Some great Songs to Enjoy, randomly selected at random times
	Shannon Wright - "Everybody's got their Own Part to Play" When it comes to Female Singer Songwriters, there are many pathetic examples. Just look at current pop culture and you'll know what I mean. Shannon Wright stands out as a light of hope because she is original and she is fierce. Some of her records, like Over the Sun, sound like the apocalypse come to life with only a bass, guitar, and drums. But here on one of her best tracks, she captures a kind of haunting beauty that makes her stand out. This is one of her most melodic songs but it is probably her best so far because it also combines her biting words, low voice, and point of view so accurately. I pray more songwriters take a cue from Wright and choose an original path to follow. Brendan Perry - "Saturday's Child" If there was ever an heir to Tim Buckley, it is Brendan Perry. The frontman from Dead Can Dance made his one and only solo album, Eye of the Hunter, in 1999 and proved to the world that he could bring back the folk stylings of Buckley with devotion while also adding to it. The song moves along like a spooky/sweet elegy to a lost love from an old man who has lived his life through and through. It is a sad folk song, and it deserves to be more known. The whole record is full of great songs but this song is still the underrated gem, and it proved that Perry was a devastating voice even with out his band's well known moniker. Broken Social Scene - "Stars and Sons" It is always great to hear a truly new sound, and form the first time that bass line sounds in this 2003 song, you know you are in for something special. The song is a groovy lullaby that manages to soothe while also rocking your face off, a rare feat indeed. It stands out on an album of songs that all differ from one another but are all one and the same, You Forgot it in People. A lot of songs form that album were featured in the movie Half Nelson in 2006, and that only enhances the reputation of great music like this. One of the best songs of the 00's for sure. Husker Du - "Dont Want to Know if You are Lonely" Perhaps, well no perhaps about it, HD are one of the most underrated bands of all time. They ran through the 80's making rock music of unbelievable accessiblity and proving themselves constantly and yet almost know one knows who they are. Here's a challenge to you: if you have never heard this band listen to this song, the 1st HD song I ever heard also, and change your life. If you already have this band in your life, heck listen to it again just for the fun of it and wonder why humanity shuns great music. Yeah, the Beatles are great but so were hundreds of others people - here is just of them. The Decemberists - "California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade" This band has still never topped their Castaways and Cutout's final track, an almost ten minute piece of work that sums up everything great about singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. Meloy is the best word smith in some time to be sure, but he also has the ability to combine his influences into something recognizable while still being unique. This song changes forms a couple of times, but is always melodic ad interesting. I'll be honest - I don't really know what he is talking about, but in the best songs one doesn't really need to know every detail, just be entertained by the music. That is what this track always does to me, and it never fails to impress. Duncan Sheik - "Little Hands" If there was ever a situation we have all been in, is it not that girl/guy that just does not want to be with you but still wants to be your friend? Lyrics like "You're a sweey guy but you ain't for me; I live my life a different way" and "Oh well, can't blame a guy for trying; I'm smiling even though I'm dying"  just about sum up my feelings at moments current. Sheik is an underrated folk artist for sure, far better than the one hit wonder he is often pegged as. With this song, to me, he gets the dread of a broken heart (well better......a longing heart) exactly right. Rarely do lyrics speak to me for real, but these sure do. So if you get the need to know that someone else knows how you feel when love gets you down, I'd go listen to this song about fifty times. Suede - "So Young" I have no idea what kind of impact this song made at the time of its release, I have only heard stories that Suede were huge in Britina in the early 90's. I believe it, hearing this great music off their debut album, especially "So Young". Something about this rock song has always made it the perfect opener to me - the way Brett Anderson just yells "Seeaaker! Sssssstar!" or something like that at the start just gets it all perfect for me. What are Suede's songs actually about? Well, they tend to be obscure lyrically but they are always beautiful to hear as well as often emotional. No other Suede song could ever reach the same highs as "So Young" to me though, I love it! Grant Lee Buffalo - "Dixie Drug Store" One of the forgotten gems of the 90's for sure, Grant Lee Buffalo's Fuzzy is a one of a kind folk album that mixes Bob Dylan and Big Star like no other. It's hard ot pick a favorite song on there, and "Wish You Well" almost wins it for me, but if I had to choose a best song it would have to be this. A great tale about the "queen of New Orleans" who curses her victims, backed by atmosphere galore and the constant chant of "jambalayaaaaaaa!", this song is one of a kind. It should not be as forgotten as it is, so if you have never heard this, I urge you to seek it out.
	The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy for the Devil" Woo wooooooooo. There is not another song that sticks in your head like this one does. After the second verse is over and those background vocals start, those notes never leave your head all day. Also funny, how a song about the world from Satan's point of view was a hit? Oh, the days when popular bands were good, and those good bands could truly envade the publics mind by way of FM radio. At any rate, this song is an all time great, and the Stones mix it up once again for the people who might doubt them. Dream Syndicate - "Halloween" One of the chief undergreound bands of the early 1980's, this band brought rock n' roll back to where it should be. Though they hardly sold anything, their records had staying power; especially The Days of Wine and Roses. The centerpiece of that album is this song, a total display of guitar power and the odd ramblings of Steve Wynn. Actually, the band's guitarist Karl Precoda wrote this song and it fits right in around Wynn's other creations. Precoda is an odd guitarist, able to establish moods with his punk inspired playing, but at the same time having a very controlled approach to the instrument that feels like it talks to you more than anything. Randomness and mood are important elements to this band's sound, and though it is one of the few Precoda got to write, it is really Dream Syndicate's most defining song, and shows the band at its best. The Platters - "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" This is one of the first songs I ever loved, and still one of my favorites. I know I always talk about the importance of albums and how singles are not as important, but I still love plenty of stuff from the 1950's and before, where it was all about the singles. Tony Willams is such an amazing singer, and his multiple octave range defined what is the all time best version of this song. It is a great soul bearing song, written by Otto Harbach and Jerome Kern, where the most memorable line for me is "They said someday you'll find, all who love are blind." A very potent statement for such a popular song, but every word in this simple song is true, and William's delivery makes each second count. Aztec Camera - "The Boy Wonders" Boy is right - Roddy Frame was only 17 when this album was put out. This song has the rambunctiousness of youth in it, and a chorus that just stays in your head for days. Some songs do that you know? Just stick around in your head because some parts are just so melodic; its the mark of a great song. Structure-wise, this song is insanely good: the bridge is stuck randomly before the second chours even comes in! A lesser composer would not have done this so subtley, but Frame is not your average composer, as the album High Land, Hard Rain confirms. I didn't even talk about the lyrics, but ah, just go listen to the song and hear them for yourself! Low - "Point of Disgust" Low is a band that is way too unknown for how great they are, truly one of America's greatest bands. This song is off the underrated album Trust, and it has one of the most simple and beautiful female vocal lines ever created. With a tiny piano line as the only accompaniment, Mimi Parker sings, "We fall hard, we fall fast, mercy me, never last." And it breaks your heart to hear it, this most fragile of songs, proving that you just need a good idea to make an immortal song. Al Green - "Your Love is Like the Morning Sun" An album track from the album Call Me, this has for a long time has been my favorite on that record. Green begs for his love to come back, and the result is such a soul searching performance, that you wish the song was twice as long. At little over three minutes, it is often overlooked as a great song, but really it is one of the best, summing up Green's subject matter in all of his music in one song, and I'll be surprised if I ever hear a better one from him. A vital addition comes during the fade out where Green whispers "let's stay together" from his previous hit, and in doing so affirms that this song is a combination of his earlier work and his future. And that percussion, ah, what can you say in words? Sonic Youth - "Titanium Expose" There is not a better master of structure than Thurston Moore in rock music, and this song is one of his best compositions. The song begins with a crazy guitar rev up that could be a song on its own, then slows down and changes to a completely new song for two choruses and two verses. After that is done, it returns to the begining, but does it even faster. The middle part also features Moore on vocals during the verse and Kim Gordon on vocals in the seductive chorus, adding to the overall greatness of the song. An older example of this song-within-a-song trait can be found on Talking Heads' first album in the song "No Compassion", but even so this is one of SY's best songs and a completely unique take on rock music. Lyrics are an afterthought on a song like this, because it is all about the music. Yo la Tengo - "Five Cornered Drone" One of my all time favorite songs, and my favorite by the great underground band Yo la Tengo, this song takes the listener to another world completely. It is mostly a repeated space guitar riff that never gets old, but when words are spoken, they mean more with twelve words then most say in one hundred. "Tiiiime, waits for a reason, there's no reason, it just goes on." Ira Kaplan's guitar goes into insane mode at the end, and his wife, the always beautiful Georgia Hubley backs him up with when he sings with her one-note-bliss thing. I emplore anyone who hasn't heard this to seek it out. The Who - "I Can't Reach You" There are plenty of ballads on The Who Sell Out, the best album by the band. But this one reaches above them all, with its great decending chorus and soaring verses. Is it about a older man in love with a younger girl, or just a couple in turmoil? It really could be either, with verses like "The distances grow greater now, you drink champagne and past me plow." Whatever the song is specifically about, it is a very touching love song, sung by the man who wrote it for once, Pete Townshend. Roger Daltery is one of the best frontmen/singers ever, but only Townhend could bring beauty to this piece. Echo & the Bunnymen - "Stars are Stars" Abstarct and lovely, like the whole album of their debut Crocodiles, "Stars are Stars" is a great peice of moody, eighties rock. "Now you stare at the sky because it's empty and hollow", "The rain will fall and wash your dreams", "I caught that falling star, it cut my hands to pieces", none of the lryics make lyrical sense, but it doesn't matter becasue it is that kind of universal song. This band helped fuel other poignant bands of the future, such as Built to Spill and The Jesus and Mary Chain, with similar lyrical themes. The song stucture is great too, with verse-chorus-vverse-chorus-"gone away" ending. Truly, a song for the future. The Beatles - "In My Life" This has always been my favorite Beatles song. The lyrics are universal, the tune is very melodic, and it never gets old. It is a story and a random assortment of points at the same time, "There are places I remember, in my life, though some have changed." Then it turns into a love song, "But of all these friends of lovers, there is no one who compares with you." It goes back and forth a lot, and the harmonies and instruments are always different and intricate. Has there ever been a song that seems so profound, yet so effortless? Besides another Beatles song, I mean.   Talking Heads - "Mind" One of the defining tracks on the bands third's album Fear of Music, this song does what Singer David Byrne always does with lyrics: sums life up in a few words, "Drugs won't change you, religion won't change you." Then, finalizes with the line "I don't have the faintest idea, everything seems to be up in the air at this point. I need something to change your mind." It gives the song a multi perspective view. The beat is calm and peaceful, with ace production from Brain Eno all around. Simon and Garfunkel - "The Boxer" Truly, a song that tells the tale of a lonely boxer, but also puts the listner in another world. The drumbeat shows signs of the future (check 1980's production, anyone?) and the "lei-la-lei" chorus is as soothing as the best melodies and as mysterious and dark as anything Paul Simon has ever done. The song gets louder at the three minute mark to increase intenseity, but even if it didn't, the listener would feel like they have experienced somthing by listening to all five minutes of this song. The Rosebuds - "4 Track Love song" "For you, my love, I am right, as you start to fall in love, and I see it now, the changes 'bout to happen, we'll be so happy". Great lyrics and passionate love song from the album Birds make Good Neighbors. Works brilliantly as an album closer also. Listen to it when in a very calm mood, and drift with the atmosphere.