Things These Artists WILL Do

We hear a lot of empty promises these days, especially from political candidates. But these artists mean business! When they say they will do something, you can count on it! (Maybe. Probably not, actually. Just more empty promises. Anyway...) Here's a collection of songs in which the singer or band vows that "I Will" or "We Will" do...something. For fans of my (underused?) snarky song commentary (I'm talking to you, Entzminger!), you may be pleasantly surprised to find it here in spades. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Everclear  ~  “I Will Buy You A New Life”  (This promised “new life” apparently includes: “A garden where your flowers can bloom…a new car, perfect, shiny, and new…[and] that big house way up in the West Hills.”)

2)  Gloria Gaynor  ~  “I Will Survive”  (She really should’ve changed that stupid lock, though.)

3)  Chris Tomlin  ~  “I Will Rise”  (I believe he said he was going to rise. Thirteen times, in fact. But who’s counting?)

4)  Mumford & Sons  ~  “I Will Wait”  (These talented fellows are nothing if not patient.)

5)  Us The Duo  ~  “I Will Wait For You”  (These two will wait for you, too. But can they play the banjo? That’s the real question, isn’t it?)

6)  Whitney Houston  ~  “I Will Always Love You”  (All she’s taking with her are bittersweet memories. We both know she’s not what you need anyway.)

7)   Jimmy Eat World  ~  “I Will Steal You Back”  (But what if I prefer to remain stolen, Jimmy Eat? Or whatever your real name is.)

8)  Grateful Dead  ~  “I Will Take You Home”  (“Ain't no fog thick enough to hide you / Your daddy's gonna be right here beside you.” That’s either very reassuring or extremely creepy. Jury’s still out.)

9)  Soul Asylum  ~  “I Will Still Be Laughing”  (This song is eighteen years old. That’s a long time to STILL be laughing. On an unrelated note, I don’t get the joke. Am I supposed to?)

10)  Jimmy Buffett  ~  “I Will Play For Gumbo”  (Buffett for gumbo? Sounds like a pretty fair deal to me.)

11)  Boyz II Men  ~  “I Will Get There”  (Was there ever any doubt? Seriously, when have Boyz II Men ever not gotten there when they promised to?)

12)  Selah  ~  “I Will Carry You”  (Thank you for that. I was getting tired from all the walking.)

13)  Slash ft. Myles & The Conspirators  ~  “We Will Roam”  (Additional charges may apply when making calls outside the geographical coverage area of the home network.)

14)  Steven Curtis Chapman  ~  “I Will Be Here” (But what if I go over “there”? Will you go “there,” too, or will you stay “here”?)

15)  Katie Melua  ~  “I Will Be There”  (Never mind, Chapman. Katie will be “there,” so we’re all good!)

16)  John Fogerty  ~  “I Will Walk With You”  (Okay, but let’s mix it up a bit and hopscotch our way to…wherever it is we’re going.)

17)  Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers  ~  “I Will Walk With You”  (Thanks but no thanks, Bruce. Fogerty offered first, and we’re hopscotching. So…yeah.)

18)  Jesus Culture ft. Kim Walker-Smith  ~  “We Will Run”  (Are you trying to trick me into doing a 5K? ‘Cuz…no.)

19)  All-4-One  ~  “I Will Be Right Here”  (“Wherever you go, whatever you do, wherever you are…no matter how far, I'll always be near…I will be right here.”  Yeah, that’s not stalker-ish at all!)

20)  Peggy March  ~  “I Will Follow Him”  (Seriously, what’s with all this stalker-ish behavior? Pretty sure it’s illegal, folks!)

21)  Burton Cummings  ~  “I Will Play A Rhapsody”  (You go ahead with your bad self, Burton! Play that rhapsody! We’re listening…)

22)  Gladys Knight & The Pips  ~  “I Will Fight”  (Forgive me if I don’t tremble at the thought of people who call themselves “The Pips” threatening to fight anybody.)

23)  Avalon  ~  “We Will Stand”  (Well, it sure beats sitting.)

24)  Death Cab For Cutie  ~  “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”  (Then what will you do? Stab me? Shoot me? Let’s be honest. Nothing good is going to come of this dark pursuit.)

25)  Queen  ~  “We Will Rock You”  (They did. And it was awesome. The End.)

“For” Songs, Vol. 1

Here begins a four-part miniseries featuring songs with the words "For" and/or "Against" in their titles. Since "For" is such a common word, my criteria for choosing these songs was that the title of the song had to begin with the word "For." I tried to do the same with the "Against" songs, but found that method too limiting, instead including songs with the word anywhere in their titles. Here's the first half of the "For" songs, and I do hope you enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Carpenters  ~  “For All We Know”

2)  Avicii ft. Alex Ebert  ~  “For A Better Day”

3)  Foo Fighters  ~  “For All The Cows”

4)  Bon Iver  ~  “For Emma, Forever Ago”

5)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “For Martha”

6)  Barclay James Harvest  ~  “For No One”

7)  Paramore  ~  “For A Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic”

8)  Band Of Horses  ~  “For Annabelle”

9)  Kristin Chenoweth & Idina Menzel  ~  “For Good”

10)  4Him  ~  “For Future Generations”

11)  Jimmy Eat World  ~  “For Me This Is Heaven”

12)  All That Remains  ~  “For You”

13)  Paul McCartney  ~  “For No One”

14)  Nikki Yanofsky  ~  “For Another Day”

15)  Stevie Wonder  ~  “For Once In My Life”

16)  Serena Ryder  ~  “For You”

17)  The Script  ~  “For The First Time”

18)  Ray Price  ~  “For The Good Times”

19)  Luther Vandross  ~  “For You To Love”

20)  Thin Lizzy  ~  “For Those Who Love To Live”

“Middle” Songs, Vol. 1

Time to bring this series to the "Middle." Here's the 1st "Middle" songs post. After the next "Middle," we'll head to the "Ending." Enjoy the journey!  ~  JH

1)  Jimmy Eat World  ~  “The Middle”

2)  Sabrina Carpenter  ~  “The Middle Of Starting Over”

3)  Diamond Rio  ~  “Meet In The Middle”

4)  Milow  ~  “Little In The Middle”

5)  Lucy Rose  ~  “Middle Of The Bed”

6)  Stryper  ~  “Caught In The Middle”

7)  Chloe Foy  ~  “In The Middle Of The Night”

8)  Stealers Wheel  ~  “Stuck In The Middle With You”

9)  Lily & Madeleine  ~  “In The Middle”

10)  The Replacements  ~  “I Hate Music / Stuck In The Middle”

11)  Brooke Annibale  ~  “Middle Of The Mess”

12)  Isaac Carree  ~  “The Middle”

13)  India.Arie  ~  “Caught In The Middle”

14)  Dishwalla  ~  “Somewhere In The Middle”

15)  Selena Gomez & The Scene  ~  “Middle Of Nowhere”

16)  William Beckett  ~  “Caught In The Middle”

17)  Betty Wright  ~  “In The Middle Of The Game”

18)  Sea Wolf  ~  “Middle Distance Runner”

19)  Fatine Thó  ~  “Middle Of The Night”

20)  Living Colour  ~  “Middle Man”

"Steal" Songs

Part 2 of 3 of my "Beg," "Steal," & "Borrow" songs miniseries. These are Songs About Stealing. Go ahead, take 'em! And enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  One Direction  ~  "Steal My Girl"

2)  Chuck Wicks  ~  "Stealing Cinderella"

3)  Len  ~  "Steal My Sunshine"

4)  Jane's Addiction  ~  "Been Caught Stealing"

5)  Augustana  ~  "Steal Your Heart"

6)  Emily And The Woods  ~  "Steal His Heart"

7)  Jimmy Eat World  ~  "I Will Steal You Back"

8)  The Cat Empire  ~  "Steal The Light"

9)  Joan Armatrading  ~  "Cool Blue Stole My Heart"

10)  Mungo Jerry  ~  "Somebody Stole My Life"

11)  Spandau Ballet  ~  "Steal"

12)  Faith Hill  ~  "Stealing Kisses"

13)  Ozzy Osbourne  ~  "Steal Away (The Night)"

14)  Whitesnake  ~  "Steal Your Heart Away"

15)  Above & Beyond  ~  "Satellite / Stealing Time"

16)  Joe Bonamassa  ~  "Steal Your Heart Away"

17)  James Bay  ~  "Stealing Cars"

18)  The Bangles  ~  "Stealing Rosemary"

19)  Phish  ~  "Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan"

20)  Manic Street Preachers  ~  "You Stole The Sun From My Heart"

21)  Great Lake Swimmers  ~  "Stealing Tomorrow"

22)  Iron & Wine  ~  "Bird Stealing Bread"

23)  Bear's Den  ~  "The Love We Stole"

24)  Kelly Rowland  ~  "Stole"

25)  The Milk Carton Kids  ~  "Stealing Romance"

23 Songs With "Twenty-Three" In The Title

As of today, my wife is 23 weeks pregnant with our daughter. So there's this: a collection of songs with the number "23" (or "twenty-three") in their titles. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Jimmy Eat World  ~  "23"

2)  Blonde Redhead  ~  "23"

3)  R5  ~  "Wishing I Was 23"

4)  Shakira  ~  "23"

5)  The Youth Ahead  ~  "23 Days"

6)  The Brothers Johnson  ~  "Strawberry Letter 23"

7)  The Silents  ~  "23"

8)  Dwight Yoakam  ~  "Readin', Rightin', Route 23"

9)  fiN  ~  "Twenty Three"

10)  Billy Currington  ~  "23 Degrees South"

11)  Being Jo Francis  ~  "Twenty Three"

12)  The Ambassador ft. Tonic  ~  "Honor & Glory / Psalm 23"

13)  California Wives  ~  "Twenty Three"

14)  Peter Furler  ~  "Psalm 23"

15)  Luna  ~  "23 Minutes In Brussels"

16)  SHeDAISY  ~  "23 Days"  (Somehow, this video devolves into a commercial for the Sleep Number bed about 2/3 of the way through it. Then it goes back to being a music video again – go figure!)

17)  Luther  ~  "Psalm 23"

18)  MC Lars ft. Amie Miriello  ~  "Twenty-Three"

19)  Aaron Strumpel  ~  "Twenty Three"

20)  Ben Trigg  ~  "Psalm 23"

21)   Paul Westerberg  ~  "23 Years Ago"

22)  Andrew Robear  ~  "Twenty Three"

23)  Yellowcard  ~  "Twentythree"