30 Days Song Challenge: Week 4

Final post of the 30 Days Song Challenge...

day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad
“The Freshmen” – The Verve Pipe. When I’m feeling sad, I turn to songs that I share similar emotions with.  It’s comforting to find something that you can relate to when you’re upset. A lot of music makes you realize that everyone has ups and downs and the important thing is to find a way to rise above all of that. If I’m looking for something to cheer me up instead, I usually turn to Widespread Panic or The Doors.

day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding

“Nothing Else Matters” – Metallica. Our first dance. We also played Widespread Panic, The Turtles, Guns ‘n Roses, and Frank Sinatra.

day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral

“Big Truck” – Coal Chamber -- Coal Chamber was one of the very first metal bands that drew me into the genre. So, it’s fitting that my birth into metal should also be played at my funeral. A staple song in any Coal Chamber set, Big Truck churns over the audience. It’s a big-rig of fist-pounding metal crammed down your throat. And as Dez says, “Ain’t no grave gonna hold my body!”

day 25 - a song that makes you laugh

“Goddamn Trigger” – Serj Tankian. This quirky track from Imperfect Harmonies offers Serj’s biting commentary on society’s inconceivable gluttony. “I have 38 rifles and a bunch of handguns and ammunition / 8 grenades, in case of scuffles…/ it’s my constitutional right/ to arm bears… We are disgusting overweight obese fucks/ A shot rang, animals scatter, bovine hormone growth chewy candy.” The music is over-the-top, swaggering along like a drunken carnival. There is a greater message in all of it, which is not so funny. As usual, Serj draws us in with his musical games only to slap us with reality.


day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument

“24 Préludes, Op. 28, No. 4 in E Minor: Largo” - Frédéric Chopin. I can play this and I own a version played by Alexandre Tharaud. This gentle Chopin prelude swells to an emotional climax before fading away. It’s written in E minor, one of my favorite of the minor keys. In Classical music, I find that minor keys evoke more emotion through dissonance and dark tension; a distinct parallel with metal music.

day 27 - a song that you wish you could play

“Light My Fire” – The Doors. I used to be able to play the main organ melody from “Light My Fire,” but it’s been many years. I started playin classical piano, but soon discovered The Doors and Ray Manzarek’s infectious keyboard/organ playing. I’ve been hooked ever since. I love metal, but The Doors will probably always be my absolute favorite band. To be honest, I can’t just leave it at one song… Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade Of Pale,”  the organ solo in Opeth’s “Lotus Eater,” Widespread Panic’s “Travelin’ Man”… the list goes on.

day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty

I don’t feel guilty about anything I listen to. Sure, there are songs or bands that I’ve grown out of, but it doesn’t mean I’m ashamed or embarrassed. Just have a look through my iTunes or phone. I’ve got nothing to hide. Did I have some questionable choices back in the day? We all make mistakes… not me, other people…

day 29 - a song from your childhood

“Pretty Woman” – Roy Orbison. We’re all influenced by the music our parents listen to. You spend the first 16 years of your life riding around in a car with them, listening to whatever radio station or cassette tape they wanted to. By the time I was 10, I’d memorized the hits from Roy Orbison, Charlie Daniels, Blood Sweat & Tears, Johnny Rivers, and many more.

day 30 - your favorite song at this time last year

“North” – Widespread Panic. They released this album in the summer of last year. Around this time is when we went to see them in Boston. It was a perfect summer night on the waters of Boston Harbor. The stellar set list included “North,” “Bear’s Gone Fishing,” and “Lawyers Guns and Money.”  The album, Dirty Side Down, was a return to their laid-back, bluesy style, capping off 25 years of music.

Hope you enjoyed! Up next week: In Flames' Sounds Of A Playground Fading.

Be My Valentine

For this week’s installment, I decided to dive deep in my iTunes library to retrieve some suggestions for your Valentine’s Day playlist. In any good movie, the soundtrack provides a constant backdrop for setting the mood and filling the otherwise empty spaces. Your perfect valentines would be utterly incomplete without an equally stunning soundtrack.

Then again, maybe Valentine’s is not your favorite day. I’ll start off with a few for you…

Coal Chamber – Unspoiled

The story goes that singer Dez Farfara’s wife left him just prior to recording Coal Chamber’s first album. He screams the lines, Do I look fine to you/ do I seem alright with such raw intensity. It’s a wholly unnatural sound, coming from a place deep inside a wounded soul.

The Verve Pipe – Barely (if at all)

Best known for the moody grunge radio song, The Freshmen, The Verve Pipe’s debut album opened with a hollow, whining guitar sustain before bursting into angst-riddled distortion. Singer Brian Vander Ark bitterly rails against the woman who pretended much but only loved me barely, if at all.

Bob Dylan – It Ain’t Me Babe

Whatever it is you’re looking for, whatever you think you need, Bob Dylan doesn’t have it for you. That’s the just the cold, cruel reality. Wherever you were hoping to the take this relationship, Dylan delivers his verdict, in no uncertain terms.

Johnny Cash – Hurt

Everyone I know/ goes away in the end. Johnny Cash’s Hurt is solemn, dark, and haunting. It’s an epic dirge for the funeral of life, love, and all that could be good. You could have it all/ my empire of dirt/ I will let you down/ I will make you hurt. Enough said.

Apocalyptica – SOS (Anything But Love) with Cristina Scabbia

Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia gives her intense, sultry style to Anything But Love. Listening to Lacuna Coil, you get a sense that she’s someone not to be messed around with. On this track, Christina’s love-wronged voice is powerful with Apocalyptica’s sweeping strings to comfort her bitter melody.

Jimi Hendrix

The blues are filled with lost and poisoned love. Hey Joe demonstrates a man, wronged by love, on the edge of sanity. Yet, through Hendrix’s blues-drench delivery, you feel sympathetic and almost understand Joe’s course of action. My favorite Hendrix song (for any occasion) is Red House. Imagine wandering home to your lover to find the house empty and the locks changed. Everything you knew is gone. Even if you deserved it, that’s still not cool. But Jimi offers hope at the songs conclusion: Even though my baby don’t love me no more/ I know her sister will.

Now for the playlist of love…

A Perfect Circle - Magdalena

Swirling with intense emotion and sexuality, Maynard James Keenan beckons the love of Magdalena. The song builds through the verses and charges headlong into each chorus, climaxing against Billy Howerdel’s blistering guitar breakdowns. I’d sell my soul/ my self esteem/ a dollar at a time/ … for one kiss/ one taste of you/ my Magdalena.

Deftones – Passenger

A lot of the Deftones’ music bristles with sexual tension and Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle) lends his voice to one of their most intense. Let your mind wander through the twisting ambient riffing and tensely strained vocals. Throw caution to the wind and love without boundaries.

The Doors

It couldn’t be Valentine’s without playing The Doors. Take your pick: Hello, I Love You; Light My Fire; Love Her Madly; We Could Be So Good Together. There are too many to choose. Just start with Waiting For the Sun and go from there. Don’t bother sweating over the perfect soundtrack to charm your significant other. Just let Jim Morrison do all of the talking.

Franz Ferdinand

For that special kind of love that fails conventional description, go no further than Franz Ferdinand. This is dirty, slinky rock that slithers its way into your heart with catchy grooves and smooth vocals. It captivates and keeps you coming back for more. Perhaps you should keep the lyrics away so she doesn’t get any ideas… or maybe that’s just what you need.

System of a Down – Ego Brain

System is known mostly for chaotic, politically driven metal, but Ego Brain is an alternative emotional gem. Serj Tankian’s vocals soar and reassures us that when all else fails, trust in your partner and find that love prevails over all.

Metallica – Nothing Else Matters

This song holds a lot of meaning for me. Starting slow and soulfully, it crescendos into a elegant ballad. Musically, it transcends the reach of mere rock and metal. Check out the video of Apocalyptica’s instrumental arrangement. This song teaches us that love belongs to each of us and we must love in spite of everything life throws in our way. Love is the only thing that really matters. Give everything of yourself through love and through life. This is rock. This is life. What are you listening to?

Happy Valentine's Day!