Here's part 2 of 7 in my latest series of music posts. Songs with colors in their titles is the theme, and this morning's colors are "Purple," "Brown," and "Pink." Oh yeah, and my song-by-song commentary is back. (At least for this post.) Ready, set, go! ~ JH
1) The Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ "Purple Haze" (You knew this classic would be here, right?)
2) Ray Stevens ~ "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green And Purple Pills" (In case you were wondering, this song holds the record for second-longest song title ever.)
3) Seasick Steve ~ "Purple Shadows" (Despite his unusual moniker, this guy has some real talent. Old-school talent that the music industry is missing these days.)
4) Sheb Wooley ~ "The Purple People Eater" (It would appear that purple is the color of choice when it comes to silly novelty songs.)
5) Etta James ~ "Purple Rain" (Prince doesn't put his music on YouTube [nor does he allow anyone else to], but I found a cover version of his classic song by the inimitable Etta James – and it's pretty awesome!)
6) Brandon Heath ~ "Paul Brown Petty" (Okay, so "Brown" here is a name and not a color, per se. So sue me!)
7) Van Morrison ~ "Brown Eyed Girl" (For some reason, finding a live version of this song that doesn't royally suck is difficult. But this one was better than most.)
8) The Stranglers ~ "Golden Brown" (I find this song and video creepy on so many levels. In other words, I sorta like it.)
9) India.Arie ~ "Brown Skin" (She knows what she wants, and she's not afraid to say it!)
10) Billie Holiday ~ "Miss Brown To You" (I only wish I could have found an actual video of Billie singing this song. She's one of the all-time greats!)
11) The Psychedelic Furs ~ "Pretty In Pink" (Isn't she, though?)
12) Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ "Pink As Floyd" (RHCP is one of those bands whose music sounds really good on vinyl. Which is why I chose this particular video to include for this song. Incidentally, the song has little or nothing to do with Pink Floyd, the band.)
13) Nick Drake ~ "Pink Moon" (A hauntingly beautiful song by a guy who died shortly after releasing it.)
14) John Cougar Mellencamp ~ "Pink Houses" (Ain't that America? No, that's John Cougar Mellencamp. Close enough, I suppose.)
15) Henry Mancini ~ "The Pink Panther Theme" (Now this tune is going to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You're welcome!)
Here's the first entry in what will be a whopping 7-part series. This is another one recently suggested by my friend, Daniel Entzminger. The theme – as if it isn't obvious – is songs with colors in the titles. Some colors – such as black, white, blue, red, and green – will get their own posts, while others with fewer qualifying songs will be lumped together as these are here. Contrary to how it would appear, I didn't get crazily in-depth with the variety of colors – just the basic ones that any child could name, if prompted. Hope you enjoy them! ~ JH
1) R.E.M. ~ "Orange Crush"
2) Alexi Murdoch ~ "Orange Sky"
3) Johnny Cash ~ "Orange Blossom Special"
4) John Anderson ~ "Down In The Orange Grove"
5) Lady Gaga ~ "Orange Colored Sky"
6) Vertical Horizon ~ "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)"
7) The Monkees ~ "Shades Of Grey"
8) Dave Matthews Band ~ "Grey Street"
9) Grateful Dead ~ "Touch Of Grey"
10) Delilah ~ "Shades Of Grey"
11) Counting Crows ft. Vanessa Carlton ~ "Big Yellow Taxi"
If you're a regular or even casual reader of this blog, you'll know I'm more than a little obsessed with "Opposites" music posts. Well, yesterday's "Songs About 'You'" post was never intended to be the first half of one of those. But after I had so much fun putting together that group of songs, I just couldn't leave well enough alone, and I put together this group – a bunch of great songs with "Me" in the title. Color me lazy, but I decided not to write a song-by-song commentary with this batch. I think you'll still enjoy them, though. ~ JH
1) Evanescence ft. Paul McCoy ~ "Bring Me To Life"
2) The Roots ft. Erykah Badu & Eve ~ "You Got Me"
3) Taylor Swift ~ "I'm Only Me When I'm With You"
4) Lifehouse ~ "You And Me"
5) Keyshia Cole ~ "You Complete Me"
6) John Newman ~ "Love Me Again"
7) Britney Spears ~ "Piece Of Me"
8) Brad Paisley ft. Carrie Underwood ~ "Remind Me"
9) Ashlee Simpson ~ "Pieces Of Me"
10) The Killers ~ "Somebody Told Me"
11) Alicia Keys ~ "Like You'll Never See Me Again"
12) Adam Lambert ~ "Whataya Want From Me?"
13) Shania Twain ~ "That Don't Impress Me Much"
14) Maher Zain ~ "Number One For Me"
15) Lindsey Stirling ~ "Spontaneous Me"
16) N Sync ~ "It's Gonna Be Me"
17) Marit Larsen ~ "If A Song Could Get Me You"
18) Michael Jackson ft. Slash ~ "Give In To Me"
19) Little Mix ~ "Little Me"
20) Train ~ "Marry Me"
21) Nicole Scherzinger ~ "Try With Me"
22) Ed Sheeran ~ "Give Me Love"
23) Blondie ~ "Call Me"
24) John Legend ft. Lindsey Stirling ~ "All Of Me"
Here's a hearty collection of songs centered around a theme suggested by my friend, Daniel Entzminger. He wondered if I'd ever noticed – as he had – how many songs there are with the word "You" in the title. Ironically, as many "Songs with _____ in the Title" posts as I've done on my blogs, I'd never thought of that particular one. And when I started thinking about it – being jump-started by a few suggestions from Daniel – the real questions became: How am I going to narrow all these down to a manageable number? And how will I choose which ones to post? Here's what I came up with, and why. Enjoy! ~ JH
1) Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons ~ "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (Throughout my college years, I worked at a seafood restaurant – with Daniel, by the way – that only played oldies music. While I did get tired of the same-old same-old sometimes, I was introduced [or re-introduced] to a lot of classic music which I've never ceased to appreciate. Like this song, for one.)
2) Shakira ft. Rihanna ~ "Can't Remember To Forget You" (Despite her kinda-weird voice, Shakira is fiercely talented and this song is one of her best. Adding Rihanna to the mix makes for a most memorable duo. Also, these ladies are not exactly ugly.)
3) Nickelback ~ "How You Remind Me" (This is one of those songs that's been almost impossible to avoid hearing since it came out several years ago. For good reason, I suppose, as it's quite catchy.)
4) Kelly Clarkson ~ "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" (An upbeat song with a positive message by a squeaky-clean singer – wait, this is MODERN music???)
5) Nirvana ~ "Come As You Are" (Considering how Kurt Cobain – Nirvana's lead singer – ended up [not too long after this was released, actually], the lyrics of this song are rife with irony. Part of the soundtrack of my life during my late high-school and early-college years, I couldn't help but include this song here.)
6) Paramore ~ "Still Into You" (I know this band is the kind that's supposed to appeal more to teenage girls, but I can't help it – I really like them…pink hair and all!)
7) The Rolling Stones ~ "Miss You" (This video's almost as creepy as the song is catchy – which is saying something. I'm just not sure what.)
8) Rita Ora ~ "I Will Never Let You Down" (How many different singers is Rita visually alluding to in this song? I lost count at five. Good song by a relatively new, yet über-talented singer.)
9) Roy Orbison ~ "You Got It" (A lot of people think Roy Orbison was blind, because he always wore those dark glasses on and off stage. But in actuality, Roy was just very shy and he felt he could – even under the spotlights – hide behind them. Interesting, huh?)
10) Belinda Carlisle ~ "Mad About You" (Ah, the '80s…People who didn't grow up in this most unique of decades don't really understand. The music wasn't always that great, but it was very much of its time and that sort of MADE it great. One of the decade's megastars whose career hasn't exactly thrived post-'80s was Belinda Carlisle, and this is one of her best.)
11) Blake Shelton ~ "Sure Be Cool If You Did" (I don't post nearly enough Blake Shelton songs here. But it'd sure be cool if I did. Because he's really good.)
12) Eurythmics ~ "Would I Lie To You?" (Annie Lennox is among the best pure vocalists in the music biz over the last twenty or thirty years. Trust me – would I lie to you?)
13) John Mayer ft. Katy Perry ~ "Who You Love" (There are any number of reasons one could criticize both John Mayer and Katy Perry as people. But there's no denying that both of them are extremely talented singers and musicians, as evidenced by this dynamic duet.)
14) Delta Rae ft. Lindsey Buckingham ~ "If I Loved You" (A very cool band representing Durham, North Carolina! With a member of Fleetwood Mac in the mix! Need I say more?)
15) Duck Sauce ~ "It's You" (Because no real music post would be complete without a video involving dancing hair, there's this song.)
16) Lucy Hale ~ "You Sound Good To Me" (One of my favorite things about music blogging is "discovering" someone I've never heard of before…and finding that I actually like them. Such is the case with Miss Hale, clearly a country-pop star in the making.)
17) Keith Urban ~ "For You" (I hadn't heard this particular Urban song before, but lyrically and musically it's outstanding. And the video's…well, it's explosive. Literally.)
18) JJ Heller ~ "Who You Are" (JJ Heller should be all over the radio – and not just the Christian stations. That she isn't is a tragedy. If you haven't heard of her, listen to this song. Then go back and listen to everything else she's recorded. She's that good. Seriously.)
19) Coldplay ~ "Fix You" (I've never been a huge fan of Coldplay – I don't know why – but this song is exceptional! Hmm…maybe I'm a fan after all?)
20) Jessie J ~ "Silver Lining (Crazy 'Bout You)" (In a crowded field of powerhouse pop stars, Jessie J is a standout star whose music I can't listen to often enough. Which is why most of her big hits have already appeared here, or on my original blog, at one point or another. And she's clearly wearing a body suit here, so don't get all upset over nothing.)
21) Keith Whitley ~ "When You Say Nothing At All" (Alison Krauss performed this timeless song extremely well, but no one sang it better than Keith Whitley. Keith would undoubtedly have gone on to become one of the all-time greatest country singers if he hadn't passed away so early in his career.)
22) Colbie Caillat ~ "I Never Told You" (Talk about your squeaky-clean singers with golden voices. Here's another singer I can't listen to too much.)
23) Gavin DeGraw ~ "Not Over You" (This guy's got one of those voices that makes me mad…not because it's not good. Because it's too good, and seems to flow out so effortlessly. Basically, I'm jealous.)
24) Adele ~ "Someone Like You" (I have thousands and thousands of songs floating around in my head, but this one is easily in the top 5 of my absolute favorite songs of all time. Let that sink in. Then take a listen, whether you already know the song or not.)
25) Sam Cooke ~ "You Send Me" (When I think about "You" songs, this is one of the first that comes to mind. Why? It's a classic love song by a singer with a timeless voice. In a word, it's perfect.)
