We scratch out a story in the dirt, hoping it sticks, even when the forecast is for high winds and rain.

In this self-chained existence, we rarely see the signposts ahead, and we rarely recognize when it is time to hit the road and go.

10. “Starlite Diner” by Ryan Adams

The first time I heard this song I was in Chicago and a story wrote itself in my mind. That story has never left me, and it may someday expand into something more, something I may just write it to life.

“Starlite Diner” is one of those “forever me” songs, truths of myself lodged deep inside these melodies and lyrics, tucked deep inside my love for the Song itself, and the memories it stirs up.

It also caters to my love of diners, the 24-hour kind with pie slices in a rotating case, neverending cups of coffee, and breakfast specials in the middle of the night.

11. “Tangled Up In Blue” (Bootleg Version) by Bob Dylan

As I compile this list and write about the Songs I’ve chosen, I notice a pattern of Stories told in Song. Perhaps it is the writer in me that is drawn to a good Story. I don’t know for certain. What I do know is that it’s the Stories that leave details out, teasing the imagination to fill in the blanks, or take the characters further, that draw me in the most.

And, of course, I’m drawn to Stories in Song that I can relate to. “Blue”, if that is her name, is someone I can relate to in parts of “Tangled Up In Blue”, as well as the idea of being tangled up in another person, so much so that you keep finding your way back to each other.

I want to know more. Sometimes I listen and start writing more in my head. Sometimes I can see “Blue” and the “Narrator” so vividly I feel like I know them. Sometimes each one is me, for a moment.

Music is such magic.

12. “You Said Something” by PJ Harvey

Talk about a Story with pieces left out for the imagination to fill in. What was the “something” that was said? Funny, you don’t have to know to feel it. I listen to “You Said Something” and feel it so strongly that it runs like a current through me.

The Song hits me at a visceral level every single time I hear it. When I press play I feel like I’m in the song, at that moment, even if I’ve never been to New York, and even if I have no real idea what that “something” is that was said. I still feel it. Don’t you?

It rattles memories of moments I’ve had, at one in the morning, of conversations that will never be forgotten.

Have you ever noticed the immense power of words? How something can be said, even in just a few syllables, in person, in a letter, typed, written, whispered, bled, and everything changes. Or maybe everything stays just the same. We go on, or not, but those words, no matter how you try to set them free, they live in the deep folds of your skin, in the taste of late night, within the wallpaper of your soul.

13. “Jeepster” by T-Rex

For me, my introduction to Marc Bolan and T.Rex came via Duran Duran, and one of the off-shoots some of the members did with Power Station. Power Station’s Cover Version of T.Rex’s “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” got my attention, and as with most of my Music Discoveries, had me digging for more. Paired up with my Love of David Bowie, my love affair with Glam Rock Music began.

Later, in the very late 80’s and early 90’s, I frequented a variety of Underground Clubs in Hollywood, one of them being Sunday Night’s Club 1970. My love of Marc and T.Rex and all things Glam grew exponentially and has stuck with me through the years.

“Jeepster” is my Favorite by far. Every time it would play at 1970 I’d rush to the dancefloor, no matter what. It became synonymous with me at the time, so much so that a short-lived boyfriend at the time wrote some of the lyrics down on the fogged up back window of my car.

How I’d love to go back in time and be able to see T. Rex play live!

14. “Lonely In Your Nightmare” by Duran Duran

I wrote an essay of sorts, this week, on what Duran Duran meant to me. I won’t repeat it here.

Though I’ve had many Favorites, and have so many memories to so many of their Songs, its this one that I always go to first when I want to listen to their Music. There’s something about it that resonates with who I was when I first heard it. Troubled girl with secrets and scars who had terrible nightmares all the time. “Lonely In Your Nightmare”, and the sentiment of being lonely in nightmares and having someone want to be let in was comforting and hopeful. If nothing else, I let the Song in. It was my “homing angel”.

15. “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'” by The Velvet Underground

I first heard “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'” in the film Away We Go. From the first listen, and the experience of taking it in with the film, I loved it. When I hit play, as soon as the Song starts up, I feel good. It has this overwhelming soothing effect on me, like cool water on a hot Summer day, or that first hot cup of coffee. It gets me in ways I can’t quite explain.

I’m pretty sure I’d heard the song before I saw Away We Go, but it wasn’t until this film that it hit me so deeply. That last scene encapsulates so much of what love is, in all the hope and wistfulness and uncertainty and risk, and those moments of bliss.

The ending feels like a beginning, and this song feels like both, a stop and a start to the story. I’m glad I could take the song with me afterward.

16. “Angeles” by Elliott Smith

“Angeles” is a ballad to the city of Los Angeles that I know and love and hate at differing times, and with differing amounts of emotion. This is the lens that I  see this city through, my city, with all its marks and scars and memories. I hold them close to me, along with all the struggles and stumbles and joys and love that I’ve succumbed to, fell into, lived through, and survived.

Once upon a time the darkness I exuded fit well on the streets of Los Angeles. Sometimes it felt hard to regain light there though. So, I found myself desperately longing to fly away, to escape, to leave.

And, I have left. But here’s the thing, I’ve always come back.

I’ve had a torrid love affair with Los Angeles since I was 19 years old. We’ve had the kind of tumultuous tangles that any infamous Hollywood marriage endures, with stops and starts, screaming infidelities, tearful goodbye’s, and the eventual “, yes, I will take you back again” returns.

That said, another part of me feels like a grown-up child of Los Angeles. Growing up with the city, and in spite of it.

The conflicting imagery of lover and child, like some kind of virgin/whore push-and-pull dichotomy, matched up with the love and the hate I’ve felt about this city, and within its borders. I have visible and invisible scars that will be with me forever, scars that I’ve accumulated in some of her dark corners and alleyways. I’ve had kisses in stairwells and on the opposite side of “no trespassing” signs. I’ve watched the sunrise from atop train tunnels. And, I’ve lost a significant part of me on what could seem like an innocuous residential side street.

I drive by it most mornings on my way to work. Some mornings I swear I can see my shadow dancing circles on the sidewalks.

17. “Death On The Stairs” by The Libertines

 

The early aughts brought on a shift in my style of music that I found myself getting into, all starting with a mix CD that introduced me to a number of new bands, including one that stood out from the rest, and threw me into a tailspin of love/obsession, The Libertines. Everything about their music turned me on big time; the intelligent and clever lyrics, the punk-infused/garage-rock sensibilities, the addictive melodies and guitar riffs, and the chemistry that all four of the band members had with each other, most especially co-frontmen, Carl Barât and Pete Doherty.

Relationships were forged through a shared love of their music, as well as the rebirth of enthusiasm for music that had quelled some since my younger years. Their songs ignited my passions, fueled my dreams and lit a fire in my own writing. Of course, there were emotional consequences to loving this band, as they were fraught with troubles which led to a split after only two albums. Sometimes it was heartbreaking to love this band, but that is the price of love at times, and in the end, it was best to keep holding on, as new music is on the horizon, a fantastic single is already out there, and a new album is just around the bend. As the band is known to say, the Albion sails on.

“Death On the Stairs” was my first Favorite of theirs, and will always live in my “way more than 20” list of Favorite Songs.

18. “You Could Make a Killing” by Aimee Mann

I am quite sure I have written about “You Could Make a Killing” at least a dozen times. My love for this song never lessens, and I believe it never will. It caught hold of me when I first heard it back at the end of the 90’s and has never let go of me since.

It is one of my lifetime soundtrack songs.

“If it doesn’t kill you it’ll make you stronger” was something my Grandmother used to say all the time, that and “Follow your bliss”. They were both her life mantras, and her insistence (and persistence) in passing them on to me worked – they both are super-glued into my psyche, for good.

Forty-nine years in this world, and every day I wake up and try to find my bliss so that I can shadow it, tail it, and eventually catch-up to it and make it my own.

And the killing me, or making me stronger part? I like to joke that I have super-powers, that I’m some kind of post-modern Wonder Woman, but that’s all part and parcel of that mantra, as well. It’s my way of surviving. It’s my bullets for my gun. I try to not let anything crush me enough to make me weak and helpless. Instead, I try to breathe and keep my head up and wake up stronger.

Growing up too fast and too soon leaves indelible marks. Scars stay just beneath the surface where only a trained eye can see. But all of it, well, it made me stronger.

Stronger, but often older than my years, though often wishing I was a little weaker, a little younger, a little more naive. This Song makes me think of all of this. Often.

19. “Slave to Love” by Bryan Ferry

“Slave to Love” starts to play and I feel a rush of emotions wash over me. It happens every time I hear it. It is forever in my collection of “Favorite Songs” (that are far beyond just 20 Favorites) because of just that – how it makes me feel.

It’s one of those Songs that demands I listen. No matter what I’m doing, no matter what stresses or thoughts are in my head, and no matter where I am when this Song starts up I have to pay attention.

Sometimes I think its because of the Film 9 1/2 Weeks that I love this Song so much. The Film, at the time I saw it, impacted me in big ways. It isn’t the best Film out there, by any stretch of the imagination, and one could dissect the plot, the problems with the subject matter, and the characterizations. But, for me, the Movie opened up a sexuality in me that had been locked away due to childhood trauma, and it also made me fall in love with both New York (or my idea of it) and, of course, Mickey Rourke. Oh, and the Music? Every single Song worked perfectly in the Film, and the Soundtrack – both in Album form and collected to include the Songs that didn’t make it to Vinyl, became some of my all-time Favorites. Especially Bryan Ferry’s “Slave to Love”.

I think the Song appeals to me on a personal level, as well. I’ve often said that I fall in love too easily, that I wear my heart on my sleeve, and that I let love, or the idea of it, overtake me and swallow me whole. Is love an addiction of mine? Am I it’s willing slave? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? Or all of the above, and everything in-between? I may spend my entire life wondering, and never figure it out.

One of my Favorite Lyrics from the Song speaks to just that:

“We’re too young to reason, 
too grown up to dream.”

20. “Wild Wood” by Paul Weller

The first time I fell in love with “Wild Wood” was when I watched the U.K. Television Series, “My Mad Fat Diary”. The second time I fell in love with this Song was about a year and a half ago when I met my wonderful boyfriend and discovered/rediscovered the Music of Paul Weller.

I got to hear Paul play this last year when I saw him for the first time live at the Wiltern.

I know it’s not a “love song”, but to me, it is just that.

My Top 20 Songs

Thursday’s here with all its almost Friday glory and To-Do Lists that seem almost insurmountable. I’m in need of Music today in a big, big way. Bring on Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions quick!

First up is Richard Ashcroft’s “You On My Mind In My Sleep”, one of my Favorite Tracks of his. I’m so excited to be seeing him play live for the first time this coming May. He’s opening up for Liam Gallagher at The Greek. My wonderful boyfriend got us tickets to it for us.

Next is Arcade Fire’s “We Don’t Deserve Love” off of one of my Favorite Albums of 2017, Everything Now. I think I’m loving this Album, even more, this year than last.

Galaxie 500’s Cover Version of New Order’s “Ceremony” is Today’s 3rd Music Obsession of the Day. I love an unexpected Cover. I love the fuzzy/feedback guitar, and the low-fi/shoegaze Sound.

I heard Today’s 4th Track on a new TV Series starring Zach Braff – “Alex, Inc.” I knew going in that there’d be good Music in the show as Zach has stellar taste. I used to say I wanted him to make me a Mix Tape (pssst…I still do). Joshua Radin has been featured in many of Zach’s TV and Film projects, and his Cover Version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” made it in. I’m digging the “Red Dirt”/Country vibe it has.

Last, but not least is “You Don’t Know How It Feels” by Tom Petty. I turned this one UP LOUD on my way to work this morning and sang-a-long just as UP LOUD.

You can hear these 5 Songs below, or you can stream via Spotify and YouTube where each day’s 5 will be added.

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day – March 29, 2018

1. “You On My Mind When I Sleep” by Richard Ashcroft

2. We Don’t Deserve Love” by Arcade Fire

3. “Ceremony” by Galaxie 500

4. “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” by Joshua Radin

5. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” by Tom Petty

Cheers to “Friday Junior”, aka Thursday. We hope you have some great Songs you are Obsessing over. I’d love to hear them, too. Share in the comments if you don’t mind. I hope you enjoy My Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day featuring Richard Ashcroft, Arcade Fire, Galaxie 500, Joshua Radin, and Tom Petty.

Got something you’d like to see featured in a Top 5? Share the Song Title and Artist/Band in the Comments, or email lyriquediscordesubmissions@gmail.com.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Week of 3/26/18

“Fake Plastic Trees” is Track 4 from Radiohead’s 1995 Album, The Bends. The Bends is my Favorite Radiohead Album, always has been, always will be. It holds so many personal memories attached to it.

It was the third single to be released from that album in the UK, but in the US, it was released as the band’s first single from the album. Fake Plastic Trees marked a turning point in the band’s early career, moving away from the grunge sound of their earlier hit single Creep. (from Wikipedia)

Songs like this one are the reason I love The Bends so much. Though I will readily admit that I do not understand every Lyrical refrain in the Song, the feeling, and those ending lines, hit so deeply that I almost always end up in tears when I play it. There is something in that plea, in that wish, in that wanting to be what someone else wants that feels so desperate, raw, and heartbreaking – and yes, relatable – because haven’t we all felt that way before? Wanting to be the right person for someone, but never making the cut?

What a lonely feeling that is.

“Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead
from the Album, The Bends (1995)

“If I could be who you wanted,
If I could be who you wanted,
all the time.”

In 1995, when The Bends, and “Fake Plastic Trees” came out I certainly was feeling those not good enough sentiments in an overwhelming way. I can remember wanting someone so badly, but feeling so far less than what they would ever want. Instead of pushing through I ran fast in the opposite way. I ran and hid in the arms of someone I didn’t really want.

The unfortunate reality was this – I was wrong. I was what the person wanted, just as much as I’d wanted him. But, because I ran away from it I never got to know how we could have been together. Self-esteem, what a fucking mess it can make us when we lean too far into that low end of self-worth. Instead of heartbreak, I was left with the weight of a “what if” regret to carry around with me.

What a lonely feeling that is.

Regardless the painful memory this song evokes, I still love it. Sometimes I need to feel it. Sometimes we all do. Right?

“Fake Plastic Trees” (live, Glastonbury 2003) by Radiohead

“Come Away With Me” (live) by Norah Jones
Wordless Wednesday

“Tin Soldier” (live, 1991) by The Paul Weller Movement
originally from the Small Faces Album, Small Faces (1967)

We had a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks, but we’re back with Weller Wednesday. This is where we celebrate, listen to, and learn about All Things Paul Weller. This week we turn our ears and eyes to a live Small Faces Cover from 1991, with Paul Weller’s Live Version of “Tin Soldier”.

“Tin Soldier” was originally released by Small Faces in December of 1967. It was written by Steve Marriott (credited to Marriott/Lane). The Single reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart and reached #38 in Canada. (from Wikipedia)

“Tin Soldier” by Small Faces

“Tin Soldier” was originally written by Steve Marriott for singer P.P. Arnold, but Marriott liked it so much he kept it himself. It was a song that he wrote to his first wife, Jenny Rylance. P.P. Arnold can be heard singing backing vocals on the song. The song signaled a return to the band’s R&B roots whilst continuing their forays into psychedelic rock and other musical experiments.

When “Tin Soldier” was released the BBC informed the band that the last line of the song had to be removed from all TV and radio broadcasts, mistakenly believing that Marriott sang “sleep with you”, when in fact the lyric is “sit with you”. Marriott explained that the song was about getting into someone’s mind—not their body.

The Song reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart and remains one of Small Faces’ best-known songs.

Talking about the song, and the influence of his wife Jenny, Marriott stated:

The meaning of the song is about getting into somebody’s mind—not their body. It refers to a girl I used to talk to all the time and she really gave me a buzz. The single was to give her a buzz in return and maybe other people as well. I dig it. There’s no great message really and no physical scenes.

“Tin Soldier” has been covered by many other notable Musicians, including Paul Weller.

Paul Weller played Small Faces’ “Tin Soldier” (see Video above) live during his Movement tour at Brixton Academy. taken from the VHS Paul Weller Movement Live 1991

Paul Weller (as The Paul Weller Movement) also performed his Cover Version of “Tin Soldier” on the Jonathan Ross Show the same year.

“Tin Soldier” (live, 1991) by The Paul Weller Movement

Hope you enjoy this Week’s Weller Wednesday feature and that you come back next week to see what’s up next from Paul Weller. Feel free to share your thoughts, and Weller requests in the comments below.

Wednesday’s here! My favorite of the “Weekdays”. We are right here in the mid-week, stuck in the middle with each other, and all the Music we can fit into a 24-hour period. This is the last Wednesday of March, the last Wednesday of the first quarter of 2018. What have you done so far this year that’s different? What Music are you loving so far this year? Are there any Artists, Bands, or Albums you’re Obsessing over?

My oldest daughter is doing a series of painting on Women in Music which has had us both talking about our Favorite Women Musicians. Women in Music are a big love of mine, thus the Female Friday feature here at lyriquediscorde, and also the prevalence of Women in Music in so many of the Articles, Lists, and Mixes I share here. Talking about some of our Favorites got me obsessing over Blondie Songs which led to the start of Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions.

Song 1 is Blondie’s “Union City Blue”, one of my Favorites off of their 1979 Album, Eat To the Beat. I remember playing this Album in my teenage bedroom, singing-a-long and imagining an alternate life where I got to be a Singer like Debbie Harry.

“Union City Blue” was inspired by the 1979 movie Union City, which Debbie Harry appeared in (she wrote the lyrics one evening during a break in the shooting). (from Wikipedia)

“Dear Prudence” by Siouxsie And The Banshees is up next. I adore their Cover of The Beatles Song. This is one of the first ever Songs (and Music Video) I ever saw of Siouxsie And The Banshees.

Track 3 is “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” by the Buzzcocks. I’ve been digging into the Buzzcocks Music lately and really enjoying what I’m finding/hearing. I think I missed out on most of their Music, beyond “Ever Fallen in Love” until recently. I’ve watched a few great Live Videos of theirs too, with my boyfriend. We are always on the lookout for Live Music and Music Documentaries to watch together.

Arctic Monkeys’ Cover of “Baby I’m Yours” follows perfectly after. I always forget how much I love this Cover until I hear it again.

Last, but not least, is “Shark Smile” by Big Thief, a Band I discovered this year and have been loving ever since I discovered them. Check out their Album Capacity, from last year, when you get the chance.

You can hear these 5 Songs below, or you can stream via Spotify and YouTube where each day’s 5 will be added.

Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day – March 28, 2018

1. “Union City Blue” by Blondie

2. “Dear Prudence” by Siouxsie And The Banshees

3. “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” by Buzzcocks

4. “Baby I’m Yours” by Arctic Monkeys

5. “Shark Smile” by Big Thief

Cheers to a wonderful Wednesday and that you have Songs you are Obsessing over. I’d love to hear them, too. Share in the comments if you don’t mind. I hope you enjoy My Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day featuring Blondie, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Buzzcocks, Arctic Monkeys, and Big Thief.

Got something you’d like to see featured in a Top 5? Share the Song Title and Artist/Band in the Comments, or email lyriquediscordesubmissions@gmail.com.

“Magic Man” is the opening Track from Heart’s 1975 Album Dreamboat Annie. What an opening to an Album! This is my Favorite Heart Song, it always has been, especially after watching a “Behind the Music” type show on VH-1 years ago that was about Heart. Something about the story of Ann Wilson in the 70’s, and the man this Song was written about captured me and I’ve never forgotten it. Also, you can hear in this Track how influenced the Wilson sisters were from Led Zeppelin. It really is a Classic Rock gem of a Song with a bit of Blues Rock and Prog Rock that weave through the Song, most notably in the instrumental section of the Song.

“Magic Man” was released as a Single in Canada in 1975, and in the U.S. in 1976. It was the second Single from Heart’s debut Album, Dreamboat Annie. It was written and composed by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, and is said to be written from the viewpoint of a young girl who is being seduced by an older man.

In an interview (and also in the VH-1 special I mentioned) Ann revealed that the “Magic Man” was her then-boyfriend, band manager Michael Fisher, and that part of the Song was an autobiographical telling of the beginnings of their relationship. (from Wikipedia)

Michael was originally Heart’s guitarist. Ann followed Michael to Canada during the Vietnam War years so he wouldn’t get drafted. In 1974, Nancy joined the band later and Michael then became the Band’s manager and sound engineer.

“Magic Man” by Heart
from the Album, Dreamboat Annie (1975)

“‘Come on home, girl’ he said with a smile
‘you don’t have to love me yet, let’s get high awhile.
But try to understand, try to understand
Try, try, try to understand, I’m a magic man.'”

“Magic Man” became Heart’s first Top 10 hit in the United States, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. (from Wikipedia)

According to Ann and Nancy Wilson’s autobiography Kicking and Dreaming, “Magic Man” climbed the charts thanks to a radio publicist who offered DJs drugs and prostitutes in return for airplay.

Nancy Wilson recalled:

“When we were out of the way he’d pass the DJ a gram of cocaine,”or the number of a hooker and say, ‘She’s yours, on Heart.'”

“Magic Man” (live, 1976) by Heart

What do you think of Today’s Song of the Day? Do you have a Favorite Heart Song?