Songs About Heaven & Hell, Vol. 1

This is either an ill-advised or brilliantly conceived two-part series. I haven't figured that out just yet. Either way, I'm almost certain you will...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Belinda Carlisle  ~  "Heaven Is A Place On Earth"  (It's actually not, but okay...)

2)  Meat Loaf  ~  "Bat Out Of Hell"  (I guess he had to leave in a hurry?)

3)  Fats Domino  ~  "My Blue Heaven"

4)  Billie Eilish  ~  "All The Good Girls Go To Hell"  (Something about this doesn't seem logical.)

5)  Bryan Adams  ~  "Heaven"  (First song I thought of when coming up with the idea for this post!)

6)  Lizzo  ~  "Good As Hell"  (A bit of an oxymoron, don't you think?)

7)  Breathe  ~  "Hands To Heaven"

8)  T. Graham Brown  ~  "Hell And High Water"  (When I was a kid, I used to wonder who Helen Highwater was. I still haven't found out!)

9)  Los Lonely Boys  ~  "Heaven"

10)  Tegan and Sara  ~  "Hell"

11)  Led Zeppelin  ~  "Stairway To Heaven"

12)  The All-American Rejects  ~  "Gives You Hell"

13)  Florence + The Machine  ~  "All This And Heaven Too"

14)  AC/DC  ~  "Highway To Hell"  (I hear it's broad and paved with good intentions.)

15)  Alice In Chains  ~  "Heaven Beside You"

16)  Dua Lipa  ~  "Hotter Than Hell"  (Is anything really, though?)

17)  MARINA  ~  "Handmade Heaven"

18)  The Pretty Reckless  ~  "Going To Hell"  (Fun fact: Taylor Momsen, the lead singer of this band, portrayed Cindy Lou Who in the Jim Carrey version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas way back in the early '00s. On a song-related note, going to hell is no joke. It really sucks! Avoid at all costs!)

19)  Kane Brown  ~  "Heaven"

20)  Metallica  ~  "Hell And Back"  (I don't think it really has a revolving door. Once you're there, you're stuck there.)

21)  Charlotte Gainsbourg ft. Beck  ~  "Heaven Can Wait"  (There are more weird images in this video than I can shake a stick at!)

22)  Pat Benatar  ~  "Hell Is For Children"  (At first, the title of this song makes no sense whatsoever. But when you figure out what she's really singing about, it makes perfect sense!)

23)  Foxes  ~  "Holding Onto Heaven"

24)  KISS  ~  "Hell Or Hallelujah"

25)  Orianthi  ~  "Heaven In This Hell"

“My” Songs 2

If you like oldies – and I know some of you do – then you're going to love this post! Awhile back I posted a bunch of songs with the word "My" as the first word in their titles. Most of those were newer songs. Well, this is more of the same theme, but ALL of these songs are older – ranging from the late '50s to the mid '80s. And I've carefully curated them to include only the best and most interesting songs, primarily performed by people you've actually heard of. Imagine that! I hope you will...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Billy Joel  ~  “My Life”

2)  The Byrds  ~  “My Back Pages”

3)  Fats Domino  ~  “My Blue Heaven”

4)  The Angels  ~  “My Boyfriend’s Back”

5)  The Temptations  ~  “My Girl”

6)  Bruce Springsteen  ~  “My Hometown”

7)  Nina Simone  ~  “My Baby Just Cares For Me”

8)  Frankie Valli  ~  “My Eyes Adored You”

9)  Eric Clapton  ~  “My Father’s Eyes” (I didn't intentionally lie in the intro, but I *forgot* this song was in here. It's from the mid '90s, but it certainly *feels* older, doesn't it?)

10)  Mary Wells  ~  “My Guy”

11)  The Who  ~  “My Generation”

12)  Alabama  ~  “My Home’s In Alabama”

13)  Petula Clark  ~  “My Love”

14)  The Pretenders  ~  “My Baby”

15)  Stevie Wonder  ~  “My Cherie Amour”

16)  The Mamas & The Papas  ~  “My Heart Stood Still”

17)  Ray Charles  ~  “My Bonnie”

18)  George Harrison  ~  “My Sweet Lord”

19)  Lynsey De Paul  ~  “My Man And Me”

20)  Frank Sinatra  ~  “My Way”

21)  The Knack  ~  “My Sharona”

22)  Julie Andrews  ~  “My Favorite Things”

23)  Andrae Crouch  ~  “My Tribute”

24)  Chet Baker  ~  “My Funny Valentine”

25)  Rockin’ Sidney  ~  “My Toot Toot”

Fats Domino Retrospective

We keep losing some all-time greats this year. Antoine "Fats" Domino was a pioneer whose music is just as enjoyable today as it was some 50+ years ago when most of it came out originally. He died this week, but his music lives on. Rest in peace, Fats! And the rest of you...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  “The Fat Man”

2)  “Going To The River”

3)  “Ain’t That A Shame”

4)  “All By Myself”

5)  “Poor Me”

6)  “Bo Weevil”

7)  “I’m In Love Again”

8)  “My Blue Heaven”

9)  “When My Dreamboat Comes Home”

10)  “Blueberry Hill”

11)  “Honey Chile”

12)  “Blue Monday”

13)  “I’m Walkin’”

14)  “Valley Of Tears”

15)  “It’s You I Love”

16)  “Wait And See”

17)  “The Big Beat” / “I’m Walkin’”  (Yes, the second song here is a repeat. But half of it is obscured by the movie’s dialogue, so I would have posted it separately anyway.)

18)  “I’m Ready”

19)  “I Want To Walk You Home”

20)  “I’m Gonna Be A Wheel Someday”

21)  “Walking To New Orleans”

22)  “My Girl Josephine”

23)  “Ain’t That Just Like A Woman”

24)  “It Keeps Rainin’”

25)  “Let The Four Winds Blow”

Songs About Hills & Valleys, Vol. 3

Last but definitely not least (because there's an Ed Sheeran song here – hello!), Vol. 3 (of 3) in my Songs About Hills & Valleys series. Ready...set...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Ed Sheeran  ~  “Castle On The Hill”

2)  Dionne Warwick  ~  “(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls”

3)  Bruce Cockburn  ~  “Hills Of Morning”

4)  Fountains Of Wayne  ~  “Valley Winter Song”

5)  U2  ~  “One Tree Hill”

6)  Needtobreathe  ~  “Valley Of Tomorrow”

7)  Kate Bush  ~  “Running Up That Hill”

8)  Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters  ~  “Tin Pan Valley”

9)  The Decemberists  ~  “Grace Cathedral Hill”

10)  LP  ~  “Death Valley”

11)  Fats Domino  ~  “Blueberry Hill”

12)  k.d. lang  ~  “The Valley”

13)  Peter Gabriel  ~  “Solsbury Hill”

14)  House Of Heroes  ~  “In The Valley Of The Dying Sun”

15)  Celtic Thunder ft. Damian McGinty  ~  “Come By The Hills”

16)  The Veils  ~  “Out From The Valley”

17)  Dolly Parton  ~  “Sugar Hill”

18)  Bruce Hornsby & The Range  ~  “The Valley Road”

19)  Thao Nguyen  ~  “Hills”

20)  Christafari  ~  “Valley Of Decision”

21)  Kevin Costner & Modern West ft. Sara Beck  ~  “I Know These Hills”

22)  Duran Duran  ~  “The Valley”

23)  Katie Melua  ~  “Gold In Them Hills”  (Yes, this is the same song as the Ron Sexsmith one in Vol 2. But this version was far too gorgeous not to double-list.)

24)  The Stranglers  ~  “Valley Of The Birds”

25)  PJ Harvey  ~  “On Battleship Hill”