Songs About Hills & Valleys, Vol. 1

In every lifetime, there are hills and valleys – high point and low points. This set of songs, and the ones in the two volumes to come, will cover all the bases. Enjoy?  ~  JH

1)  Tauren Wells  ~  “Hills And Valleys”

2)  Nneka  ~  “Valley”

3)  Led Zeppelin  ~  “Over The Hills And Far Away”

4)  Marina And The Diamonds  ~  “Valley Of The Dolls”

5)  The Weeknd  ~   “The Hills”

6)  The Head And The Heart  ~  “Down In The Valley”

7)  Julie Andrews  ~  “The Sound Of Music”  (The memorable refrain goes: “The hills are alive with the sound of music…” Close enough for government work.)

8)  Caedmon’s Call  ~  “Valleys Fill First”

9)  Mark Knopfler  ~  “Hill Farmer’s Blues”

10)  Jimi Hendrix  ~  “Valleys Of Neptune”

11)  Celtic Woman  ~  “Hills Of Ireland”

12)  The Civil Wars  ~  “From This Valley”

13)  Passenger  ~  “House On A Hill”

14)  Big Country  ~  “Thirteen Valleys”

15)  Nightwish  ~  “Over The Hills And Far Away”

16)  Stevie Nicks & Chris Isaak  ~  “Red River Valley”

17)  The Tallest Man On Earth  ~  “Over The Hills”

18)  The Monkees  ~  “Pleasant Valley Sunday”

19)  Emmylou Harris & Mary Black  ~  “Green Rolling Hills”

20)  Widespread Panic ft. Derek Trucks  ~  “Surprise Valley”

21)  Coldplay  ~  “Violet Hill”

22)  Elvis Presley  ~  “Peace In The Valley”

23)  David Bowie  ~  “Up The Hill Backwards”

24)  Mississippi John Hurt  ~  “You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley”

25)  The Pretty Reckless  ~  “House On A Hill”

Things These Artists Have “Got,” Vol. 1

A lot of good songs over the years seem to have the words "I Got," "I've Got," "We Got," or "We've Got" in their titles. I notice dumb things like this. And what do I do when I notice them? I post a four-part miniseries featuring said songs, of course! Enjoy? ~  JH

1)  James Brown  ~  I Got You (I Feel Good)”

2)  Jana Kramer  ~  “I Got The Boy”

3)  Pearl Jam  ~  “I’ve Got A Feeling”  (This is a cover of a Beatles song. I had a video of Paul McCartney performing it all ready to post, but I actually ended up liking this version better. Go figure!)

4)  Ciara  ~  “I Got You”

5)  The Rolling Stones  ~  “I Got The Blues”

6)  Ethel Merman  ~  “I Got Rhythm”

7)  Young The Giant  ~  “I Got”  (What've they “got”? You’ll have to listen to find out.)

8)  You Me & Apollo  ~  “We Got A Roof”

9)  Lily Allen  ~  “As Long As I Got You”

10)  Canaan Smith  ~  “We Got Us”

11)  Brad Garrett, Jeffrey Tambor, Mandy Moore, & Zachary Levi  ~  “I’ve Got A Dream”

12)  Don Williams  ~  “I’ve Got A Winner In You”

13)  Nina Simone  ~  “Ain’t Got No / I Got Life”

14)  Al Jarreau  ~  “We Got By”  (“By” is not a thing you can literally “get,” but this is a great song so it’s close enough.)

15)  Karmin  ~  “I Got You (Pisces)”

16)  Delbert McClinton  ~  “I’ve Got Dreams To Remember”

17)  The Civil Wars  ~  “I’ve Got This Friend”

18)  Positive K  ~  “I Got A Man”

19)  Lily & Madeleine  ~   “I’ve Got Freedom”

20)  Bon Jovi  ~  “We Got It Going On”

21)  Glenn Miller & His Orchestra ft. Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, The Modernaires, & The Nicholas Brothers  ~  “(I’ve Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo”

22)  Simon & Garfunkel  ~  “We’ve Got A Groovy Thing Goin’”

23)  The Black Eyed Peas  ~  “I Gotta Feeling”

24)  Jim Croce  ~  “I Got A Name”

25)  Mel Tormé  ~  “We’ve Got A World That Swings”

“To” & “From” Songs, Vol. 1

Here begins a new three-part series (I know, I know, I know!) featuring songs with the words "To" and "From" in their titles. Since these words are so common, I limited myself to choosing only songs with titles that BEGIN with one of these words. Even so, the choices were many and the chosen are solid. I always say "Enjoy!", but this time (and the time after that, and the time after that) I really think you will.  ~  JH

1)  Hozier  ~  “To Be Alone”

2)  Bette Midler  ~  “From A Distance”

3)  Lulu  ~  “To Sir With Love”

4)  Linkin Park  ~  “From The Inside”

5)  Kutless  ~  “To Know That You’re Alive”

6)  Emerson, Lake, & Palmer  ~  “From The Beginning”

7)  Joan As Police Woman  ~  “To Be Loved”

8)  Shania Twain  ~  “From This Moment On”

9)  Wang Chung  ~  “To Live And Die In L.A.”

10)  Haley Bonar  ~  “From A Cage”

11)  Hugh Jackman & Richard Marx  ~  “To Where You Are”

12)  Elvis Costello & The Attractions ft. Glenn Tilbrook  ~  “From A Whisper To A Scream”

13)  Garth Brooks  ~  “To Make You Feel My Love”

14)  Dan Croll  ~  “From Nowhere”

15)  Alela Diane  ~  “To Begin”

16)  Bruce Springsteen  ~  “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)”

17)  Jack Johnson  ~  “To The Sea”

18)  The Civil Wars  ~  “From This Valley”

19)  Bethany Dillon  ~  “To Those Who Wait”

20)  Corey Taylor, Dave Grohl, Rick Nielsen, & Scott Reeder  ~  “From Can To Can’t”  (In case you’re unfamiliar with these “random” guys…Taylor’s the lead singer of Slipknot and Stone Sour; Grohl was a member of Nirvana and now fronts the Foo Fighters; Nielsen played lead guitar for Cheap Trick; and Reeder was the bassist for Kyuss and The Obsessed. Yeah, I know. Some of you are still like, "WHO?")

Songs About Balloons

I was overdue for a music post featuring songs about extremely mundane things. Today, I decided to tackle the tune-friendly subject of Balloons. Turns out there were quite a few good ones to choose from. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Lily Allen  ~  “Air Balloon”  (Quirky, fun, and never boring. I love Lily Allen's music!)

2)  Never Shout Never  ~  “Red Balloon”

3)  Charli XCX  ~  “Red Balloon”

4)  Foals  ~  “Balloons”  (Artsy fartsy stuff up in here...)

5)  The Kills  ~  “Black Balloon”

6)  The National Parks  ~  “Red Balloon”

7)  Rosi Golan  ~  “Lead Balloon”

8)  Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals  ~  “Pink Balloon”

9)  The Civil Wars  ~  “Girl With The Red Balloon”

10)  Jimmy Nevis ft. Kwesta  ~  “Balloon”

11)  Joanna Newsom  ~  “Bridges And Balloons”  (Simply lovely!)

12)  Sick Puppies  ~  “White Balloons”

13)  Nena  ~  “99 Red Balloons”  (Hands down, the quintessential song about balloons.)

14)  Ween  ~  “Blue Balloon”

15)  Katie Melua  ~  “Red Balloons”  (Katie's another one of my favorite singers.)

16)  Midlake  ~  “Balloon Maker”

17)  Ane Brun  ~  “Balloon Ranger”

18)  Boards Of Canada  ~  “Everything You Do Is A Balloon”  (Well, that's certainly an intriguing song title...)

19)  Kristina Cornell  ~  “Little Red Balloon”  (Keep your Kleenexes nearby.)

20)  Goo Goo Dolls  ~  “Black Balloon”  (Probably the 2nd most well-known song about balloons.)

21)  Maja Keuc  ~  “You’re A Tree And I’m A Balloon”  (I'm still trying to make sense of these metaphors...)

22)  The Fifth Dimension  ~  “Up, Up, And Away”  (Hey, I never said the word "Balloon" had to be in the title. But this song might as well be called "My Beautiful Balloon," so there ya go...)

23)   Not Profane ft. Tiffany Alvord  ~  “Our Balloons”

24)  Rick Nelson  ~  “Red Balloon”

25)  Coshiva  ~  “Big Balloon”

BONUS TRACK:  Owl City  ~  “99 Red Balloons / Chicago / Plant Life”  (Yes, the "99 Balloons" song here is the same as the original by Nena [above], but this medley was so beautiful I chose to include both.)