I guess that a lot of people reading this know that I'm working in northern Alberta right now, on a contract for a pretty large pulp/lumber company (West Fraser Hinton). I worked the same contract last year, and it wasn't a great one at all, so I wasn't completely keen to come back again this year. The prices were low, the weather was poor, the information provided about the blocks was disorganized, and we lived in a world of mud for two months. But I'm back again, and things are going FAR better this year. I didn't think I'd like it here at all, but I swear I'm on the verge.
Someone asked me the other day what my favorite songs were. That’s a pretty hard question to answer, since it depends on my mood. When I’m DJ’ing, I usually play progressive house/electronica dance tracks. But if I’m listening to music on my own, I rarely listen to dance music, except as research. If I had to pick my favorite upbeat music to listen to, and I was limited to something like a set of five bands that I had to listen to over and over again for the next twenty years on a deserted island, I’d go with Led Zeppelin (first four albums only), Rush (early albums up to Power Windows), The Tragically Hip (from their second album up until Phantom Power), Neil Young (acoustic and electric both), and Genesis (from the “Foxtrot” to “Abacab” albums only). You’ll notice that those five picks have a tremendous amount of music released, and a huge variety of styles, both individually and as a group.
However, the question wasn’t what my favorite bands are; it was to pick a list of my favorite songs. That list changes all the time, but for today, I’m going to come up with a top ten. These songs are mostly acoustic – it’s not that I like quiet music more, but if I’m going to pick a song by any artist that stands out, I find it is usually the quieter songs that really make an impact. For instance, the Hip and Led Zeppelin have dozens of unforgettable rock hits, but I find it hard to pick a “best track” from either group. So here’s my list. I’ve picked some songs for their specific lyrics, some for their guitar or piano work, and some that aren’t even really outstanding songs, they just happen to be ones I like to listen to over and over:
1. Motorcycle, “Imagination” – the first couple picks are easy, trying to find the songs I love listening to the most right now. This track is actually by Gabriel & Dresden (of dance/electronica fame) with Jes Brieden singing. The acoustic version of this song is has an extremely simple musical backbone, but if you listen closely, the production work behind it is fairly complex, and I absolutely love Jes’ voice. I haven’t actually met her in person, but I’ll never forget her voice. This track is one that I’ve only known for about a year.
2. Blue Rodeo, “Dark Angel” – this one is sung by Greg Keelor, with Sarah McLachlan doing backing vocals. From the “Five Days in July” album. Very moody, very introspective, very free-wheeling timing and chord changes on the piano.
3. Neil Young, “Crime In The City” – there are a ton of quieter Neil Young songs that I could have picked, such as “The Old Laughing Lady,” “Thrasher,” “Needle & The Damage Done,” and “The Campaigner.” The reason I like “Crime In The City” best right now is partly because it is a long song (eight or nine minutes, I think), and partly because of the way he intermixes the acoustic guitar and sax solos (I’m talking about the acoustic version from the “Freedom” album, not the electric version from “Weld”), and mostly because of the sexy drum beat.
4. Snow Patrol, “Chasing Cars” – another Gabriel & Dresden tie-in, since they’ve done a dance remix of this (I think it was them) which I’ve heard them play in a few of their sets. I think this was also featured in Gray’s Anatomy. Anyway, it’s a pretty powerful song (although to be honest, I like the G&D remix better than the original).
5. Kansas, “Dust In The Wind” – this is the first “adult” song that I consciously ever remembering hearing on the radio when I was young, if you disregard children’s songs such as “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “The Candyman,” and disregard Christmas music. I remember a friend (Douglas Killam) and I riding in the back of my father’s pickup truck, moving a bed from my grandmother’s house in Tatamagouche to our house in Truro, and the two of us trying to sing this song. Gabriel & Dresden did a dance remix of this one too, but I’ll be honest – I didn’t really like it, and much prefer the original. The lyrics for this song are the type of lyrics that are hard to forget because of their outlook on life. This is the kind of song that I wouldn’t normally pick to listen to anymore, off the top of my head, but when I hear it, I definitely say “that’s going on the top ten list.”
6. Mike Allison, “Leavin’ In The Morning” – yes, I’m including a song by my friend Mike Allison, because I’ve always thought this track should be known internationally. I’ve even thought about trying to buy the rights to the song from him and re-recording and releasing it, but I could never do the vocals justice.
7. Matt Minglewood, “Can’t You See” – this song was originally by Toy Caldwell, I think, and has also been covered by Waylon Jenning, but I like Matt’s version the best. Matt Minglewood is from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (not too far from where I grew up), and I’ve heard him perform this song live several times at the local tavern in my town. Someday, I’m going to record an entire album of covers of some of my favorite songs, and with multi-track recording I can play the drums, bass, guitar, and piano on each track (although I will probably ask someone else to do the lead vocals). This song is definitely going to be on that album. This song was originally written as a country/Deep South song, but the way Matt sings it, it seems like it was originally written about “a farm boy from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.”
8. Jonathan Clark, “When I Grow Old” – I may be cheating to put this particular song on my list, since I wrote it myself. Usually, with songs I’ve written or DJ mixes that I’ve put together, after I’ve recorded them, I never want to hear them again. This song is an exception. I wrote it back in February, and Mike Allison recorded a version for me, and I still can’t forget it or get it out of my head. There are no public recordings of this track available yet, so you won’t be able to listen to it for another two months, but in August I’ll make a version available here from my websites, once we re-record it properly. You’ll probably see more info about this particular song in my blog in a few months, since we’ve already started filming a video for this song, for professional release within Canada and on the Net.
9. Stan Rogers, “Forty-Five Years” – well who doesn’t like Stan Rogers? Stan was from Ontario, but he’s a Maritimer at heart. It seems that if you really want to go down in musical history, you need to die in an airplane crash (think about them all: Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, some members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jim Croce, Ritchie Valens, Patsy Cline, Aaliyah, and John Denver). Stan Rogers died in an airplane accident, although the plane was actually on the ground at the time (I guess most planes eventually are, if they crash). Anyway, his plane caught on fire at the Cincinatti Airport – he was 33 at the time. Stan is also famous for his recording of Barrett’s Privateers, a fine Nova Scotian drinking song (I think I first learned this while heavily intoxicated on a Saturday afternoon at Peddlar’s Pub in Halifax).
10. Eagles, “Wasted Time” – I think Don Henley wrote this after he ended an affair with Lorree Rodkin, if I remember correctly. Anyway, it’s one of my favorite piano tracks of all time, with pretty complex chord changes and progressions, and it’s a song I’ve always loved to play on the piano as an instrumental (I find that I can’t sing the words properly at the same time, for some reason, because my mind wants to go in two different directions with the timing). And it’s a good bit of advice – even experiences that don’t turn out the way you expect can usually teach you something positive, which means that they weren’t really a waste of time.
Well, that’s my “top ten favorite songs” list for today. Some of these tracks will remain on it for years, and others may be replaced next week ...
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