Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Not My Ten Favorite Songs

This list is invalid.

Me

I love top howevermany lists. Doesn't matter what the subject is. Top Ten Terre Haute Sanitation Companies? Done. Bring it on. And Jamax better be on the top or the list is going to be rendered invalid. See? I'm doing it right now for an imaginary, nonsense list. I can't get enough of them.

When Holli told me that she was writing a list of her top fifty or so songs on her blog, which was posted last week, I had to jump in on that action. I sat down to do it, though, and I just can't. I've tried to write this post five different times, and there's no way I can quantify it.

There's some music that I absolutely love, but only some of the time. Mark Schultz is a perfect example; I love his music, but a lot of it makes me really emotional, which I don't necessarily want all the time. There's music that might not make a top ten list of my favorite songs strictly as a song, but when wrapped up into another medium becomes exponentially better. I'm looking at you, "Jeremy," a great rock song in its own right, but with the dubious distinction of being the best music video ever. Ever. It's not even in question. How do I quantify that?

What about songs that I only like when they're played a certain, non-standard way? I love the song "The Freshmen" by The Verve Pipe, but only when it's played in a soft, melancholy style. The harder, rocking version that got most of the airplay sucks, because it goes from being a sad song to an angry song, and that doesn't fit the lyrics.

This is to say nothing of Holli Syndrome. How can I write the Top Ten list and leave one or two incredible songs off? And who does a Top Twelve list? And even if I started doing a Top Twelve list, what about the one or two incredible songs that got left off? The cycle perpetuates until I'm now trying to rank every song that's ever been recorded by anyone.

See? I'm getting agitated writing about all of this right now. I just can't write this list, and considering how much I love lists, this is truly frustrating for me. But I'm bound and determined that there's going to be a list here, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to start up my iPod, pull up the list of all of my music, hit shuffle, and write down the first twenty songs that come up. That's it, that's the list. Since I'm copping out, I suppose I'll give a little commentary on each one.

  1. "Closer to You" from Stories and Songs by Mark Schultz
    Mark Schultz is awesome, although this isn't actually one of my favorite songs of his. It's a great song, he's just got so much more that I like better than this.
  2. "Ill-M-I" from Welcome to Diverse City by tobyMac
    If the iPhone put out enough bass to be obnoxious this would have been my ringtone the day I bought the thing. It might still be unless I come up with something better. I'm nowhere near cool enough to have something like this as my ringtone, which is what makes it awesome.
  3. "Come on Back to Me" from Chronology, Volume Two by Third Day
    Best rock band on the planet. Not best Christian rock band on the planet, mind you, but just the best rock band on the planet.
  4. "I Am the Way" from Live ... A Night of Stories and Songs by Mark Schultz
    This is a concert album from Mark, which means it's absolutely phenomenal. He's just such a great performer live. I highly recommend that you go see him if you ever get the chance.
  5. "Fate" from Beethoven's Last Night by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
    Trans-Siberian Orchestra, famous for mail-order commercials for their CDs every Christmas season during the 80's and more recently for the "Wizards of Winter" Budweiser commercial, doesn't just do Christmas music! They do, however, refuse to make music that isn't awesome.
  6. "Sing a Song" from Chronology, Volume Two by Third Day
    Tremendous. Holli can't stand this song. I don't know why, because it's awesome, but she just doesn't like it. I approve of its presence in this list.
  7. "Requiem (the Fifth)" from Beethoven's Last Night by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
    Beethoven's Fifth as done by TSO. There is nothing not to like here.
  8. "Diverse City" from Welcome to Diverse City by tobyMac
    tobyMac reminds me that I actually do like rap and hip-hop music. I've got to take it in measured doses, but I enjoy it.
  9. "It Is Well With My Soul" from Singalong by Phil Wickham
    You know, favorite albums would have been much easier than favorite songs. Why? Because this would have been on top.
  10. "Overcome" from Awake: the Best of Live by Live
    Live is awesome. I think that Ed Kowalczyk's voice is just phenomenal. One of my favorite songs from high school was "I Alone," and it made me a fan for life. I know they're not a Christian band, but a lot of their songs explore Christian themes, and that just adds to the appeal for me.
  11. "What If" from WOW Hits 2008 by PureNRG
    I was going to stop this list at ten songs, but I was having fun and wanted to keep going. I am immediately rewarded by having to explain why there's a bubblegum pop group on my iPod. Umm ... because it was on a compilation album and I just ported the whole thing over. Yeah, that sounds good.
  12. "Slow Down" from Revelation by Third Day
    I've covered that they're the best rock band on the planet, right? I have? Alright, then, moving on.
  13. "Fulfilled Desire" from the original soundtrack to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII by Kazuhiko Toyama
    That's right. It's music from a video game's soundtrack. I'm a big geek.
  14. "How Great Thou Art" from Singalong by Phil Wickham
    This is my favorite of the old hymns from Singalong. Phil does an absolutely phenomenal job with it, and hearing the crowd with him throughout just adds to the power of it. It's one of the songs that will stop whatever work I'm doing when it comes up to listen to it in full.
  15. "Remember" from The Lost Christmas Eve by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
    This is another act you should go see live if given the chance. Which, of course, you are every Christmas. It's like an old school arena rock show with fireworks, lasers, and enormous walls of speakers.
  16. "You Are a Child of Mine" from Live ... A Night of Stories and Songs by Mark Schultz
    Here we go. It's live, so it's largely better than his studio stuff, and it's one of his songs that doesn't make me cry.
  17. "So Long Self" from WOW Hits 2007 by MercyMe
    I like MercyMe, but I don't have any MercyMe albums. All I have from them comes from compilation albums. I should probably remedy this.
  18. "My Heart Goes Out" from Warren Barfield by Warren Barfield
    If you've never heard this song, I recommend going out of your way to give it a listen. It's a good song with really powerful lyrics.
  19. "To Be Continued" from the original soundtrack to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII by Takeharu Ishimoto
    More geek music. Because I'm a geek, you see.
  20. "Samuel's Awakening" from Open Up the Earth by Jason Upton
    I love Upton. His music is an acquired taste and not something that everyone can get with, but I love it. The passion in his voice as he sings is just unmatched.

2 comments:

Beth said...

Haha. I didn't like Sing a Song until Frank sang it....

Best of Live by Live Live may be my favorite title ever. I think I should buy it just because of this. Plus I like Live.

I'm confused. Is Jamax good or bad to you?

Secret confession: Every time I hear Child of Mind in the car I sing the highest harmony I can at the loudest possible volume and I don't know why.

Larry Swank said...

I am neutral towards Jamax. They were just the first company I thought of for my ridiculous list.