Posted on 08/01/2006 12:20:52 PM PDT by pissant
For whatever the reasons, some songs have an innate ability to alter ones mood from the moment the first chords are strummed (or blasted as the case may be).
Likely, they are tied to distant memories or romances, but it is the song istelf that holds sway. No matter how many times I've heard and enjoyed the Beatles' I Wanna Hold your Hand or the Stones' Honky Tonk Women, they do not set off a chemical reaction in my head to alter the landscape in front of me.
But other songs, especially if driving by yourself, with no distractions, can take you to another time and place and completely subdue all current thoughts and temperments and change your mood for the rest of the day.
So here are the top 7, as detemined by meticulous scientific research:
7. Time - Pink Floyd: Yes, all Floyd music has an ethereal quality to it, but Time is downright depressing. Brings back memories of listening to it when you were stoned or depressed. Can literally ruin your day.
6. Maggie May - Rod Stewart: Brings back those memories of being in love with a girl who decided to treat you like poop, but you just could not get over her.
5. La Grange - ZZ Top. No matter what the stress of the day, hearing this classic Top blare out from the radio makes you need to find the nearest biker or cowboy bar and tip back a few cold Buds....even if it's 9:00 AM.
4. Dust and Diesel - Bruce Cockburn. If this does not make you feel like you should be driving on a dirt road in the Australian outback or in rural Texas, nothing will.
3. The End - Doors. Along with Pink Floyd, no one can cause you to listen to depressing suicidal music like Jim Morrison. As much as you try, you cannot turn the station and subject yourself and your day to this psychosis.
2. Tuesday Afternoon - Moody Blues. Not sure how they came up with their name, but boy did these guys live up to it. Lilting melodies with haunting lyrics. Another downer of course. Turns a sunny summer day into a hazy mess.
1. Tnagled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan. has the same effect as Maggie May, just multiplied by a factor of 10. Lost love and the yearning to get it back. The good news is that it is a great song as well.
You forgot "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors.
I saw the Moddy blues in concert in 1980 or so. The whole show felt surreal.
Freedom of Choice - Devo
I will anyway. Why?
Not from my era of pop music, I'll have to assume.
Suzanne - Leonard Cohen.
Desolation Row - Bob Dylan.
Rivers of Babylon - Boney Maroni.
"Is that like Itchycoo Park?"
Man....between that one and "Inagaddadivida" you just know that a serious number of brain cells bought the farm.
The entire early Beach Boys collection of songs brings me back to California's golden era.
Mama Tried -Merle Haggard
Hells Bells -AC/DC
La Grange -ZZ Top
Those first few guitar cords (or whatever they're called) of Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd always gets me playing air guitar like a dork.
Welcome to the Jungle by GnR makes me want to sing loud and drive fast.
that's definitely a winner. Just not the Cowboy Junkies' version though.
"Smack me in the Face" by the Cornerstones
Or I Like Chinese, by some unknown singer. ;o)
"Since I Fell For You" -- Lenny Welch
Most Depressing Song Ever:
"Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro
I suppose there are two songs that take me back to the time when I was a "desert rat," stealing cactus from the deserts of Nevada, California and Arizona and reselling them to plant nurseries throughout the midwest. I lived a free and easy existance on the verge of lawlessness. I was also young, careless and stupid.
1. Horse With No Name
2. Hotel California
"The entire early Beach Boys collection of songs brings me back to California's golden era."
Yep!! Before the days when the place was completely infested with fruits, nuts and flakes!
Where the hell is Mr. Peabody and his "way back machine" when we REALLY need him?
Don't know Boney, but the first two, definitely.
Cinderella She seems so easy
It takes one to know she smiles
then puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style...
LOL. Very true!
Ahhh, yes... the summer of 1978, her parents were at the beach...
With autumn closing in...
Uh, oh... chub alert!
Okay, okay... forget that. How about...
Neal's Fandango, Doobies - Short and sweet and I'm always gauranteed to crank it up.
Free For All, Nugent - The kids didn't know what to think when I cranked that up one Saturday evening and sang along with Ted.
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