Songs About Squirrels

And now for the blog post you've all been waiting for. Well, maybe not ALL of you. But some of you have, you're just too ashamed to admit it. Ladies and gentlemen, a bunch of Songs About Squirrels. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Ray Stevens  ~  “The Mississippi Squirrel Revival”  (This is the quintessential song about squirrels. In case you were wondering.)

2)  Muddy Waters  ~  “Fox Squirrel”

3)  Marcy Playground  ~  “Secret Squirrel”

4)  Metallica  ~  “Black Squirrel”

5)  Chris Thile  ~  “The Squirrel Of Possibility”  (You may not know this guy by name, but he’s a band member of both Nickel Creek and The Punch Brothers. Assuming you’re familiar with either of them, of course.)

6)  Texas Gypsies  ~  “Coco And The Squirrel”

7)  Sesame Street  ~  “The Silly Squirrel Dance”

8)  Dick Dale and His Del-Tones  ~  “The Squirrel”

9)  Rhett & Link  ~  “Squirrel Rights”

10)  Eric Burdon & War  ~  “Bird & The Squirrel”

11)  Idgy Dean  ~  “The Indian Squirrel Dance”

12)  River Raisin Ragtime Revue  ~  “The Squirrel Rag Slow Drag”

13)  Zanilonia  ~  “Squirrel World”  (Well, this was…different. And not at all what I expected after its rather benign beginning.)

14)  Shorty Rogers and His Orchestra  ~  “Pink Squirrel”

15)  Phineas and Ferb  ~  “S.I.M.P. (Squirrels In My Pants)”

16)  Cream  ~  “Cat’s Squirrel”

17)  Stackridge  ~  “Red Squirrel”

18)  Jeff Watson  ~  “Squirrels & Kerosene”  (This guy is best-known as the lead guitarist for the hard-rock band, Night Ranger.)

19)  Pink Martini  ~  “The Flying Squirrel”

20)  Charlie Parker & Chet Baker  ~  “The Squirrel”

21)  Outerview  ~  “A Pigeon And A Squirrel”  (Well, that was…also quite unique. Oddly enough, it was exactly what I expected from the title.)

22)  Corn Potato String Band  ~  “Squirrel Heads And Gravy”  (Fear not, squirrel lovers! No actual squirrels were decapitated in the making of this song.)

23)  Ott & The All-Seeing I  ~  “Squirrel And Biscuits”

24)  Billy Corgan  ~  “Squirrels With Tails”  (Avid fans may recognize Corgan as the frontman for The Smashing Pumpkins.)

25)  The Travelin’ McCourys  ~  “The Squirrel Hunters”

20 Different Versions Of “Carol Of The Bells”

It's that time of year again...when I drag out a classic Christmas song we all know and love and find a number of different versions of it and gather them all in one place. (Hint: Right here.) And the key word is "different." Herein you'll find the song rendered by human voices alone, you'll hear full orchestra, mass choir, hip-hop, dubstep, metal core, boys' choir, and alternative versions, just to name a few. I dare ya to listen! Oh, and enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Pentatonix  (Gorgeously intricate rendition by the current kings [and queen] of a cappella.)

2)  Trans-Siberian Orchestra  (Actual title: “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24”)  (Classic orchestral/heavy metal medley of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and this particular carol.)

3)  Family Force 5  (I don’t even know how to describe this one. Weird? Terrible? Inventive? Slightly off? Perhaps it’s all of the above.)

4)  BarlowGirl  (One of my favorite “girl groups” sings one of my favorite carols in a medley with “Sing We Now Of Christmas.” Breathtakingly beautiful!)

5)  DeStorm Power   (There just *had to* be a hip-hop version of this song out there somewhere, right? Yup. And this is it.)

6)  Capital Kings  (And a dubstep version, apparently.)

7)  August Burns Red  (Then there’s the metalcore rendition that you’ve all been waiting for. No? Well, maybe you should listen anyway. It’s rather awesome!)

8)  Celtic Woman  (It almost seems like the song was written for them to sing. Great stuff!)

9)  Sesame Street Cast ft. Jennifer Hudson  (A Dreamgirl and Muppets. What else is there to say?)

10)  David Hicken  (Never heard of this guy before, but he tickles the ivories quite adeptly.)

11)  Straight No Chaser  (Because we needed a more traditional a cappella version of the song, I suppose.)

12)  Mormon Tabernacle Choir  (And a mass choir with handbells version, of course.)

13)  Libera  (Something about a choir of boys dressed like wingless angels just screams Christmas! And weird. It most definitely also screams weird.)

14)  The Piano Guys  (Like the TSO song above, this is a medley of “Carol” and “God Rest Ye.” I dunno why he calls himself “The Piano Guys,” but he sure can play a mean cello!)

15)  Jessica Simpson  (This is what happens when a singer of generally vapid pop songs bothers to actually record “real” music. She should do so more often.)

16)  Fallulah  (Slower, darker, and vaguely menacing. Definitely different. In other words, I like it.)

17)  Kenny G  (Medley of “Carol” and “We Three Kings.” Leave it to a saxophonist to provide a breath of fresh air to an oft-recorded tune. Pun fully  intended. And fully awful.)

18)  Josh Wilson  (I’ve seen this guy work his magic in concert. This may sound like the work of a full band, but I’ll bet you he played nearly every note and instrument you hear all by himself.)

19)  The Calling  (To all these other renditions, I add this post-grunge/alternative rock offering. You’re welcome?)

20)  Richard Carpenter  (The only thing this one’s missing is Richard’s sister Karen’s velvety vocals. One thing it could do without is all the cheesiness. But I guess it was the '70s...so there ya go!)

Songs About Chickens

When I come up with an idea for a post, I have no idea until I get into it how many songs I'll find to fit the theme. In this case, I had to turn a bunch of them away. Who knew there were so many Songs About Chickens? But I digress. I hope you cluck and enjoy these!  ~  JH

1)  Oli Chang  ~  “Chicken Techno”

2)  Zac Brown Band  ~  “Chicken Fried”

3)  Brushy One String  ~  “Chicken In The Corn”

4)  The Fools  ~  “Psycho Chicken”

5)  Cibo Matto  ~  “Know Your Chicken”

6)  Colt Ford  ~  “Chicken And Biscuits”

7)  The James Hunter Six  ~  “Chicken Switch”

8)  The Mischiefs  ~  “Chicken Does The Robot Dance”

9)  GENR8R  ~  “Honey Chicken”

10)  Sesame Street  ~  “I Am Chicken”

11)  Cowboy Troy ft. Big & Rich  ~  “I Play Chicken With The Train”

12)  7 a.m.  ~  “Chicken”

13)  Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five  ~  “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”

14)  Spitting Image  ~  “The Chicken Song”

15)  Bigg Country  ~  “Fishin’ For Chicken”

16)  Robert Cray  ~  “Chicken In The Kitchen”

17)  Beth Hart  ~  “One-Eyed Chicken”

18)  John Anderson  ~  “Chicken Truck”

19)  Rufus Thomas  ~  “Do The Funky Chicken”

20)  Little Feat ft. Emmylou Harris & Bonnie Raitt  ~  “Dixie Chicken”

21)  Johnny Cash  ~  “Chicken In Black”

22)  Amos Milburn  ~  “Chicken Shack Boogie”

23)  George Jones  ~  “Have You Seen My Chicken?”

24)  Mary Duff  ~  “Chicken Every Sunday”

25)  Ozark Mountain Daredevils  ~  “Chicken Train”

Songs About Sneezing

What if I told you I could fill an entire post with songs devoted to the fine art of sneezing? Some about the actual act of sneezing, and some simply with the word "Sneezing" (or one of its forms) in the title? And what if I told you that these songs not only existed, but were all – surprisingly – enjoyable? Would you believe me? Find out for yourself!  ~  JH

1)  Tori Amos  ~  “Caught A Lite Sneeze”

2)  Ben Lee  ~  “Trying To Sneeze”

3)  Crash Test Dummies  ~  “Aching To Sneeze”

4)  Tonéx  ~  “Sneeze”

5)  VeggieTales  ~  “Sneeze If You Need To”

6)  argonaut&wasp  ~  “The Sneeze”

7)   Todd Congelliere  ~  “Sneeze”

8)  Stu Gardner / NGFOOT  ~  “Sneeze”

9)  Stone City Band  ~  “South American Sneeze”

10)  Ou  ~  “Destiny Sneezed”

11)  Emmett Elvin  ~  “Jupiter Sneezed”

12)  Rolf Fabian  ~  “Atishoo! Sneezed Hank W”

13)  Frank Wakefield  ~  “The Old Cat Sneezed”

14)  Dump Chip  ~  “Sneezing”

15)  Laura More  ~  “Sneezing”

16)  Focus  ~  “Sneezing Bull”

17)  Myo Awig  ~  “Sneezing Young”

18)  Mixxbowl  ~  “Sneezing Pigs”

19)  Meredith Willson And His Orchestra  ~  “Sneezing Violins”

20)  David Rivera  ~  “Flowers Sneezing”

21)  Screamin’ Jay Hawkins  ~  “Shut Your Mouth When You Sneeze”

22)  Sesame Street  ~  “The Sneeze Song”

23)  Chris Ronald  ~  “The Sneeze”

24)  Ciorras  ~  “The Expensive Sneeze”

25)  Cocteau Twins  ~  “Five Ten Fiftyfold”  (No, it doesn’t have any form of the word “Sneeze” in its title, but as much as the phrase is repeated throughout the song its title might as well be “Wheezing And Sneezing.”)