Scarlett Johansson's Okayest Not-Exactly-Hits

Today the lovely and talented Scarlett Johansson celebrates her 35th birthday. In addition to being a highly acclaimed and extremely well-paid actress, Ms. Johansson has also pursued an on-again, off-again career as a singer. While not as highly acclaimed as a vocalist, Scarlett has churned out some better-than-decent tunes – and a few stinkers. Here's a sampling of both. Endure! Enjoy! ~ JH

1)  "Anywhere I Lay My Head"

2)  "Falling Down"

3)  "Iguana Bird"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

4)  "Summertime"

5)  "Song For Jo"

6)  "One Whole Hour"

7)  "Shampoo"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

8)  "Before My Time"  (w/ J. Ralph & Joshua Bell)

9)  "Relator"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

10)  "Wear And Tear"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

11)  "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'"  (w/ Craig Campbell)

12)  "Search Your Heart"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

13)  "Set It All Free"

14)  "I Don't Know What To Do"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

15)  "I Don't Wanna"  (w/ Beck Bennett)

16)  "Bad Dreams"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

17)  "Who Are You?"

  

18)  "Movies"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

19)  "Yesterday Is Here"

20)  "Last Goodbye"

21)  "I Am The Cosmos"  (w/ Pete Yorn) (NOTE: This is a fan-made video, and the girl "singing" in the vid is NOT Scarlett. But the female voice you hear IS hers.)

22)  "Funeral Service"  (Saturday Night Live sketch ft. Kenan Thompson)

23)  "Innocent When You Dream"

24)  "Bullet"

25)  "Blackie's Dead"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

26)  "Boys Don't Cry"

27)  "Clean"  (w/ Pete Yorn)

28)  "Trust In Me"

29)  "Candy"  (w/ The Singles)

30)  "The Moon Song"  (w/ Joaquin Phoenix)

Songs About "Getting It"

Unlike most of my posts of late, this is a one-off. No "Vol. 2" is forthcoming. (You're welcome.) Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Selena Gomez  ~  "Come & Get It"

2)  Jimmy Cliff  ~  "You Can Get It If You Really Want"

3)  En Vogue  ~  "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"

4)  Chevelle  ~  "I Get It"

5)  Diplo ft. MØ  ~  "Get It Right"

6)  Badfinger  ~  "Come And Get It"

7)  Climax Blues Band  ~  "Couldn't Get It Right"

8)  Mary Mary  ~  "Go Get It"

9)  Marvin Gaye  ~  "Let's Get It On"

10)  GLEE Cast ft. Lea Michele  ~  "Get It Right"

11)  Lenny Kravitz  ~  "Come On Get It"

12)  Pristin V  ~  "Get It"

13)  John Newman  ~  "Come And Get It"

14)  Oh, Weatherly  ~  "Get It Right"

15)  Pharrell Williams ft. Miley Cyrus  ~  "Come Get It Bae"

16)  The Power Station  ~  "Get It On (Bang A Gong)"

17)  Aretha Franklin  ~  "Get It Right"

18)  Craig Campbell  ~  "When I Get It"

19)  Johnnie Taylor  ~  "Somebody's Gettin' It"

20)  Gerry Rafferty  ~  "Get It Right Next Time"

"Bought" & "Sold" Songs, Vol. 1

This, because...well, let's just say "because." Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Dinosaur Jr.  ~  “Never Bought It”

2)  Laura Wilde  ~  “Sold My Soul”

3)  Sparks  ~  “I Bought The Mississippi River”

4)  Capital Cities  ~  “I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo”

5)  Samantha Fish  ~  “My Baby Bought A Ticket”

6)  Nirvana  ~  “The Man Who Sold The World”

7)  Rory Gallagher  ~  “Bought And Sold”

8)  Hawk Nelson  ~  “Sold Out”

9)  Brand New  ~  “Bought A Bride”

10)  Black Label Society  ~  “Sold My Soul”

11)  Mercury Heart  ~  “The Devil You Bought”

12)  Damien Jurado  ~  “Static To Be Sold”

13)  Craig Campbell  ~  “I Bought It”

14)  Apsley  ~  “Sold”

15)  Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra ft. Helen O’Connell & Bob Eberly  ~  “I Bought A Wooden Whistle”

16)  Kinky Friedman  ~  “Sold American”

17)  Honey Creek  ~  “Heaven Can’t Be Bought”

18)  TAB The Band  ~  “Bought And Sold”

19)  Adam Bomb  ~  “Bought The Farm”

20)  Doria Roberts  ~  “Nothing Sold, Nothing Bought”

21)  Evan Chapman & Sean McFarland  ~  “You Broke It, You Bought It”

22)  Belleruche  ~  “Bought & Sold”

23)  Jimmy Swaggart  ~  “He Bought My Soul”

24)  Daphne Nichols  ~  “Bought And Sold”

25)  The Kinks  ~  “She’s Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina”

26)  Stone Cold Fox  ~  “Sold”

27)  Neko Case  ~  “Bought And Sold”

28)  Prince  ~  “The Greatest Romance Ever Sold”

29)  Farewell Milwaukee  ~  “You Bought A Ticket Out”

30)  Joe Henry  ~  “Sold”

13 Different Versions Of "Royals" by Lorde

Tonight is the first game of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals. For once, I'm actually pulling for one of the teams, instead of just jumping on the bandwagon of whichever team is hot like I usually do. I'm nearly a lifelong Royals fan and am happy to see them finally returning to the Series. In honor of the occasion, I present to you 13 different renditions of the hit song "Royals" by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. For those of you who aren't familiar with the song, Lorde's original version is included first. For those of you who appreciate a bit of commentary with each song, you'll be happy to find it here as well. Enjoy!  ~  JH

"Royals" ~ as sung by Lorde

1)  Craig Campbell  (This guy makes the song sound like it was written AS a country song! Well-played, Craig. Well-played.)

2)  Pentatonix  (This group ALWAYS nails their cover songs – with nary a musical instrument in sight, aside from their amazing voices!)

3)  Puddles, The Sad Clown With The Golden Voice  (He's a 7-foot-tall clown named Puddles. And he croons like a lounge singer. Of course he does…)

4)  Walk Off The Earth  (I love this band! They manage to make their cover songs sound entirely unique, while somehow retaining the overall flavor of the original song. Plus, their music videos are top-notch performance art!)

5)  Sarah Stone  (The creativity and talent of YouTubers never ceases to amaze me! Check out this version, which uses a red Solo cup and two busy hands for its percussion.)

6)  Clean Bandit  (This one was definitely re-imagined, not at all a sound-alike cover like many of the ones you'll find on YouTube. It's not my favorite, but it's certainly unique.)

7)  Jason Derulo  (Real talk: This guy's got such a smooth voice that he could make any song sound good.)

8)  Mayer Hawthorne  (The singer promises to "funk it up" a bit here, and indeed he does. Nice cover, "unexpected" or otherwise.)

9)  Ed Sheeran  (He learned the song in two-and-a-half minutes and OWNED it! Yep, Ed's pretty amazing like that.)

10)  Tyler Ward  (This veteran YouTuber's version of the hit song is uncharacteristically sunny – figuratively and literally – and leaves an entirely different taste in one's mouth. Which isn't a bad thing. It's just different.)

11)  Jim Cheek & Scott Jenkins  (To all of you who were waiting with bated breath for a saxophone cover of this song, your wait is over! And you're welcome.)

12)  Pixie Lott  (Take a catchy pop song, add a sassy "blue-eyed soul" singer, honey-throated backup singers, and a great jazz backing band, and you get this. Magic!)

13)  Dave Days  (What "Royals" would sound like if Avril Lavigne sang it…in 2002…and she was actually a guy. End result: Well…it's kinda crappy.)

BONUS TRACK:  "Weird Al" Yankovic  ~  "Foil"  (Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without a great "Weird Al" parody of the song!)