Just Giblets

I was in a band in the early 80s, so there are actually a lot of songs I can play on the bass guitar, and a few I can play on the piano/keyboard. When we first started out our band, Psyclone by name, played a lot of covers. We played songs by Pat Benatar, Robin Lane & the Chartbusters, the Pretenders, Split Enz, Motorhead, Donnie Iris, Joe Jackson, Blondie… and lots more. What’s that? Motorhead? Oh yeah, we did a rockin’ rendition of The Chase is Better Than the Catch. I got to sing lead on Donnie Iris’ Ah, Leah, which was a lot of fun to perform. After the band broke up, I kept playing a little, learning songs by some of my favorite artists, but I didn’t have access to a keyboard for many years until just recently.

One song I had learned back in the early 80s, mainly because it was propelled by a great piano part, has stuck with me to this day. I still can play this song pretty much in its entirety by memory, although I do have the music and I recently pulled it out and did a much better job. The song is by Heart, and it’s a bit of a rarity as it was one of the early songs that Nancy sang. It’s from the album Bebe le Strange, and it’s called Raised On You. I love songs that are powered by the piano, and this one is a lot of fun to play.

Oh, what the heck. Here’s a really bad video for Ah, Leah too. This is a really great song, and I really loved performing it. I couldn’t do the screams at the end though, so Donnie, the other guy singer in the band had to do that part.

As with other categories in this meme, there are lots of songs that make me laugh; the choice comes from deciding which one to post here. So again, I’m posting too. The first is a great, very funny song from an artist who has written many funny songs. Unfortunately, I can’t find a good video of the studio version of this song, but here’s a pretty good live version of this crazy song about a woman who suspects her boss at the shoe store leads a double life. Here is Jill Sobule and Karen By Night.

Another artist who has a knack for writing songs that are pretty amusing is Jane Siberry. On top of that she makes some pretty funny videos too, and this is one of my favorites: Ingrid and the Foortman.

There’s a slightly convoluted story to go along with this selection.  The song I’m including in this post, The Magnetic Fields’ The Book of Love, was a song I asked my friend Chris Perry to play at my wedding. He surprised us by playing a different Magnetic Fields song, It’s Only Time, which was beautiful, and totally fitting. Then, when we had our reception, seven months later, Chris came prepared to play The Book of Love for us, which he did, beautifully. I think this is truly one of the most beautiful and romantic songs ever written, with sentiment, humor and a beautiful melody. It was meant to be played at our wedding, and instead it was played at our reception, but this is the song I’m including here.

There are several songs I listen too when I’m sad, but one that always makes me feel better comes from Jann Arden, you guessed it, a Canadian singer/songwriter. Mend is heart-achingly beautiful and such a comfort after you have a fight with the one you love that feels shattering. It’s about the healing after the war. I love the way the vocals soar during the chorus, and the lyrics, so simple, yet so powerful. Now a caution before you watch the video: the only thing I could find was the song paired with a video of scenes from Dawson’s Creek. Just listen to the song, don’t watch the video and you’ll be all right. The other problems is that embedding isn’t allowed, so you have to click on the link below to listen to it. But please do, it’s worth it and it will instantly make you feel better if you’re sad.

http://youtu.be/6-6YcAyYJ0Y

And a picture of Jann just for the hell of it.