MIKE PERCIACCANTE
Today I was looking over the past 34 columns and 185 songs and although every song featured is extremely worthy of its place on the list I thought that this list might be a little light on songs from the past three or so years. There are a ton of recent songs that are deserving of their rightful places among The Songs No iPod Should Be Without listing. So I said to myself, “Self, time to add some more recently released songs to the list.” And I have. Check out this installment’s new additions.
186. Payphone – Maroon 5
Payphone?!? The title begs the question…What the hell happened to Adam Levine’s cellphone? In 2012, even 10-year-olds have their own cellphones. I feel that singing about a payphone in 2012 is like listening to songs on a SONY Walkman. You could do it, but why would you when everyone has an iPod or at least an mp3 player. This song would-up selling over 3 million copies. It was nominated for a Grammy Award. Levine’s falsetto sounds great. It has a great beat and the piano line and the falsetto both work. That’s good enough for me and should be for you.
Recommended version can be found on: Overexposed (A&M/Octone, 2012).
187. Stay Frosty – Van Halen
Yeah I’m sure it was written ages ago and resurrected from the reject pile, but it’s still fantastic. Proving all by itself that Van Halen 3 was nothing more than a bad dream (or at worst a misstep that has been corrected) and that the reunion was worth the wait. Eddie plays some of his best guitar in years and David Lee Roth proves he still has what it takes vocally. And the lyrics? The lyrics are vintage Van Halen nonsense…But wonderful nonsense it is:
I journeyed to the North
To hear what the preacher said
He said, “your arms are too short to box with God,
Learn these words instead”,
Gold tooth reflected,
“My advice is free
There’s a trick to Christian values and its compulsory.”
Stay Frosty
That’s what the preacher man said
Stay Frosty
His words still racket in my head
Can’t control your future
Can’t control your friends
In a world without end…
Stay Frosty
Stay Frosty now, alright
Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!
Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!
I travelled to the South
The ancient Rabbi appeared to me
Voice heavy with the sands of time, he made me see
“Same as Kabalah Dave but for you it’s free
God guides us on our journey
But careful with those feet”
Stay frosty
In a world without end
Stay Frosty
Like the ancient immortals said
Don’t want ’em to get your goat
Don’t show ’em where it’s hid
But that’s just what I did
Stay Frosty!
Look out
Stay Frosty!
Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!
Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh! Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!
I journeyed to the East
And I struggled to stay afloat
A solitary Buddhist Monk threw me a rope
Looked me in the eye
And said, “Don’t make me say this twice
You want to be a monk, you got to cook a lot of rice”
Stay Frosty
In a world without end
Stay Frosty
Work hard at this my friends
Look beyond the Kung Fu fighting
God is love
But get it in writing
Stay Frosty
Stay Frosty now
I wandered out West
To the California Coast
Where the folks who know about frostiness stay frostiest the most
My brand new landlord proposed me a toast,
“My West Coast host”
Stay Frosty
Chant it like a Mantra
Stay Frosty
And there’s nothing you can’t handle
Far and wide far as you ramble
Trust in Allah
But tie up your camel, and remember…
Stay Frosty!
Recommended version can be found on: A Different Kind Of Truth (Interscope, 2012).
188. Sacrilege – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
This is the best song that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released to date. It’s got everything. It’s an anthem. It’s punky. It’s edgy. It’s about forbidden love. Its chorus is very repetitive but it doesn’t matter. In a word, it’s great.
Fallen for a guy,
Fell down from the sky
Halo round his head
Feathers in our bed
In our bed, in our bed
It’s sacrilege, sacrilege, sacrilege, you say
It’s sacrilege, sacrilege, sacrilege, you say
It’s sacrilege, sacrilege, sacrilege, you say
It’s sacrilege, sacrilege, sacrilege, you say
Recommended version can be found on: Mosquito (Interscope/Polydor, 2013).
189. Doom & Gloom-The Rolling Stones
Yup, The Stones still have it. Kick ass Rock ‘N’ Roll as they push 70. Wow! If this was released on Tattoo You (Rolling Stones Records, 1981), it would have been a huge hit. The song has it all. A driving beat, post apocalyptic lyrics, Jagger, Richards, Watts and Wood…the driving bass supplied by Darryl Jones…and the lyrics:
I had a dream last night that I was piloting a plane
And all the passengers were drunk and insane
I crash landed in a Louisiana swamp
Shot up a horde of zombies
But I come out on top
What’s it all about?
Guess it just reflects my mood
Sitting in the dirt
Feeling kind of hurt
All I hear is doom and gloom
And all is darkness in my room
Through the light, your face I see
Baby take a chance
Baby won’t you dance with me
Recommended version can be found on: GRRR! (ABKCO/Interscope, 2012).
190. Coney Island Winter – Garland Jeffreys
The best Springsteen song the Boss never wrote. ‘Nuff said. Need I write more. A must for your iPod. If you must have more, just read the lyrics:
Freezin’ cold no time to weep
Boardwalk’s dead on a midnight creep
It’s colder than a polar bear
But I don’t care
Coney Island winter
Coney Island winter
Woman walks down the street
Tears come rollin’ down her face
Frozen on her cheeks
Steeplechase, no time to waste
Heaven blessed, heaven sent
Hark the angels, can’t pay the rent
Jobs are gone, they came and went
All the money has been spent
All the games are broken down
Rust is fallin’ to the ground
They say they’re going to fix this town
Straight from City Hall
Recommended version can be found on: The King Of In Between (Luna Park Records, 2011).
191. Weather In My Head – Donald Fagen
This one’s for you older readers. Steely Dan’s master of the smooth R&B Blue-eyed soul vocal groove delivers the goods on this solo offering. Its cynical and fits Fagen’s curmudgeonly persona to a T.
The air is boiling – sun on my back
Inside I’m frozen girl – I’m about to crack
They may fix
The weather in the world
Just like Mr. Gore said
But tell me what’s to be done
Lord – ’bout the weather in my head
Girl when you hurt me – when you told
Those lies
It’s like a typhoon exploded behind my eyes
They may fix the weather in the world
Just like Mr. Gore said
But tell me what’s to be done
Lord – ’bout the weather in my head
Here comes my own Katrina – the levee
Comes apart
There’s an ocean of misery floodin’ my heart
They may fix the weather in the world
Just like Mr. Gore said
But tell me what’s to be done
Lord – ’bout the weather in my head
Recommended version can be found on: Sunken Condos (Reprise, 2012).
192. Heart Attack – Raphael Saadiq
Everything that Saadiq does has a retro feel that takes the listener back to the time when soul actually had feeling and its groove was “classic.” This throwback has a yearning to it and a sound that echoes Otis Redding, Sly & The Family Stone and even some of the grittier last ’60s early ’70s Motown. If this doesn’t get your feet tapping, you’re barely breathing.
Recommended version can be found on: Stone Rollin’ (Columbia, 2011).
193. Sixteen Saltines – Jack White
This guy writes amazing songs. So many that he has to be a member of two or three bands at a time just to get them all released. I guess this allows him to own the radio airways without having four or five songs released under his name played back to back. Supposedly he wrote this song after his daughter asked for a lunch consisting of sixteen saltines. It really doesn’t matter. It’s a great song with heavy, sold riffs and powerful grooving drums and the “Who’s jealous? Who’s jealous? Who’s jealous? Who’s jealous of who?” repetitive lyric.
Recommended version can be found on: Blunderbuss (Columbia/Third Man Records, 2012).
So there you have it, eight new and fairly new Songs No iPod Should Be Without. Hope you like ’em. I know I do. What songs need to be on you iPod? I want to hear from you. Please write me and tell me some of your favorite songs. Tell me what you like and why. Send me some of your favorites, I promise to feature them in another column. E-mail me at: [email protected]. Type Can’t Live Without in the Topic. Til Next time!
