Top 7 Songs that Alter your Mood (PVT)

PA Tribune | 8/1/06 | Rev. Al Pissant

[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.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Love a whole lot of Psychadelic Furs stuff. I especially enjoy the original version of Pretty in Pink not the poppy horn version typically played on the radio. "They" did the same thing to R.E.M.'s Finest Worksong. Tragic...

Ghost In You is one of my phone's ringtones...;-)

[MotleyGirl70]

I love the part in Living Loving Maid when Robert sings:

"With a purple umbrella and a fifty cent hat."

...and then the guitar starts.

[HeadOn]

"Runnin' Down a Dream" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
(Caution - causes unavoidable acceleration while driving.)

[Cyber Ninja]

I’ma vote’in, I say, I say, I’ma vote’in for three; naugh make that four. That’s right four.

Ballroom Blitz; The Sweet.

Radar Love; Golden Earring.

The Boys Are Back In Town; Thin Lizzy

Echoes; Pink Floyd (from Meddle) Especially when it is raining.

[Millee]

"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" reminds me of my old boyfriend, Andy. (sniffle)

[HeadOn]

Those first three are GREAT. I'd almost forgotten Ballroom Blitz. I never was much of a Floyd fan, though.

[WhiteGuy]

W P O D



- The Tubes

[GOP_Raider]

One that alters my mood into a state of apoplexy:

"In The Year 2525" by Zagar and Evans.

[SoothingDave]

The one I remember the clearest is Def Leppard's "Photograph," which was the first "story" video I ever saw. The ones before it were all concert videos. That video led me to buy Pyromania, which I still have, because you can't get rid of the first album you ever bought. (I did put a note inside the case explaining why I still have it, in case I die and Xena's Guy has to get rid of all my stuff, and I don't want him to consider me lame when I'm not around to argue the point.)

My best bud in high school bought that album one day. His was the original Mercury pressing, when I bought mine a week or two later it was the Polygram label. His has scratched on the inner groove on one side:

If you wanna be a bear

And the other side says:

Be a grizzly

SD

[SoothingDave]

I heard Ballroom Blitz on the radio the other day for the first time in about a decade. Great tune.

The girl in the corner said 'boy I wanna warn ya'

[sauropod]

Highway Chile - Hendrix

[6ppc]

Can't You See?" - Marshall Tucker Band

Cannot help but sing along when that song is on. A couple more that get me going:
Simple Man by Lynard Skynard
Sugar Magnolia by The Grateful Dead

[soccer_maniac]

bookmarked

[Carlucci]

Hey pissant, you ever hear of a band out of Austin Texas called "Pushmonkey"? They have a song called "Pissant" on their album "El Bitche".

It rocks.

[day10]

"Centerfield" - John Fogerty

[Cagey]

Lately, for me I'd have to say "Midnight Train to Georgia" alters my mood instantly.

I can't think of any vocalist putting more emotion into a song than Gladys Knight does with this one and she conveys that instantly.

http://www.jardata.com/M3UFILESHOLDER_SOULMUSIC/Midnight_Train_To_Georgia.m3u

[kidd]

To get the testosterone flowing:
Hair of the Dog - Nazareth

[theDentist]

I love Simple Man, but recently "Can't You See?" has been on my mind, playing again and again to/from work.

[gnarledmaw]

"Isn't it funny how everytime the lyrics say "turn it up," you actually reach over and turn it up!"

My sytems volume cant be turned up to 11...

[Wyatt's Torch]

You need one of them Spinal Tap amps then....;-)

Link...;-)