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30 Day Song Challenge Day 21 – A Song That You Listen To When You’re Happy

Okay, that’s more like it. There are tons of songs I listen to when I’m happy, but I will restrain myself to posting just two here. The first comes from one of my favorite artists, and lots of her songs make me happy. Her songs also make me laugh, make my cry, make me sad… She’s a true original, and her name, once and again, is Jane Siberry. This particular song isn’t the first song of hers I heard. It was from her third album (the second that I purchased). It was the first video of hers that I ever saw, and it’s a joyous, wacky video featuring Jane, the oddest family you’ve ever seen, and a very large cow. How can you not watch this video, and listen to this glorious song and not revel in its joy: Jane Siberry’s One More Colour.

Another song that I love to listen to when I’m happy comes from 80’s synth-pop band Book of Love. I just adore this song… it doesn’t matter that we sometimes affectionately called lead vocalist Susan Ottoviano, Miss Monotone, it’s a song full of joy and makes you want to dance. It’s also another song that I included on a mix tape that I made for my husband Scot when we first started dating, so I have a personal connection to it as well. Unfortunately, the only version I can find on YouTube is the 12″ version, which I enjoy, but not as much as I love the album version. Oh well, you’ll get the idea. Please enjoy Book of Love’s You Make Me Feel So Good.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 20 – A Song That You Listen to When You’re Angry

Not only is this day 20 of my 30 Day Song Challenge, it’s also the 300th post on our blog. So there. Anyway, a song that I listen to when I’m angry… just about anything off Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine would qualify… especially Head Like a Hole, but there’s a song that strikes me as dripping with anger that is even cooler, and it has an awesome video to boot.

Dalbello is a… (wait for it)… Canadian musician who got her start as a teen pop singer (Lisa Dalbello) and matured into a sophisticated singer/songwriter/drummer (!) whose songs are direct, angry, compelling, and usually dealing with feminist issues. She’s got an amazing voice that just howls. Think Alanis Morisette about ten years earlier. The song I’ve chosen is called eLeVeN, and while it doesn’t scream with the same rage as Head Like a Hole there is a simmering fury underlying the vocals. I’m not sure what the significance of the number eleven is in the song, but Dalbello repeats the lyric, “I count eleven,” several times, and it reminds me of the warning, count to ten before acting rashly. And this video? It’s bizarre and oh so cool. Check it out.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 19 – A Song From Your Favorite Album

I’ve already posted one song from my favorite album, but since it’s my favorite, I obviously don’t mind posting another. Day 1 featured my favorite song, Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love. That album is the title track from my favorite album, but another favorite song off that album is The Big Sky, which is today’s highlighted song. The Big Sky is such a raucous, joyous song, the type of song Kate Bush isn’t as well known for, and lyrically it’s both silly and profound. It’s got a pulsating, driving bass line, the layered drums that were so prevalent on Hounds of Love, and vocal gymnastics to die for. The video is tons of fun, an all-out celebration of things in the sky. It’s a great song to dance to, it’s a great song to blast at high volume, and Kate looks and sounds fabulous in the video. So please, enjoy, The Big Sky.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 18 – Song You Wish You Heard on the Radio

Very few if any of the songs I like get played on the radio, and I don’t really listen to the radio at all anymore, but there is definitely one artist I’ve never heard on the radio, who is uber-talented and incredibly overlooked. She’s got an incredible vocal range (think Anne Murray dueting with Kate Bush and you’ll come close: I kid you not), is a gifted songwriter, a talented guitarist and keyboard player, and uncompromising when it comes to her music. I would be thrilled to hear any of her songs on the radio, but this one in particular would be really cool as you don’t hear many songs about architecture that also mention the word “underwear.”

And about her voice again? Seriously, this song focuses mainly on her lower register, but you do get a taste of her upper register toward the end, but until you’ve seen her perform live and see how effortlessly she flips back and forth between her you will probably think it’s studio tricks. Believe me, it’s not. So now, please welcome Happy Rhodes with Building the Colossus.

And for good measure, here is a live version of my all-time favorite Happy Rhodes song, Save Our Souls. It’s just beautiful.

Okay, now I can’t stop. One more, the spellbinding cover of Kate Bush’s And Dream of Sheep. It’s astounding. She’s a talent, and I miss her music.

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30 Day Song Challenge Day 17 – A Song That You Hear Often on the Radio

I don’t actually listen to the radio very much, so it’s rare when I hear a song “often” on the radio. There was a time recently however when I did seem to hear Florence + the Machine’s The Dog Days Are Over several times in a very short time span, which is okay, since I enjoy the song, and I had just seen the band live in concert. So here’s Florence singing her big hit.

Of course, the one radio show I do tend to hear quite often is “Standing Room Only,” WERS’ weekend musical theatre show. They do tend to repeat themselves pretty often… from the slightly obscure, like Unworthy of Your Love from Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, to this song, the ubiquitous Defying Gravity from Wicked.

Nothing terribly exciting here… but honestly, that’s what radio is all about.