“Don’t Ask,” “Don’t Tell” Songs, Vol. 2

As promised, here's a follow-up to yesterday's "Don't Ask," "Don't Tell" Songs post. Because these are good songs, too. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Lynyrd Skynyrd  ~  “Don’t Ask Me No Questions”

2)  Saskia & Serge  ~  “Don’t Tell Me Stories”

3)  Richie Kotzen  ~  “Don't Ask”

4)  Madonna  ~  “Don’t Tell Me”

5)  Ryan Adams  ~  “Don't Ask For The Water”

6)  Nel  ~  “Don’t Tell Me”

7)  Natalie Pearson  ~  “Don't Ask Me This”

8)  Night Ranger  ~  “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”

9)  Suzanne Vega  ~  “Luka”  (The singer requests that you “don’t ask” about a number of different things in this song.)

10)  Pam Tillis  ~  “Don’t Tell Me What To Do”

11)  Billy Joel  ~  “Don’t Ask Me Why”

12)  Amy Macdonald  ~  “Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over”

13)  Public Image Limited  ~  “Don’t Ask Me”

14)  Bijou Phillips  ~  “When I Hated Him (Don’t Tell Me)”

15)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Don't Ask Me Why”

16)  Baby Animals  ~  “Don’t Tell Me What To Do”

17)  Bobby Pinson  ~  “Don’t Ask Me How I Know”

18)  Martha Davis  ~  “Don’t Tell Me The Time”

19)  Great Caesar  ~  “Don’t Ask Me Why”

20)  Lesley Gore  ~  “You Don’t Own Me”  (“Don’t tell me what to do, don’t tell me what to say…”)

“Don’t Ask,” “Don’t Tell” Songs, Vol. 1

Here's the first in what will be a two-part miniseries of posts featuring songs with either the phrase "Don't Ask" or "Don't Tell" in their titles (or, in a few cases, just prominently featured in the lyrics.) Because they're good songs, that's why. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Eurythmics  ~  “Don’t Ask Me Why”

2)  Rush  ~  “Show Don’t Tell”

3)  Fine Young Cannibals  ~  “Don't Ask Me To Choose”

4)  Avril Lavigne  ~  “Don’t Tell Me”

5)  OK Go  ~  “Don’t Ask Me”

6)  Una Healy  ~  “Please Don’t Tell Me”

7)  Laura Marling  ~  “Don't Ask Me Why” / “Salinas”

8)  Ruel  ~  “Don’t Tell Me”

9)  John Farnham  ~  “Please Don't Ask Me”

10)  Ava Gardner  ~  “Don’t Tell Me”

11)  Jasmine Rae  ~  “Just Don’t Ask Me How I Am”

12)  Hudson Taylor  ~  “Don’t Tell Me”

13)  Flary  ~  “Don't Ask Me”

14)  Joan Osborne ft. Dan Tyminski  ~  “Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends”

15)  Sponge  ~  “Molly (16 Candles)”  (Wondering what this song is doing here? The phrase “Don’t ask why” is repeated throughout. So there ya go…)

16)  Colour Me Wednesday  ~  “Don’t Tell Anyone”

17)  The Emotions  ~  “Don’t Ask My Neighbors”

18)  No Doubt  ~  “Don’t Speak”  (“Don’t tell me ‘cuz it hurts…” is a memorable refrain in this one.)

19)  Graham Parker & The Rumour  ~  “Don't Ask Me Questions”

20)  Alecia Nugent  ~  “Don’t Tell Me”

“Smoke” & “Mirrors” Songs, Vol. 2

So here’s the thing… I had a couple or three songs that fit the theme of “Smoke” & “Mirrors” Songs and decided I’d make a post full of similarly themed tunes. Well, apparently I already did one of those posts over three-and-a-half years ago. Turns out the songs I wanted to post now weren’t in that other one, and neither were some newer songs and missed gems that would also fill the bill. So there’s this extremely belated follow-up post. You’re welcome?  ~  JH

1)  Michael Jackson  ~  "Man In The Mirror"

2)  Andy Grammer  ~  “Smoke Clears”

3)  Shawnee  ~  "Mirror Me"

4)  PVRIS  ~  “Smoke”

5)  Iron Maiden  ~  “Dream Of Mirrors”

6)  Kacey Musgraves  ~  “Blowin’ Smoke”

7)  Cheryl Cole  ~  “Girl In The Mirror”

8)  Steve Hackett  ~  “Behind The Smoke”

9)  The Human League  ~  “Mirror Man”

10)  Jamiroquai  ~  “Smoke And Mirrors”

11)  Ella Henderson  ~  “Mirror Man”

12)  Ty England  ~  “Smoke In Her Eyes”

13)  Niall Horan  ~  “Mirrors”

14)  Maddie and Tae  ~  “Smoke”

15)  Meat Loaf  ~  “Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are”

16)  Lucie Silvas  ~  “Smoke”

17)  Ellie Goulding  ~  “Mirrors”  (Nice cover of a Justin Timberlake hit by one of my preferred pop stars! I would’ve included JT’s original version here, but it was a part of the first “Smoke” & “Mirrors” post.)

18)  Sabrina Carpenter  ~  “Smoke And Fire”

19)  Arcade Fire  ~  “Black Mirror”

20)  Dolly Parton  ~  “Blue Smoke”

21)  Birdeatsbaby  ~  “No Mirror”  (Great band name! Haha!)

22)  Plumb  ~  “Smoke”

23)  Imagine Dragons  ~  “Smoke And Mirrors”

24)  Carrie Underwood  ~  “Smoke Break”

25)  We’re No Gentlemen  ~  “Mirror Mirror”

26)  Melanie Martinez  ~  “Smoke”

27)  Elbow  ~  “Mirrorball”

28)  AFI  ~  “Veronica Sawyer Smokes”

29)  Diamond Rio  ~  “Mirror Mirror”

30)  The Color Morale  ~  “Smoke And Mirrors”

“Mess”-y Songs

If you're one of those people who has it all together, someone who's on top of everything at all times – I'm sorry, but I don't have much in common with you. On the other hand, if you're a hot mess and you own it, wave your lighters and/or cell phone flashlights in the air, 'cuz these songs are for YOU! (And me.) Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Bebe Rexha  ~  “I’m A Mess”

2)  The Marvelettes  ~  “Don’t Mess With Bill”

3)  Kiiara  ~  “Messy”

4)  Jim Croce  ~  “You Don’t Mess With Jim”

5)  Maribelle  ~  "I'm A Mess Without You"

6)  Cage The Elephant  ~  “Mess Around”

7)  Cimorelli  ~  “I’m A Mess”

8)  Paul McCartney & Wings  ~  “The Mess”

9)  Chromeo  ~  “Hot Mess”

10)  Switchfoot  ~  “Mess Of Me”

11)  Avante Black  ~  “Make A Mess”

12)  Ben Folds Five  ~  “Mess”

13)  Ed Sheeran  ~  “I’m A Mess”

14)  Kasey Chambers  ~  “Beautiful Mess”

15)  Vance Joy  ~  “Mess Is Mine”

16)  Sheryl Crow  ~  “God Bless This Mess”

17)  Ray Charles  ~  “Mess Around”

18)  Diamond Rio  ~  “Beautiful Mess”

19)  The B-52’s  ~  “Dance This Mess Around”

20)  Aerosmith  ~  “Stop Messin’ Around”

21)  The Rasmus  ~  “I’m A Mess”

22)  Bon Jovi  ~  “God Bless This Mess”

23)  Emily Kinney  ~  “Mess”

24)  Jason Mraz  ~  “A Beautiful Mess”

25)  Parachute  ~  “The Mess I Made”

BONUS TRACK:  Alanis Morissette  ~  “Hands Clean”  (I’m tacking this one on as a bonus track because it’s a good song, even though it doesn’t have the word “mess” or “messy” anywhere in its title. The phrase “This could get messy…” figures prominently in the pre-chorus though, so it makes the cut.)

More “Happen”-ing Songs

Wanna know what’s going to “Happen” next? Check this post out! Oh yeah, and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Mariah Carey  ~  “Make It Happen”

2)  Birth Of Joy  ~  “Make Things Happen”

3)  Roxette  ~  “It Just Happens”

4)  Medina  ~  “Happening”

5)  Johnny Cash  ~  “Guess Things Happen That Way”

6)  The Be Good Tanyas  ~  “It’s Not Happening”

7)  Yes  ~  “It Can Happen”

8)  Veronica Falls  ~  “Waiting For Something To Happen”

9)  Sixx:A.M. & Debbie Harry  ~  “Accidents Can Happen”

10)  Rachel Foxx  ~  “Happen To Me”

11)  Duran Duran  ~  “What Happens Tomorrow”

12)  Zoë Badwi  ~  “Accidents Happen”

13)  Emeli Sandé  ~  “Happen”

14)  Silver Swans  ~  “Let It Happen”

15)  Tame Impala  ~  “Let It Happen”

16)  Quantic  ~  “Mishaps Happening”

17)  Pebbles ft. Babyface  ~  “Love Makes Things Happen”

18)  Young Divas  ~  “Happening All Over Again”

19)  Agnes Obel  ~  “It’s Happening Again”

20)  Myra  ~  “Miracles Happen (When You Believe)”