Songs About Relaxing

Apparently, today is National Relaxation Day. Since nobody (that I know of, at least) actually gets the day off for this "holiday," there's this collection of songs which pay homage to the fine art of relaxation. Kick back, "relax," and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Frankie Goes To Hollywood  ~  “Relax”

2)  Steve Johnson’s Jazz Legacy  ~  “Relaxin’”

3)  Agnes  ~  “Kick Back, Relax”

4)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Relax”

5)  Sauti Sol  ~  “Relax”

6)  Crystal Waters  ~  “Relax”

7)  Calvin Harris  ~  “Relax”

8)  The Happy Traum Band  ~  “Relax Your Mind”

9)  Mijne Heeren  ~  “Relax, Max”

10)  Alex Clare  ~  “Relax, My Beloved”

11)  Bowe  ~  “Relax Relax Relax”

12)  Jazz Dance Orchestra ft. Tatyana Trefilova  ~  “Relax”

13)  MIKA  ~  “Relax, Take It Easy”

14)  Rezz  ~  “Relax”

15)  Deetah  ~  “Relax”

16)  Boyz II Men  ~  “Relax Your Mind”

17)  The Workday Release  ~  “Relax”

18)  Josh Groban & Line Renaud  ~  “Relax-Ay-Voo”

19)  Marvillous Beats  ~  “Relax”

20)  Clown With A Frown  ~  “Relax”

“Ending” Songs, Vol. 2

Now we've finally reached the "Ending." This has been a fun six-part series for me. Hope you have enjoyed it, too!  ~  JH

1)  MIKA  ~  “Happy Ending”

2)  BarlowGirl  ~  “Beautiful Ending”

3)  Ben Lee  ~  “Love Me Like The World Is Ending”

4)  Death Cab For Cutie  ~  “A Movie Script Ending”

5)  Avril Lavigne  ~  “My Happy Ending”

6)  Admiral Radley  ~  “Ending Of Me”

7)  The Eternal  ~  “Means For An Ending”

8)  Joe Jackson & Elaine Caswell  ~  “Happy Ending”

9)  Matt and Kim  ~  “World Is Ending”

10)  Sevenview  ~  “Storybook Ending”

11)  Marksman Lloyd  ~  “Rewrite The Ending”

12)  CHVRCHES  ~  “Never Ending Circles”

13)  Too Close To Touch  ~  “Nerve Endings”

14)  David Wilcox  ~  “Start With The Ending”

15)  Silversun Pickups  ~  “Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)”

“Middle” Songs, Vol. 2

We're past the "Beginning," and now – with this post – we're done with the "Middle." All that's left is the "Ending." (Both of them, actually.) Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  for KING & COUNTRY  ~  “Middle Of Your Heart”

2)  China  ~  “Middle Of The Night”

3)  The Pretenders  ~  “Middle Of The Road”

4)  Tribal Theory  ~  “Stuck In The Middle”

5)  Bee Gees  ~  “Man In The Middle”

6)  Lilly Wood And The Prick  ~  “Middle Of The Night”

7)  Hot Hot Heat  ~  “Middle Of Nowhere”

8)  Black Country Communion  ~  “Man In The Middle”

9)  Natalie Imbruglia  ~  “Left Of The Middle”

10)  Bonnie Raitt  ~  “The Road’s My Middle Name”

11)  Our Lady Peace  ~  “Middle Of Yesterday”

12)  MIKA  ~  “Stuck In The Middle”  (The falsetto is strong with this one.)

13)  Priscilla Ahn  ~  “In A Closet In The Middle Of The Night”

14)  Ry Cooder  ~  “Smack Dab In The Middle”

15)  Vertical Horizon  ~  “The Middle Ground”

Songs With Celebrities’ Name In The Titles, Vol. 1

This is an idea I've been mulling over for awhile now and finally got around to putting together. There were more of these than I thought, so it'll be a two-parter. But I tried not to get too carried away. Only 15 songs in each post. I'll bet you even know several of these. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Weezer  ~  “Buddy Holly”

2)  Kim Carnes  ~  “Bette Davis Eyes”

3)  Fall Out Boy  ~  “Uma Thurman”

4)  The Cranberries  ~  “I Just Shot John Lennon”

5)  MIKA  ~  “Grace Kelly”

6)  Rumer  ~  “Aretha”

7)  Madness  ~  “Michael Caine”

8)  Taylor Swift  ~  “Tim McGraw”

9)  The Wanted  ~  “Walks Like Rihanna”

10)  Sheryl Crow  ~  “Steve McQueen”

11)  Gorillaz  ~  “Clint Eastwood”

12)  Eagles ft. Jackson Browne  ~  “James Dean”

13)  Moe Bandy  ~  “Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life”

14)  Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera  ~  “Moves Like Jagger”

15)  Jimmy Buffett  ~  “Elvis Presley Blues”

...Totally Sounds Like...

Here's a post that's likely to stir up a bit of controversy among my fellow music enthusiasts. This is a collection of songs by pairs of bands/artists who, in my opinion, sound very similar to each other, either musically or vocally, and often both. You are, of course, entitled to disagree with me – in fact, I welcome your input as to whether you think I'm spot-on or way off-base. Feel free to offer some of your own examples of sound-alike bands, as I may do another one of these posts at some point. Enjoy!  ~  JH

BLOGGER'S NOTE:  The specific song for each artist below is not necessarily a sound-alike for the song of the sound-alike artist, although sometimes that is the case. The songs included here are merely examples of what the band or artist sounds like, primarily for the benefit of those who are not familiar with their music.

Seether  ("Remedy")

totally sounds like...

Nirvana  ("Come As You Are")

Rixton  ("Me And My Broken Heart")

totally sounds like...

Maroon 5  ("She Will Be Loved")

Mat Kearney  ("Nothing Left To Lose")

totally sounds like...

Counting Crows  ("A Long December")

Needtobreathe  ("Girl Named Tennessee")

totally sounds like...

Kings Of Leon  ("Use Somebody")

Fall Out Boy  ("The Phoenix")

totally sounds like...

Panic! At The Disco  ("The Ballad Of Mona Lisa")

Badfinger  ("Come And Get It")

totally sounds like...

The Beatles  ("Paperback Writer")

Gotye  ("Somebody That I Used To Know" ft. Kimbra)

totally sounds like...

The Police  ("Roxanne")

Godsmack  ("I Stand Alone")

totally sounds like...

Alice In Chains  ("I Stay Away")

MIKA  ("Lollipop")

totally sounds like...

Queen  ("Another One Bites The Dust")

Muse  ("Resistance")

totally sounds like...

Coldplay  ("Viva La Vida")

Songs By Solo Artists With Four-Letter Names

Last but not least, here we have a collection of songs by artists with four letters in their names. This collection of 20 songs consists exclusive of solo artists. You suggested them. I added them. (Plus a few more.) If I missed any of your favorites, now that this miniseries is complete, you may now throw your barbs. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  P!nk  ~  "Trouble"

2)  Ozzy  ~  "Dreamer"  (Ozzy Osbourne doesn't often go by only his first name – not officially, at least. But for this song, he did – so I can technically include it here.)

3)  Enya  ~  "Amarantine" 

4)  Ne-Yo  ~  "One In A Million"

5)  Cher  ~  "Half Breed"

6)  Moby  ~  "In This World"

7)  T'Pau  ~  "Heart And Soul"

8)  Taco  ~  "Puttin' On The Ritz"

9)  Dido  ~  "White Flag"

10)  2Pac ft. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman  ~  "California Love"

11)  SOKO  ~  "I Thought I Was An Alien"

12)  Seal  ~  "Love's Divine"

13)  Lune  ~  "Girls With Bangs"

14)  Akon  ~  "Don't Matter"

15)  MIKA ft. Ariana Grande  ~  "Popular Song"

16)  RJD2  ~  "1976"

17)  Q-Tip ft. Norah Jones  ~  "Life Is Better"

18)  Beck  ~  "Girl"

19)  Zedd ft. Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant  ~  "Find You"

20)  Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys  ~  "Empire State Of Mind"